C2-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 8, 2000
Truss Company Celebrates
15th Anniversary
COGAN STATION (Lycom
ing Co.) Black Bear Truss
Corporation, in its 15th year of
operation near here, manufac
tures roof trusses that dear-span
up to 80 feet.
The company, which also
makes floor trusses, employs 20
people. Annual volume sales
have grown to $2 million and in
clude complex hip-roof systems,
attic living space, cathedral and
tray ceilings, multiple pitches,
and floor trusses with a dear
span to 40 feet.
According to Hal Brannaka,
vice president and secretary of
Black Bear, the company in
cludes an assembly plant area
measuring 15,000 square feet in
addition to a maintenance facil
ity of 1,200 square feet.
Trusses are computer
designed and custom-built to
meet or exceed area building
codes and project requirements.
Ongoing quality assurance is
maintained through regular in
spections by the Truss Plate In
stitute, reinforced by the even
more stringent requirements of
Black Bear Truss. Each truss
produced must earn both
stamps of approval and be
BAGS Announces
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.) -
Brubaker Agronomic Consulting
Service, LLC, (Brubaker Consulting
Group), has introduced Ron
Stutzman as an agronomist research
specialist m Arkport, N Y.
Stutzman is a graduate of New
Mexico State University and received
his master’s degree m agronomy from
Penn State. For the past five years,
Ron worked as an agronomist and
research specialist with Agway. Prior
New Perennial Ryegrass
for Northern U.S.
ki ■ this material formed the basis for the
r k m. a h , . ' Mara breeding program.
Barenbrug USA has released a new Wmter hardiness has al been
” ty . 1 P" enn, , al r y e S rass for the a concern with people wanting to
ca e ara ' plant perennial ryegrass in the colder
This new variety is the first com- regions of the country
mercial variety released from the Mara has been tested in several
company’s new Romanian breeding U.S. university trials as well as been
station planted m on-farm demonstration
plots m the last two years. Mara is
readily available and will be the mam
component ot Barenbrug’s successful
BG-34 perennial ryegrass blend.
Mara was also planted on the
Cramer test farm m Wisconsin where
cows produced eight pounds of milk
per day more when put on Perennial
ryegrass
Mara was selected for yield, for
age quality and, most importantly,
winter hardiness.
Like the northern tier of the U S ,
Romania has a continental climate
with very cold winters and hot sum
mers Perennial ryegrass varieties are
commonly used m this country, and
Seedway Opens
Mechanicsburg Office
SEEDWAY, HALL, N.Y. -
Seedway has announced the opening
of a office and warehouse facility in
Mechamcsburg, Pa
With the increase in turf and farm
seed business, the new location was
secured to better serve the
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey,
and Delaware market areas. The new
location will serve as a pickup and
delivery point for farm and turf seed
' >. •*.
Business * News
dearly marked.
Years ago, after experiencing
severe problems finding quality
lumber, the company discovered
that machine stress-rated (MSR)
lumber and then Spruce-Pine-
Fir (SPF) lumber would make
better trusses. Finally, northern
lumber proved consistently su
perior to southern and become
the ongoing standard for trusses
carrying the Black Bear label.
Trusses are laid out by lasers
for assembly. The ceiling
mounted lasers project the truss
outline using lines forty
thousands of an inch thick onto
the steel assembly table. This
outline provides final-stage veri
fication of size, position, even
the saw cut of each chord and
web segment. Any error is obvi
ous at a glance as the jig is
loaded. The outline further
shows the size and positioning of
the connector plates.
Knuckle-boom cranes provide
optional setting of the trusses at
time of delivery.
The company has installed
cellular phones in each truck.
An even stronger emphasis has
been placed on customer service.
Agronomist
to his employment with Agway, Ron
taught courses in soils, forage crop
production, animal science, and agri
cultural marketing at the State
University of New York College of
Technology at Alfred, N.Y.
With Brubaker Consulting Group,
Stutzman will continue to perform
research trials on his farm in New
York for clientele and will have edu
cational field days for the public, and
he will also serve as an agronomist.
customers.
Sue Bmger has been named loca
tion manager and will oversee cus
tomer service and the day-to-day
operations of the facility. She brings
an extensive agricultural background
and more than nine years experience
m the seed industry to the Seedway
organization and serves as
secretary/treasurer of the Pa
Seedsmen’s Association.
/*N *
MILFORD, Ind. - Five have been
named to positions with Chore-Time
Hog Production Systems, according
to Victor A. Mancinelli, president and
chief executive officer of Chore-Time
Brock (CTB Inc.).
Chore-Time Hog Production
Systems resulted from merging the
hog equipment products manufac
tured by CTB at its Chore-Time facil
ity in Milford, Ind., with products
offered by Staco, Inc. Staco was
acquired by CTB in 1998.
A long-time producer of quality
stainless steel hog feeders and other
products, Staco will continue to man
ufacture those CTB products at the
company’s Schaefferstown, Pa facili
ty. The move is intended to allow
CTB to enhance its quality of ser
vices as well as to provide specialized
support and knowledge to the hog
industry.
Heading up Chore-Time Hog
Production Systems as the vice presi
dent and general manager will be
George Zimmerman. In his new posi
tion, he will be responsible for over
seeing the business unit’s sales, tech
nical and customer service, product
development, and manufacturing.
Zimmerman was previously the pres
ident and founder of Staco.
Rick Dripps was named product
manager and will oversee the devel
opment of all products specifically
related to 'he production of hogs.
Dnpps previously was the product
OMAHA, Neb. - Track tractors
have been “floating” across farmland
throughout the country for the past
decade, and by now their benefits are
evident to all who use these
machines.
Recently track technology has
found its way into the harvest opera
tion as well, and farmers are finding
many of the same benefits m using
tracks at harvest as they did during
spring planting
In its second year on the market,
the Lexion® combine from
Caterpillar, which comes in track and
wheel versions, is helping farmers
keep harvests on schedule, even in
wet field conditions. And, as with
track tractor, tracks on a combine
help minimize compaction.
“With the combine being the
heaviest machine in the field, we
know it’s a big candidate for com
pacting the soil,” said Jack Barlett, a
corn and soybean grower from Dallas
City, 111. “It stands to reason that
tracks, which widen the footprint of
the machine and spread the weight
out, would help on a combine.”
A Lexion 465 combine is the most
recent weapon Barlett is using in his
battle with compaction. “We quit
moldboard plowing years ago and
went to chisel plowing and then rip
ping with the V-nppers, trying to
Five
George Zimmerman
Tracks Keep Harvests
Named To Positions
Rick Oripps
Miles Nellans
manger for swine equipment for
Chore-Time.
Leon Zimmerman has been cho
sen as production dnd engineering
manager. He is responsible for super
vising the design and manufacture of
the company’s steel and stainless
steel products used for hogs. He pre
viously was production and engineer
ing manager for Staco.
Miles Nellans has been promoted
to technical service manager. In his
new position, he will provide training
m product operation and installation
to Chore-Time distributors and cus-
break up compacted soil,” he said.
“We weren't able to do much to pre
vent compaction caused by our
machinery until tracks came along,
though. We bought a Challenger™
tractor with rubber-belted tracks
about four years ago and now have a
Lexion combine on tracks.”
Barlett had a good opportunity to
see the positive effects of tracks on
his yields when he did a test on one of
his soybean fields. “We ran the
Challenger over half the field and a
four-wheel-drive tractor on the other
half where we’d run the Challenger.”
Yield statistics like this come as
no surprise to Dr. Jim Ladlie, a
farmer and president of Agi-
Growth®, an agricultural research
and education company based in
Hollandale, Minn. “When it comes to
harvesting, the top compaction prob
lems out there are the combine and
grain cart. You can see a definite pat
tern of running those heavy machines
through the field, especially after a
wet fall,” he said.
Ladlie has run track machines on
his farm for the past five years,
including a Case QuadTtack for two
year and now Challenger tractors for
the past three years. “We’re seeing a
Leon Zimmerman
>
Bob Christenson
tomers as well as providing technical
assistance. Nellans was previously a
technical service representative for
Chore-Time.
Bob Christenson has joined the
business unit as a technical service
representative. He will be responsible
for assisting customers with the
installation and operation of Chore-
Time products and is a specialist in
technical assistance with the compa
ny’s Chore-Tronics® line of controls
He was formerly a technical service
representative for Chore-Time’s poul
try production systems business unit
Timely
continuous improvement in the
porosity and permeability of the soil,”
he said. “Track vehicles have been
essential in helping us manage com
paction. We’re also trying to reduce
trips over the field and use wider
equipment so that we don’t have as
many wheel passes through fields. As
a result, we’re seeing steady improve
ment in the soil structure and produc
tivity.”
While compaction prevention
played a role in why Kent Ott and his
father, Charles from Mulvane, Kan.,
purchased their Lexion 465 combine,
flotation is the number one benefit
they see from tracks on a combine.
“We had a record amount of rain
fall in Kansas this year, and we
weren’t able to harvest our wheat
with conventional combines,” said
Kent Ott. “Our Caterpillar dealer let
us try a Lexion combine with tracks,
and we were able to go. That’s why
we decided to but the machine. We
also did some custom harvesting for
neighbors who weren’t about to fin
ish theirs.”
Along with the track combine, the
Otts now have a track system on their
gram cart and use four Challenger
tractors on their wheat, corn and
sorghum operation.
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