The Goertzen sweep got its start on the Fred Goertzen farm south of Aurora, Nebraska in the 1990’s. Through trial and error, Fred came up with a design that worked for him. Fred combined the features he liked from various cultivators and created adapter kits that could easily be switched to convert cultivators to his new ideas. He then wondered if other farmers would appreciate his new design. With an enthusiastic response from other farmers, Goertzen Manufacturing was born. Through the next few years he came up with several new pieces to fit popular cultivator models of that time. Two designs are still being used today.
The need for a ridging wing is when Smith Welding got involved. Fred is a personal friend of mine (Kelvin) and we worked together to design the first proto type wing. Again with much trial and error, Fred came up with the final design. The final design has a tear drop shape with a pin that makes adjustment quick and consistent with each row. The wing could fit the Goertzen sweep or easily use the conversion kit to make it fit another cultivator. The poly liner for the wing made it one of the best in the industry by getting the soil build-up to slide right off.
Smith Welding remained involved in the 1990’s by designing the jigs and welding the product. Fred got an opportunity to move closer to family in Kansas. He made that move and Smith Welding bought GM in 2002. We continue to produce and sell the products.