THE INNOVATORS
Besler Industries’ Pivot Track Closer A Model 1180 Pivot Track Closer, 11 feet 8 inches wide at its least aggressive pitch.
B
esler Industries is a family-owned company based in Cambridge, Nebraska, that for more than 45 years has been manufacturing agricultural equipment and machinery. Its machines are designed in-house and are highly customizable. One of Besler Industries’ newest items is a pivot track closer, a device used to fill in the ruts caused by the wheels of center pivots. In this interview, Herb Besler, the owner and one of the cofounders of Besler Industries, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about his company’s history and how the new pivot track closer was designed. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you started your company, Besler Industries.
30 | IRRIGATION LEADER
Joshua Dill: How big is your company today? Herb Besler: Right now we have about 25 people, and we expect to grow because of the popularity of our utility bed. That product is not just farm related—we sell it to plumbers, electricians, and utility companies. I think that is going to end up being our number-one item, volumewise. Joshua Dill: Where are your customers located? Herb Besler: We have around 300 dealers, not all of whom are active at any given moment. They are located in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, as well as in Canada. Georgia is a big market for our cotton puller, which is similar to our root slicer but with a bigger disc. Joshua Dill: What problem was the pivot track closer introduced to address? Herb Besler: When you are going over the same pivot tracks year after year, the wheels on your pivot end up leaving a pretty deep rut. That rut needs to be filled in with new dirt, and that is what our pivot track closer does. Joshua Dill: What kinds of problems do those ruts cause farmers?
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BESLER INDUSTRIES.
Herb Besler: Back in 1973, I was a mechanic for International Garage in Cambridge, Nebraska, and a guy who started an irrigation company down there wanted me to go in as a partner with him. I quit my job and went to be a partner, but the company only lasted 30 days, so I started a company with two other partners. A year and a half later, I bought them out and have been on my own since then. I started out making portable corral panels, then portable hayfeeders, and then stover wagons that could be pulled behind a combine. The stover wagon was used to collect stover from the corn, and furfuryl alcohol was made from it. We sold 100 of them to the Quaker Oats Company in Farmer City, Illinois. We delivered 40 or 60 of them there, and then some of them went to Grand Island. Quaker Oats opened a place in Grand Island that only lasted a year before it closed. After that, we started making bale loaders that go in the back of a pickup truck, which can pick up two bales, as well as rolling stock choppers and rippers. We went from there to a three-point model of the bale loader,
and in 1992 we started making a flatbed model, which we still make now. In 1990, we bought the patent rights for root slicers and have been building them ever since. Our latest products are pivot track closers and utility beds for pickup trucks.
