Our business is unique so we have developed unique tools to fit the individual needs. One of the biggest problem people face after having a chopper box wrecked can be how to unload, retrieve & set up the unit. Wrecks don't happen to empty boxes on a flat open field :) In 25 years we have seen boxes in every imaginable situation. Often the boxes are in these situations while sitting full of silage. That means you face 2 separate problems, unloading the box & getting the box out of whatever situation it is in. Over the years we have become quite efficient at this by developing custom tools for these tough cases. These tools keep changing as we find what works the best. We also have other tools that save time & produce the best final solution.

John Deere 270 Diesel Skid Steer
The John Deere skid steer we use is the backbone of the box retrieval operation & all the tools we have are built around it. For instance we have a 9000 pound electric winch which runs directly off the skid steer battery. This can be ran off either the front or the back of the skid steer depending on the situation. We also have 2 more of these winches, one on each of our trailers. Other than the normal pallet tines and an extra large dirt bucket we have developed a third special bucket just to unload silage. This 4 X 11 foot bucket extends into downed boxes allowing us to evacuate the silage quickly without the hours it would take to manually fork this out. To see a picture of this bucket feel free to look at the skid steer trailer. You will also see the skid steer used around the main operation whether it is hauling parts, moving equipment or doing the heavy lifting for other purposes.

Caterpillar V120 Forklift
This 20,000 pound (10 ton) forklift is used to transition chopper boxes from any trailer or truck on which they are mounted. Using this forklift a chopper box can be lifted up to 12 feet off the ground, making the transition of the box to our facilities an easy process. Due to the 12,000 pound lifting capacity changing boxes from your trailer to our repair shop is a safe and easy process. The tines are 9 feet long allowing them to go completely under the box making it stable throughout the process. The machine is equipped, for safety reasons, with a double side shift, which means that either tine can move independently of the other. The entire mast (front of the forklift) of the unit can shift up to a foot either way, which makes the boxes easy to unload.

Portable Power Hydraulic Machine with Honda motor
When a box wrecks it is not always completely disabled. Often the wagon can still run given the right power source. We have seen this more in recent years as hydraulic boxes are becoming more popular whether they be front & rear unload or rear unload only. To help specifically in this situation we designed a remote controlled, gas powered, dual filtered machine that would hook directly into the hydraulics of the box. The 2 adapters this machine has allows the web to run backwards which will clean out wrecked rear unload hydraulic boxes. This tool again saves hours of manual work & the associated labor we would otherwise have to charge for this situation. Back at the main operation we also use this machine to test hydraulic boxes after repair.

13 horsepower Honda Model 3500 Power Washer
This unit uses diesel heated hot water to wash the silage, grease & mud from your forage box. There are so many reasons that it is smart to clean a chopper box, not the least of which is that our customers are always happy to have that new chopper box look & smell ;) We clean every box with any major work before we start the rebuild process. Why would we do this you ask? Well for one thing we can spot issues and defects with the box much easier. For instance cracks in the steel, loose bolts, out of adjustment webs or chains, or any other moving parts. Having a clean box allows us to work much quicker. We can diagnose problems quicker, it is easier to find fittings, bolts & especially master links on the head. If you were to clean as you go using wire brushes or scraping you would easily spend much more time on it & possibly miss potential problems. It only takes a few second to wash gear hubs, making the packing of wheel bearings much easier. As well as keeping the whole box clean doing this gets boxes prepped if they need to be painted once work is completed. Every box we sell gets power washed since we care about the final product & it allows you to see everything with your box from the start. The power washer has also proved very useful for our own equipment maintenance.