When it comes to preserving the natural beauties of the wooden Midwest, northern Minnesota and the Lake Superior National Forest still have their frontier-like wilds. The area’s vast ecosystem (which is home to the moose to the elusive Canadian lynx) is a recreational playground (from snowmobiling to fishing) surrounded by forests of red and jack pines, birch, balsam fir, white spruce and cedar. On May 5, this national treasure was endangered when a campsite in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (a 1.09 million acre wilderness area in the Superior National Forest) sparked what would become the Ham Lake forest fire along the Gunflint Trail in Northern Minnesota.

Originally a foot path for travelers from the inland lakes to Lake Superior, the Gunflint Trail today is a 57-mile road (peppered with lodges, businesses and homes). For over two weeks (until May 22) a fire roared along the trail, consuming 75,000 acres and over 60 homes. Many homeowners lost everything and rebuilding became a priority, but there was a lot of work to be done before they could get back on their feet. Before the Fire, Dave Tuttle, owner of Gunflint Trail Excavating, spent most of his days doing small excavation projects along the trail such as residential septic mounds, driveways and foundations. May through August, homeowners asked him to clean up the remnants of their charred houses left behind after the flames were extinguished. For those who lost their homes along the Gunflint Trail, it was the first step toward rebuilding their lives.

Cleaning the site of the burned structures involved separating everything that remained intact after the fire (like masonry and scrap metal), in addition to disposing of left over ash. These types of materials create obstacles for traditional skid steer loaders used in reconstruction projects — not to mention they pose additional fire hazards and can harm the environment if left lying around too long. Because the Gunflint Trail and surrounding Boundary Waters Canoe Area has some of the strictest environmental regulations in the country, a quick and thorough cleanup effort was needed to minimize further environmental damage.

When Tuttle was asked to help clean up burn sites, he knew his ASV RC-60 rubber track loader, with its Posi-Track technology, was the right tool for the job. Tuttle’s primary use for the ASV loader was to remove the leftover ash from the burned structures. With all of the ash, the ground was extremely soft and wet due to a large amount of much-needed rain, but because the RC-60 only places about 3 psi of ground pressure on the earth, Tuttle could maneuver throughout the burn sites while causing minimal disruption to the sensitive terrain.

The RC-60’s rubber tracks also allowed for easy movement throughout burn sites without worrying about punctured tires from leftover nails, said Tuttle. When nails became stuck in the rubber tracks of the ASV, all Tuttle had to do was pull them out rather than replace any tires.

The compact size of the RC-60 also allowed Tuttle to get into areas that other equipment could not, he noted. In most cases, he had to get all the way down into the structure’s foundation to remove burned material. In one instance, Tuttle had to construct a makeshift path to reach a dock house on Seagull Lake. The passage was so narrow that most equipment could not make it through the rugged terrain. After dumping some pit run and packing it down with the RC-60, Tuttle constructed a path the ASV could travel in order to haul other equipment to the site and remove ash and other structural materials.

Cleaning up after the Ham Lake fire was a huge undertaking, but the right equipment added efficiency to an important project that allowed people to begin rebuilding what the fire consumed.

Hello Operator
Track Loader Operational Tips from ASV’s Director of New Product Development Brad Lemke

Watch Turns — Counter rotating is a great maneuver in most cases, but when minimizing ground damage is your main concern, you should not counter rotate with a track loader. Operate using turns that keep both tracks moving. For instance, do not let the inside track come to a complete stop. By speeding up the outside track and slowing down the inside track, you will prevent the inside track from skidding and causing ground damage.

Keep an Eye on the Path — When maneuvering over sensitive terrain, you can pick the path that will prevent the least damage by staying on the firmest ground or choosing a path that will need the fewest turns. If more than one trip is required, alternating your path can also prevent ground damage, as the more you drive on the same path the more it will start to deteriorate.

Keep the Load Reasonable — If you’re moving material over sensitive terrain and preventing ground damage
is the priority, haul a reduced load and make an extra trip instead of filling your bucket to the maximum amount. Doing this will reduce the load on the front idler wheels and will help prevent ground damage. Keeping the most amount of track on the ground at any given time is the key to preventing ground damage.

Dig Without Spinning — Rubber track loaders have more traction than wheeled machines, so spinning the tracks is less likely and not necessary. When digging or filling your bucket from a pile, drive into the pile at a steady pace. There is no need to ram the pile. When the bucket is full, back out before the tracks start spinning and this will minimize ground damage.

Miller Is Giving Away the Ultimate Weld Shop

Today’s professional blacksmith wields sophisticated tools — gizmos like portable plasma cutters, engine-driven welders, spool guns and arc torches. While most machine contractors are not experts at forging metals, they are often called on to be amateur fabricators, handicapped by hand-me-down tools and boring looking safety equipment. Miller Electric Mfg. Co. couldn’t be more sympathetic. In fact, the subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. is ready to set you up with a complete weld shop valued at $17,000, topped off with the coolest stars and stripes helmet on the market.

The Ultimate Weldshop Giveaway, which runs October 1 through December 31, will setup one lucky dog with a complete weld shop, including a Trailblazer 302 welder/generator, Suitcase X-TREME 12VS wire feeder, Millermatic 252 all-in-one MIG welder, tool bag, welding stool, refrigerator and the aforementioned auto-darking Americana head gear. The grand prize winner will actually receive one-on-one training with a Miller expert conducted at the closest Miller Regional Training Center (travel costs included folks). The winner will be announced January 2, 2008.

Put on your welding bib and metalworking gloves and check out the official rules online, registering at www.MillerWelds.com/ultimate. The Ultimate Weldshop Giveaway will also include more than 1,300 instant win prizes, including welding and plasma cutting equipment along with related accessories and gear. To qualify for instant win prizes, participants must obtain a promo code from their local welding supply distributor. The promo code can then be entered online at the site mentioned above. Instant win prizes include: Bobcat 250 welder/generators, Millermatic 140 with Auto-Set MIG welders, Maxstar 150 TIG/Stick welders, Spectrum 375 X-TREME plasma cutters, safety apparel, Miller auto-darkening helmets and hundreds of other prizes. If papa needs some new arc armor, sign up quick.

Meyer Products Acquires Magnum Spreaders

Meyer is dedicated to winter mobility — ever since the commercial snowplow company hitched its first blade to a 1926 Buick sedan, its moldboard crafted from wood. Today, Meyer Products LLC is a leading manufacturer of winter equipment and the company continues to navigate its steely blade business into new product categories, recently acquiring Magnum Spreaders, a subsidiary of Imperial Electric in Akron, Ohio. Magnum is one of the top salt and sand spreader lines in the snow and ice management industry.

“The acquisition of Magnum Spreaders helps round out Meyer’s full line of quality spreaders,” said Meyer president Andrew Outcalt. “These tailgate spreaders add depth to our lineup and allow us to compete for popular applications we didn’t have covered before.”

So when Meyer talks about tailgating this winter, they’re probably thinking spreaders, not parking lot keg parties. The acquisition includes the entire inventory of Magnum Spreaders’ poly tailgate spreaders and the rights to the Magnum brand and tooling. Meyer plans to keep the Magnum brand alive by continuing to sell the brand to Magnum’s current truck equipment distributors.

For Meyer truck equipment distributors, it will rename the Magnum brand to Meyer Blaster, effectively morphing the trademark from a cool gun to a sweet laser cannon (which we totally dig). The company will sell four models of salt or salt and sand Meyer Blasters. Imperial Electric will continue as a supplier of the motors for both the Magnum and Blaster brands.

“We are very excited to see the growth of the Magnum salt and sand spreader,” said Douglas Saltsman, business development manager for Imperial. “It is the most powerful spreader in its class and Meyer is the perfect home for it. Knowing Meyer’s skill in marketing and strength in distribution, we expect to see Magnum become a prominent brand in the snow and ice market.”

Terex Construction Announces
King of the Dirt Grand Prize Winner

With a little push from Lady Luck, Tom Gray has his karmic wheels rolling in the right direction. After attending the Terex King of the Dirt Demo Days and purchasing a Terex TX760B tractor loader backhoe, he won an all expenses paid trip for himself, a guest and his Terex dealer (good luck charm Bob Galloway of D-P Equipment in Camden, Mich.) to the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series races in Bristol, Tenn., on August 23-26.

“I was impressed with the King of the Dirt event I attended in April,” said Gray, whose company Industrial Contracting Services in Holland, Ohio, is using the backhoe to aid in rail construction and repair. “We were able to run the different Terex machines at the event, which made it easier for us to compare to what we already had in our fleet, as well as other options we were considering. I am honored to have won the trip to Bristol.”

Terex created the King of the Dirt Demo Days as a way to draw its dealers and customers together to sell iron and promote its brand strength. The company flew in scores of contractors and dealers from all over the United States and Canada to Memphis, Tenn., so they could operate the company’s growing collection of contraptions (excavators, wheel loaders, dumpers, cranes, loader backhoes and other lines), while getting wined and dined in America’s great blues burg.

Any contractor who attended the King of the Dirt Demo Days from December 2006 through April 2007 and purchased a Terex tractor loader backhoe within 30 days of the event was automatically qualified for the grand prize drawing. Gray was the lucky dog who stole the grand prize, but the company hasn’t heard too many complaints.

“For Terex, the King of the Dirt events were all about treating our dealers and their customers like kings,” said Rebecca Lashley, marketing manager for Terex Construction Americas.

AED Launches Campaign to Boost Highway Investment

The national debate over transportation infrastructure investment is looming darkly over equipment makers and road contractors. In July, in the political metropolis of Washington, D.C., the Bush administration released its mid-session budget review, which estimated a $4 billion shortfall for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in FY 09.

A few months ago, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) let their displeasure be known to the administration. Now, the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) is seconding that concern. AED has launched an initiative to position the construction equipment distribution industry for a leadership role in the debate over transportation infrastructure investment, according to AED president Toby Mack, announced Sept. 14.

The process of reauthorizing the federal highway program “has already moved into high gear, propelled to some extent by the Minnesota bridge tragedy and by a growing awareness that the present system of fuel taxes feeding the HTF and funding the highway program is badly broken and won’t even begin to meet our needs for the future,” Mack said.

In a speech at the 2007 AED/QUALCOMM Executive Forum in Chicago, Mack told the audience of more than 250 equipment industry executives that the nation’s infrastructure needs were dire, that Congress would soon be forced to make difficult decisions about how to pay for much needed additional highway construction and that AED would be playing a major role in that national dialogue. The vehicle for AED’s involvement will be the association’s new Highway Infrastructure Taskforce (HIT) — and they sound pretty serious.

Mack told Executive Forum attendees that multiple government estimates predict that by the time SAFETEA-LU, the current highway law, expires in September 2009, gas tax revenues would fall short of authorization levels by close to $5 billion. If Congress does not address the problem, highway funding in 2009 could be cut by more than 30 percent. The problem does not end there. Revenues are projected to continue to decline beyond 2009, meaning that Congress will be forced to cut highway spending dramatically during the next reauthorization if lawmakers fail to create permanent new HTF revenue sources.

“AED has seen this coming, and we have no intention of sitting on our hands and letting other organizations carry our water, hoping they can fix this for us,” Mack said. “We are gearing up to play a major leadership role beyond anything we’ve done before. With our excellent Washington office team backed up by strong support from the Oak Brook operation, and with the mobilization of our membership to provide both the resources and the local political activism, we can not only turn this around, but we can lay the groundwork for major new investment in highway capacity going forward.”

Soccer Dons
New Holland Puts Its Mark on
Juventus Football Merchandise

When it comes to Euro-style football, not many clubs stand out like the Juventus faithful. As the most successful team in the history of Italian football (roughly translated as “soccer” in American), Juventus has spent its entire history in the top flight of Italian leagues with 51 trophies, making it the third most successful team in Europe.

Now, New Holland Agriculture and New Holland Construction are capitalizing on that prestige and maybe hoping some of the luck rubs off. New Holland (a company under the giant Fiat umbrella) is now offering football fans a wide range of Juventus promotional items bearing the New Holland name that can be purchased online. From cool sweatshirts to girly scarves, there are plenty of ways for fans to wear the famous yellow and white Juventus colors.

Surf over to www.store.newholland.com and page through the large range of exclusive New Holland promotional items.
“We are aiming to expand our brand visibility,” explained Luigi Monti, in charge of sponsorship for New Holland. “With more than 170 million fans worldwide, almost a third of which are in Italy, Juventus is an extraordinary vehicle for achieving this objective and bringing our brands into the everyday life of countless consumers. It is a major step forward for two brands that produce excavators and tractors, both well known in their market sectors but not used to being in the general public’s spotlight. It is also a communications strategy that aims to link our brand to the positive values sport is able to convey.”

Grader Operators Plow Obstacles in Annual Competition

Big enchiladas, head honchos, top dogs and even a few big kahunas traveled west this past September to tackle one of the most treacherous tests of motor grader mastership. Hot shot operators from all over the country were greeted with a fleet of slick motor graders and roars of hungry spectators at the national Motor Grader Roadeo competition for snowplow operators, held September 25 at the Western Snow and Ice Conference in Estes Park, Colo. Dale Frey of Summit County Road and Bridge in Colorado kicked the most ass.

“Between his skilled operating and his fantastic effort on the written and diagnostic tests, Frey garnered the highest point total of every operator that competed,” said Kurt Pease, territory sales manager at John Deere Construction and Forestry Co., who partnered with local Deere dealer Honnen Equipment to provide the machines for the event. “More than 50 operators got to strut their stuff, maneuvering equipment around the obstacle course.”

In addition to providing the equipment used in the Roadeo, John Deere and Honnen Equipment have sponsored the conference for more than 15 years. Other events at the conference include educational seminars and motivational speakers, but those weren’t nearly as fun. Each year, the Snow and Ice Conference generates between 1,000 and 1,500 attendees, most of which come from the central and western United States.

“This event is the highlight of the year for many snowplow operators,” said Pease. “Local municipalities often conduct their own obstacle course events throughout the year and will send the winner to the Snow and Ice Conference Roadeo.”

Winners of the Motor Grader Roadeo at the Western Snow and Ice Conference

1. First Place — Dale Frey, Summit County Road and Bridge, Colorado
2. Second Place — Vic Schroeder, Summit County Road and Bridge, Colorado
3. Third Place — John Hoppe Pierce, County Public Works, Washington
4. Fourth Place — Spencer Esch, Town of Breckenridge, Colorado

Case IH to Sponsor Corn Exhibit at Indiana Museum

While a record corn crop is being harvested this fall across the United States, Case IH announced plans to partner with the Indiana State Museum in an educational exhibit entitled “Corn: Powering the World.”

The exhibit will showcase all things corn — demonstrating how this versatile crop feeds and fuels the world’s population. Opening at the Indianapolis museum in August 2009, the exhibit will continue through January 2010 before traveling to other venues nationwide.

Visitors will be able to view archeological artifacts, discover how popcorn pops and calculate how much corn it takes to power an Indy race car. A modern lab built into the exhibit will allow visitors to experience genetic engineering first-hand. “Corn: Powering the World” is aimed at helping shape public opinion about critical issues and help visitors understand how corn is rapidly becoming the most important plant-breeding achievement of all time.

Case IH is one of four national sponsors of “Corn: Powering the World.” The exhibit is presented by Dow AgroSciences through the Dow Chemical Co. Foundation and Ford Motor Co., with contributing national support from Case IH and National Starch Food Innovation.

The announcement comes at a time when corn is a hot commodity. Farmers across the United States planted a record 93 million acres of corn in 2007, responding to demand from ethanol production plants that boosted prices paid to corn growers. As demand continues to grow, farmers will be under increasing pressure to achieve higher yields.

“That’s why we are especially pleased to partner with the Indiana State Museum on this important exhibit, helping educate the public about how the world depends on corn,” Walker says.