Hundt Dairy Farm
Founded: 1990 (as Rotochopper) by Vince Hundt and Fred Peltz
Sector: Industrial grinding technology
Business Status: Success
Location: St Martin, Minnesota
Website: www.rotochopper.com
Status 1991:
''Vince Hundt took an old piece of machinery he had lying around, a heavy-duty wood chopper, and modified it so that it proved to be "a very successful newspaper shredding machine. It chopped it into the correct particle size for animal bedding." (...) Although the Hundt''s continue to sell bedding and raise animals, they are now concentrating primarily on marketing an improved version of the wood chopper, which shreds plastic and other materials as well as newspapers. The cost ranges from $7,000 to $30,000, depending on the number of accessories chosen and whether or not it has its own power source'' (Bennett, 1991, p.115-116)[1].
Founders:
Vince Hundt was raised on a dairy farm, and he purchased and began operating his own dairy farm in Wisconsin after graduating from university. He founded Poplar Coulee Ridge (PCR) Inc. in 1982 as a means of importing and marketing farm-sized European forestry equipment. In 1988 a crop failure from a severe drought created a need for new sources of animal bedding. At the same time new recycling mandates had resulted in waste haulers holding excess stocks of waste newspaper which they were unable to convert into saleable products. In response to this problem, Hundt designed a system that made farm-sized bedding bales from chopped waste newspaper.
Fred Peltz was also raised on a dairy farm. By the age of 24 he had developed his company Peltz Manufacturing, which specialized in building machines designed to fill various market niches. Peltz would study equipment and find ways to improve it or build new machines altogether. In the late 1980''s Peltz came across Hundt''s piece of paper recycling equipment, and having decided that he could build a better machine he contacted Hundt. When Peltz suggested that he had the facilities and abilities to build bigger and better recycling equipment the two entrepreneurs struck a deal and a friendship. From that day forward all manufacturing was moved to Peltz Manufacturing in St. Martin, Minnesota.
In the summer of 1990 the new machine; the 1090 Newspaper Bedding System made its debut. It incorporated a newly designed paper chopper with a 30 horsepower electric motor under the trade name ''Rotochopper''. The system was durable, easy to use and made specified particle and package sizes[2]. At this point the Hundt family began to devote all their time to the Rotochopper business[3].
Status 2010:
The Rotochopper line continued to grow throughout the 1990''s as the company responded to emerging recycling challenges. This led to the development of new machines and processes, and the expansion into new markets. Sadly in 2000 Fred Peltz fell from a roof whilst overseeing a factory expansion and died several days later from his injuries. In spite of this tragedy the company continues to expand and Peltz''s original designs continue to shape the rotochopper''s products[4].
Today Rotochopper manufacture industrial grinding machines that turn low grade resources (wood waste, a
gricultural residue, sorted construction debris, yard waste, forestry slash) into biomass fuels, landscape mulch, animal bedding compost, and many other applications[5].
Rotochopper has also begun to expand in to the UK market[6]. In addition Rotochopper is responding to recent developments in the use of biomass technology and the increasing demand for biomass fuels. Rotochopper modified its MC 266 mobile wood grinder to handle biomass, and has seized the opportunity to sell these modified wood grinding systems to power plants and timber firms[7].
Sources:
[1] Bennett, S. J. (1991) Ecopreneuring: The Complete Guide to Small Business Opportunities from the Environmental Revolution. New York: Wiley.
[2] Rotochopper (2010) History | Rotochopper [online].
[3] Cahalan, S. (2000) Coon Valley farm diversifies, La Crosse Tribune, 4th September, p.D1.
[4] Rotochopper (2010) History | Rotochopper [online].
[5] Rotochopper (2010) Specializing in Industrial Grinding Technology | Rotochopper [online].
[6] Drury, S. (2008) Waste Management, Horticulture Week, 17th October, p.35.
[7] Elmore, C. (2009) No chip left behind, Cygnus Business Media, 27:3, p.24.
Sector: Industrial grinding technology
Business Status: Success
Location: St Martin, Minnesota
Website: www.rotochopper.com
Status 1991:
''Vince Hundt took an old piece of machinery he had lying around, a heavy-duty wood chopper, and modified it so that it proved to be "a very successful newspaper shredding machine. It chopped it into the correct particle size for animal bedding." (...) Although the Hundt''s continue to sell bedding and raise animals, they are now concentrating primarily on marketing an improved version of the wood chopper, which shreds plastic and other materials as well as newspapers. The cost ranges from $7,000 to $30,000, depending on the number of accessories chosen and whether or not it has its own power source'' (Bennett, 1991, p.115-116)[1].
Founders:
Vince Hundt was raised on a dairy farm, and he purchased and began operating his own dairy farm in Wisconsin after graduating from university. He founded Poplar Coulee Ridge (PCR) Inc. in 1982 as a means of importing and marketing farm-sized European forestry equipment. In 1988 a crop failure from a severe drought created a need for new sources of animal bedding. At the same time new recycling mandates had resulted in waste haulers holding excess stocks of waste newspaper which they were unable to convert into saleable products. In response to this problem, Hundt designed a system that made farm-sized bedding bales from chopped waste newspaper.
Fred Peltz was also raised on a dairy farm. By the age of 24 he had developed his company Peltz Manufacturing, which specialized in building machines designed to fill various market niches. Peltz would study equipment and find ways to improve it or build new machines altogether. In the late 1980''s Peltz came across Hundt''s piece of paper recycling equipment, and having decided that he could build a better machine he contacted Hundt. When Peltz suggested that he had the facilities and abilities to build bigger and better recycling equipment the two entrepreneurs struck a deal and a friendship. From that day forward all manufacturing was moved to Peltz Manufacturing in St. Martin, Minnesota.
In the summer of 1990 the new machine; the 1090 Newspaper Bedding System made its debut. It incorporated a newly designed paper chopper with a 30 horsepower electric motor under the trade name ''Rotochopper''. The system was durable, easy to use and made specified particle and package sizes[2]. At this point the Hundt family began to devote all their time to the Rotochopper business[3].
Status 2010:
The Rotochopper line continued to grow throughout the 1990''s as the company responded to emerging recycling challenges. This led to the development of new machines and processes, and the expansion into new markets. Sadly in 2000 Fred Peltz fell from a roof whilst overseeing a factory expansion and died several days later from his injuries. In spite of this tragedy the company continues to expand and Peltz''s original designs continue to shape the rotochopper''s products[4].
Today Rotochopper manufacture industrial grinding machines that turn low grade resources (wood waste, a
gricultural residue, sorted construction debris, yard waste, forestry slash) into biomass fuels, landscape mulch, animal bedding compost, and many other applications[5].
Rotochopper has also begun to expand in to the UK market[6]. In addition Rotochopper is responding to recent developments in the use of biomass technology and the increasing demand for biomass fuels. Rotochopper modified its MC 266 mobile wood grinder to handle biomass, and has seized the opportunity to sell these modified wood grinding systems to power plants and timber firms[7].
Sources:
[1] Bennett, S. J. (1991) Ecopreneuring: The Complete Guide to Small Business Opportunities from the Environmental Revolution. New York: Wiley.
[2] Rotochopper (2010) History | Rotochopper [online].
[3] Cahalan, S. (2000) Coon Valley farm diversifies, La Crosse Tribune, 4th September, p.D1.
[4] Rotochopper (2010) History | Rotochopper [online].
[5] Rotochopper (2010) Specializing in Industrial Grinding Technology | Rotochopper [online].
[6] Drury, S. (2008) Waste Management, Horticulture Week, 17th October, p.35.
[7] Elmore, C. (2009) No chip left behind, Cygnus Business Media, 27:3, p.24.