Ditch Witch Midwest Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

Wed July 07, 2021 - Midwest Edition #14
CEG/Ditch Witch Midwest

Ditch Witch Midwest celebrated its 50th Anniversary and the opening of its new facility on June 23. Ditch Witch Midwest was founded by Earl K. Harbaugh in 1970 with its first location in Lombard, Ill. In 1972 the business relocated to Carol Stream, Ill., where it spent 48 years.

The company built its new 40,000-sq.-ft. facility at 1555 Atlantic Dr., West Chicago, Ill., which includes two advanced training rooms and a .5-acre outdoor demonstration area for customers to engage in live training and education.

"This new building and digging space will give us the opportunity to train our customer's employees on the proper equipment and operational safety in a controlled environment," said Mark Harbaugh, president of Ditch Witch Midwest. "After almost 48 years in the same space and adding 1st Choice Equipment in 2012, the companies outgrew the location in Carol Stream. We are really happy with our new home in West Chicago."

Ditch Witch Midwest provides a line of underground construction equipment backed by genuine Ditch Witch parts and factory-trained service staff. The company's philosophy is "Customer First" which can be seen in their high standards for products, services and training.

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(L-R): Scott Harbaugh and his wife, Theresa; LeAnne Harbaugh; Earl K. Harbaugh, company founder; Mark Harbaugh, president; West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda; Kay Harbaugh, wife of Earl; and LeAnn Harbaugh, wife of Mark.

Employees gather for a group shot to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary.

The Super Witch — a tricked-out, souped-up Ditch Witch RT95.

(L-R) are Robert Sloan, president of CE Rentals; Toby Mack, past AED president; Earl K. Harbaugh, founder of Ditch Witch Midwest; and Tom Sloan of CE Rentals.

John Vanick of Henkels & McCoy with one of the first trenchers to come out of the Charles Machine Works in Perry, Okla., sold to AD- Sign Company in Chicago.

One of the first trenchers to come out of the Charles machine works in Perry, Okla., was sold to AD- Sign Company in Chicago.

(L-R): Shan Kirtley, Kevin Smith, Earl K. Harbaugh, Mark Harbaugh, Tucker Dotson and Randy Rupp celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ditch Witch Midwest.

(L-R) are Mark Harbaugh, president of Ditch Witch Midwest; Brian McGuire, president of AED; Earl K. Harbaugh, founder of Ditch Witch Midwest; and Bob Henderson, executive vice president and COO of AED.

The Ditch Witch JT 100 directional drill has a 260 hp Cummins engine with 100,000 lbs. of pullback and 12,000 ft.-lb. of torque.

The Super Witch wows the crowd with its antics.

The Ditch Witch SK800 mini-skid steer has a 24.8 hp Kubota engine and is useful for a variety of jobs, big and small.

Earl K. Harbaugh, founder of Ditch Witch Midwest, in the Founders Room that was built as a surprise to him from everyone at Ditch Witch Midwest.

Mark Harbaugh (L), president of Ditch Witch Midwest, welcomes guests to the company’s new facility.

Mike Ford (R) of 1ST Choice Equipment Co. shows this Kubota SVL75-2 skid steer to Dewey Klodzinski (L) and Pete Castillo, both of Razor Edge Landscaping.

Kevin Ridens (R), director of sales of 1ST Choice Equipment Co., shows the shop area to Chris Wieteska of EC Excavating.

Phil Dote (L) of Meade Electric Co. and John Candelaria of City Lights are in front of the Ditch Witch HX50 vacuum excavator.

Jim Rollins (L) and David Harris, both of North Shore Gas, have a look at this Kubota U35-4 excavator.

Grant Ketterhagen (R) shows this American Auger DD110 to Greg Van Hollen (L) and Shane Wolf, both of K S Energy Services.

Mark Harbaugh (R), president of Ditch Witch Midwest, gives a tour of the new facility to (L-R) John Granberg and Robin Gilbertson, both of J&R Underground, and Phil Bongi of Bongi Construction.

Ditch Witch Company founders, Earl K. and Kay Harbaugh, welcome customers and guests to the new facility in West Chicago.

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