Tim and Tom Cox, owners of Farm-Rite Equipment, purchased Long Prairie Machinery in March, intending to convert it into their business’ fourth location. They operate three other stores in Dassel, Willmar and St. Cloud, Minn.
“When the former owners here retired, only one employee retired with them. All the other employees stayed on after the purchase,” said new general manager Dean Schreiner.
When it comes to compact equipment needs, Farm-Rite stocks inventory from trusted brands like Bobcat, STIHL, Simplicity, Midsota Manufacturing of Avon, Felling Trailers of Sauk Centre and Towmaster Trailers of Litchfield.
“We are a full-line Bobcat dealer with excavators, track machines, mini track loaders and all attachments — for sales and service,” Schreiner said.
The store offers service calls, pick-up and delivery. There is also service loaner equipment available when needed.
“We know that you can’t always get the machine into our shop. That’s why we offer pick-up and delivery with the ability to winch equipment on if needed,” Schreiner said. “We also offer on-site repair with fully-stocked service trucks to get your equipment up and running as quickly as possible.”
It’s a Farm-Rite goal to carry a large stock of filters, tires, tracks, fluids and more for all brands it carries. If for some reason a store doesn’t have what a customer is looking for at a particular location, they will track it down.
“We try to keep a full inventory of parts in stock for all product lines,” said Schreiner. “Having a store as close as St. Cloud, we can get parts in by the next day.”
Rental service is something new that is now available in Long Prairie. For serving the whole spectrum of needs from the homeowner all the way to the large customer, the rental department will be built up to include skid-steer loaders, compact track loaders, mini track loaders, mini excavators, versahandlers and attachments.
“We plan to offer full-service rental,” Schreiner said. “We want to grow in whatever ways we need to in the Long Prairie area.”
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