Steve’s Tractor
Owners: Steve and Lorraine Hill
Location: Muskogee, Okla.
History: Steve Hill’s family goes back a long way in the hay business with his great grandfather ranching before Oklahoma’s statehood. And his father establishing the Hillcrest Ranch in the mid ’50s, with Herefords and Brangus cattle. The Hill’s have built on that experience, to provide a product line focused on helping ranchers manage their baled hay needs by providing custom installed hay beds with service after the sale.
Services: Hay beds are custom installed in Kansas of sturdy 1/8″ to 1/4″ steel. Mounted on the customer’s heavy 3/4 or 1 ton dually truck, the hay bed can actually outlast the vehicle itself. The Hills have chosen to base their business on Internet advertising and word-of-mouth with booth space at farm shows. Reliance on the Internet makes the business accessible to ranchers who need parts and service 24/7 and Steve Hill uses his 30 plus years as a master mechanic for the fire department to answer repair needs after sale – even if the repair is after dark in the barn downstate, Steve and Lorraine make sure that the job gets done.
Philosophy: Product lines include Cannonball, Besler hay beds and Renegade replacement bumpers. If the customer has a need for a specific part or implement, the Hill’s use of the Internet saves a lost day of work for the rancher forced to make a trip into town. The owners are proud of a business built over the last 12 years on honesty, a handshake still means something here.
Story and Photo by Ellen Benson
