LE SILLON
A John Deere PublicationStaying Grounded | Olson Toon Landscaping | John Deere Construction
Fall 2025
Staying Grounded
Central Wisconsin Contractor Has Ascended To Great Heights
6 MIN READ
At a jobsite west of Madison, Wisconsin, crew members for OT Site continue work on a long, winding driveway. A John Deere 470 P-Tier Excavator loads a Deere 260 P-Tier Articulated Dump Truck while a 700K LGP Dozer completes a rough grade.
As the sun begins to peek over the horizon, the first light of dawn reveals an endless expanse of green rolling hills. When the house is eventually completed, the new homeowners will enjoy a stunning view. The location feels remote despite significant economic growth and development in Madison.
A long and winding road is an apt symbol for Jon Loger's journey. "Both my grandfathers and my father worked in the industry, doing road construction," says Loger, who is vice president of OT Site, an entity of Olson Toon Landscaping.
He recalls being with his father on similar jobs growing up. "I liked this work as a kid and went to work with my dad every chance I could get. I made up my mind by high school that this is what I was going to do. And here we are." Loger sees the same interest he had as a youth in his own children and hopes they follow in his footsteps.
After graduating from high school, Loger started as a laborer at Hammersley Stone Company with his father and worked his way up to an operator. When the recession hit in the late 2000s, he worked at a couple of other companies before his path led him back to Olson Toon in 2015.
By midmorning, the crew heads off to bustling commercial jobsites to the west. But this project serves as a reminder of Olson Toon's humble start.
Never Too Small
President Aaron Olson's path was similar to Loger's, following in his own father Steve Olson's footsteps. "I tell our people we can never forget where we came from," says Olson. "These are the customers who got us started, and we'll always do residential work. We'll have big projects, but we will always do these small ones too."
Founded in 1997, Olson Toon Landscaping has emerged as one of Wisconsin's premier design/ build landscaping companies, today employing 250 people. "My father took the risk as an entrepreneur," says Olson.
"Growing a business is tough and a lot of hardship. Not many people have that in them, but he did. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."
In 2015, the company expanded into the concrete and excavation business. "We had great relationships with our builders and started offering more services, including digging basements and doing foundations." As the company began taking on large commercial excavating and site utility projects, it formed a new entity, OT Site
When Olson approached Loger about joining the company to help grow the new excavation division, it represented a great opportunity for Loger.
OT Site started with just two crew members and a backhoe. "We had growing pains," Loger remembers. "We didn't want to let anyone down and probably took on a few projects we weren't equipped for. But our local John Deere dealer, Brooks Tractor, was always willing to help with rentals or whatever we needed.
"We were never too small for them," he adds, echoing his own company's philosophy toward its customers. "They always treated us the same, whether we were a two-man crew or multiple large crews like now. No one at the time could have predicted what we would become."
Olson has always pushed his people never to let the customer down. "We want happy customers, and we want return customers," says Olson. Loger's crew proved itself, and word began to spread.
Today, Loger is responsible for managing 30 workers, divided into 5 to 10 crews, depending on the current workload. A 45-minute drive from the driveway job, several crews are installing water mains and sewer lines at a massive industrial park that is under construction.
The large fleet of John Deere equipment on the project includes 345 P-Tier, 245 P-Tier, and 245G LC Excavators; 624 P-Tier and 644 P-Tier Loaders; and a 260E Articulated Dump Truck.
"I let the employees decide what kind of equipment they want to run," says Olson. "They chose John Deere."
P-Tier machines deliver a premium level of performance and technology, including enhanced operator comfort, compared to their G-Tier counterparts. "Our operators spend 8 to 12 hours a day in a piece of equipment," says Loger. "It's worth it to keep them comfortable."
Fully integrated John Deere SmartGrade™ grade-control solutions help crews complete tasks faster using less material and with less rework compared to machines without grade-management technology. "I was skeptical about grade control," says Loger.
"Then we started using SmartGrade on some of our John Deere dozers and excavators, and I realized what we were missing. Operators can see what's coming next more quickly. We don't have to stake a site or wait for surveyors. It speeds everything up and leaves a better product for the concrete and paving guys."
"I cannot say enough about SmartGrade on the excavators," adds Operator Ryan Hering. "There's never a question of where and how deep we're digging, so you never have to worry about over-digging. This helps minimize wasted time and materials."
"I cannot say enough about Smart-Grade on the excavators,"
Never Too Big
Comfortable, productive machines don't matter much if they aren't running. In addition to finding the optimum mix of right-size machines and the latest technology and solutions, Brooks Tractor helps Olson Toon keep a vigilant eye on its fleet using John Deere Operations Center™.
"In this business, you are going to have breakdowns," says Loger. "That's inevitable. The most important thing is maximizing uptime in the field. If your service department and dealership are working closely together to get a machine up and running as soon as possible, that's always the best-case scenario."
Using John Deere Operations Center and Service Center™, a technician at Brooks Tractor continually monitors each machine for any alerts and codes. "We contact them as soon as something happens, often before they even know," says Eric Alfson, sales manager at Brooks Tractor's Sun Prairie branch.
"We try to resolve the issue over the phone. If needed, we can remotely diagnose the problem and identify the right part without an additional service visit."
Loger also uses Operations Center to receive alerts on a PC, laptop, smartphone, or tablet. He can schedule routine maintenance for the machines to better plan for and manage downtime as well as track other key machine-health information.
"Idle time and fuel usage are particularly valuable," says Loger. "If you have idle time, you're losing warranty and depreciating the equipment in addition to wasting fuel. Idle time also highlights inefficiencies. I can determine, for example, if I have too many haul trucks running at low capacity on one site or too few excavators to keep up with loading trucks on another."
Brooks Tractor provides an additional layer of support, offering customers extended warranties and preventative maintenance contracts through the John Deere Protect™ program. It's all about cost per hour, which remains known and predictable for the life of the machine. "It puts everyone more at ease knowing every machine has an extended warranty," explains Loger.
"We work in tough conditions. If a major component fails, we're covered. We don't have to bear the significant cost. We're simply doing the preventative maintenance, not rebuilding engines and waiting on parts. We're ahead of the game."
Olson Toon's capable technicians strictly follow Deere guidelines for preventative maintenance. Parts can quickly and easily be picked up at the dealership or ordered from Shop.Deere.com.
Other contractors opt for a preventative-maintenance plan through John Deere Protect. "For some clients, it removes one more variable," says Alfson. "They can rest easy knowing that a John Deere certified technician is doing everything correctly."
Loger appreciates how John Deere Operations Center and John Deere Protect help keep his operation moving. "It's a fast-paced industry," he says. "We can't afford downtime. Using Deere's latest digital tools and warranty programs help us keep on top of issues that cause downtime while better managing costs."
Loger doesn't mind the fast pace but always sets aside time to reflect on what's important. "Olson Toon is a big business, with close to 250 employees, but it's still a family business," he says. "We're all close."
Back in 1997, founder Steve Olson only envisioned having two crews. Loger says, "Now he comes into the office and can't believe where we're at. It's cool to see a community and a business grow and yet never become too big to take care of somebody."
Olson Toon Landscaping and OT Site are serviced by Brooks Tractor, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
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A John Deere 624 P-Tier hauls gravel to an exposed manhole and a 245 G-Tier Excavator fills a trench.
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