By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

CICERO, Ind. — Waitt Equipment has a reputation of providing excellent service, support and satisfaction. They go out of their way to serve their customers, said Bill Wright, president.

The farm equipment company sells fertilizer, grain and feed equipment, sales and service. They sell used equipment and service what they sell. Their Cicero store has been open since 1976. They opened a facility in Ada, Ohio, in 2009.

They support what they sell with a well-stocked parts inventory and factory trained service technicians.

“If what the customer bought needs repair we have an ample service staff in Indiana and Ohio,” said David Engel, general manager. “We completely cover those states with our service. We most often go to the farm; farm equipment is usually large and not portable so we have to be ready to respond at the farm.”

“We spend a lot of time on our credibility,” said Wright, who bought the company two years ago. “If something is not right we’ve done some extraordinary things at our own expense, whether or not it was covered by a warranty.

“We recently had a used machine that went out to a customer and I represented it as being a field-ready machine,” he said. “We as a company represented it that way so the customer could feel comfortable about buying it. About two months after they bought it they had a really major issue come up. We didn’t hesitate—it had been represented as being ready to go and a machine they would not have trouble with and we covered that. It wouldn’t have been the right thing not to have done that. We’ve done that same thing in several instances.”

The company recently took on a new marquee brand - Miller, based in St. Nazianz, Wis. The company offers Condor and Atlas products.

“We saw a better sprayer than what we were selling at that time, a more heavy-duty type sprayer,” Wright said. “We met the people at Miller and really liked the company. It has been an extremely positive experience. That company is 110 years old - the owners are the fourth and fifth generation owners.”

“One of the most interesting things about this marriage we have embarked on with them is that our philosophies are very similar,” Wright said.

Also, Waitt Equipment is not suffering in the economic downturn, Wright said. “Actually, agriculture has remained strong. Grain prices are good—yields are good. It’s a strong sector. It is running contrary to the economy which it often does.”

Wright grew up on a farm and ran a tillage business before getting into general business. He was looking for a way to get back into agriculture when Waitt Equipment came up for sale.

“I love being around agriculture; it is dear to my heart,” he said.
For more information visit www.waitt equip.com or phone 800-222-9248.

At the Farm Science Review Waitt Equipment will be at 620 Soybean Avenue.