Gwinner, ND: Wood Grain Elevator and Bobcat Company Headquarters

Elevator: (Satellite)

Bobcat: (Satellite) Bobcat consumes almost as much land as the houses do in this town.

Street View, Aug 2025

Wesley Peters posted two photos with the comment:

Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota.

Gwinner, Sargent County, ND.

Gwinner Farmers Elevator Co. Headhouse built in 1948-1949, Wachtler Construction Co. 65,000-bushel capacity. Annex built in 1958. 116,000-bushel capacity.

One of two known surviving works by the Wachtler Construction Co. that I have come across in my research. The other example of their work is located in Dunnell, MN.

Photographed on 7/19/2025.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

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The town also has a fertilizer supply facility.

Street View, Aug 2025

I wonder if at least some of these railcars are carrying fertilizer. I could not find a fall protector for either elevator.

Street View, Aug 2025

The former Northern Pacific Railroad is now owned by Red River Valley & Western.

rail.guide

I recognize Bobcat as a pioneer of the skid-steer industry.

Jimmy Lee, Jun 2022

In fact, they were the pioneer in 1960.

bobcat_timeline
"The M400 was adapted from the second self-propelled loader designed by Melroe Manufacturing Company, the M200, by adding a rear axle. The skid-steer loader's unique use of two independent transmissions allowed it to turn within its own length, creating a new way of working. With the introduction of the world’s first true skid-steer loader, the M400 launched the compact equipment industry as we know it today."

They introduced the compact excavator in 1989. 

bobcat_timeline
"At the time and in the 25 years that followed, it was the only compact excavator manufactured in the U.S. Over the next three decades, Bobcat would bring multiple models of compact excavators to market."