Two South Island technicians claimed top titles at the third annual John Deere Technician of the Year Awards in Brisbane last week.

Rolleston-based Mark Haughton took out the Construction & Forestry Technician of the Year Award while Blenheim’s Jimmy O’Donnell has been named New Zealand Parts Technician of the Year.

They were among five finalists from South Island to make it through to the final leg of the awards.

Haughton from Drummond & Etheridge in Rolleston won the title in the first year of the John Deere Technician Awards in 2021 and is considered a leader in his field.

He beat two from Australia technicians and a fellow Kiwi, Nick Fargher, from Fielding to win the award.

Haughton grew up with a love of machinery since childhood and becoming a technician was something of a calling.

He began his career with an automotive apprenticeship, before travelling to Western Australia to work in the mining industry. He later returned home to New Zealand to work with John Deere.

“I work pretty hard for customers and love that it’s being rewarded.”

However, Haughton said the most rewarding part of being a technician was the daily interaction with customers.

He also enjoys working on John Deere equipment and using full suite of available tools to diagnose and repair machines.

A typical day sees him travel to some of New Zealand's most remote areas to get John Deere equipment back up and running.

Two years of hard work and commitment have paid off for Jimmy O’Donnell from the Blenheim branch of Drummond & Etheridge.

He beat Mollie Clarke from Gisborne for the NZ Parts Technician of the Year Award in the finals.

O’Donnell first developed a fascination for machinery while growing up on his family’s farm. After eleven years working as a service technician for a photocopier company, he saw a job advertisement for a parts technician at his local John Deere dealership and made the leap to agricultural machinery.

Two years on he’s won the Parts Technician of the Year title and is “stoked” with the title.

“The most rewarding part about being a John Deere technician is the customer interaction and providing the parts that the customers ask for - once they get them in their hand, they walk away happy."

O’Donnell said he had always been fascinated by machinery and enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of his job.

By Sharon Davis