Zetor dealer finds successful niche in Eastern Oregon's ranch country; Gyllenberg equipment offers tractors, implements, supplies and service that meet the needs of cattle ranchers in the vast range area of Eastern Oregon.

Gyllenberg Equipment Inc. was established in 1980 in Baker City, Oregon, as a farm equipment repair business. In 1989, the company became a Zetor tractor dealer, one of the first in the western part of the US. The dealership is owned and managed by Clay Gyllenberg, whose wife, Chris, also plays a major role in the business. The dealership's primary coverage area is a vast valley in Northeastern Oregon, with numerous mountain canyons the Elkhorn Mountains to the West and Hell's Canyon to the East.

This is a diverse agricultural area that grows such crops as potatoes, grass seed, and mint, but the majority of the agricultural operations are cattle ranches. And it is those cattle ranchers who have become the major market for Gyllenberg's dealership and the majority of customers purchasing Zetor tractors.

The cattle ranchers use Zetor tractors, ranging from 40 to 102 horsepower, used for a variety of ranching activities. After tillage, the tractors' main uses are pasture renovation, haying and cattle feeding. Gyllenberg also added brush clearing and light logging to this list.

"These folks want a simple reliable tractor with MFWD and cabs with heaters and air conditioning," he said. "The cabs make the tractors an all-season tractor."

(Author's note: I grew up in this area and can remember those frigid winter temperatures of 10- to 15-degrees below zero, when the cattle still had to be fed. A cab on our ranch's tractor would certainly have made my job much easier.)

Gyllenberg says front end loaders are also very popular with his customers--more than 99 percent of his tractors are sold with loaders. The dealership originally sold Allied loaders with the tractors, then changed to Zetor when the company started supplying its own heavy duty front loaders. "This eliminates any problems associated with fitting aftermarket loaders to tractors," he said.

Another point Gyllenberg made is that his customers want a tractor that is "modern but simple"--one that they can service themselves and one that has minimal electronics. He said his customers don't seem to see any differences between the Zetor tractors and similar models of the so-called major lines. "They like the Zetor's rugged construction, reliability, performance, fuel economy, and competitive price."

"Our competitors talk about resale value of their brands," he said. "But given the lower initial price of the Zetor, a used model retains about the same percentage of its new value as a used tractor of the major lines."

Gyllenberg is pleased with Zetors's parts availability and timely delivery. He said the Zetor pafts warehouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania maintains a full inventory of parts, even for older models, and is quickly responsive to his needs. He added that he has had more trouble obtaining parts for some of the major lines than he has ever had from Zetor. For example, last winter his repair shop waited for a month for several parts for a major make tractor.

Clay Gyllenberg was raised in the Baker City area, and he was no stranger to the needs of the farmers and ranchers in this part of Eastern Oregon. His great-grandfather operated a large machine shop and foundry that made and repaired equipment for the mining and timber industries, which were big back then in the 1900s. Maybe it was prophetic that when Clay first opened the dealership, it was in a building that was originally part of his great-grandfather's business.

The dealership's current facility was built in 1994. A 2004 addition to the shop provided more working room for the company's four employees to service the increasing number of farming and ranching customers. The service staff takes pride in keeping the shop immaculate condition. The shop has radiant heating to cope with the Eastern Oregon winters.

Gyllenberg Equipment emphasizes service--not only in the dealership's shop but also in remote locations within the thousands of acres that comprise the dealership's coverage area. In-field repair service is common, so the dealership maintains a well-equipped field service truck that can meet the needs of customers who are often vast distances from the dealership.

"When a mechanic is a hundred miles away from the dealership, the truck must have everything that is needed on it," Clay Gyllenberg explained. "This quick-response type of field service can considerably lessen the customer's downtime."

In addition to Zetor, Gyllenberg's other tractor lines include Century and Kioti, which are sold primarily to people who have small acreages in the country. As with many dealers in the US and Canada, this is a growing market. Century parts are handled through the Zetor network, which simplifies the parts situation, according to Gyllenberg.

Used equipment is a significant part of the business, Gyllenberg said. Considering the needs he foresees, he said he could use even more used equipment in good condition. Some used equipment comes from trade-ins, but the dealership also buys used tractors, rebuilds them and offers them for sale.

Short lines which are important to the business include Vicon, Lely, Servis-Rhino and M & W. Gyllenberg said Atlas meadow harrows are good selling products, and the dealership also does considerable business with General Implement Distributors and Ellis Equipment Company for various other shortlines.

Because of the dealership's central location, Gyllenberg supplies Zetor parts to customers and other dealers throughout the Pacific Northwest and Nevada. "It's a growing part of the business," he said.

Gyllenberg Equipment, Inc.

10 E. Campbell, PO Box 430

Baker City, Oregon 97814

Ph: 541-523-7823, Fax: [phone]

John W. Inman, P.E.

About Zetor Tractors

World headquarters for Zetor are in Brno, Czech Republic, where more than a million tractors have been manufactured and assembled since 1946. The company also designs and manufacturers most of the components for Zetor tractors in Brno.

Today, Zetor tractors are sold in 93 countries. More than 20,000 units have been sold in the US by the 200-plus Zetor dealers. Zetor North America, Inc. was set up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to distribute Zetor's full line of tractors: Compact, (2847 HP), Range 1 Super (60-80 HP), Proxima (67-90 HP) and Agricultural (90-110 HP).

Replacement parts, which are available for every tractor model ever sold in the US, are shipped from one of the other parts warehouses within six hours of the order's placement, with ground delivery in 1-3 business days or coast-to-coast overnight delivery.

Specifications and features for the models in these series, parts information and dealer inquiry forms are available on the Internet at (www.zetor.com) or by toll-free phone request (877-469-3868).