A success story about one of our dealers: Undercover Structures, located in Ontario.
"What an absolutely wonderful service experience we had dealing with Undercover Structures, from beginning to end! This firm is professional, responsive, communicative and reliable. Gayle and Ken were very generous with their time and knowledge while we were in the information-gathering stage of our search for a quality shelter.
Once we made our decision to purchase from Undercover Structures, things moved along quickly and in a very organized manner. We opted for the installation service, and Ken and Bill arrived at our site exactly when they said they would. They went to work right away, worked efficiently and steadily, and the shelter was up in no time. It looks great, is extremely solid, and the quality of the professional installation job was well worth the price. We would highly recommend Undercover Structures without hesitation. Other firms could benefit from emulation their superb customer service model."
Cathy & Mike Milton
HOLY MACKEREL THE MAIN COURSE IS WATCHING US EAT!Sept. 14, 2010 an open house was sponsored by MBC Buildings/Winkler Structures, Illinois Livestock group, Illinois Beef Association, Kent Feeds, Illinois Corn growers Association, Illinois Corn marketing Board, Farm Credit Services of Illinois, and the Christian County Farm Bureau at the John Herbert Family’s new Winkler cattle finishing barn. Family, friends, neighbors, and interested cattle producers were on hand to see the barn in action and enjoy lemonade, burgers, chips and cookies.
John and his son David have been custom feeding cattle, in open lots, for several years. John said Winkler was selected for their first indoor facility because in his mind it is by far the best structure of its kind on the market today.
The structure is all concrete and steel, no wood was used in the construction. It is 42’X182’ with an eight inch ridge vent, one foot rain eave, six foot feed eave and 2 – ½ moon ends with fourteen foot of ground clearance. The foundations has a four foot back wall, two foot feed over wall and open ends with a fifteen inch drive over containment curb. John and David constructed the bunks out of steel and coal mine belting.
By using the trussed leg and single point connection base, the foundation requirement was reduced and feed bunks space increased. With the walls at different elevations eight foot and ten foot legs were used to create twelve foot of under eave clearance. Cable braces were moved up from the base out of the way of cattle and some additional cable braces were applied to increase lateral load stability.
A Central Illinois radio station covered the event and an article will appear in the next issue of the Illinois Beef Association magazine.
We are planning a salt storage open house in Oct. for the road commissioners of a three county are in northeastern Illinois.
Marty Lathom, sales consultant for MBC Buildings, just finished supervising the construction of a 50’X100’ TFSQ on Keesler Air Force Base for Yates Construction of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Yates has the contract to construct a multi-million dollar event complex which also will house the base golf coarse club house and golf car storage area.
The whole project including event complex, roads and parking lot is scheduled for complexion by Feb. Much of the infrastructure and main parking lot cannot be done until the old cart barn is removed, but the base would not clear the project until they had cover for their golf carts. Poured in place concrete blocks and a Winkler Structure solved the problem. Carts now have a temporary home, the old structure can be demolished and infrastructure work can start long before the new permanent facility is complete. Yates saves ten weeks on the back side of the project allowing complexion to be on schedule. Project complexion bonuses look a lot more likely instead of penalties for missing a deadline.
In preliminary discussions with Yates project manager, hurricane concerns were thoroughly discussed. Since hurricane Katrina many building codes have been changed and permanent structures close to the Gulf coast have to meet a 170 mile per hour wind rating. Katrina pushed a 25 foot wave over the area where the Winkler cart barn now sets. All parties understand the design limitations of the Winkler structure and a plan is in place to move the carts to a plane hangar and remove the cover, if a major storm is barring down on the area. To help, with the plan, the structure was ordered with a barn style cover to make removal quicker. All parties were well aware of the Dallas Cowboy’s problem and were pleased that we were up front with the structure limitations and helped with the contingency plan to reduce damage possibilities in case of another major storm. When the project is complete the Winkler Structure will be moved to Yates’ main office and be used as a fabrication building.
Branstad's: Forrest City, IowaThis 80 x 408 tas barn was sold and installed by A & B Construction in Forrest City, Iowa. Monty and Jordan Branstad (owners) have a 5 year contract to take burnt chicken manure mixed with fresh chicken manure and turn it into fertilizer used for corn. After the 5 years the Branstad's who currently have 5000 head cattle plan on using it as a cattle barn. When I asked him why he chose a Winkler building the Branstad’s said “The other competitors took there time in getting back to me with information, when I called Andrew boom he was over here he was a good salesman to deal with. It looked like the most durable building out there and is definitely made to last.”
Ben from A&B Construction together with a number of the Branstad's hired hand erected the building in 9 days. When I asked him on his thoughts on set up he said "The building went together well, I was happy to have Ben here he was knowledgeable in over seeing the project." The Branstad's are already planning on buying another building next spring.
The Nuttleman dairy is a family run dairy having a total of 200 head, of which about 80 are housed in their Winkler building. They purchased and installed a 67ft x 120ft Winkler building in the fall of 2008 from Dan Schindler of Automated Dairy, the dealer for Winkler Structures in Nebraska. They are very happy with their purchase, and the results they are seeing.
Jason Nuttleman:
“We almost immediately began to see an increase in milk production per cow. The increase was from 3 to 4lbs per cow/day. Overall we are averaging 86lbs per day/cow combined with those not in the Winkler barn. Some of the cows in the barn are as high as 100lbs per day. Our somatic cell count is low, between 175,000 and 200,000 right now overall. The test will be this summer to compare the cattle in the barn to those not housed in the Winkler barn. The brightness and airiness of the building has the cows very comfortable in all weather and have had no treatment issues at all. If we replace our old stick-barn building we would replace it with a fabric covered building. We are very happy with the building and are considering a smaller Winkler building for some of our hay storage needs.”
Kris Cuperus: Fulda, Minnesota
Although beef prices are not at a premium by any means, Kris Cuperus has an optimistic yet level outlook on things. "Things are never as bad as they sound, and they are never as good as they sound." Kris Cuperus: Fulda, Minnesota "Riverside Stock farms sold and installed the 60ft x 204ft Winkler Structure barn to me in 2008. So far I have put only one turn of cattle through so I don’t have a lot of data to give. But I will say the cattle do tend to put the weight on quicker than those without the barn shelter, and they look great and at ease in all weather conditions. I am very glad I bought a Winkler building, and Bob & Fred from Riverside have been great to work with. When deciding who to buy a fabric covered building from, Winkler Structures stood out above the others in their willingness to build it how I wanted it, and not what they wanted to sell to me. This to me was the deal maker, and I am happy with my building. When it is time for my next building, it will be another Winkler building."
"We are really pleased with our winkler canvas barn. In the summer it was cooler and fresher than any other barn we have stabled at.In the winter it has proved compareable to other barns for temperature,the big advantage is it does not seem to get as damp as a block or steel building,and the best thing is still the natural light! I have never been in a barn that so naturally reflects the light of the seasons. Its like the horses are outside even though they are warm and dry inside. This really has a positive effect on their attitudes.The savings in hydro alone will probably pay for the barn over time because unless you are in the barn at night you never need the lights on, even on overcast days. The installation and service from Undercover Structures was excellent,we have received nothing but positive comments on the quality of the barn. When we decide to put up another barn in the future it will be a Winkler installed by Undercover Structures."
Clayton and Judy Graham
"I originally decided to buy the Winkler Structures because of the interior light, environment and the willingness of Winkler to customize the structures to my needs. After getting my building erected and in use, my only regret is not building it sooner!"
-Sam Snapp
5522 Cedar Creek Grade
Winchester, Virginia 22602
Phone # 540.868.9427 or 540.303.2687
www.thewagonwheelranch.org
"The Winkler barn has been a great investment. We don’t have the data figures on paper, but we know the building is giving us healthy, and certainly faster growth from the calves. The calves are sheltered, and very comfortable staying dryer and cleaner in all the weather we have experienced. The space and the natural light make it feel like outside, yet providing shelter from the environment. With the curtains, doors, and vents, the airflow and temperature are easy to regulate. We do see some improvements that could be made to the lowering curtains, but besides that small detail the building has been great for our operation. Will be looking for a quote on a second building in the near future."
42ft x 216ft barn to raise Holstein calves, purchased through Riverside Stock Farms the Winkler dealer run by Fred, Bob, and Bill Tilstra
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