Fifty years just wasn’t enough forTom Hawthorne. After handing over the reigns of the

San Diego area Cat dealership over tohis son-in-law in 2007, Hawthornewasn’t quite ready to call it quits.At the age of 79, Hawthorne saw an

opportunity on the site of a bankruptequipment rental business on MissionAve in Escondido. Rebel Rents, a longstanding rental service had vacated itsproperty, and despite the looming greatrecession, Tool Shed Rentals waslaunched there in 2008.“I saw a business opportunity, but

more than that I saw an opportunity tokeep the family together,” Hawthorne

said. The ‘family’ Hawthorne refers toare his three brothers, all of whom had,at various times, been key personnel atHawthorne Machinery, the Cat dealer-ship Tom formed with his father, JB, in1956. Today Tom, at 86, operates Tool

Shed along with brothers Paul, 74,Jack, 71 and Gary, 68. The four broth-ers bring more than 180 years of com-bined construction equipment experi-ence to the company. Each started in thebusiness in their twenties and have

remained throughouttheir respectivecareers.To say that heavy

equipment is in theHawthorne brothers’sblood would be anunderstatement. Theirfather, JB Hawthorne,founded L.A. Tractor& Equipment Co.Sales in the LosAngeles area in 1947.Nine years later, sens-

ing the growth the industry would seeas a result of the Federal Highway Actof 1956, he and his eldest son acquiredthe Caterpillar dealership for the SanDiego area.Tom was 27 at the time. He would

serve 10 years as president ofHawthorne and take over as CEO in1966. Hawthorne CAT’s first year inbusiness saw about $5 million in sales.The company’s sales would grow sig-nificantly under Tom’s leadership.Also during that time, the company

would add Hawaii, Guam and thePacific Islands to its territory.Meanwhile, the other three brothers

were all involved in the industry, and attimes with Tom’s dealership. Paulhelped his brother launch the firstCaterpillar Rental service in 1974, andlater became VP of Hawthorne CAT’srental division. Gary served initially asmarketing director of Hawthorne andlater in the sales department. Jack wascritical to the growth of the company’sservice department. Gary and Jack laterleft the business and started HawthorneContracting.In 2008 the four were reunited and

began the process of building a newHawthorne dynasty. Nine employees ofRebel Rents were retained, and allremain with Tool Shed today. Afterseven years, the number of employeeshas risen to 35. Later, the neighboringproperty of a plumbing business waspurchased, and Tool Shed grew to itscurrent size.Tool Shed rents equipment small

Hawthorne Seizes Growth Opportunities

CALIFORNIA STATE SECTION

Your California Connection – Dennis Hogeboom – 1-877-7CEGLTD – dennishogeboom@cegltd.com

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”

97

139395

395

29989

4444

299

101

101

1011

20

9970

50

49

36

89

89

299

70

65

1

1

152

33

101

101

198

198

33

180

41

190

395

395

6

120

140

120

99

99

49

120

395

101

1

46 178

65

58

127

395

1 101

14

86

95

14

5

5

5

5

5

515

15

15

40

10

505

280

880

80

5

5

5

5

5

515

15

15

40

10

505

8

280

880

80

80

680

580

1010

Crescent City

EurekaRio Dell

Burney

ChicoOroville

Leggett

FortFortBraggBragg

Point ArenaTahoe City

Auburn

SacramentoSanta Rosa

San Francisco OaklandOaklandBerkleyBerkley

San JoseSan Jose

Santa Cruz

Modesto

Sonora

San Diego

Oceanside

Palm SpringsPalm Springs

Riverside

San Bernadino

Long BeachSanta AnaSanta Ana

Los AngelesLos AngelesGlendale

Santa Monica

BarstowBarstow

Santa Barbara Ventura

Santa Maria

San Luis Obispo

BakersfieldBakersfield Baker

Death Valley JunctionDeath Valley Junction

Montery

MaderaMaderaFresno

King City

LuciaLucia

SouthLakeTahoe

The Hawthorne Brothers (L-R) are Paul, Tom, Gary andJack. Tom founded Hawthorne Machinery in 1956. Paul,Gary and Jack are managing partners of Tool Shed Rentals.

see HAWTHORNE page 20

MCLAREN RUBBER TRACKS FOR MINI EXCAVATORS & TRACK LOADERS, The most trusted brand in America

brings you quality tracks for your specific make and model.Call McLaren 888-492-4230

Sell Your Equipment TODAY!

GIVE US A CALL 866-372-1700Visit: barnoneauction.com

Upcoming Auction

Portland, OR March 25th

JB (L) and Tom Hawthorne stand on the site of thefuture Hawthorne Machinery site in 1956. Theoriginal building was in Kearny Mesa, Calif.

Page 20 • March 21, 2015 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • California Section • Construction Equipment Guide

Hawthorne Brings Years of Experience to Tool Shed Rentalsenough for the homeowner andlarge enough for the biggest earthmoving contractors. Landscapersalso represent a significant part ofthe business. The company main-tain more than 200 pieces of rentalequipment in addition to 100pieces in the earth moving divi-sion.Sales have grown to $10.3 mil-

lion in 2014.Gary heads up sales and market-

ing, Paul the finance end of thecompany, and Jack is in charge ofall equipment service and mainte-nance. He also has the final say onall equipment purchases. Although “Tom has effectively

turned over the keys of the busi-ness to the three of us,” accordingto Gary, he still is very active in thebusiness and maintains a five day aweek work schedule. Gary, Pauland Jack are the managing partnerstoday.Jose Alvarez, one of the original

employees from Rebel Rents, isrental and operations manager.A third generation Hawthorne, J

Paul, is sales coordinator.While a satellite location in

Hawaii does not seem to be in theoffing for Tool Shed, its continuedgrowth seems inevitable. Its equipment rental store serves

San Diego county and the cities ofEscondido, Vista, Oceanside,Encitas and Chula Vista, but theearth moving division reaches farbeyond. It rents and sells equip-

ment from most manufacturers,including Caterpillar, John Deere,Bobcat, Ditch Witch, Vermeer,Multiquip, Barreto and Tanaka.It also offers U-Cart Concrete

mixing trailers.Meanwhile, just a few miles

down I-15 in Rancho Bernardo,the family is still at the helm of

Hawthorne Machinery. Tee Ness,CEO, is Tom’s son-in-law (marriedto daughter Debbie), and grand-sons David and Michael Ness arenow part of senior management.

(This story also can be found onConstruction Equipment Guide’sWeb site at www.constructionequip-mentguide.com.) CEG

HAWTHORNE from page 19

Where it all began: The Firestone Street location ofthe first in a line of Hawthorne family-ownedequipment businesses — L.A. Tractor Co, in 1947.

A few of the machines currently in Tool Shed’s earthmoving rental and salesdivision.

The Mission Avenue, Escondido, Calif., site ofHawthorne Bros Tool Shed Rentals.

The company maintain more than 200pieces of rental equipment in addition to100 pieces in the earth moving division.