HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

The History

& The Growth Of A Local Business

CLEAVES     EARTHMOVING    & DRAINAGE

 At The Age Of 12, Billy Cleave

Left School & Commenced His Working Life At WH Young & Sons  Quarry In Cosgrove.  His First Job Was To Hand Load Rocks Into Skip Bins That Were Later Loaded Onto Trucks.

By The Age Of 16 Billy Had Progressed

To Operating The Front-End Loaders. 

Billy Left The Quarry A Few Years Later To Work In Shepparton Operating A Cranvel Wombat (Mini Backhoe) For Claude Chanter. In These Early Years Billy Also Worked On The Garbage Run & The Night-Cart Run, & Those Old Enough To Remember Would Probably Understand That Was His Least Favourite Job. 

In 1970 Billy Went Into Partnership With Jimmy Sewel Doing Drainage Works In Shepparton & Surrounding Areas.  His Earlier Work In The Quarry Had A Major Impact In These Later Years & When Billy Was Diagnosed With Cement Poisoning He Was Basically Bed Ridden For Five Months. 

When Billy's Health Returned He Dissolved His Partnership With Jimmy & Went To Work For Alex Farrow, One Of Shepparton’s Most Prominent Plumbers At The Time, Employing Around 40 Staff. Billy Saw The Opportunity To Make Another Go At It Alone & In 1977 When The First Two Backhoes For Shepparton

 (John Deere Chamberlains) Arrived, One Was For Alex Farrow &, As Alex Was To Discover, One Was For Billy Cleave. 

The Day They Arrived Billy Told Marlene That Alex Was Going To Sack Him That Day, & When She Questioned Why, He Answered That Alex Had Enquired Who The Other Backhoe Was For & Was Told

It Was For

Billy Cleave.

 (Ironically, Alex & Billy Are Still Firm Friends With Alex & Marlene’s Sister Barb, Having Been Together Now For A Number Of Years.

So, In 1977 Billy Went Out & Bought A Wheelbarrow & A Couple Of Shovels & The Cleaves

Business Was Born.  That First Backhoe Cost $8500 In 1977, A Far Cry From $150,000 Price Tag That A New Backhoe Would Set You Back In Today's Market.

Billy & Marlene Were Married In Shepparton In 1958 When Billy Was 23 & Marlene 18. They Went On To Have Four Children; Andrew Was Born in 1962, Sharon In 1965, Nicole In 1968 & Jarrod In 1971. Marlene’s First Job At The Age Of 14 Years Was Working At McDonald’s Corner Shop Where Mum’s Kitchen Now Resides. After Two Years She Moved On To Dunstan’s Butcher Shop In Wyndham Street Where She Stayed For The Next Two Years. At The Age Of 17 Marlene Also Started Working At WB Hunters, Where Over A 20 Year Period She Clocked Up 13 Years Of Service, With The Kids Being Born In Between Times. 

Marlene Looked After The Books For Cleaves From Its Inception In 1977 Until 2001 When She Unfortunately Suffered A Brain Tumor & Lost Her Sight In One Eye.  After A Well Deserved Rest Marlene Started A Takeaway Food Business With Daughter Sharon On The Corner Of Mitchell Street & Benalla Road.  They Became Well Known & Very Successful & Had That Business For 15 Years.   

Andrew Remembers Going To Work With His Dad At The Age Of Three & Sitting On The Guard Of The Front-End Loader.  He Joined The Business In 1979 When He Was 16 & Purchased His Very First Case Backhoe. Jarrod Followed On From His Brother, Joining The Business In 1989 At The Age Of 17.  On September 1, 1996, The Cleave’s Family Business Formed A Company. From Its Early Beginnings The Business Has Grown & Diversified To This Day. 

Andrew & Jarrod Took Over The Running Of The Business Over 25 Years Ago & Worked Hard To Bring The Business Where It Is Today.  The Sand & Gravel Depot Started With Only A Few Piles Of Sand & Soil & Has Grown To Stocking Over 70 Products Today, Including A Wide Range Of Premium Sands & Soils Mulches, Decorative River Pebbles, Rocks, Concrete Pavers & Sleepers Which Is The Business Cleave's Garden Supplies & The Subsidiary Company Is Cleave's Earthmoving & Drainage Which Has Also Evolved Over Time To Include Road Stabilisation, Kerb & Channel Restructuring & Footpath Works.

The Single Backhoe Has Also Grown Into An Entire Fleet Of Equipment.  Now Aged 85 Billy Continues To Call Into The Yard On The Odd Occasion... He Enjoys Having A Yarn With The Workers & Customers Whom His Has Known For Years. Marlene Is Now 80 & Apart From The Obligatory Doctor's Visits That Come With Later Life, They Are Still Both Active & After Much Persuasion From All Their Children, They Are Well & Truly In Retirement & Certainly Enjoying Life To Its Fullest...