Heavy-Duty “Single Use” Walk-Behind Equipment
FARM SHOW Magazine » Heavy-Duty “Single Use” Walk-Behind Equipment
Heavy-Duty “Single Use” Walk-Behind Equipment
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Forget about switching heads, beds or tools with Power Dog Equipment. The company has built its reputation, like its equipment, on the concept of one power unit for one use.
“Anytime you do attachments, you have to sacrifice on the attachment and the power unit to compensate for the different machines,” says Leroy Kuhns, Power Dog. “We build each machine so it’s optimized for one use.”
The first machine the company built was a rototiller. “There wasn’t a good one on the market with dual rotating tines that could work in either direction,” says Kuhns. “We went with hydraulic drive for instant forward/reverse versatility.”
A designer working on the rototiller led them to their next product, a Bachtold-style brush mower. The Power Dog 926 has the same protective steel fingers over the revolving deck as the Bachtold. They separate the brush and feed it into the cutting blades without pushing it over as other mowers do. At the same time as brush and grass is cut, it is rolled to the side, leaving a windrow of cut material.
“Bachtold went out of business, but the designer who held the patent was working with us,” says Kuhns. “He asked us to build it. It is a fast cutter that doesn’t mulch or chop material, making it easy to collect later.”
Kuhn says Christmas tree growers like it for the low end that can get in and under limbs.
Other Power Dog equipment includes a weed and tall grass mower, 5 log splitter models, and a second rototiller. All share the hydro transmission and drive design with tandem variable displacement pumps.
Power Dog markets their equipment heavily toward the commercial rental business. The single use concept is popular with their customers.
“Rental outlets like the idea that when a customer walks through the door, the machine is ready to go without spending time changing attachments,” says Kuhns. “They also recognize that a customer usually rents a machine for a single use. While it is out, the other attachments sit there unable to be rented.”
Equipment varies in price with the Bachtold-style 926 brush mower priced at $3,295. The tiller starts at $4,119, and log splitters range from $1,900 to $3,200.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Power Dog Equipment, 10101 Shively Rd., Nappanee, Ind. 46550 (ph 866 505-8085; www.powerdogequipment.com).
