The best customers are the customers that feel good about what they have purchased. Dean Schneider, a crops and livestock farmer in New Ulm, Minn., opened up his new farm shop for a community fundraiser. Schweiss Doors made it an opening everyone will remember.
“When I pushed the button and the whole wall opened up, everyone was just amazed,” Schneider says. “They had never seen a structure where the entire wall opened up. That just blew people away.”
The new shop at Schneider Farms measures 80 x 84 feet and features a 40 x 18 foot hydraulic door on the south wall. The building is white with red trim, colors selected by Schneider and his wife, Lori. The hydraulic door is outlined in red along with the three windows in the door.
“I’ve told Dean for years that he should build a new shop,” Lori Schneider says. “Our farm equipment is big. He and our sons take great care of the equipment, so a better facility just seemed in order.”
The successful fundraiser was to upgrade a nearby baseball field similar to the “Field of Dreams” in Iowa, made famous in the movie of the same name. Schneider estimates 300 people attended the gathering.
Schneider’s new facility was built by North Star Builders of New Ulm, Minn., which is owned by Schneider’s son Chad. Schneider says he did some research, traveling to other farm shops for unique ideas and was confident he knew what he wanted. “Chad helped with the layout and actual construction,” Schneider says. “So this was very much a family project all the way.”
The rest of the family, sons Matt, Jeff and Ross, and daughter Megan, all provided some input, which led to the addition of a 24 x 32 foot office and break room. “The break room space is great, gives some special room for visitors and space for our crews during harvest,” Schneider says. “Plus, we needed an office to get some of the bookwork of our operation out of the house. So a neat bathroom was added, plus a utility room hosing all the geothermal hookups.”
Schneider went with a hydraulic door from Schweiss Doors for a couple of reasons. “We see the Schweiss operation often because it’s only 40 minutes from our farm,” Scheider says. “So if there were any issues with the door, we knew we could rely on the Schweiss crew for quick service. Our only choice, really, was between the Schweiss Bifold and the Schweiss Hydraulic.”
Ultimately, Schneider went with the hydraulic door that has impressed the community. “It’s a cleaner, less busy look,” he says. “It really complemented the total interior look of our shop, plus it was easy to insulate. Plus, they told my son exactly what dimensions were needed for the doorframe. When my son fitted the door into the opening, it was flawless … just a perfect fit and that’s something when you’re dealing with a space that big.”
Schneider says the new shop has become a morning coffee gathering place, as well as the hot spot for an occasional “Happy Hour” later in the day.
Some other shop features:

• Wash areas alongside both the east and north walls with slight slope of concrete floor into 50 foot catch basins.
• Several electrical outlets along both these two walls for convenient hookup of power washer unit.
• Floor heating under the entire shop floor covered with 8 inches of concrete; 10 inches of concrete floor for the two wash basin areas which their semitrailers can access from both sides of the building. Or drive in from the west side and drive out the south roller door.
• Geothermal heat supplied by a system of 12 runs of piping buried 9 feet deep.
• An 18-foot ceiling with 20 high-intensity lighting fixtures built into the ceiling.
• Blanket insulation in all walls plus 20 inches of cellular spray foam in the ceiling.

Schweiss Doors is the premier manufacturer of hydraulic and bi-fold lift-strap doors. Doors are custom made to any size for any type of new or existing building for architects and builders determined to do amazing things with their buildings, including the doors. For more information, visit www.bifold.com.