Rare Polaris Straw Chopper

Rare Polaris Straw Chopper AG WORLD Polaris is a big name in ATV’s and snowmobiles but did you know that at one time they made farm equipment such as this 1962 Polaris straw chopper? Bill Thelemann had the straw chopper on display at a recent antique tractor show near LeSeuer Minnesota     “Polaris started out building grain elevators corn cribs sprayers steam cleaners grain vacuums etc in the early 1950’s They didn’t start building snowmobiles until 1954 ” says Thelemann “The chopper attached to the back end of the combine and was belt-driven It worked well as long as the straw was dry but often plugged up in tough straw The company decided to recall their early straw choppers and rebuild them to work in all conditions       “I got my straw chopper from a local farmer who had stored it on his farm Polaris choppers are quite rare today as most of them got scrapped out with the combines they were mounted on many years ago ”     According to Thelemann Polaris developed a great reputation and a loyal following among farmers     “If someone had a problem with a piece of equipment the company would rebuild it at no charge even though at one time they were almost in financial bankruptcy  They didn’t walk away from a problem and proved to farmers that they could always be relied on They weren’t afraid to recall products or to build next generation products with features that made them work better ”     How did Polaris get into snowmobiles? “The company founders were big hunters and trappers and wanted something they could drive back into the woods during winter ” notes Thelemann     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Bill Thelemann 34452 265th Ave LeSuer Minn 56058 ph 952 994-2743; bthelemann@yahoo com

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