Ventrac is a unique addition to the PERC propane mower incentive program as it is the first compact tractor to be approved for the program.  Ventrac is also the  first propane powered tractor that does more than just mow.  Ryan Steiner, Director of Engineering for Ventrac, says that “Over the last few years, there have been a number of manufacturers introducing propane powered mowers, as propane is one of the fastest growing alternative fuels in the US.”  He adds, “Ventrac is proud to be the first manufacturer to give commercial users the opportunity to power over 30 different attachments with propane.”

PERC has been conducting research on propane and propane powered equipment since 1996 and has found that propane-fueled commercial mowers can offer lower operating cost, fewer emissions, proven performance, easy on-site refueling and less downtime.  Jeremy Wishart, Project Manager for PERC  says, “Propane is a domestic fuel and supply is at an all-time high, as propane is abundant in the natural gas deposits throughout the nation. Propane as an engine fuel in the lawn and landscape industry is beginning to become widely accepted.”  Wishart adds, “Products like the Ventrac 4500Z propane and others becoming available, combined with the economic and environmental factors facing lawn and landscape professionals today, it’s not hard to imagine propane becoming the preferred fuel in the turf industry.”

Get details on PERC and the $1,000 incentive program at www.poweredbypropane.org. For more information on the Ventrac 4500Z see www.ventrac.com/propane.

Ventrac On the Cover of Turf Magazine

Mowing difficult terrains can be quite a challenge…some lawns are simple and some go to the extreme, whether it may be a lawn on a rooftop, a lawn with obstacles or steep slopes to mow.    The May edition of Turf Magazine features an article aptly named, “Navigating Difficult Lawns.”   The author wrote with the intentions to inform readers on finding and using the right tools and techniques for mowing some of the most difficult and extreme lawnscapes across the country.

When the phone rang here in the office a few weeks back, I wasn’t expecting it to be Turf Magazine writer, Patrick White.   After speaking with Patrick,  he told me he was writing an article about mowing difficult lawns.   AND….he wanted to include Ventrac!    What a nice surprise!   And a perfect fit for Ventrac.   Mowing steep slopes is an area where Ventrac absolutely shines.   And what could be better than to be featured in a major publication that serves lawn care professionals from coast to coast.

The article is an interesting mix of lawns that go from extreme slopes to an outdoor amphitheater and rose gardens, to an artistically  sculptured landform.   One Ventrac business owner, Butch Hamby, who now owns a fleet of five Ventrac tractors, tells his story of how Ventrac has transformed his business.     You can also watch more  slope mowing video on our Ventrac YouTube channel.

If you have a lawn that requires some extra special care or slopes that you just can’t seem to groom successfully, I think you will enjoy reading the stories highlighted in Turf Magazine.    The digital version of “Navigating Difficult Lawns” is now available….check it out !

Visit www.ventrac.com for more information on slope mowing and for other industrial grade attachments for trenching, raking, tilling, aerating, stump grinding and more. 

FORE!  Play golf?   Head to Riceland Golf Course this weekend and help support a local cause and you could be a big winner!  And what could you win?   Hint….it is red and fun to drive!    You guessed it…..a Ventrac tractor!

The annual Orrville Safety Forces Golf Scramble will be held this Saturday, May 21^st at Riceland Golf Course, Orrville, Ohio.  The event begins at 8:00am and will benefit the Orrville Safety Forces, which is comprised of the Orrville Fire Department and the Orrville Police Department.  This annual event helps supply much needed funds for the safety forces work in the community throughout each and every year.

The prize for this annual “Hole In One” event is sponsored by Mast-Lepley Ag-Hardware-Turf of Wooster, who has been supporting the event for the past 8 years.   Mast-Lepley is providing the Ventrac 3100 tractor and 60″ mower deck as the grand prize for any participant that can make a hole-in-one on the 10^th hole.  A cash prize will be awarded in addition to the tractor for any winning shot.

So, come out, support our local safety forces and have fun playing golf for a chance to win a Ventrac!  Good luck players!

The winning prize at the Orrville Safety Forces Golf Scramble

For more information on Ventrac tractors and attachments, visit the website at www.ventrac.com.   You can see Ventrac in action on our Ventrac Youtube Channel.

Dallas Steiner, Mark Kover (WCSCC Student of the Month) and Denver Steiner

Ventrac has enjoyed an ongoing relationship with the WCSCC dating back to when the Ventrac ownership ran Steiner Corp.  Over the years, Ventrac employees have served on various advisory boards, given field trips, and taught in classes for various technical fields including Interactive Media, Business & Marketing Technologies, Welding and Metal Fabrication, and Engineering Technologies.

WCSCC Staff with Mark Kover, Denver Steiner and Dallas Steiner at award night

Accepting the award were Denver Steiner, graphic designer and web developer at Ventrac, and Dallas Steiner, president of Ventrac.

“Denver has assisted with the interactive media curriculum and programs for the last four years,” said Chris Boyan, the Interactive Media instructor.  “He has given yearbook advice and assistance as well as program assistance and advice.”  Denver had a media intern this past summer, (Meea Erb), and has another one, (Mark Kover, Student of the Month) this school year.”

Mark Kover, a senior at Dalton High School and student of the Interactive Media class at the Career Center, is currently a media intern at Ventrac.  Kover was honored as Student of the Month on the same night.  His video editing work can be seen in several of the video clips released this fall, including: Camp Luz Fall Cleanup, Snow Equipment Maintenance and Slope Mowing on the Pete Dye Golf Course at French Lick.

Meea Erb, a senior at Waynedale and also a student of the Interactive Media class, was an intern this past summer. Some of her video work can be seen in lawn striping envy and Field Groomer at the Fire in the Sky Softball Tournament.

Besides interns, Ventrac has also greatly benefited over the years from hiring Career Center graduates. Twelve out of their 72 employees at Ventrac have graduated from WCSSC programs or have taken classes in Adult & Community Education.  The group includes students or graduates from interactive media, computer networking, welding, Ag mechanics, farm management, Ag Business and some older programs.  “We’ve gotten some quality employees that have come through your programs,” said Denver Steiner.

Current Career Center alumni pictured are left to right: Larry Yoder, assembler; Ben Maibach, fabricator; Chad Nolt, service manager; Randy Kitzmiller, director of operations;  Bob Carter (on tractor) welding supervisor, ;  Les Jones, product development; Dave Kearnes, truck driver; Mark Kover, Ventrac intern and current WCSCC student; Steve Zuercher, project specialist; Lee Stephens, welder; Eric Fodor, IT manager; and Laura Hoff (not pictured), purchasing.

Visit the Wayne County Schools Career Center website to read their article about Ventrac.

There it was, a Ventrac plowing deep snow in Minneapolis. The full game can be viewed on NFL Game Rewind. Check out 2:52 to go in the 1st quarter.

Have you seen Ventrac’s popping up anywhere else? We’d love to hear about it at: http://www.facebook.com/ventrac

Congratulations to Ventrac for another well earned award!   It is a great pleasure to announce Ventrac as the recipient of the Cascade Capital Corporation Business Growth Award for 2010. Selected from a seven-county wide area, this award recognizes companies that have achieved superior growth in sales over the past five years.  Ventrac received this noteworthy achievement in the category of manufacturing based on exemplary growth in its export markets.

Growth in exports has allowed Ventrac to steadily expand as a company as well as provide a diverse customer base.  Over the past five years, Ventrac has experienced an increase of 87% in global sales, helping to boost the company’s overall revenues.  Though Ventrac serves markets in various countries, Sweden, Japan and Canada are the top three countries of export.

Ventrac found support in state and federal organizations as they developed and expanded beyond the domestic market.  The Ohio Department of Development and International Trade Division have assisted Ventrac on the state level, where the U.S. Department of Commerce provided additional market research, trade leads and seminars for added resources into foreign markets.

As Ventrac heads into the future, international sales will continue to be a significant part of the company.  With a focus on producing innovative quality products for both the domestic and global markets, Ventrac is recognized as a company making a positive influence while gaining worldwide recognition.

L-R Rod Crider - Executive Committee Member, Cascade Capital Corporation and President of Wayne County Development, Dallas Steiner- President of Ventrac, Robert Filiapiak - Executive Director, Treasurer of Cascade Capital Corporation

At the golf course, the destructive 135 mph winds destroyed over 100 trees on the course, laying them over and uprooting the large mighty oaks. It was a devastating sight to see, but Larry Lisic was grateful the clubhouse and his family’s home came away from the storm undamaged.   The downed trees were mostly on the back side of the course, so play was open for a scheduled tournament the following day on the remaining holes.

Although cleanup seemed an overwhelming task for Lisic and his maintenance crew, seeing friends, family and fellow golfers come out in droves to help was very humbling for Lisic.  A local high school golf team was playing on the field at the time the storm came through, forcing them to take cover in Lisic’s basement of his home.   The next day, several of the high school golfers showed up to assist in the cleanup to show their appreciation to Lisic for allowing them to play his course free of charge during the school year.   Fellow golfers from Barberton Brookside drove in especially to aid in the cleanup as well.

After hearing of the damage done at the golf course, Ventrac stepped up to lend a hand by offering tractors and attachments to help make Lisic’s job easier.  Ventrac brought out three 4200 tractors and multiple attachments to assist with the cleanup.   Ventrac employees, Les Jones and Trevor Ryan operated two of the tractors and loaders equipped with grapple attachments to quickly grip the large limbs for easy disposal.  This saved enormous amounts of back breaking labor to rid the property of the broken limbs.  Larry Lisic operated a Ventrac tractor with a turbine blower that quickly cleared the greens of fallen debris, reducing the hours of hand raking Lisic and his crew would have faced.

Although the tornado left a wide spread path of damage with the golf course experiencing a small portion of the storm’s fury, Lisic knew it could have been worse and they will certainly bounce back from this event of nature.  Ventrac jumped to help a friend in need and was glad to provide Riceland Golf Course with some needed equipment and manpower to quickly clean the mess.   Giving back to the community in service is a strong belief of Ventrac and seeing a community come together to respond in times of need offers a greater sense of purpose.

“I saw that many of my customers use their machines in an inefficient manner,” says Lars.   “They take out their mower in May and put it back in the shed in December.  In the fall, they had a blower and a snowblower in the winter, instead of using the same machine for multiple tasks.”

Lars established a relationship with Ventrac in the US and the collaboration began.  “Ventrac has a long experience in building quality machines,” says Lars.    LAPAB is consistently developing the concept of the Ventrac in Sweden.   The latest model Ventrac  4200, for example, has a full line of attachments like a power rake, stump grinder, broom, bucket, blade, edge trimmer, mower, snow blower and front loader.   Lars keep his ears open to what his customer’s needs are.   When he finds a need, he snaps it up immediately to present them with the whole new idea behind Ventrac.

“Ventrac is for us a long term quality approach.”  Lars says, “Our mission now is that everyone is familiar with the concept Ventrac and understand the benefits of having one machine instead of five.

Visit www.ventrac.com for more information and to find a dealer in your area.    If you are in Sweden, visit LAPAB at www.lapab.com