10/04/2025
This is a very special week this week at Deaf Jeff's for Jeffrey is turning 80! Here's a little in sight on the life of "Deaf Jeff"
At 80 years old, Jeff’s one of the few left standing in the old school dozer business. Growing up in the country just outside of Pittsworth on a farm throughout the years he got to watch how caterpillar dozers have changed and progressed from the older “U” series and seeing how important machinery is in the farming life style, even being lucky enough to buy one of the first D6 8U’s in the late 60’s. Throughout those years he learned how to repair these machines and how to find the best deals on parts, as back then the dozers were pushed to their limits and took its toll on the machines. Going through the years he started up a contracting business as Kronks Earthmoving, shortly became Kronks Earthmoving Machinery where he spent the next decade dealing with machines, non-genuine spares and even wrecking. He sourced these machines from all over Australia before he turned to importing them from around the world, in places like Singapore, UK and even Germany. All whilst dealing with his own farms, cattle and managing to build up Santa Stud while owning an annual Bull sale. The early 80’s provided him with a new challenge- finding out he was going deaf alongside responsibilities such as farming life, day to day business, traveling for the business and even phone calls became particularly hard as they weren’t as accommodating back then.
By the time he had to shut down Kronk’s Earthmoving, he took a break from machinery for a while up until the early 2000’s where he decided to settle down and create Deaf Jeff’s, and has spent the past 20 years helping farmers who are in need of parts.
There’s always a little smirk when clients come in and realise that the company is called Deaf Jeff’s for a reason and it’s one of his favourite parts of the job when they find out.
