About
Welcome to Dalton’s ATVs Ltd, we are authorised dealers of new and quality used Honda, Yamaha and Polaris ATV’s & UTVs, we pride ourselves in keeping large stocks of the most popular machines used by our customers to make sure that whatever line of work you are in we can keep your business going. Although we specialize in the commercial market, we are also authorised dealers of sport and leisure machines too if you fancy a bit of fun in your spare time.
John Dalton owns and runs the family business that is Dalton’s ATVs whilst also managing his own family farm, where, naturally, he uses the products he sells!
We are a family run Company who pride ourselves in giving a fantastic service to our customers. This service not only involves the buying and selling of ATV’s and Attachments but the all-important “After Sales” that we are very proud of. “This is the hardest part of the business to manage as you never know who or where the next call will come from and with several thousand customers that we look after it can get a bit exciting sometimes.”
The business has been involved with All Terrain Vehicles since 1980 when the Honda three wheelers really started to find their place in agriculture and we are proud to now be authorised dealers for not only Honda but Yamaha and Polaris ATV’s and UTVs, with a full array of quality attachments to compliment all the products we sell.
Take a look around our site and if there is anything, we can help with then please get in touch.
History of Daltons ATV Ltd
“Working on our livestock farm from the age of 10, followed by work experience on a farm in East Anglia was a good grounding to learn and experience the needs of the farming community. Throughout these years I witnessed the highs and lows of ‘Customer Service’ offered to farmers by many companies. This experience would be the basis on how one day I would run my own business”
Being a farmer’s son, from the age of 10 my first responsibility was to feed and water the animals after school, certainly more fun than homework albeit it still had to be done! The animal husbandry was to become my key job every winter and in the summer brought different tasks, one of which developed into a passion for sheep dog trials. Each evening after the chores and definitely prior to homework I would run my dog, Vic, who would do almost anything and a great asset to the farm. We participated in many trials winning a few trophies along the way.
In recognition of my hard work and constant nagging Mum purchased our first Honda, a second hand ATC110 (3-wheel) in 1981 from Rody Rees, the local Honda Dealer in Lampeter. The 110, Vic and myself were a great team; the three of us entered a special class of sheep dog trials.
Like other farmers, we discovered many uses for an ATC and soon we were looking for a larger machine so off to Rody Rees Motors and an ATC185 found its way to our farm. The 185 was a great working machine and remained on our farm for years. I managed to convince Mum the 185 should go with me to East Anglia for my 10 month work experience, what fun we had!
It was whilst working with irrigation systems in East Anglia that the seed was sown to start what we all now know was a revolution in farmyard waste disposal but the luxury of sitting in a tractor cab rolling the slurry pipes in and out hydraulicly was just a ‘pipe dream’ in those days.
In 1988 I started a new venture with 500 meters of (cheap) ‘lay flat’ hose and a second-hand water irrigator to find my way to the possibilities of disposal of farm slurry in this revolutionary way. This was an increasingly serious problem on our farm as it was on other farms with what seemed at the time some extremely wet winters. As with many new ideas, I did not realise the full potential of what I was trying to achieve as I thought it was only a short-term solution for the wettest of weather and not helped by many who believed I was stone mad to even try! The work was done by hand, laying the pipes, moving the gun and rolling up full pipes of liquid farmyard manure!! I soon realised that if I wanted to provide farmers with my services, I needed serious help in the form of a new 4-wheel Honda TRX350D, my first new ATV!
What a revolution, as within 12 months I had developed a system where we arrived on site with our two TRX350D’s and specialist trailers that I had built in the farm workshop enabling us to travel throughout Wales to provide our services. The ATVs worked every day in most atrocious conditions and I soon learned that a stitch in time saves nine as I could not afford to be without our ATVs so I set up a regular service plan with Rody Rees to ensure our down time was at a minimum.
Following years of outstanding service from Rody Rees Motors the opportunity came in 1999 to buy the business and as they say….. ”I was so impressed I bought the company”!
On the 1st October 1999 I purchased Rody Rees Motors, located in Bridge Street, Lampeter. The premises were situated on the main street with a shop window and door. On entering it was like entering Doctor Who’s Tardis and it certainly felt like I was embarking on unknown travels! From the front door the depth of the shop went through to the street at the rear. Within the premises was a large 3 storey building divided into showroom, store room and workshop. Customers bringing ATVs to the premises had to either park on the pavement or go along the narrow back streets avoiding the neighbours’ cars, pets and sometimes the neighbours themselves! We rented garages from various neighbours to store our second hand and our customers ATVs and quickly realised that to take this business forward new premises had to be found.
The business growth continued and after 3 years we had the opportunity to bid for a site set in 4 acres of ground, formerly a Massey Fergusson Dealership. As an agricultural machinery business, the premises were ideal, consisting of a showroom, ‘fully equipped’ workshop, 2 store rooms, telephone system and computers – just simply move in. After months of sorting out a deal, I finally received a telephone call of a lifetime confirming Daltons ATVs Ltd had been successful and I could now pursue my dream to have one of the best ATV Dealerships in the country. Dave my brother who now works with me, (he was the intelligent one of the family so deals with all the accounts and paperwork side of the business) gave the premises a ‘face lift’, by painting inside and out, we then reorganising the workshop and showroom. Daltons ATVs Ltd now had premises that were idea for an ATV Centre. In May 2003 Dalton’s ATVs Ltd moved 6 miles north east of Lampeter to Talsarn.
My passion for farming is as strong as ever and keeps me fully occupied at weekends. During the week it’s now a case of using technology to help run the farm with various ‘apps’ including a few WhatsApp groups so that everyone in that group is in the loop, we also use several internet based links to mobile devices and PCs so that we can monitor all the workings of the digester and the farm from any location helping to bridge the distance gap but you can’t beat talking to people so it’s still a case of farming by phone with the help of two dedicated very hard working men, Hywel and Dylan overseen by my Mother…..Mrs “D”.
In 2015 we decided to take a slightly different route with the farm, with fluctuating prices for store cattle and two lockdowns due to TB and with my experience in dealing with slurry we decided to install a small scale farm based anaerobic digester, I have to say that this has taken all my focus and energy along with everybody who has been involved with its construction to achieve but five years later after several sleepless nights we have a fully operational “Concreate cow” that has hopefully but certainly not without its problems secured the farms future for the next generation that recently in July 2019 grew to five little ones, Tomos, Llyr, Dafydd, Mari and Erin who I am immensely proud of.
We still run 100 suckler cows but now take all of their calves on to fat cattle and sell direct to the abattoir. We have cut the number of Lleyn and Lleyn cross ewes down to 350 and still fatten their lambs off roots and grass. The decision to install a digester has meant that the faming team have all had to learn new skills and we have had to learn quickly how to get the most from the land we have by embarking on a mission to see what we can grow and if it is viable to grow crops such as Rye and Triticale at 800ft with an annual rainfall of approximately 1.3 meters! I know we can grow grass and we are experimenting with some really high-performance rye grasses to see what can be achieved both in volume and viability. The passion for farming is a major benefit to both my customers and myself as I am conscious of their needs through my farming experience resulting in a mutual respect. As a farmer and ATV Dealer I am fully aware that when the pressure is on urgent action is necessary and my Team will respond accordingly.
We, the Dalton’s Team, are very proud to work alongside all our Franchises and between us supply a range of industry leading products for the best customer experience as what I have tried to achieve is a one stop specialist shop for all your ATV and UTV needs. The Dalton’s Team now consist of 18 highly motivated and talented people, the majority having been with Dalton’s for many years. Our Team have enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of all the products we sell and we constantly strive to maintain and exceed our customer’s expectations.
Moving on to the next phase of the business which without doubt due to the Coronavirus pandemic will see us interact with each other in very different ways, we are embracing the best methods of looking after our customers and staff by utilizing technology to make it as easy and as safe as possible for you to do business with us, so I hope you enjoy using our new and constantly evolving web site, our Facebook and Instagram posts but most of all we look forward to talking to you so please don’t be afraid to pick up the phone for a chat.
As I reflect on my journey from a schoolboy working on the farm to the work experience in East Anglia, developing a Slurry Disposal Business, buying Rody Rees Motors, setting up Dalton’s ATV Centre, and more recently designing and building a digester to be integrated into the new carbon zero farming era we are heading into, none of this could have happened without the help and dedication from some very special and key people in my life most notably my Mum and my long suffering wife Ffion who never (well nearly never) complains about the long hours that are needed to make sure that all the cogs are greased and all of our loyal customers are kept in action. So, to all the people around me during each and every step……. DIOLCH YN FAWR, THANK YOU!
Rody once said to me, “During my time as an ATV Dealer I have met many people, some who have become lifetime friends – the same will happen to you”…….How right he was!
Kindest regards to you all and I look forward to seeing you soon.
John and Family.
