The company had four stores and had been a customer of Worthington Ag Parts. In 1995, the company acquired Neil's Parts - the largest after-market and used ag machinery parts distributer in Australia. In 1994, Churchill acquired Rempel Tractor Parts of Niverville, Manitoba, near Winnipeg. In 1988, Dudley moved the company headquarters to St. in 1981.Д¬hurchill renamed the business Worthington Ag Parts and hired Mike Dudley, a beverage company executive, to run it. Fauth is a Long Island, N.Y., native and former Citicorp executive who founded Churchill Cos. 'That's when parts wear faster.'In 1986, Dyke and partner Al Renstrom sold the business to Churchill Industries, a Minneapolis holding company headed by John J. 'You catch a year when you have a lot of rain and the beans are ready to be cut, they start playing in the mud, it becomes really busy here,' Helmers says. The past two or three falls have been beautiful in the Worthington store's primary trade area - little rain or mud. Illinois, Indiana and southern Wisconsin have fabulous crops. This year, the need for combine parts might be a little lighter to the north where some crops weren't put in this year. Parts can be shuffled among the stores - sometimes by the truck-load. 'We're dark-to-dark,' he says, adding that in the busiest conditions, the employees might work Saturdays and even a few Sundays. The fall combine season is the heaviest season for Worthington Ag Parts, Helmers says. Farmers are working together and jointly operating big ticket items such as combines and planters. Helmers estimates there are half as many machines in the country than there were 10 years ago. 'With that $2 or $3 (per bushel) corn, that makes a world of difference.' 'It's nothing for these new combines, if they break a final drive, it could be a $15,000 new part from John Deere or Case-IH, where we might sell a rebuilt for $4,500,' Helmers says. Money seems to be a lot easier to spend with $7 corn and $16 beans. 'But when we have $7 corn, they like to buy new O.E.M. 'When farmers are selling $3 corn, they tend to look for used or rebuilt or after-market new,' Helmers says. Recent lower grain prices might indicate a more active fall at Worthington Ag Parts, Helmers acknowledges. Most are priced at 70 percent of the dealer price and provide quality that meets or exceeds the Original Equipment Manufacturer (O.E.M.) component. Worthington Ag Parts also has a huge stock of new parts out-sourced and made for the company by its Parts Express sister company. We usually have 300 to 350 combines standing in the yard at all times.'ДЄll of the company's used parts are quality checked and carry a one-year limited warranty, with a 30-day, no questions asked return policy. 'Once it has its fourth birthday and everything's gone off of it, we have a shear come in and replace it with the same model or the model newer, if they're available. 'We usually keep a combine for three years,' Helmers says. Some parts are placed on a rack for easy access when the snow gets deep in the winter. Parts either go to an inside warehouse or are placed in an orderly row outside. Transmissions, motors, gear cases, final drives - anything with an internal bearing or pieces on the inside - is replaced, Helmers says. Specialists use the vehicles like rolling tool boxes - each decked with dozens of the yard man's own tools. The process of disassembling tracts starts with unusual yard tractors. 'That picture may show you the tire you're looking for, the auger, the chopper,' Helmers says. The pictures are posted on a web page every evening and are available every morning at 5:30 a.m. When a machine comes in, an employee photographs it from several angles. They acquire machines through dealers, insurance companies and some companies that specialize in recovering salvage. Worthington Ag Parts starts offering parts off machines about 12 years after production and when they are past their warranties, says Mike Winter, president of the Worthington Tractor Parts parent company.

Worthington ag parts