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Our History

With a history stretching back to 1946, we are committed to
supporting our customers in good years and bad.

Our History 1930 - 2017

1930
1946
1992
1998
2002
2017
1930-1945

The Ayling family started in farm machinery in the early 1930’s, having the first tractor in the Barmera district of South Australia.

By the late 1940’s the family had a fleet of McCormick Deering 1020 tractors on steel wheels. It was cheaper and quicker to hire one of these tractors than it was too pay for 2 horses and manpower to plough the paddock.

1946

After WWII, the new settlers wanted to own their own tractor. The business moved from a tractor rental company to a tractor dealership selling international harvester machinery. The family always had a focus in being a reliable and honest partner to agricultural business.

1992

Sunraysia Motors which also started in 1946 was purchased by Steven Ayling in 1992 after it went through some tough times. The brands it represented were Case IH, Kubota and Massey Ferguson.

A few years later Massey Ferguson gave Steven an ultimatum and said it is us or Kubota, Steven wisely chose Kubota which later proved to be the stronger brand of the two.

1998

The Case IH Dealer in Murray Bridge went bankrupt, giving the opportunity for a second branch. This branch was later sold to fund another expansion in 2002 but the property was retained.

2002

A neighbouring Case IH dealer at Ouyen and Swan Hill went bankrupt which provided the opportunity to expand Sunrise Ag to three branches (selling the Murray Bridge branch). Ouyen and Swan Hill were great broadacre areas which suited strong Case IH brand.

2017

In 2017 Steve could see the growth and opportunity in the nut industry so organised a trip to California to door knock nut machinery manufacturers in the USA. We were successful in obtaining the Orchard-Rite, Nelson Hardie, Weiss McNair and Legacy Industries franchises. This has turned out to be a successful move.