Homestead
Carts is located in the Great Pacific Northwest and is
the only West Coast Manufacturer of these High Quality
Specialized Super Garden Carts. Homestead Carts has
built carts for over 35 years and continues to set the
standard for quality, workmanship and customer service.
Homestead Carts has its roots all the way back to 1979
when Stephen Fish pioneered the Homestead Cart design
and construction. Since that time our carts have been
copied, but none can match the excellence of the cart
that bears the Homestead Carts name.
The original owner/creator of Homestead
Carts, Mr. Stephen Fish, was a Pastor at “World
Outreach” church in Silverton Oregon. They had a
ministry to help young people that were struggling and
had a complex where they housed and ministered to them.
During the day, the men would work in a rented building
just West of Silverton where they made pine waterbed
pedestals and headboards. They were never actually
involved in the manufacture of the carts, but they
shared the large building where the carts were made.
Marvin
Botts, the first Homestead Cart employee and his family
bought the cart business in 1982 with just two hydraulic
presses and a few odds and ends. They built thousands of
carts in the 80’s, and went to many trade shows and
state fairs. They advertised in Southern Living
Magazine, Sunset magazine, and many others on a regular
basis.
In 1983 the
Portland Trailblazers painted one of our carts in their
colors and had a cash giveaway game halfway through a
game... They loaded the cart full of crunched up cash,
and a member of the audience was chosen to shovel out as
much as they could in a certain length of time. They
bought the cart from a Fred Meyer store, who handled
Homestead Carts at that time.
Among other
improvements Marvin Botts added hydraulics to the sheet
metal sheer and later sold the business to the Perry
Family in Salem, OR. The business was then purchased by
John Berry. As good friends, John Berry worked with Rick
Jerald and they continued to improve the product.
John eventually sold the business to Rick who moved the
business to WA State. Rick continued to make more
improvements in the manufacturing process. In
particular, he changed the plywood construction to high
quality marine plywood which has been well received by
customers.
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