Fond du Lac-built SnoDozer keeps air traffic moving
FOND DU LAC - At airports around North America, from Alberta to Georgia, equipment made in Wisconsin plays a key role in keeping passengers and commerce moving.
At the nexus of the airport product portfolio for New Berlin-based Wausau Equipment Co., is the SnoDozer, a hulking four-wheeled vehicle designed to brush or blow off airport runways and hardstands. The equipment is built, delivered and maintained by workers in Fond du Lac.
That’s people like Wesley Immel of Waupun, who went from high school to a job fixing cars at a dealership before making the jump to building and working on huge pieces of snow removal equipment with Wausau Equipment seven years ago.
Immel was working on a 22-footwide rotating broom that attached to the front of the SnoDozer last week. His job, testing technician, is divided between building the equipment (he was working on a 22-foot wide rotating broom that attached to the front of the SnoDozer earlier this week), testing, and servicing equipment in the field.
“We start with two chassis rails, put the axles on it, all the parts and build it up from there,” he said. “Seeing to actually go out to the customer is a pretty good feeling. It also feels very good to be out at the airport with the customer and actually seeing it in action.”
Throughout the year, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s State of Opportunity series is talking with the state’s workers and entrepreneurs about their jobs and the pride and satisfaction they take from their work.
Built in Fondy
Each SnoDozer is built up to a working piece of equipment in a production building on the north side of the Fond du Lac County Airport. The adjacent runways are great for testing completed vehicles (except during the annual Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in July when thousands of airplanes descend on the region).
On Tuesday, workers toiled on several SnoDozers that are part of a 10-vehicle order. The facility builds 25 to 35 pieces of equipment a year.
“It’s fun,” said Ben Mattson, production supervisor in Fond du Lac, about building products like the SnoDozer. “They come in looking like nothing and leave as something you can drive.”
The Michigan native and Fond du Lac resident came from a job on the railroad to Wausau Equipment in 2009, the same year the company expanded operations to Fond du Lac.
Wausau Equipment builds heavyduty snowplows and snow and ice control equipment for airports, highway departments and railroad applications.
Around the continent
The job has taken Immel to places like Anchorage, Alaska, and Montreal, Canada. He knows the job he does helps keep aviators and passengers safe and helps keep air traffic moving.
“Reliability of the equipment is important because the airport’s need their runways cleaned as soon as possible, at some airports they only have a certain amount of time on the runway and they have to have it clean,” he said. “If it’s not clean, they have to re-do it and the airport starts losing thousands and thousands of dollars.”