Cruising for chicks the high tech way

Hearing stories of poultry farmers checking their cages while walking around on drywall stilts, Fort Recovery residents Brian Jutte and Tim McCain began thinking of a more efficient way for them to do their job.
“They were coming in wanting things made up,” said Jutte, owner of Monterey Fabrication and Service. “We’ve made a few things for different people, and we decided that we could come up with a better idea.”
Farmers, trying to save space in their barns, stack their chicken cages, which can reach upwards of 12 feet, leading to some walking on stilts or even climbing the cages to check the health of the chickens and the maintenance of the cages.
Checking cages can take anywhere from four to five hours a day, making it difficult and painful for farmers using stilts.
The duo worked for more than a year on an idea to make a type of cruiser to help poultry farmers reach the heights they needed, eventually debuting the Poultry Cruiser in January at an international poultry show.
The reaction they received was unexpected.
“(It was) overwhelming,” said Jutte. “We had people at that booth all day long.”
Tim McCain’s brother, and self-proclaimed Poultry Cruiser groupie, Steve McCain, was also at the show.
“We heard from a minimum 10 people who came in and said that this was the coolest thing at the show. And then they would ask if they could drive it, and we’d say, ‘You can get on it, but you’re not allowed to leave the booth,’” said Steve McCain. “And they would drive away, and they’d come back 10, 15 minutes later with people following them. It was like the Pied Piper effect.”
The cruiser, which resembles a heightened Segway with a step stool at its base, is the only product like it in the small niche poultry market.
“Our main goal with this, in the design process, was to keep it as simple as possible but quality. That’s what it’s been called, a little tank,” said Tim McCain. “If something goes wrong, can they quickly and easily fix it?”
Going through three or four different designs, McCain and Jutte started out with an idea for a bicycle but soon realized  their main focus needed to be on stability and maneuverability.
“It sat six foot tall to the seat. You make one lap around here and the thing wanted to tip over, and you’re thinking, ‘Man, I wouldn’t want to be on this thing,’” said Jutte. “So then we decided we’re going to try to do something motorized. They’re not pedaling, and it’s not on three wheels. So we came up with the idea that we should make a cart scooter.”
Cruiser Products, the new business created to accommodate the product, has found success in its first year, selling eight of the cruisers to farmers in Ohio, Minnesota and Canada.
For a retail price of $4,500, the businessmen, who had never been involved in the poultry business, are happy with their achievement.
“I think we’re doing fairly well for a first year business,” said Tim McCain. “We’ve got some money still in the account, and we’ve sold some in different states and out of the country.”
And while the product is a marvel for those looking for a more efficient way to check tall cages, it’s the yin and yang relationship between Jutte and McCain that may be the real success behind the operation.
“The Juttes are inventive and quick to act and go and execute,” said Steve McCain. “That’s probably Brian in a nutshell. Look at a problem, get out a welder and fix it.
“Tim is very deliberative. He will deliberate and ponder.”
The duo doesn’t plan to sit on their laurels but continue to find ways to improve the cruiser or modify it for customers, sometimes with the help of Jay County-based Minnich Poultry, a supporter and purchaser of two cruisers.
“We’re finding out things with it to this day — what it works with, what it doesn’t, feedback from the customer itself,” said Tim McCain.
Some of this has been seen in their updates of the cruiser’s battery pack, which can last more than five days on one charge.
This can lead to labor cost saving for its customers.
“Forty-five minutes to an hour they’re knocking off just in labor, per day, per building,” said Jutte. “Some of these farmers have six, eight buildings so you’re knocking eight hours off of your time card, which is a big thing at the end of the year.”
A patent is pending on the cruiser, with hopes to have it approved in the near future, and it has also been inspected by Occupational Safety and Health Administration and found to meet and exceed its standards, which brought validation to their work.
For now, Jutte and McCain are content to know that they’ve made something unique and functional that is continuing to gain popularity.
“There isn’t anything on the market, period, that’s like that,” said Jutte. “There just isn’t.”[[In-content Ad]]