John
Schulte began in the blacksmith business with his father
in 1932. In 1942 the business started to manufacture brush
cutting and cleaning equipment. In 1948 John Schulte developed
and tested his first front mounted snow blower. Four employees
were hired and a small production run was completed in the
winter of 1949. Snow blower sales steadily increased and
in 1963 the Schulte conveyor type rock picker was designed
and patented by John Schulte. These products would prove
to be the main stay of the company for many years.
In 1964 the family business was incorporated under the title
of Schulte Welding and Machine Ltd. 1964 Schulte began full
scale production of rock pickers, front mounted rotary snow
blowers and hydraulic earth scrapers. In 1967 Rockelator
Sales Ltd. was formed with the selling rights to all Schulte
products. Through Rockelator Sales Ltd. contacts were developed
in the USA and around the world. Exporting quickly became
and continues today to be core to the success and growth
of Schulte.
The company name was changed in 1972 from Schulte Welding
and Machine Ltd. to Schulte Industries Ltd. By this time
the company work force had increased to fifty five full
time shop and production personnel and seven front office
and sales staff. Part time employees pushed the numbers
of production personnel to seventy five in the winter months.
Schulte Industries Ltd. moved to a new production and office
facility in 1976 with additional warehouse space added two
years later.
The years following 1976 saw the addition of many new products
to Schulte’s line of equipment as well as the updating
of John Schulte’s original designs. New products included
a rock windrower, a new line of twin stage rotary snow blowers,
and a reel type rock picker. In 1985 Rockelator Sales Ltd.
changed its name to Schulte Sales Ltd. to more closely identify
with the increasingly diversified line of Schulte products.
Schulte entered the roadside maintenance market with a line
of rotary cutters introduced in 1987. In 1988, the company
introduced an agricultural line of 15 ft. and 10-1/2 ft.
rotary cutters, designed to work in the ag sector. These
units have been successfully used for roadside maintenance,
brush cutting as well as cutting and shredding of crop residue
in corn, cotton, sunflower, grass seed and cereal grains.
In 1990, the company introduced a heavy duty 6' rigid deck
rotary cutter to its line of products, as well as the V-1280
V-cutter, specifically designed for use in shallow angle
furrows found in citrus groves.
In 1992, the company introduced the 5026; a 26 ft. five
rotor, the largest flex wing cutter available at this time
making it an ideal implement for the large producer. In
1994, the company introduced the 3020 - 20 ft. Flex-Wing
Cutter and the S70 - 7 ft. single decked medium duty rotary
cutter. In 1995 the company introduced the F14 cotton special
used primarily for cotton & corn shredding.
The production facility was completely re-vamped in 1995-1996,
and additional production space and equipment were added.
A new 6000 square foot office facility was constructed in
1996.
In 1996, the company introduced the 2500 Giant big bucket
reel type rock picker.
In 1998, the F10 rotary cutter was introduced. This patented
10-1/2' rotary cutter has the ability to hydraulically swing
15 1/2" right or left from centre.
At this time Schulte USA Inc. was initiated which is based
in Lake Wales, Florida along with a parts warehouse facility
to service the growing market in SE USA.
In October of 1999 Schulte introduced the SRW 1400 rock
windrower. There was a need for a rock windrower that could
pivot for easy transport in highly populated areas. Schulte
Industries Ltd. received an ASAE award (the AE50) for outstanding
innovations in product technology for this model in February
2001.
In 1999 Schulte Sales Ltd. was named the winner of both
the Canadian Export Award for Canada and also the Provincial
winner of the Sask Trade Export Partnership Award. Along
with these two prestigious awards, Schulte also won the
Western Region Export Award from Canadian Airlines.
On November 6, 2000, Schulte Industries Ltd. joined the
Alamo Group of Seguin, Texas. This was positive and pivotal
change for Schulte Industries Ltd. allowing for growth in
all areas of the business. Capital funding by the Alamo
Group has allowed Schulte to expand and update its production
capabilities as well as to accelerate the design and marketing
of innovative products.
In June 2003 Schulte introduced the patented FLX15 and FLX10
– Flex Arm product. When attached to a 10 or 15 foot
rotary cutter the innovative offset design includes a strut
arm to virtually eliminate the side draft found in competitive
machinery. The other key patented feature is the non-directional
castor wheels, which allow this unit to be backed up with
ease in conjunction with the strut arm. Schulte’s
won the Top Rollout award for this unit from Better Roads
magazine in the fall of 2003.
In July of 2003 Schulte introduced the SRW 800, a 3pt rock
rake designed for small farms and landscaper contractors
to easily leave hooked to their tractors when trailering
from job site to job site.
In August of 2004 Schulte’s came out with a first
of its kind single domed deck 10.5’ rigid deck mower.
The FX210 replaced the model F10 and increased its offset
capability to 16.5” left or right of center. The new
domed top single deck set a bench mark for all other companies
to follow.
In February of 2005 Schulte introduced the first 5 rotor,
single domed top deck, 20’ Flex Wing rotary cutter
in North America. Schulte saw a need for a better performing
20’ rotary cutter as it and other manufacturers struggled
with performance challenges of 3 rotor units in areas such
as cut speed and spread of material. The new FX520 with
its smaller rotors resolved these performance issues and
added several more industry leading features. An AE50 award
was also received for the innovative technology featured
in the FX520.
January 2006 saw the introduction of our 3rd series of our
most popular rotary cutter. The XH1500 Series 3 with single
domed deck has set the standard in the industry to which
all other 15’ Flex Wing cutters will strive to attain.
This engineering marvel eliminated the excess weight found
on competitive double deck units and increased deck depth
to provide exceptional flow through of material and increased
cut performance while maintaining Schulte first in the industry
features including deck protection rings and walking axles.
In February of 2006 Schulte Industries Ltd. received the
award from Saskatchewan Business Magazine as the 2005 Saskatchewan
Business of the Year. This recognized the hard work and
determination to build better equipment and develop new
markets for our high value equipment.
In October of 2006 Schulte Industries Ltd. Introduced the
RDX 110 “Avalanche” snow blower which includes
a unique rotating drum design which works exceptionally
well in heavy wet snow where chute plugging could be a problem.
In 2006, 9000 sq ft of manufacturing space was added to
the production facility
In January of 2007 the High Rise 8000 rock picker was introduced.
This new model increased the hopper capacity by more than
double the size of the old unit at a similar price. Other
benefits include heavier axles, tires and rims than the
previous design and the ability to easily ship to export
markets.
In June of 2007 Schulte Industries Ltd. began production
of the largest rotary cutter the world. The new FX742 (42’
unit) with a 5 plex folding design meets European road transport
requirements being under 3 meters or 9’ 8” of
width. This unit will reduce time in the field for larger
operators, save on fuel (fewer tractors) and aid in keeping
with conservation of the land and air quality by shredding
crop residue where previously extensive tillage or burning
was the normal practice.
Today Schulte employs over 100 people to design, manufacture
and market its diverse line of equipment to serve the farm,
industrial and commercial sectors in all corners of the
world.
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