Phil May — May Bros Contracting, Methven

Philip May runs May Bros Contracting from Methven - a large agricultural contracting business and farming operation with, in his words, "a reasonable size fleet of machinery."  A fleet this size doesn't come cheap, and leaving it exposed to the elements simply isn't an option.

Left uncovered, machinery depreciates fast. The paintwork fades, rust creeps in, acidic bird droppings cause corrosion, and with a fleet this size, the numbers add up quickly. 

"This machinery, the cost of it is so expensive, we need to take good care of it and keep it up to standard, so the resale value stays up. We need to keep it out of the sun and the environment it's in, so we decided to build this shed.”

This is May Bros' seventh Alpine shed. When it came time to build again, Phil looked at other options on the market but ultimately came back to Alpine for of the bird-proof design and the peace of mind with a fixed-price contract.

"We looked at a few different options, but we liked the design of the shed… we had a fixed-price contract to build it.”

Size.  1,800m², 30m clearspan x 60m long, 8.5m wide bays, and 6m doors providing plenty of space for the whole fleet, with room to move.

"It's big enough to fit everything in. Yeah, it works really well."

 Full Structural Steel Portal Design.  5-10mm thick, hot-dip galvanised structural steel portals and rafters provide superior strength, durability, and rust-resistance compared to other lightweight steel systems. It’s a shed built to last for generations to come.

 Bird-Proof Design.  Alpine's enclosed rafter system leaves nowhere for birds to roost in the shed.

"We loved the roof design, really. It's bird-proof at the moment... there's nowhere actually for them to sit on this roof. So that was a massive plus for us. Probably exceeded our expectations."

Fixed Price Contract. No surprises, no blown budgets. "We had a fixed price contract to build it, and yeah, they put it up very quick."

The machinery is protected from the elements and corrosive bird droppings - keeping operations running smoothly today, while maintaining the machinery’s resale value for when it’s sold later down the track.

“It is a huge investment building something like this, but there's a lot of valuable items in here as well. Resale is big for us, and cost of ownership these days is what we look at.”

“When we trade these machines in, it's that gap in the middle we're trying to bridge - what the new one costs and what we trade it for. This (shed) is certainly helping; it helps the machinery look better, and it should last longer, we hope.”

"Alpine have been awesome to deal with, so I'd recommend them definitely. It's been a breeze, really."