John Deere Horicon Works
1501 West Lake Street, Hoicon, WI
Project Manager: Richard Heyer
Field Manager: Kevin Leahy
Services Provided by Balestieri:
Project Summary
In 1861, a small manufacturing company along the Rock River in Horicon began creating horse-drawn grain drills. Bought by John Deere in 1911, this small company was gradually transformed into the flourishing manufacturer of Gator utility vehicles and lawn tractors it is today. The Horicon Woks facility even has a tractor on display at the National Museum of American History.
Because of its extensive past, the facility is comprised of numerous older buildings. One of the tallest of these buildings had Sestos containing transit panels at the top that were in need of repair. Our job was to paint the side panels through a process known as “encasement.”
Because of its location on the Rock River, John Deere Horicon Works was difficult to access. With one side of the building on the river, another along a busy road, and another with a courtyard preventing easy access, our team had to use a variety of resources and out-of-the-box thinking to operate efficiently.
Balestrieri worked closely with the Owner of Horicon Works as well as the City of Horicon to organize traffic control in order to access the road side of the building. We carefully staged a large crane equipped with a man basket alongside the Rock River to access portions of the building that an aerial lift could not safely reach. Despite all this, we did not interfere with any of John Deere’s regular processes.
