Kasey Thren of Clare, Mich., transitioned from landscaping for people to landscaping for wildlife when he started his deer management business in 2012. He works with Gene's Power Equipment of Coleman, Mich.

The segment outperforms other manufacturers for 2 straight years in the Equipment Dealers Assn.’s 2017 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey.

“We thought our online parts business would mirror our over-the-counter business. It’s actually completely the opposite ..."

Ray Sosler III of Sosler’s Garden & Farm Equipment shares how his dealership uses email and text message marketing to increase sales.

The dealership has locations in Arkansas and Louisiana and expected to top $140 million in total sales in 2016.

Rural equipment dealers forecast another good year for overall and aftermarket sales, according to Rural Lifestyle Dealer’s 2017 Dealer Business Trends & Outlook survey, the magazine’s 9th annual. Despite the economic and social turbulence of an election year, these optimistic forecasts follow a very strong year for growth in 2016. Eighty-four percent of dealers think 2017 will be as good as or better than 2016 for total revenue and more than 90% think aftermarket revenue will also be as good as or better than last year. This compares with last year’s survey in which more than 88% of dealers expected 2016 to be as good as or better than 2015 for total revenue and more than 90% expected aftermarket revenue to be as good as or better than 2015.

The new log splitter features a 196cc Kohler SH265 horizontal engine, 2-second cycle time, 32-inch heavy-duty work table and a flush-mounted beam that doesn’t snag when resplitting logs.