Jackrabbit Equipment has been a longstanding leader in harvesting equipment

From nut harvesting equipment to frost protection, Jackrabbit Equipment is a harvesting equipment manufacturer that strives to produce the most efficient harvesting system on the market. Located in the heart of Central Valley, California’s most productive agricultural region, Jackrabbit leads the harvesting equipment industry in addition to producing rodent control units, pruning towers, and fruit-picking platforms.

Acquiring a frost protection company produced challenges for the harvest equipment manufacturer

Jackrabbit Equipment acquired Shur Farms, a frost protection company, in August 2017. Shur Farms built frost protection units, power units and autostart boxes. However, their engineer was located a long distance away from Jackrabbit’s headquarters in California’s Central Valley.

Jackrabbit quickly realized that relying on this one individual for all of the company’s manufacturing obligations now proved expensive, tedious, and inefficient. They needed a reliable external solution that would be more efficient for their manufacturing needs.

How MurCal optimized JackRabbit’s harvest equipment manufacturing

MurCal and Jackrabbit happened to be in the right place at the right time - the World Ag Expo.

Once Ben Villines, Jackrabbit’s Sales and Marketing Coordinator, explained all of the features of Jackrabbit’s equipment to our team, a MurCal representative quickly identified our manufacturing solutions as a potential, more efficient alternative.

Villines had the opportunity to talk directly with and ask any questions to MurCal’s engineering, president, and sales. Villines recalled how “being able to iron out a lot of the details before moving onto the next step” fostered a relationship rooted in confidence and trust, and he saw MurCal as a great fit.

So besides trust and familiarity, what made our products and services stand out to Villines? Due to the comprehensive and proactive approach our engineers take during production, our products were already ahead of the game since they were able to be fully integrated with other frost protection equipment.

Once the partnership was solidified, Jackrabbit sent MurCal one of their small gasoline engines to integrate with their temperature autostart, and MurCal sent back prototypes for approval. Throughout the process, Villines directly emailed the engineer with any concerns, and the MurCal team addressed them promptly.

He explained that MurCal’s greatest assets are flexibility and commitment. “Not many other suppliers out there would manufacture something that would work. Other suppliers were more expensive or couldn’t adapt to what Jackrabbit was doing,” Villines explained.

MurCal’s agricultural engine control units prove successful for JackRabbit

“Exceeded expectations.” Working with MurCal has given Jackrabbit a unit that is more reliable, robust, easier to operate, and has more features. Despite being a superior unit, it is very price competitive compared to Jackrabbit’s in-house produced boxes.

Villines says that this type of result as well as optimized workflow efficiency was made possible largely in part due to the accessibility of the MurCal team. Being able to communicate directly with the engineers developing the products and receiving consistent follow-up emails after they shipped them established trust and dependability.

Seeing their success with MurCal’s autostart units for their gasoline and propane engines motivated Jackrabbit to expand its partnership with MurCal. Now, the MurCal team is developing a prototype electrical panel/autostart unit for Jackrabbit’s electric-powered cold air drains. Villines noted that MurCal’s continuous expansion and innovative ideas make him excited to see Jackrabbit flourish with the help of MurCal.

Researching the best engine equipment partner is a good business investment

Whether you’re in the harvesting or agricultural sector like JackRabbit, the municipal industry, or any other industry that requires powered and automated engines - who you partner with to provide your control solutions and expertise matters. Sure, it can seem daunting to know where to start looking - especially if you’ve had a ‘go-to’ provider for years or even decades. But just because you already have systems in place, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily the best for your business.

Taking the time to do so will not only benefit your product quality and day-to-day workflow efficiencies, but also your bottom line and peace of mind.

As evidenced by our satisfied partner JackRabbit, MurCal can do just that. Our team can create custom solutions to help control, diagnose, and monitor your mission-critical equipment. From engineering, development, production, wire-harnessing, to user interface design and experience.

Our tagline, “One call, problem solved” means the first call you make is the most important. It gives us the opportunity to provide you with hands-on quality technical support to resolve or create a solution for your needs immediately. When you’re looking for a time and cost-saving solution, MurCal can deliver. Learn more about our services and product development process by contacting us here.