Shortlines are often necessary additions to an ag equipment dealer’s line card because they complement the work done by the major line equipment. Supporting dealers with everything from product to marketing materials to technical expertise are shortline equipment distributors and manufacturer’s reps. Bob Doran of Doran Distribution Services, Mount Horeb, Wis., has been repping shortlines for more than 25 years after joining his father, who started the business. I had the opportunity to spend the day with Doran visiting customers throughout central Wisconsin. For someone like me familiar with off-highway and engine-powered equipment but new to the ag equipment industry, it was enjoyable and, most importantly, educational.

5:33 a.m. — My alarm goes off at the same time as always. While I will be trading my 40-minute commute for one that’s an hour longer, I’m not meeting Doran in Plainfield, Wis., until 9 a.m. So if I leave the house at 7:00 a.m. as usual, all will be well.

7:10 a.m. — I’m westbound on I-94. As I’m a little behind schedule, I haven’t had coffee yet, but I will arrive in Plainfield early enough to get caffeinated before meeting with Doran.

8:45 a.m. — I arrive at the Plainfield Travel Plaza at I-39 exit 136. At 9 a.m., I see a black Chevy pickup driving into the travel plaza. It’s Doran. We chat through our respective driver’s side windows, and he tells me to follow him to our first stop: Sand County Equipment.

9:17 a.m. — Sand County Equipment is 2 exits north, just off I-39. It is a shortline-only dealership, and while I didn’t have any real expectations for the place, I am surprised to see the Bad Boy brand name on the equipment outside — ZTR mowers, compact tractors and UTVs — rather than more production ag brands. 

Before we go into the dealership, Doran tells me that the owner, Paul Cieslewicz, is unique in that he likes to diversify his product offerings. When we walk through the open overhead door, I’m greeted by a sea of orange Bad Boy ZTRs that fill a clean, modern-looking showroom. At our right is the parts counter with a young lady — whose name I later learn is Chelsea Montgomery, parts manager — behind it. Doran asks for Cieslewicz, and Montgomery points to a UTV whizzing by outside on its way behind the building. They will be there shortly, we are told.

When he arrives, talk turns to equipment service, as Cieslewicz says he’s struggling to find enough technicians and is dealing with other challenges, as well. He describes a situation he’s currently tending to with a component on a customer’s machine.

 “Some other dealership put it on 3 years ago,” Cieslewicz says. “And it’s finally gotten to the point that they’ve had enough of fighting it, and they sent pictures this morning. I’m like, ‘Who did this? Why did they do this?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, the only time you can adjust it is actually when you are stopped and have hydraulic pressure off of it.’ Then I’m like, ‘No, that’s the wrong valve. It’s pumped up wrong.’ You know, it takes you about 3 weeks of phone calls to get the truth out of these guys that no, this has really never worked.”

Doran adds that it would make life a lot easier if the customer was up front about the problem, and Cieslewicz agrees. 

9:31 a.m. — It isn’t long before everyone excuses themselves to attend to other tasks. When Cieslewicz returns to the showroom, he tells me about the origins of Sand County Equipment. 

“I worked for my competition for 17 years,” and by that he means Big Iron Equipment in nearby Plover. In 2011, he already had an ownership stake in Big Iron, but he wanted a larger one, and he offered his employer $250,000 for it. Big Iron turned him down, so he decided to go out on his own. He bought the building and began flying around the country signing contracts. 

Many of the outbuildings at Swiderski Equipment in Mosinee, Wis., are used for planter inspections, which Farm Equipment reported on in its April/May issue. Photo: Art Aiello

I ask him about the mowers. He tells me he’s had the line for about 3 years. What I really what to know is why them and not another production ag line?

Cieslewicz echoes Doran’s earlier sentiment that he likes to diversify (his line card is 36 brands deep), and while demand for ag equipment can vary, he says everybody needs a lawn mower.

“We’ve sold out basically every year,” he says. “This is the first year we haven’t sold out. You know, we’ve watched potatoes [decline in production] and everything just goes numb besides buying parts. They [customers] don’t buy wholegoods. And honestly, this thing was going great this year, except it stopped raining. Nobody cuts lawn if it doesn’t rain.”

In the winter, Cieslewicz’s showroom is large enough — and warm enough — for customer and dealer training sessions. He hosted 28 upper Midwest dealers for a 2-day school held by Lemken earlier in the year.

“I brought in machines one day and went through all the machines,” he says. “And the next day, we went out on my farm and worked all day with different machines, showing people what they do, what the differences are and trying to get the dealers to understand them.”

10:27 a.m. — Doran and I say our goodbyes and head out for Steven’s Point.

11:01 a.m. — I follow Doran into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn in Steven’s Point, where I will leave my car and join him for the next few visits. We are soon off to New Holland dealer Swiderski Equipment in Waupaca, a few miles southwest.

I learn Doran spends a lot of time on the road, putting about 60,000 miles per year on his truck. It’s something he’s been doing for a long time — since 1998.

“My dad and I started the business and got it incorporated,” he says. “I had another job that I worked until January 2000. And I’ve been doing this full time since. Pretty close to 24 or 25 years overall. But I worked just part-time at first.”

Before starting the business, Doran’s father worked for Allis-Chalmers and Deutz-Allis for 28 years. Doran says they gave his father an ultimatum to move for his job, to which his father said he hadn’t moved his family in 28 years and he wasn’t about to. He worked for Belarus Tractor for a few years before starting the distribution company. 

While Doran’s line card has changed significantly over that quarter century, it’s been fairly stable in recent years. “We recently lost Summers Manufacturing,” he says. “They went to a company guy. Got rid of all but 2 of their independent reps.”

He adds that the Summers’ sales rep covers about 5 states, which Doran thinks is too much territory. Doran covers Wisconsin exclusively and he has 2 employees — Dave Petri, who lives in Wisconsin and covers a small corner of southeastern Wisconsin and all of Illinois, and Brandon Kies, who covers Iowa and Minnesota from his home in northwestern Iowa.

This arrangement allows Doran to have more frequent contact with customers. “The more business they do, the more it seems you’re there. But if a dealer doesn’t do as much as another one, if they’re on the way, you always stop.”

Doran tells me he enjoys the variety he sees in his day-to-day. “That’s the nice thing — it’s all diversified. It’s always something different.” In Wisconsin, he has dealers as far north as Antigo, and even a few in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

I ask Doran about the willingness of dealers to take on new product lines.

“Especially for the last few years, everybody’s been so busy,” Doran explains. “They can sell more than they can get now. So it’s a challenge. And the dealerships, obviously, look at their bottom line. They need to turn so much inventory. And the more they take on, the more parts are involved, and in turn they need to stock more parts. Their parts people may grumble because they have more work to do and more parts to stock and more parts programs to figure out. The service department can grumble due to learning another product, putting it together and another company to do warranty work with. It depends on the equipment, too. The bigger the equipment, the more complex it is, the more that’s a challenge.”

11:19 a.m. — We walk into Swiderski Equipment’s Waupaca store, and ag sales rep Nick Kubowski’s office is our first stop. After Doran explains to Kubowski who I am and that I will be traveling with him for the day, Kubowski offers me his sympathies. This kind of good-natured ribbing is typical of the interactions Doran has with his customers.

Kubowski has some business to attend to, so we step next door into Chris Melk’s office. Another Swiderski ag equipment salesperson, Melk also expresses his sympathies. Doran and Melk have known each other and worked together for 10-12 years, Melk says. 

“Bob’s a good contact,” Melk says. “Always texting or calling. You got problems — call Bob.”

As for Swiderski’s shortline mix, Melk says they carry a lot of brands. “Our company’s been in business for so long that we just carry so many lines. And then you kind of have your ear to the ground to see what’s the trend or what’s popular.” Melk turns to Doran. “As we did with seed carts — 8 years ago?”

“Yeah,” Doran answers. “I walked in thinking that was going to be a 2-year project.”

Melk continues. “We ordered a few, tried it, and it just blew up in the last 5 years.” He adds that because of Swiderski’s size and longevity — they were established in 1925 and have 5 locations throughout Wisconsin — they can afford to take risks on new equipment and trends.

“We can try a line thinking it’s going to work, and hopefully it does,” he says. “But if it doesn’t pan out, we just have to move on to another line because we can only stock or carry so much inventory.”

The amount of equipment Swiderski carries could make it a challenge to track every piece. Melk explains how the company does that.

“Everything on order has a PO or stock item. So everything out there will have one of these tags on it. When we order, from Bob or from whoever, that is the tracking device to get the PO to get the order. When it comes in, we put the PO and then a yellow tag on it. And then it’s on a lot. That number, in terms of our system, is on the website. Someone can call in and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking at this stock number.’ So everyone in our company can track it down.”

12:03 p.m. — As we leave Swiderski, our conversation turns to lunch. Doran tells me that he isn’t sure what’s good in the area, as he doesn’t usually stop for a sit-down lunch. 

We find the Three Squares Restaurant on the edge of Waupaca. I learn it’s the home of Jim’s Big Burger — a 1-pound behemoth that will set you back almost $17. If that’s not big enough, you can upgrade — to the Belt Buster Burger, which is 2 pounds of meat served with a pound of fries. It’s $25, so I expect it’s served up by paramedics with a defibrillator. I order a satisfying patty melt instead. We’re back on the road by 1 p.m.

1:20 p.m. — We make our first stop at the Steven’s Point location of Deere dealer Riesterer & Schnell. It’s a short trip, as every salesperson is out on calls. Doran leaves behind a small Doran Distribution-branded scratch pad for each of them, and in about a minute, we’re back in the truck.

1:33 p.m. — Our next 3 stops will take us northwest of Steven’s Point, so we return to the Holiday Inn to pick up my car so I can resume following Doran. That way I can leave for home from his last stop. He will stay overnight in Marshfield and make calls throughout Wisconsin before heading home himself in 3 days. We jump back on I-39 and head north to Mosinee.

2:06 p.m. — Time for a pit stop at a Kwik Trip convenience store. I buy a Diet Pepsi and a Baby Ruth bar to keep me going. I see Doran return with a case of Busch Light. I will later learn it is not for him.

2:26 p.m. — We’re back at Swiderski Equipment, but this time at its Mosinee location. Doran stops his truck in an equipment lot next to the building, and when I walk over to see what’s up, he tells me to get in so that he can show me around.

Mosinee is where the company got its start, and the dealership uses a lot of its property, although Doran tells me many of the outbuildings are recent additions. Some are used for equipment setup or storage, but many are being used for something Farm Equipment reported on in its April/May issue: planter inspections. It’s something Swiderski began requiring a few years ago to encourage farmers to have a trouble-free start to planting season.

After retrieving my car, we enter the dealership. Doran approaches the parts counter and soon learns the staff is having issues logging into RhinoAg’s parts ordering system. He walks behind the counter and starts helping.

“Yeah, you guys can get access for more people if you want,” he tells the parts advisor. “Just the parts guys have access to this, and just the service guys this.” He goes to another screen and points to an item. “Because in here is warranty registration.”

We’re waiting for Michael Butalla, vice president of operations, to be free. His office is in the “corporate” portion of the dealership building. When he becomes available, we sit down in his office.

Doran explains he has come to an agreement with the Mandako rep to help service Wisconsin dealers. He wants Butalla’s opinion about how to communicate that with the appropriate Swiderski personnel. Later, Doran tells me that larger dealerships like Swiderski prefer communicating information across their organizations in a certain way and that he strives to honor that.

Doran provides Butalla with more updates. “Back in May, we got Notch Manufacturing. You guys haven’t done a lot with them. A couple of your locations have done a little bit here and there.” 

He says he wanted to discuss the opportunity with Butalla. “Some of your guys have shown some interest in it. I’ve priced a couple bale trailers to Antigo [a Swiderski location]. Todd Bertram [ag salesperson in Waupaca] had some interest. Maybe the biggest thing is the bale haulers, since H&S doesn’t make them anymore. There’s a link I can send you that has their current price book.”

Before we make our exit, Doran finds out who from Swiderski is going to be at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in Baraboo. Doran will be working part of the time in the Notch Equipment booth.

3:42 p.m. — I first became familiar with Riesterer & Schnell during trips to Green Bay. The group has a location in Neenah visible from I-41 that I see every time I head north to visit family. But this location is different. Just off WI-153 in the village of Stratford, it’s surrounded on 3 sides by corn. 

Doran asks me to join him in his truck for a drive around the property. We go behind the building and he shows me the rows of green and yellow equipment — some new and some used. Soon, Doran spots the person we’re there to meet: Dave Kodl, ag sales representative. He waves through the window to let Kodl know we’re there, and we drive back around to the parking lot out front.

As we’re exiting the truck, Kodl pulls around and gets out of his own vehicle. Doran introduces us.

Given that much of Doran’s job is relationship-building, some time gets spent doing old-fashioned “shooting the breeze.” We do just that outside of the store, and the ground we cover includes what’s selling and what isn’t, RTK equipment Kodl is delivering to customers, possibly taking farmers to the National Farm Machinery Show and the corn heads that Kodl needs for customers but can’t seem to get his hands on.

“Eight-row heads is where it’s at right now, out here,” Kodl says. “We can’t find them. We can’t find 6-rows. We’ve got a 6-row stock head coming. But to find a nice 6-row used head? There ain’t none to get.” He adds that because new equipment sales were scarce during the pandemic, there are no used pieces of equipment today for him to get for customers.

After a bit more back-and-forth, Doran and I are back on the road to our last stop of the day.

4:13 p.m. — We end our day like we started, at a shortline-only dealership. Landwehr Repair is focused on service, but the nondescript dealership also sells Deutz-Fahr tractors and Pöttinger equipment.

When Doran gets out of his truck, he has the case of Busch Light — a gift for Dale Landwehr, the owner. There is a refrigerator inside the front door, and Doran puts the beer in it. We walk over to Landwehr’s office. The walls are covered with photos of family and what I presume are his grandchildren and their artwork.

Landwehr soon joins us. Doran tells him about the beer, and Landwehr’s response is a mild expletive, albeit a happy one.

Much of Doran’s conversation with Landwehr concerns a sale that Landwehr recently lost. A local grower bought a Kuhn triple mower from another dealer instead of the Landwehr’s Pöttinger model. Landwehr can’t figure out how the other dealer was able to offer such a sweet deal — $15,000 less than Landwehr could offer — for a piece of equipment with a higher wholesale price. In the end, the grower said, “I like you, Dale, but $15,000 is $15,000.” Doran offers to do some low-key investigating.

5:15 p.m. — Doran and Landwehr are still “shooting the breeze,” but I am mindful of the time, given that my ride home will take about 3 hours. I politely excuse myself, thank Doran for his hospitality that day, shake hands with Landwehr, and I’m off. For a newbie to the ag equipment industry, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about the challenges that come with selling shortline ag equipment, in terms of the dealers who sell it and the manufacturers reps who supply and support them.