The end of World War I (1918)
When the farmer’s son Johan Schuitemaker senior left the army by the end of World War I, he set himself up as a blacksmith across his parents’ home in the hamlet of Notter. After several years he moved on to another small village called Het Veer, between the municipalities of Rijssen and Wierden, on the river Regge. His brother joined him as a carpenter, and together they went to make wagons from steel and timber, as well as hexagonal rooftops for haystacks. They also made money from running a sawmill. Besides they imported machines from Germany, which would soon flourish into a trade of all kinds of goods for agricultural use.
1940 – 1945
During World War II, Schuitemaker were mainly involved in repair work, which was in abundance in those days. After the war, modern farm mechanisation took off, and Schuitemaker managed to secure dealerships for selling tractors and milking equipment. Horseshoeing was becoming a dying trade since the old-fashioned horse-drawn cart fell into disuse and was replaced by wagons running on pneumatic tyres.
The 1950’s, the big breakthrough for Schuitemaker
The success of Schuitemaker started in the 1950’s when many popular American 4-wheel manure spreaders were brought in for repairs. These spreaders were rather complicated and repairs were time-consuming. That was one of the reasons why Schuitemaker saw the need and the opportunity for the manufacture of a better - but above all a less complicated - manure spreader with more features. Johan Schuitemaker junior then drew the plan for a new wagon on a drawing board he borrowed from the local technical school. He later patented the wagon in five countries. This type of manure spreader, the popular SMS-3000, fitted with the well-known closed oil sump would become the showcase for Schuitemaker Machines for many years and formed the start of the big success of the firm in the years that followed.
1963, the relocation
In 1963 Schuitemaker, by that time employing as many as 35 staff, was one of the first companies to move to ‘De Mors’ industrial zone. Encouraged by the enormous success of their manure spreader, Schuitemaker went on with new developments and designs. Thanks to their excellent connections with Wageningen University and Johan Schuitemaker junior’s foresight, the well-known UTW (Universal Transport Wagon) was developed. This farm trailer with a 180° rotatable deck could be used as an arable land wagon, mixer-feeder wagon and silage wagon. This system made use of front and side panels only. However, obtaining these parts was always troublesome since suppliers were unable to meet Schuitemaker’s high-quality standards.
1966, the cold profile roller and the importance of it
Because of the continuing problems with suppliers, Johan Schuitemaker went to Italy to purchase a cold profile roller in 1966. On his return, the roller was installed in the Rijssen factory. Because the capacity of the cold profile roller exceeded the need at Schuitemaker, the Company was successfully looking at doing work for other companies. That is the reason why Schuitemaker are still manufacturing side panels for other companies in the agricultural industry, as well as for truck manufacturers. As a matter of interest, all current DAF army trucks have been fitted with side panels made by Schuitemaker.
1986
This year saw the launch of the Schuitemaker Rapide loader wagon, which has been in production until this very day.
1998
In 1998 the last SMS-3000 rolled off the production line. Overall, more than 25,000 of these manure spreaders have been made.
2000
Schuitemaker expanded enormously in 2000. That was the result of the continuous growth over the years and the Company bursting at the seams. As well as a new 1,500 m2 production hall and a covered storage of 1,000 m2, the office has also been turned from a one into a two-storey building. The Company site is now 46,000 m2, 12,500 m2 of which is usable floor area.
