Farming with New Ida Uni-System Collection

No early retirement for the Uni-Systems equipment on Wisconsin farm.

By Danielle Lorenz
Published on April 5, 2021
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Joseph Lorenz

It’s not a normal occurrence, in the 21st century, to drive past a cornfield and see a farmer combining with a small, orange New Idea Uni-Harvester. But ever since I can remember, my father has been a proud owner of New Idea Uni-Systems.

Growing up on a dairy farm that my father started on his own, it made sense that we would only be able to afford these smaller combines that took twice as much time as the newer models. As we grew older, my siblings and I scratched our heads as our father continued to buy up this old, run-down equipment. Why continue to farm more than 200 acres with a piece of equipment from the 1970s that cost next to scrap iron price and takes weeks to finish harvesting?

Sold on the Uni-System

My father, Richard Navis, began working as a mechanic for Gibbsville Implement in southeast Wisconsin in 1989 after completing technical college. While working there, he repaired equipment for half a dozen farmers who used Uni-Systems. He said he always thought the Uni’s were neat and his clients always had good things to say about them. When he began buying equipment after starting a dairy farm in the early 1990s, he made a point of looking for a Uni-System.

In 1999, my father bought his first Uni, a 708 with a chopper that cost him $2,500. Not long after, he bought two more Uni-Systems from Gibbsville Implement, the same place he had first worked on them. They had a 704 with a gas engine and a 709 that they were having trouble selling. Both Uni’s needed a lot of work, but my father got them up and running.

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