About Us
Our Story
Goodmans have been shifting dirt since 1963 when Rick Goodman and his brother Tony started the business.
The story began with a Fordson CD50 bulldozer purchased for farm work. Rick and Tony were running the family farm at the time. Their father Frank was working for the housing division of the Ministry of Works in Wellington and mentioned that there was a possibility of work for their tractor in Porirua. The work involved new subdivisions at Cannons Creek. So, the brothers bought an old Bedford truck and headed to Porirua with their truck & bulldozer.
In 1964 Goodman Earthmovers Limited was officially formed. Now the company is Goodman Contractors Limited and is owned by Stan, Lance, Vaughan and Marianne (Rick’s children).
One day you will be able to read a full memoir. For now, enjoy the ’50 years in business’ poem by Lance and the photo graphic history throughout our website!
From Right to left: Lance Goodman (Director), Marianne Archer (Director), Rick Goodman (Founder), Stan Goodman (Managing Director) & Vaughan Goodman (Director)
Lance’s Poem For Pop’s 50 Years In Business
“When the winter is finished and the wind kicks up
The season has started the pub just shut
U pull on your boots, your coat and your hat
Make your meat sammies with big chunks of fat
Off to the yard to pick up your gear
Odd socks and gumboots but no one will care.
You get to the job, you check out your dozers
This is no place for dickheads or posers
The engines crank up, smoke fills the air
Watch out for the soot, it’ll get in your hair.
Ripping the rock and pushing it out
Smoke off the tips is what we’re all about
Checking the gauges for pressure and heat
Sweat on your brow, your crack and your seat.
The smoko shed is a fun place where you eat
Share stories and drink cups of tea
You talk of old mates and mistakes from the past
Things you’d do different and cars that go fast.
You follow the plan like its law to the letter
Unless it don’t work and you know better
But at the end of the day once the greasing is through
You’ve buried the weave and the batter is true
You take care of the water, you roll all the loose
Turn of the noise and call a truce.
When the sun goes down and the dust starts to settle
You can no longer sit on red hot metal
Its home to the kids, the wife or the pub
To have a cool beer and a big plate of grub
And knowing that tomorrow you’re starting again
Another big day for the road making men.”
— Lance Goodman, 2010