I wanna research a job at island tractors
https://www.islandtractors.com/careers-jobs-employment-tractor-equipment-dealership--xcareers
ChatGPT >
If you’re seriously considering it, I’d look at it less as “getting a job” and more as stepping into a trade ecosystem. Equipment dealerships can become long-term careers because they blend mechanics, customer service, parts knowledge, hydraulics, electronics, agriculture, and heavy equipment.
The company itself is Island Tractor & Supply Ltd. in Duncan, with a sister location in Courtenay operating as North Island Tractor. They sell and service Kubota and other agricultural and industrial equipment across Vancouver Island.
Their current posted openings include:
Senior Technician (Duncan) $34–$44/hour Heavy equipment or agricultural equipment experience Electrical and hydraulic experience valued Monday–Friday Benefits after probation Junior Technician Mechanical aptitude more important than certification Agricultural or heavy equipment experience preferred Trade certificate helpful but not required Parts Technician Duncan and Courtenay $20–$28/hour Inventory, organization, customer service, parts knowledge
They also mention ongoing manufacturer training and apprenticeship involvement through Vancouver Island University, which is one of the stronger signs that a dealership is thinking long-term rather than simply filling a vacancy.
The question I’d be asking
Not “Can I get hired?”
But:
Which role fits the life I actually want over the next 5–10 years?
For example:
Path
Best fit if you enjoy…
Reality
Technician
Diagnosing, fixing, tools, problem-solving
Physical work, dirty work, continual learning
Parts
Organization, helping customers, inventory systems
Less physical, lots of detail and memory
Sales
Relationships, equipment, talking with farmers and contractors
Commission pressure and customer-facing work
Service Advisor / Management
Coordinating people and workflow
Stress can be higher, but less wrench-turning
Looking at your background
You spent decades in transit and now drive school bus. What jumps out to me is not that you’re a mechanic, but that you’ve lived around machinery, schedules, responsibility, and public-facing work.
A parts position or service-adjacent role may actually leverage more of your existing strengths than trying to become a full heavy-duty technician at 63. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t do the technician route. It means it would be worth separating:
“I love tractors.”
from
“I want to spend eight hours a day repairing tractors.”
Those are different things.
If I were researching further
I would want answers to:
What is the culture actually like there? What’s the average age of employees? Do they hire mature workers? How much seasonal fluctuation is there? What is the ferry/travel/living situation if you were considering Duncan or Courtenay?
The website contact for careers is through Stephen Baird, with resumes sent directly to the dealership.
You can also explore them directly:
Island Tractor Careers
Island Tractor Main Website
Comparable employers on the Island
If you’re exploring the equipment world generally, I’d also look at:
PrairieCoast equipment (John Deere dealer network) Westerra Equipment Nanaimo Harbour City Equipment Ltd Rollins Machinery Ltd.
What is it about Island Tractor that caught your attention specifically? The machinery itself? The Island lifestyle? The idea of a fresh chapter? Or something else?
So this is research my son, 35 year old with a masters degree in electrical engineering
ChatGPT >
That is a very interesting signal.
Most companies do not take a résumé submitted for shipping/receiving and then have the general manager personally redirect the candidate toward sales. That suggests they saw something in your son’s background, presentation, communication, or overall potential that made them think:
“This person is more valuable than the position he applied for.”
The question I’d be asking is not:
“Can he do sales?”
but rather:
“What did they see?”
A master’s degree in electrical engineering tells them he can learn complex systems. If his résumé also shows maturity, communication skills, and stability, they may be imagining someone who can understand the equipment deeply enough to explain it to customers.
Equipment sales is not the same as stereotypical high-pressure sales.
A good tractor salesperson often becomes:
a consultant a problem solver a trusted advisor someone who understands the customer’s operation
A farmer, acreage owner, contractor, landscaper, or municipality comes in with a problem:
“I need to move this much material.”
“I need to maintain this property.”
“I need a machine that can do these five jobs.”
The salesperson helps match equipment to the need.
The fact that the general manager became involved makes me wonder whether they see leadership potential or technical credibility that would be difficult to find in a typical sales applicant.
That said, there are a few things your son should try to learn in the interview:
How is compensation structured? Salary? Salary plus commission? Mostly commission? What does success look like after one year? Number of units sold? Customer retention? Territory development? What training is provided? Product training? Kubota certification? Mentoring? Why did they redirect him from shipping/receiving to sales? This is a perfectly reasonable question. What are the advancement paths? Senior sales? Sales management? Product specialist? Branch management?
One thing that strikes me from what you’ve told me about your family is that your son has invested heavily in education. Sometimes people with advanced degrees carry an unspoken thought:
“If I take a sales job, am I wasting my education?”
I would challenge that assumption.
Selling highly technical equipment can involve just as much thinking, learning, and problem-solving as many engineering roles. The question is whether he enjoys working with people as much as he enjoys working with systems.
What is showing up for him around this opportunity?
Excitement? Relief? Skepticism? A feeling that this is beneath his qualifications? Or a sense that a door might be opening that he didn’t expect?
He’ll research the way he does, I’m thinking in terms of is it comparable to how families buy vehicles? Is there a loyalty? My dad always bought Dodge, no surprise I’ve always bought Dodge…
Is kubota tractor the Ryobi of tractors? Is John Deere the rolls Royce of tractors?
ChatGPT >
That’s exactly the kind of question I’d be asking if I were trying to understand the market he’ll be selling into.
The short answer is: yes, there is often strong brand loyalty in tractors and equipment, sometimes stronger than in cars.
A farmer may buy the same brand for decades because:
They know the controls. Their local dealer treats them well. Their mechanic knows the machines. Parts are readily available. Existing implements are compatible. Resale value is predictable.
In many cases, people are not just loyal to a tractor brand. They’re loyal to a dealer relationship.
A customer might say:
“I’ve bought from Bill at the dealership for 20 years.”
That relationship can matter more than the paint color.
As for the brands:
Kubota
Kubota is not the Ryobi of tractors.
Ryobi’s reputation is “good enough homeowner equipment.”
Kubota’s reputation is much stronger than that.
In North America, Kubota is often viewed as:
Extremely reliable Well-engineered Excellent compact and utility tractors Strong resale value Popular with acreage owners, hobby farmers, landscapers, and small agricultural operations
Think of Kubota more like Toyota than Ryobi.
People often buy one, put thousands of hours on it, and buy another Kubota when it’s time to replace it.
John Deere
John Deere is probably the strongest brand name in North American agriculture.
If you ask a random person to name a tractor company, they’ll often say John Deere.
Their reputation includes:
Premium pricing Huge dealer network Strong technology Precision agriculture leadership Excellent resale value
But “Rolls-Royce” isn’t quite right.
Rolls-Royce suggests luxury.
John Deere is more like:
Ford F-Series in trucks Caterpillar in construction Harley-Davidson in motorcycles
An iconic brand with passionate customers.
Other Major Players
Case IH — major farming operations. New Holland — broad agricultural lineup. Massey Ferguson — longstanding agricultural reputation. Fendt — often viewed as a premium European brand.
Where Kubota Sits
If we used a truck analogy:
Tractors
Truck Analogy
Kubota
Toyota
John Deere
Ford
Fendt
Mercedes-Benz
Massey Ferguson
Chevrolet
Case IH
Ram
New Holland
GMC
No analogy is perfect, but it gives a rough feel.
For Your Son as a Salesperson
The more interesting question may be:
Is he selling tractors, or is he selling trust?
Most customers can’t fully evaluate the machine’s engineering.
They evaluate:
whether the salesperson listens, whether the dealership stands behind the product, whether parts arrive quickly, whether service solves problems.
A man buying a $40,000 compact tractor or a $100,000+ piece of equipment is often making a relationship decision as much as a machinery decision.
Given what you’ve shared about your son, his engineering background might actually help. He doesn’t have to become the stereotypical salesperson. He can become the person who understands the machine well enough to help customers make a sound decision.
That’s often the strongest kind of sales professional in a technical field.
Running Down Vimy 