With the weather getting cooler and the days getting shorter, the Manufacturing Express pulled into Oregon today. No, we didn’t end up in the Pacific Northwest! We are kicking off today’s doubleheader in Oregon, Illinois, a small town in the northern part of the state with a population of 3500. Although the town may have a small population, Ogle County is thriving with manufacturing.
Today began with a visit to Woods Equipment, a manufacturer of tractor attachments. Here in Oregon, they manufacture their signature Batwing® cutter. These machines may sound like they help Batman fight crime, but they actually play a much more important role in helping farmers and landscapers do their job.
With a Woods Batwing cutter attached to the back of a tractor, farmers can easily transform their tractor into mowers to maintain their properties. These large mowers allow farmers to cover large swaths of land more efficiently. With many other Woods attachments also available, tractors become a versatile tool for many applications. More uses from a single machine means tractor owners and operators can tackle many jobs, more efficiently and cost effectively. Regardless of the type of attachment, Woods Equipment’s mission to bring innovation, performance, and durability centered around what customers need and value remains unchanged since it was founded in 1946 by the Wood brothers.
The company began 78 years ago right here at this very facility in Oregon. Founded by three brothers, Leonard, Keith and Mervel Wood, the company began in a 4000 sq ft Quonset hut. In a prime example of the American entrepreneurial spirit, the brothers invested pretty much everything they had in their business making their tractor-mounted rotary cutter. The Wood brothers’ creation was the first of its kind, and their innovative design soon took the industry by storm.
As the company’s business grew, so did their product line. Woods continued to release new types of mowers, unveiling their iconic Batwing® cutter for the first time in 1963. The Batwing quickly became their signature product, and decades later would be expanded into a 15-foot version in 2018 to allow farmers to use the product with more time efficiency.
A true American success story, the local community is incredibly proud of what Woods Equipment has accomplished. In attendance at today’s event were both Oregon Mayor Ken Williams and Executive Director of the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce Chance Munroe. With a staff of 50 employees in Oregon the company is a major source of local pride, and that pride is carried into each machine that they manufacture.
“Everything is so digital now,” Joel Olsen, Production Supervisor at Woods says, “This is something where you get a chance to do something with your hands, and see it from the raw material all the way through to the point of having it go down the road. And you take pride when you see it go down that road knowing that it’s going to help other people.”
