Sometimes the bread and butter of a rental business can go stale. Typically strong markets such as commercial and residential construction can weaken when the economy recedes or strong competition makes the jobs harder to come by. In these instances, rental businesses can reach out to other, less-conventional segments with their equipment offerings to butter their bread elsewhere. One such possibility for aerial work platforms that most rental companies might not think about is farming applications. Illini HiReach discovered this market by accident when Ollie Dorn, a close family friend of Illini owner Larry Workman, asked Workman for advice on a better solution than traditional ladders for accessing work at a number of locations on his farms.
Dorn and his sons Todd and Trent operate Momence, Ill., and DeMotte, Ind.-based Dorn Farms, a multi-farm operation with several locations in Illinois and Indiana. The farms produce corn and soybeans and Dorn's facilities range from simple farmhouses and small storage sheds to huge buildings and bins capable of holding more than 100,000 bushels of grain. With a diverse operation like that, Dorn requires an array of equipment to cultivate and harvest the crops and store the grain, as well as maintain the facilities. Some of the equipment, such as his John Deere 70 Series STS combine, is close to 20-feet tall and his grain bins and dryer approach 75 feet in height so the need to reach overhead is common throughout the operation.
In the past, Dorn relied on using ladders to reach low-level overhead areas, but they were cumbersome to move around, didn't reach the heights needed, and weren't very safe to use, particularly when having to carry tools or other objects while climbing the ladder. They also had to be positioned directly under the overhead area and couldn't reach over ground-level obstacles, limiting where they could be used. This often forced Dorn to rely on outside service providers to perform the taller overhead work.
Dorn mentioned his dilemma to long-time family friend Workman, whose Illini HiReach, an equipment sales and rental company in Lemont, Ill., specializes in access equipment. Dorn felt that perhaps Workman could suggest something to meet his overhead access needs. While a rough-terrain scissorlift could be used to reach the required heights in many of the overhead areas, a scissorlift, much like a ladder, had to be positioned directly below the area where work was to be performed and was limited in where it could be used.
Instead, Workman suggested that Dorn consider using a boomlift to do the work as it could reach the needed height and had sufficient horizontal reach to do most jobs. While boomlifts are popular rental items for contractors who need to reach overhead structures for construction and maintenance jobs quickly and easily, they are not always thought of immediately when considering solutions for farm applications.
The following week Workman sent Dorn a boomlift to try out. It wasn't long before Dorn was convinced that Workman was right and that the boomlift was the way to go. And the longer he used the machine, the more uses he found for it.
“We have quite a number of areas around our facilities including barns, bins, grain dryers and other structures where we used the boomlift to change belts and check motors on overhead conveyors, for pressure washing to remove excess buildup of grain dust, clean gutters and do repairs on buildings and trim trees,” says Dorn. “We also used it when we pressure washed our equipment after use. I can foresee the use of the boomlift will help make the best use of our time.”
Shortly after that initial trial period Dorn purchased a JLG Model 600AJ articulating boomlift with articulating jib from Illini HiReach. The machine had all the capabilities Dorn needed — it could reach working heights up to 66 feet, had a horizontal outreach of nearly 40 feet and an up-and-over clearance of 26 feet, 7 inches. Coupled with a 360-degree continuous swing, 180-degree platform rotation and 130-degree range of jib rotation, the JLG Model 600AJ could reach almost everywhere there was overhead work to be done at Dorn Farms. In addition, its 500-pound-capacity platform increased safety for the operation because, unlike the ladders that preceded it at Dorn Farms, it could carry workers and their tools to do the job. Other handy features were its oscillating axle and narrow chassis that allowed it to traverse uneven terrain and easily navigate between Dorn's bins and the corn dryer.
Because of the expanse of geographic areas where Dorn's farms are located, he also purchased a 48-foot long, 40-ton, 2-axle Trail-Eze trailer with hydraulic beavertail from Illini HiReach to move his JLG boomlift from location to location. With this combination he can have the JLG lift on site and working wherever it is needed within an hour, eliminating the time he used to have to wait for an outside service to move the machine to the location or hire someone to perform the work. It gets done when he wants it done. And that efficiency is a key part of Dorn's success.
“In farming, higher efficiency is one of our most important goals,” Dorn explains. “Doing things efficiently means that you do them right the first time, in the most timely manner. And that's important because ‘time’ is one thing that we have a limited amount of, so we have to use what we have to the best of our ability. Having the JLG boomlift available when and where we need it allows us to be more productive in the time that we have.”
Bill Hindman is president of Industrial Marketing Systems, Fountain Hills, Ariz. He can be reached at [email protected].
