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Passing the Torch in Louisiana

After 29 years as a Tigercat dealer in Louisiana, Patrick-Miller Tractor Company is acquired by MidSouth Forestry Equipment.

Since 1996, Patrick-Miller Tractor Company has been committed to serving customers across Louisiana with tough, durable equipment and outstanding customer service. “Tigercat has been a blessing for me and my family,” says Doug Patrick, former owner of Patrick-Miller. “It’s been a family operation. You know your customers by name. We talk about stuff, not necessarily about work, and if anyone needs to sit down with me, my office door has always been open.” Doug takes pride in the company he built. “I never wanted to be the biggest dealer Tigercat had. I just wanted to be the best. I didn’t want the whole pie. I just wanted a slice to keep the business open and support my family.”
Jeff Rains, Doug Patrick and James Farquhar.
The roots of Patrick-Miller go all the way back to 1948. “My dad, E.M. Patrick, had a wholesale grocery business at the time and they serviced all these little stores around the parish. Back then they were skidding logs with mules. A man by the name of Horace Sanders, he was an agriculture teacher down here. And Horace had the idea that you could skid logs with a tractor. So they hooked up with the Ford tractor distributor down near New Orleans, and they started selling Ford 8Ns and of course they sold them to farmers also. Sanders had a stroke and died in 1953 and W.R. Miller’s wife was my dad’s bookkeeper. My dad and Miller formed Patrick-Miller in 1953.”

For many years, Patrick-Miller was predominantly an ag equipment dealer. “We had Ford tractors and Log Hog. Log Hog took a Ford tractor and turned it into a skidder. They put a little protection and a canopy over it and put a dozer blade on it. They cut the front axle off and dropped it down to give more ground clearance. And they put little tongs on the back. They weren’t hydraulic but the boom was hydraulic. The tongs just opened up and slipped over the log. In those days, the sawman cut the tree down and topped it. Then he cut the tree right in the middle. The Log Hog would back up at the cut, drop the boom, and two grabs would pick up the logs.”

Patrick-Miller moved to its current location in 1966 and the company continued to sell the converted Ford tractor skidders for many years. “When Log Hog went under, Peerless came along and we started selling their loaders. We sold that for a few years, and then Timberjack bought them out and we got booted out the door. That’s when I started hustling for Tigercat,” says Doug. “You know, Louisiana Machinery used to brag about Tigercat. They would sell it and didn’t have to worry about it. Bulletproof. I called Bruce Hutchinson [then owner of Tigercat Evergreen, Alabama dealer, Cotten Hutcheson] and he gave me Johnny Boyd’s phone number. I pestered Johnny for nearly a year. It was Johnny that put me in business and that’s been a blessing. Tigercat put Patrick-Miller on the map and kept it on there ever since.”

At the time, several Caterpillar dealers were selling the Tigercat 726 and 720 feller bunchers in the southern US, including Louisiana Tractor and Riggs in Arkansas. In 1996 when Patrick-Miller got the Tigercat line, the company was primarily selling the 720 in parallel with Louisiana Machinery. “We doubled the market share on wheel cutters from July 1996 until the end of the year,” says Doug. In 1997 Doug got access to the 630 skidder and by 1998, he had a full Tigercat product line with the addition of the 230 loader.

Still early days for Tigercat and its product development efforts, Doug and his team experienced the growing pains right along with the factory team. For James Farquhar, Tigercat District Manager based in Arkansas – who at that time worked in the service department – it has all come full circle. “I spent a hundred plus days working in Doug’s shop here in the late nineties rebuilding skidder transmissions. I went to church with Doug for Easter and had dinner at his house after. It was the only holiday I ever missed with my kids,” he recalls.

Doug had several offers to purchase the dealership and felt like MidSouth was the best fit. He liked the way MidSouth conducted business, and he saw similarities in culture and customer base. Ultimately Doug felt the match-up would be a great fit for his employees.
Jon Bierbaum in the Warren, Arkansas branch.
With neighbouring territories, the two dealers have always cooperated and worked well together. MidSouth owner and dealer principal Jon Bierbaum agrees that the two companies share a similar culture. “I thought everything about it was a good fit and when we got down here and met the team, we saw they shared our commitment to putting the customer first.”

Jon knows firsthand the quality of Tigercat equipment, having run it on his own logging jobs before becoming involved with MidSouth fifteen years ago. Many members of the team at Midsouth have been with Tigercat in Arkansas for over twenty years, and Jon credits them with contributing significantly to the success of MidSouth Forestry.

General Manager Jeff Rains came on board with MidSouth Forestry six years ago. “I grew up in Robeline, Louisiana so I am familiar with the area. We are excited to get out and meet with our customers and let them know that their production is our top priority.”

Patrick-Miller’s existing team will continue to service the customer base. The merger allows the entire area of responsibility to see better coverage from more locations. The Many, Louisiana dealership will be MidSouth’s fourth location, adding to its existing stores in Warren, Caddo Valley, and Springfield that already service customers in Arkansas and north Louisiana.

“We are grateful for all the hard work that Doug put into growing Patrick-Miller,” says Jon. “We will do our best to preserve that legacy and build on it.”

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