OUR STORY

The year was 1975. Stan was 26 years old and his young, beautiful bride of 3 years was 23 years old and expecting their first child. The couple was living in a single wide trailer house on 5th Street in Elbing, KS. Stan was a truck driver leased to Penner Feed and Supply hauling dry freight coast to coast and Bonnie worked as a bank teller. In an effort to spend more time at home and less time on the road, Stan and Bonnie bought their first backhoe, a Massey Ferguson 30. Their first jobs included repairing water leaks and installing sewer laterals at $16 an hour.

Within a year, the business was showing enough signs of success that Stan was able to put aside the coast to coast truck driving. Along with running a backhoe, he built basements with his brother, worked as the city maintenance man for the City of Whitewater, and was employed as the Butler County Deputy Sheriff. Stan and Bonnie also ran a trencher rental business and delivered mail. By the late 80’s there was enough excavation work to keep Stan busy full time while Bonnie stayed home with their growing family of four children, continuing to run the mail route and maintaining the books for Graber Backhoe. Stan and Bonnie’s first employee was soon hired. He was the first of many top notch employees.

By 1993 the business had outgrown the small town and they moved five miles east to a cattle farm. The Graber’s now added cattle ranching to their repertoire with a cow/calf herd of 120. The business remained at this location for 18 years until it moved to its present location in 2011.

In 2013 Graber Backhoe expanded the realm of services offered with the purchase of long reach excavation equipment from M&M Excavating. This has enabled us to offer services such as pond cleaning, cattle lagoon cleaning, etc. See our Project Media page for a video.

Graber Backhoe, Inc. became a 2nd generation family owned business in 2016 when Stan and Bonnie’s daughter, Abigail, and her husband, Clint Clark, purchased the business. Clint and Abby have both worked in the business since 2002. The two generations worked closely together for 20 years until Stan and Bonnie’s retirement. They taught and led by example the qualities of integrity, generosity, and excellence.

2025 marked 50 years of business! Graber Backhoe has grown and changed, yet our commitment to integrity, generosity, and excellence remains.