JBK Manufacturing
1174 Grange Hall Road
Beavercreek, OH 45430
937-426-8100

 

The History of the Hoffer Soil Sampler

    

Around 1951, a young Mechanical Engineer named Erv Nutter was trying to build a manufacturing company.  He was seeking ideas for products that would lend themselves to his particular area of expertise...the bending and forming of metal tubing.  He needed to build his business for another reason too.  He had just put down $10 of "earnest money" with a local bank in Xenia, Ohio, so that he could purchase a 110-acre farm for he and his family.  Having his own company, as well as enough land to set up a farming operation were two life-long dreams of his.  Fortunately or unfortunately, they were both coming to fruition at once.

With the Bank's deal in hand, he knew that there was little time to waste.  He had land to farm and still needed business for his fledgling manufacturing company.

As busy as things were, Nutter decided to drive to Purdue University on an upcoming weekend to hear Dr. G. N. Hoffer, a noted Agronomist of that School.  Dr. Hoffer would be speaking about soil fertility and plant growth conditions...topics which Nutter knew he needed some knowledge of fairly soon.

During the course of Dr. Hoffer's talk, he emphasized the importance of soil sampling to determine soil conditions and fertility prior to planting a crop.  Dr. Hoffer told the assembled group that he had a fairly simple idea for a tubular soil sampler, but had not found anyone interested in making it yet.

Following the seminar, Nutter approached Dr. Hoffer to discuss his soil sampler concept with him.  It was decided that Nutter would go home and see what he could come up with based on Dr. Hoffer's ideas.  Nutter knew that this "invention" would have to be far more than some welded-together tubes that would rust out before the next crop year came around.

Nutter drew on his manufacturing knowledge as an engineer, and some of the things he had learned about material selection, forming, brazing and plating during his WWII days as Chief of the Test Branch of the U.S. Army Air Force's Wright Field, in Dayton, Ohio.

What Dr. Hoffer and Erv Nutter came up with is still pretty much the same soil sampling instrument manufactured today by Nutter's sons, Ken and Bob, at JBK Manufacturing and Development Company, near Dayton.  Over the years, Nutter paid a small royalty to Dr. and Mrs. Hoffer, for each soil sampler that was sold.  Literally thousands of the instruments have been shipped around the world to Universities, Golf Courses, Agricultural ministries in foreign countries, farmers and others involved in agriculture who recognize and believe in the value and importance of soil sampling and testing.

Erv Nutter did go on to found his own Company and became highly successful in the manufacture of tube assemblies, manifolds and related products for General Electric's Aircraft Engine Group.

The Nutter Family still manufactures precision metal products, at its ISO 9002 registered manufacturing facility, including aircraft components for customers such as:  General Electric, Bell Helicopter, Rolls Royce Allison and a host of other customers.

Our Family is very proud of that...and is just as proud to still be the sole source for the Hoffer Soil Sampler...guaranteeing to you the same integrity of design, material, workmanship and durability that our customers have come to expect for fifty years.

Sincerely,

JBK Manufacturing & Development Company

Kenneth E. Nutter
President
 
Copyright© 2001 JBK Manufacturing and Development Co.