The Kaye & Aileen Naylor Story
Kaye Naylor grew up as the son of a farmer and butcher, he learned what hard work was as a young man. He became an an apprentice tool and die maker and tool designer, Kaye Naylor went on to work as a licensed tradesman in the Lindsay Arsenal and remained in the field for 25 years. His sister (a teacher at the time) convinced him to become a teacher with his trade knowledge and his personable manner, we went back to school and became a shop teacher.
Aileen Naylor also grew up on a local farm in the area; recognizing what you could achieve with hard work and dedication. Her office experience she gained when entering the workforce proved to be invaluable when Kaye and Aileen started Naylor Systems.
Kaye enjoyed his move to the school system in 1968 and continued teaching various trades at a local high school. Being a boater himself, in 1974 he designed a steel boat lift for his students to study and build. Many lessons were learned in the creation of that very first lift and many a student will have taken credit for having produced the first Naylor lift. After seeing the Naylor design, Kaye’s neighbour requested that, for a cost, that he might have one for his boat lifts. Suddenly, Kaye and his wife Aileen had few summer weekends to spend on the water. Kaye produced 4 more lifts that summer, and a watershed had been opened.
Next came the design of a Marine Railway, it was obvious that there was once again a need in the industry and that Naylor Systems (Established 1975) would play a small part in that. Little did anyone know what was to come and how big they were going to get.
Order after order, delivery after delivery, weekend after weekend, the demand grew to the point where needing additional help became unavoidable. Employees were hired and they handled the manufacturing, delivering and service of the New Naylor Systems, with Aileen Naylor driving the ship from behind her desk. She ran the business while Kaye taught school . The team of Kaye and Aileen became a way of doing business, as well as continuing the permanent bond of husband and wife.
In 1988, Kaye and Aileen's only son Wendell, decided to join his parents in the business. Leaving his job as Lock Master on the Trent Severn Waterway behind him, the team of Kaye and Wendell Naylor became “K&W Naylor Metal Fabricating Ltd” full-time.
Manufacturing had never been in the plans but the family farm soon became the centre of a fast growing business and the various sheds became manufacturing plants and storage. Year after year the business grew until a move to a larger facility became unavoidable. Land, buildings, vehicles and machinery were purchased one piece at a time, as we need arose, until they found themselves bigger than any dock or boat lift manufacturer in Ontario.
The spacious showroom and display yard just north of Lindsay on HWY 35 is just a hint of what looms one km east on a small country side road called Naylor Road. Building after building has been built and acre upon acre lined with product, ready to fill the orders of anxious summer cottagers to enjoy.
With over 100 dealers across Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, B.C, Naylor Systems remains one of the few family run businesses to stay strong in a world where many companies have elected to seek the cheaper products, materials and labour from offshore suppliers. With roots in metal fabrication, tooling and design, Naylor Systems has preserved and is still virtually un-touched. Never outsourcing its work and remaining consistent in its ability to provide custom metal fabrication in a multitude of specific requests and demands.
With a team of office professionals, sales staff, property design experts and full-time installation personnel, Naylor's will paint your dreams across the canvas of your shoreline. With 47 different sizes and designs of Aluminum Boat lifts, Marine Railways and Wetslip lifts for almost any size of recreational boat including PWC's, inside or outside a boathouse, we have a lift for you.
For years to come, and with a new generation of “Naylors”, we will continue to provide quality Canadian-made products at competitive prices, made with the same grade attention to detail that Kaye Naylor taught his high school shop class and his son to create.
Somewhere out there is a group of now aging students from Kenner Collegiate in Peterborough, Ontario that learned from their shop teacher how to do it right... ONCE.