In the ongoing manufacturing battle between design freedom and cost control, MacDon’s engineers have always had an unfair advantage. Because MacDon’s success depends on producing harvesting equipment that are hands down the best at what they do - harvesting equipment that are so demonstrably better that they can lure farmers away from the mainlines - its engineers enjoy a certain amount of leverage over the company’s accountants.
One of the most valuable lessons Michigan farmer Pat Feldpausch ever learned came back in the 90s, early in his farming career. He had been trying to save time planting corn on neighbor Stan Dhelen’s farm without first tilling, but it wasn’t going so well.
With a forecasted high of 27˚C (80.6˚F), Saturday, September 9th, 2017, dawned brilliantly on MacDon’s Family Day in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Arriving early at 7 AM at the Tinkertown Outdoor Amusement Park, MacDon President and CEO Gary Giesbrecht was surprised to find three cars filled with excited children already waiting in the parking lot. By the time the park’s gates opened at 8:30 the number of people waiting at the entrance would swell to 600 or 700, just a fraction of the more than 4,500 people who would pass through it by the day’s end.
SPENDING LESS TIME HARVESTING MEANS YOU’RE PUTTING LESS HOURS ON YOUR COMBINE. IF YOU CAN CUT 25% OF YOUR HOURS OFF YOUR HARVESTING AT $300 OR $400 AN HOUR, IT REALLY ADDS UP WHEN IT COMES TIME TO SELL OR TRADE IN.
NATIVE GRASSES SHATTER VERY READILY ON THE HEAD SO WE TRY TO BE AS GENTLE AS POSSIBLE WITH THE SWATHER, AND THAT IS WHY WE PREFER A DRAPER HEADERS.
If you ever find yourself driving on the Canadian Prairies on a frigid January day – you know, the kind of day where the windchill clocks in at –45C (-49F) and exposed flesh freezes in less than a minute – take a moment to think about the first homesteaders to call this land home. Imagine what their first years must have been like. How hard was it to break the land? Get their homes up?
BEFORE WE STARTED USING FLEXDRAPERS WE USED TO HAVE TO PURCHASE TWO TYPES OF HEADERS; RICE HEADERS, WHICH WERE RIGID AUGER TYPES, AND WIDER TABLE AUGERS FOR OUR BEANS. NOW WE ONLY HAVE THE ONE TYPE OF HEADER THAT WE USE FOR OUR ENTIRE OPERATION.
The first time the Carlsons tried a MacDon draper header in 2002, they were less than impressed. A late August storm had knocked down some of their milo so they thought they’d give MacDon’s new draper concept a try to see if it could recover the crop.