DIKE -- Even after living in Iowa for 12 years, Ross Hamilton is a city boy. Wednesday, he got a big dose of country.

The native of Austin, Texas -- population 681,000 -- climbed into a 2005 Case-International Harvester combine and was amazed at the technology and creature comforts. Getting on board was a first, though he was about to drive the giant machine 19 miles.

"What's that, a little TV?" Hamilton asked, examining the combine's yield monitor.

"What does it have two brake pedals for?"

A legitimate question considering Hamiliton is general manager of Liberty Motor Cars, a Chevrolet dealership in Grundy Center.

At 8:30 a.m. he and 35 other drivers were ready to embark. The journey was to help Titan Machinery move much of its inventory from Dike to the business' new home.

After brief driving lesson, he and the others were off. Thirty-six machines -- combines and tractors pulling grain carts and tillage equipment -- rumbled out of town, leaving behind puffs of black diesel exhaust.

Titan officials said they had no doubts about turning a $140,000 piece of equipment over to Hamilton.

"No, he'll be all right," store manager Troy Price said. "We wanted to get local businesses and good customers involved in the move to Grundy Center. It's an event."

The mile-long caravan of red against a backdrop of green fields slowly made its way southwest through Grundy County. Sheriff's deputies blocked roads for the parade to pass safely at 16 mph.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," said Daryl Meyer, a retired farmer who parked his car along Iowa Highway 175 west of Morrison. "I never saw that kind of string of combines go by before."

Titan opened its new $2.5 million dealership Monday but the lot was bare. That wasn't the case a little more than an hour after the procession got moving.

"It was a neat, wonderful experience. I turned on the radio and air-conditioner, but I didn't mess with any of the other buttons," Hamilton said. "It rode better than some of my trucks."

Even though construction is still wrapping up on Titan's 30,000-square-foot facility, Price said it feels like home with machinery on the lot.

The state-of-the-art facility, which boasts a 6,000-square-foot storage building, has a showroom large enough to accommodate a combine. A big screen television shows off the latest Case-IH equipment and the large service area, with in-floor heat, has room for a dozen or so implements.

Titan Machinery is based in North Dakota but is one of the Midwest's largest Case-IH dealers. The company got a foothold in Northeast Iowa by purchasing Smith International in Waverly in April 2005.

Titan then bought Walterman Implement late last year for $2.75 million. The troubled dealership in Dike was forced into bankruptcy in October 2005 by its primary creditor for financial impropriety and unpaid debt totaling $22 million.

Walterman Implement was one of the Midwest's largest combine dealers. However, Case-New Holland, parent company of Case-IH, found Walterman defaulted on financing agreements. Court documents and farmers also allege former owner Leon Walterman double financed some equipment without the owners' knowledge.

Walterman has denied any wrongdoing.

"With all we've been through -- the Walterman fiasco, cleaning up after that -- building the new facility is the next chapter," Price said. "There's just a lot of excitement and pride here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move a dealership."

Later this week, equipment and parts from Hauser Implement in Whitten will also move to Grundy Center. Titan also acquired that dealership last year.

The Whitten location will close, but Titan will keep the Dike operation open as an outlet store for used machinery that doesn't sell at its six other Iowa locations.

Outlet store manager Dennis Biliske said the company started experimenting with the concept in February in Fargo, N.D. and the idea was a hit. Dike will be the second site.

"Equipment will come here, we'll do some reconditioning, re-evaluate the price and put it back out for the less traditional retail market," Biliske said. "It's for used equipment bargain hunters or auction goers."

Melanie Kirkpatrick, director of Grundy County Development Alliance, hopes Titan's investment in the community will spark others to follow suit. She can envision the county as a haven for farm equipment manufacturers and dealers since the region revolves around farming and there's plenty of land available in three industrial parks. The county also has a history of helping financially, providing up to $225,000 in tax increment financing rebates to Titan.

"I see a niche for farm equipment," Kirkpatrick said.

That's why Joyce and Early Wycal sold 10 acres of their farm to Titan. Initially the couple took some flak for selling because of urban sprawl, and at first they said they were hesitant, too.

But as they watched the line of combines and tractors turn into the dealership, the Wycals said they did the right thing.

"It's not like we're taking away from agriculture. We're adding to it," Joyce said. "This is ag related, what more can you do for agriculture.

"This is so good for Grundy County."

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.