From one van and a corner of a shed to one of Dorset’s busiest agri workshops

If you want to understand Dorset Tractors, it helps to start with what they’re not. They’re not a big dealership. They’re not a call centre. And they’re definitely not the sort of business that tells you your machine isn’t worth fixing.

They are, however, the people you call when your tractor breaks down in the middle of a field – and you need someone who will actually turn up: ‘People are amazed that we’ll answer the phone and be there within a couple of hours,’ says owner Martin Percy. ‘Some are waiting days for someone to even get back to them.’

Founded in 2021 by Martin and his son Sam, the business began with little more than a shared frustration and a single van. Five years later, it has become one of Dorset’s busiest independent agricultural workshops.

‘We started in the corner of a shed,’ says Sam. ‘One van between us, just taking on whatever work we could.’

Both brought very different experience. Martin had spent a lifetime working on agricultural machinery: ‘I worked on most kit, some sort or another, and then the last straw was trying to deal with an angry tractor one day. Me and the technology weren’t getting on very well, and I thought, “well, this is not for me anymore. I want to go back and do what I know I can do”. That was when I decided.’

Sam spent 12 years in the Army: ‘I worked on tanks, and sighting systems, tank electronics … but I grew up helping Dad, so I already had the mechanical background. The Army added the electronics. After the army I was pigeonholed into a management job. I ran an engineering department for three years, but by the end I was pulling my hair out with the way the corporate world works. Dad rang me up and said “I’ve had enough. This tractor today was the final straw”. And we just we spoke about it a bit, and we decided let’s just get on and go for it!’

Together, they set out to do things slightly differently.

‘We’re that blend of old and new,’ says Sam. ‘We understand the mechanics behind it, we’re not just plugging a computer in and swapping parts.’

And that mix quickly found a market among Dorset farmers. What started as a focus on older tractors and restorations soon expanded, as customers began asking them to take on more – and then everything else.

‘We’d go and do a bit of older kit for someone, and then they’d say, “can you look after the rest of it as well?”’ Sam says. ‘It just grew from there.’

Five years on, Dorset Tractors now works on everything from decades-old classic machines to brand new models, and has recently become an official McCormick dealer. The team has grown too, with engineers, painters, an apprentice and support staff now part of the business.

But the pair are keen to point out that the principles haven’t changed, and the personal approach sits at the heart of what they do.

‘We don’t want to become a corporate company,’ says Sam. ‘We want people to ring up and get to speak to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.’

‘If we get something wrong, it matters to us,’ he adds. ‘We’ll do everything we can to put it right.’

For Martin, it’s also about holding on to skills that are quickly disappearing.

‘The pride in the work has gone in some places,’ he says. ‘And the ability to look at something properly and fix it, rather than just replace entire parts.’

That ability has become increasingly valuable, particularly as more farmers look to keep older machinery running rather than replace it.

‘We’re seeing more and more of that,’ he says. ‘It’s the cost of new machinery now. Machines that might have been given up on before are now being kept going – and they’ve still got years of work left in them.’

It’s that mix of practicality and adaptability that Dorset Tractors will be bringing to this year’s Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show. For Sam, the show is as much about people as it is about business.

‘It’s a chance to meet people properly,’ he says. ‘We get customers coming up just to say thank you, or to finally meet the person who fixed their machine.’

Visitors will find everything from restored classics to the latest McCormick machinery on the stand, reflecting the range of work the business now undertakes. But, like the show itself, it remains rooted in the local farming community.

‘I like the fact it’s still farmers first,’ says Sam. ‘People go there to do a bit of business, see what’s out there, and everything else fits around that.’

Martin agrees. ‘It hasn’t lost that agricultural feel,’ he says. ‘It’s still very much about the farming community.’

When they started in the corner of the shed, neither expected the business to grow so quickly.

“We honestly thought it would just be the two of us,” Sam says. “But when people want you to do the work, you just get on with it.”

Five years on, Dorset Tractors has grown well beyond that single van, but the philosophy hasn’t changed: personal service, practical repairs and knowing the people behind the machines.

⁠ Come and meet Martin and Sam on their stand at the G&S Show this summer: 19 & 20 AUGUST 2026 at Turnpike Showground, Motcombe. Tickets until 13th August are £17 adult, £3 children – Grab your Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show tickets today here – https://gillinghamandshaftesburyshow.co.uk/

To find out more about Dorset Tractors click here – https://dorsettractors.com/