Farms & Farm Machinery #401

Review
The Wild family has decades and generations of experience in
livestock transport, still going strong like their trusty Kenworth
nicknamed ‘Grunter Hunter’. Farms and Farm Machinery spoke
with Ian and Fiona Wild about the Wild family’s history and
how it’s not quite time for a full restoration
Words and Images Warren Aitken
Drive on the
wild side
I
must admit that, when I first spotted the
Wild’s Livestock twin steer Kenworth, it blew
me away! It went straight to the top of my
‘I’ve got to know the story behind that’ list. I thought it
was going to be such a cool restoration story.
I was so wrong; you want to know why? In order
to be a restoration story, the truck has to have
been restored! It turns out that the Wild’s Livestock
truck has never stopped; it has not had time for a
restoration, it is just a hard-working iconic truck.
The truck did get a little downtime when the
motor was first replaced with a couple of million
kilometres on it. Since then, the big girl has racked
up another million-plus kilometres. All up, there is
over three and a half million kilometres on a truck
nearing its 30th birthday.
I may not have been able to get a restoration story
out of owner and driver Ian Wild, but I was certain
I would still get some interesting tales. In fact, I got
some very ‘wild’ stories. My apologies, I will try
hard to avoid any more puns.
DRIVING AND DROVING
Wild’s Livestock’s history can be traced all the
way back to 1928 when Ian’s dad Laurie, at a mere
13-years-old, left chool and became a drover. His first
droving job saw him assisting in the relocation of
350 Hereford bulls from Jandowae down to Ipswich.
It’s a hell of a job for a young kid to get into; I’m sure
those bulls would have been pretty intimidating for a
young Laurie.
As he grew, so did his reputation. Laurie became
well-known around the area as an expert drover,
legendary horseman and renowned horse breaker.
When he was not away droving, Laurie would be
hard at work with his father and brothers on the
family farms in Donnybrook and Peachester.
Laurie spent nearly 20 years in the saddle before
42 Farms & Farm Machinery
marrying and ‘settling down’. In 1946, Laurie and his
wife Margaret bought a working dairy at Bald Knob
on the southern end of the Blackall Range, Sunshine
Coast. It was this family farm that would see Laurie
changing from droving to transport.
Over the next few decades, Laurie and Margaret
purchased several neighbouring farms and were
heavily into supplying milk for the local area.
With a growing farm, and changes in the farming
landscape, Laurie was a very busy man. Add in
the fact that he ended up with six kids as well and
I doubt he slowed down for much. It was a wildly
busy time.
Last of the six Wild children was Ian and he is the
one I had the privilege of sitting down with. Well,
Ian and his lovely wife Fiona. Under the shadow of
the unmissable Kenworth that brought me up here,
and with a plate of the most amazing homemade
cupcakes in front of me, I learnt all about the Wild’s
Livestock story.
Wild’s Livestock began way back with Laurie and
his first truck, a Chev Blitz. The Chev hit the road for
Laurie during the 1950s and was the first dedicated
livestock vehicle for the family. That little truck did
the job for a few years but, eventually, there was
more work than it could handle, not only moving
stock for the family farm, but also doing work for
other farmers as well. So, goodbye Chevy and hello
to a classic six-tonne J2 Bedford.
The Bedford’s arrival came around the same time
that Ian was returning from a two-year stint at the
Emerald Pastural College.
Having left chool, he headed off o the college
to gain both his truck licence and a more in-depth
agricultural knowledge. Though, he jokingly admits
that: “I really only learnt how to play up.”
With a truck licence in tow, he returned from two
years of study to the family farm and worked there
Taking over pig transport in the ‘80s led to the name
Grunter Hunter. The current Grunter Hunter came into
being in 1994 and has been working hard since