Keith Patton of N.E.O. Tractor Works digs on a drainage improvement job in Austintown.
It’s no surprise that Keith Patton grew up wanting to work with big equipment – what boy didn’t? – but he never let the fascination fade.
Now, he’s trying to make a living at it.
Patton has created N.E.O. Tractor Works, a small-scale excavating business.
“It’s always been a dream,” he said of working with equipment. “Everything from Tonka toys as a kid all the way up to doing it in real life.”
Patton came to the business slowly. He graduated from Brookfield High in 2005 and enrolled in the University of Akron because a college degree was what people were pushing at the time, he said. He ended up leaving school early to enlist in the Air Force. He served from 2009-17, lastly stationed with the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, where he was an hydraulic and electrical mechanic on C-5 and C-17 cargo planes.
He came back to Brookfield in about 2019 to be closer to his family and started an apprenticeship with Local 573 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Patton created N.E.O. Tractor Works about two years ago, but spent much of the first year learning what he thought he needed to learn by reading, studying videos on “YouTube University,” talking to other excavation contractors and practicing on his own property.
“This year is the year I’m really pushing hard on it,” he said.
Working from the seat of his sub-compact LS backhoe, Patton offers residential and light commercial excavation for jobs such as French drains, driveway restoration, yard leveling and ditching, “Filling the void between DIYers and big-time contractors,” as his slogan goes.
He is building his reputation on communication with his customers, conscientiousness on the job — cleaning up every day and taking into account the impact on neighbors – and a fair price.
“I’m a big believer in integrity,” Patton said. “I’m a believer in doing the job correctly the first time so I don’t ever get calls back.”
He picked an interesting time to start his business.
“This summer has challenged me to no end because of the rain,” Patton said. “The dirt’s doing things I have never seen before.”
A student of dirt, Patton said he is learning “what it actually does throughout the four seasons.”
With all the gravel drives in Brookfield, Patton hopes to get a lot of business restoring them. In most cases, he can use the gravel that already exists to recrown and reprofile the drives “for a fraction of the cost of brand new,” he said.
Patton considers himself a constant student, something that would have surprised his 18-year-old self.
“I have learned that knowledge is power,” he said. “It’s constantly wanting to learn and constantly asking questions. The more education you have, the better off you are. It’s not only the education part, it’s applying the education to the real world, seeing how things really work and what does work.”
