Raised on a farm in Peace Country, Vincent Pawluski has always loved to tinker. As a kid, he hot-rodded a Fischer Price boat with a small motor and propeller. Later, as an elementary school science fair project, he and his friends created a remote-control drill stem.
After high school Vince became a journeyman millwright, while also working on the farm with his parents. In 2003, Vince married his wife Christina Pawluski and had two girls in the next three years. Vince’s interest in agriculture has never left his heart even after he stopped farming 12,000 acres with his parents.
Vince and Christina took their family on an 8 month journey through the United States, eventually settling in Okotoks. While living there they missed being involved in the agriculture industry. Vince took a job with Seedhawk; in those 6 short months being back in agriculture, he had found land back home to rent. He and his wife realized their love of farming was made for the field, not the industry.
Vince and his wife Christina built their own farm operation to 5,500 acres in a new area over the course of seven years. Being back on the farm with a new energy, he saw an opportunity to fix one of the most common problems people had when running equipment, being in 2 places at the same time.
He used to move many times between his tractor and equipment while working alone, performing tasks like extracting and bagging grain. In snowy conditions, he’d sometimes slip and fall while moving between the grain bag and the tractor. A journeyman millwright by trade, Pawluski grew up in a farming family and has long enjoyed tinkering with remote-controlled machines.
After experimenting with automating some of his agricultural equipment, he tweeted a video of himself starting the engine of his tractor with a remote control. Within 24 hours, dozens of people had contacted him about using the technology. He taught himself how to draw using computer-aided design and uses the state-of-the-art HP 4200 MJF 3D printer to produce the arm’s parts. Now, he runs a manufacturing operation right out of his family’s yard.
“My whole outlook on things is if I need it, I’ll learn it so I can do it.”
