The engine on our ride-on mower wore out and we needed to replace it, as the cost of repairing it was almost the same as a new engine. After considerable looking around to find a replacement engine, I was offered what at the time, seemed like a bargain, by Shillings.

The old engine on the ride-on was an 11 HP Briggs and Stratton and I was offered a 12 HP Tecumseh engine for around 20% less than I could obtain any other engine and the price included free fitting, which other quotes did not.

I had never heard of a Tecumseh engine previously, and I enquired as to the reliability of these engines. He stated to me that these engines were far better than a "Briggs and Scrapiron" as he termed it (Briggs and Stratton). He further stated that Tecumseh engines did not suffer wear on the carburetor shaft that the Briggs engines suffered.

I went ahead with the installation of the engine on my mower and the first thing I noticed on using the mower was the loud rattling of the engine. I immediately returned to Shillings and told him of this and he replied that this was a characteristic of these engines and nothing to worry about. A little while later, I mentioned to a friend that I had a new Tecumseh engine on my ride-on and he told me that I had made a big mistake, as these engines typically put their conrod through the crankcase. I went back to Shillings again and asked him about this and he stated that this had only been one particular engine which had been a limited production run and that Tecumseh engines in general did not do this.

A short time later, I had to replace the carburetor shaft due to excessive wear and I told him that I was not happy about this as he had told me that this would not happen on this engine. He then stated that it was because of my dusty conditions that I was using the mower in and that these engines were not designed to run in dusty conditions. I then pointed out to him that I had told him exactly what I wanted the engine for and he had said that this engine would be suitable for my mower.

Not long after that, the engine put the conrod through the crankcase after only 113 hours of use. Needless to say, I was furious after spending so much money on this engine that Shilling had highly recommended. I contacted the manufacturer who advised me that they would consider a warranty claim, but only if Shilling pulled the engine down to send the conrod back to them for inspection. This was done and I was charged by Shilling for the work. The manufacturer would not stand by the engine, so I was left out of pocket over $1,000. Shilling then threw all the parts into a box with the air filter at the bottom of the box to be crushed by heavier parts.

I later discussed this failure with an engineer friend of mine, who stated that the conrod was obviously flawed from manufacture due to the evidence visible at the fracture site.

So in short, Shilling sold me an engine that was not suitable for what he said it was suitable for, which contained a defect which lead to early engine failure and then he would not stand behind the product he sold. I would not recommend this business under any circumstances.

We had underground power run to our house from our meter box, including the installation of a sub-board at the house with Safety Switches. A separate circuit was run for our pumps at the same time.

Brian is a very friendly and easy-to-get-on-with sort of person who does excellent work according to the customer's specification (as close as practical while fulfilling legal requirements). He is always open to customer input while completing the work, and is a pleasure to work with. His work is of the highest standard and he takes particular care to ensure a neat appearance of all work done.

Brian was recommended to us by a Maryborough business, even though he lives at Hervey Bay. He regularly does work for this business and frequently works in the Maryborough area. His reputation is well deserved and we would highly recommend Brian for all electrical work.

We have used Alan Morrison on two occasions for the construction of dams on our property. Alan constructed our first dam and on the second occasion, his operator, Bill, enlarged one of our dams. On both occasions, the work was performed to specification and to a high standard. Alan does not advertise his business, but relies on his reputation and word of mouth as to the high standard of his work. Looking through the Yellow Pages, you can easily miss Alan's small listing in amongst the other larger listings.

Alan and Bill both listen to what the customer requires and do their best to fulfil those requirements. We had another operator perform work for us on another occasion, which we were not happy with, so we went out of our way to get Alan back for our dam enlargement.

Alan may not be the cheapest operator around, however, he and Bill put the effort into getting the work done as quickly and efficiently as possible and don't muck around with the job.

It is advisable to book your job well ahead, as Alan is always busy and occasionally may be delayed in getting to your job, but if this is the case, he will keep you well informed.

Alan Morrison Excavations is certainly at the top of the list for this type of work and I would highly recommend this business.

As well as selling new equipment and performing repairs on customer's equipment, Wilson's Mower Centre stocks an extensive range of spare parts to suit a wide range of mowers, brush cutters and chainsaws.

If you are looking for hard to get parts for older equipment, this is one of the best places to try, as the staff will always try to get hard-to-get parts for you if they don't have the part in stock. I've been purchasing spare parts here for around 15 years and it's always my first port of call for mower spares and brush cutter line.

Being a small family business and employing few staff has advantages and disadvantages. The prices are always very competitive, however, there may be occasions where staff are tied up with other customers and it may be necessary to wait a little while for service.

This wait is offset by the friendly, efficient service from staff with an extensive knowledge of the products they service and sell and their willingness to offer advice and attempt to obtain hard-to-get parts for customers.

We regularly purchase computer components here, including, among other things, a complete system which we assembled ourselves. The staff members are highly experienced and freely offer advice on all aspects of computer technology.

The prices are comparable with other local businesses, although not quite as cheap as on-line retailers. However on the rate occasions that we have required a warranty claim on a component (hard drive), this was handled quickly and efficiently with no waiting, so we could get up and running again quickly. It's worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind of knowing that the business will still be there to offer support if required.