IF YOU DRIVE WEST ON HIGHWAY 12, you might notice a farm implement enclosed inside a rather nice-looking building on what appears to be a farming operation. Not a garage, not a barn, but an office building. The machine is bright lime green so it’s not hard to miss. So, I stopped to learn more.
The facility is the home of TDO Farms, Inc. owned by the Ochsner family. One of the family member-owners gave me a tour of the office building and explained how the tractor came to be housed inside. This building seemed to have just popped up, but it certainly is not new. In fact, the building used to be a house at Mina built in the early 1990s. The Ochsners acquired it and moved it near this location in 2014, and just a year ago, moved it again to this manicured location to use as their corporate offices. And a place to store their vintage Steiger Barn Series tractor.
- TDO Farms is a multi-generation farming establishment that farms in the Dakotas, engineers and installs drain tile and water management systems; sells and assembles farm equipment; and offers insurance for crop, hail and livestock from their office and shop buildings.
The landscaping around the building also includes a large pond on the south side. The Ochsner joke that when they push the tractor outside to fire it up, they have to be really sensitive to its momentum so that it doesn’t keep rolling into the pond.
The house was moved from its original location in Mina, shown here, to a spot west of Aberdeen. It was moved to its current spot in 2024
Like most, farming is big business for the Ochsners and they are continually investing in their operation as well as their efforts to improve the acres they farm. They say a core value is “soil health and building soils every year to leave it the same or better than the good Lord gave us.” Unlike most who typically have three or four generations in farming, they are somewhat new to the industry. They began farming in 1998 with two generations jumping in on day one.
Planning to store a tractor, that can be taken in and out as needed, posed a challenge for the Ochsner team who engineered the house move, the remodel, the foundation, and the tractor accommodations. It was planned such that the tractor could be eased outside before firing up the diesel engine and preventing the office interior from filling with exhaust. They did have to extend the front of the building to accommodate an additional floor and the tractor.
Despite all the intense farming business that goes on in the building, an outsider like me might be most intrigued by the tractor included as an interior design object. The tractor was hand built in Thief River Falls, MN, in 1968 when Steiger was first coming on the scene as a contender in the implement business. It’s officially called a Barn Series tractor because it was built in a dairy barn, and this is one of two built with a cab pioneering the cab concept. The family acquired the tractor in 2008 when the owner passed away and wanted them to have it. The owner’s family wouldn’t take any money for it, so the Ochsners, enamored with the acquisition and the generosity, made a donation to the former owner’s church. The tractor still runs and can be seen in community parades now and again.
Custom solid oak furniture was built in place by Hutterites, and all the wood throughout the building was finished by their skilled crafts people.
The Steiger is stored indoors to keep it climate controlled. No dusty cold barn for this historic heirloom. Even though the tractor is imposingly huge when standing next to it inside the office, it pales in size to their current, modern farm equipment stationed all around the farm grounds. On the rear of the tractor is a book with all of the Stieger tractors Todd Ochsner sold.
The Ochsner’s invite folks to stop in and see if they can find the serial number of their tractor or perhaps reminisce about Don and the barber pole from Lager’s. The Steiger last appeared in Downtown Aberdeen’s Parade of Lights, so keep an eye out for it in the future…
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