Our Story
At Bales Unlimited, our roots in feed processing and bale handling operations are deep. Sheldon Litwiller and his father, Raymond, co-owners of Bales Unlimited, worked together during Sheldon's younger years in the daily operations of the family dairy farm. After spending most of his life in and out of the dairy industry, Raymond decided to sell the cows and leave the area for a number of years. Upon his return to southern Idaho in 1995, he and Sheldon purchased a custom-built truck-mounted large bale stacker and opened Bales Unlimited Inc. for business, providing large bale stacking services for farmers and custom hay operations in the Magic Valley of south central Idaho, an area well-known for hay production due to ideal soil and growing conditions that produce exceptionally high-quality alfalfa hay.
After a short time in business, it became apparent that in order to fulfill the needs of their customers, Bales Unlimited would need to add stack retrieving services to the already growing operation. After trying another design that did not fill their needs, and unable to find a stack retrieving system that they were satisfied with, father and son set about to design and build their own truck-mounted stack retriever body. That first large fabrication project was a success, and in the process of completing it the owners of Bales Unlimited discovered both a passion for metal work as well as an extraordinary talent for fabrication and design. They began to fill their off-season months with agricultural-related fabrication projects for hire, such as bale forks, manure spreader boxes as well as additional stack retriever bodies for their own use and for others who liked the design and hired him to build one for them.
Now over 20 years later, Bales Unlimited has grown and diversified. A new shop in 2005 paved the way for a more advanced line of metal working machinery, such as a large hydraulic press brake and overhead cranes. Machine tools such as a lathe and end mill enable production of more complicated assemblies, while a computer-controlled plasma cutting table operated by CAD-based design software rounds out the operation. An in-house hydraulic shop facilitates on-site integration of hydraulic systems into fabrication designs and streamlines the production process. The equipment manufactured by the Bales Unlimited fabrication shop speaks for itself in terms of fit and finish, efficient design, and quality of construction. Besides manufacturing their signature lines of equipment and attachments, Bales Unlimited also provides general welding repair, custom fabrication, and machining services to the agricultural and feed processing industries and many other customers in their local community.
Today, the history and roots of Bales Unlimited have come a full circle. Father and son still work together in a family operation, participating in the daily duties of both the stacking and retrieving operation as well as in the fabrication shop. Both are accomplished metalworkers and machinists in their own right who enjoy their trade and take pride in their innovative approach to fabrication design as well as the quality of their work.
Are you interested in finding out what Bales Unlimited can do for you? Contact us today! We look forward to working with you.