Gabe DeCloet and his brother Dan started DeCloet Bros. in 1967. The small company sold and serviced Volta tying machines, and eventually secured the dealership for Ontario.

Over the next 5 years the company continued to add other equipment to it's sales inventory and eventually a manufacturing facility was established in Tillsonburg, ON, Canada.

In 1973 the company decided to purchase Uni-matic Bulk Curing of Delhi, ON, Canada. By 1981 about 1000 bulk kilns were sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The DeCloet bin kiln was then introduced in 1984.

DeCloet also purchased Balthes Farm Equipment of Tillsonburg, and between 1980 and 1983 developed a mechanical tobacco harvester.

The production of flue-cured tobacco in Canada dropped from 210 million pounds to 110 million in 1984. With shrinking sales, DeCloet Ltd. had no alternative but to downsize. Only 17 employees were left after the major lay-off. Gabe DeCloet, by now the sole owner, initiated a drive in Europe to secure export business.

By 1989 markets had opened up in Europe and in the U.S., and sales also started to increase in Canada. Several hundred combines have been sold in the U.S. and Europe. Sales for bulk kilns in the U.S. and Canada were also strong until 1997. Although U.S. sales slowed to a trickle in 1998 and 1999, sales in Europe and Canada have been steady.

Gabe estimates that a little over 10% of the Canadian crop was combine harvested in 1999, and he believes the use of mechanical tobacco combines in Canada will increase, particularly by growers producing 70 acres or more. In fact, DeCloet Ltd. is so optimistic about the future of the world tobacco industry, the company built a new 46,000 square foot building on Hwy#3 just west of Tillsonburg.