Pender, Nebraska and Blue Ox

BlueOx RV Park in Pender, NE

Sept 19 and 20

We noticed that BlueOx offers a campground to customers (for free) and for a very reasonable fee to non-customers.  Since we are headed in that general direction, why not check it out?

They have pull- or back- in spots with full hookups, and the sites are so similar that little differentiates the options.  

The grounds are lovely, with nice green grass to walk in (and dogs to roll on, funny pups), nicely maintained sites, and a great property to roam.

A helpful Jeremy comes out to view our Patriot II setup. They do not sell longer breakaway cords, but he agrees that our’s is under too much tension. Not a great fix available, unfortunately.

Also, the Jeep’s seat bar makes the Patriot II sit funny in the footwell, but he does not think there is any great problem.

The city is VERY windy.  My other half (who should know considering how much time he spent at sea with the hydrocarbon army) says the rocking of the camper reminds him of being on a boat. It doesn’t feel like we are going to be unseated ... just tossed around a bit!

BlueOx has AWESOME wifi, I get the chance to blog AND update my phone. Thanks BlueOx!

I watch their groundskeeper mow in the morning, and am totally amazed at the amount of control he has of the mower.  I think he gets a lot of practice maneuvering around water hoses and electrical equipment!  :)

At the time of our visit, they allow pets and camper washing.

We dealt directly with Jeremy (who signed us in and doublechecked our setup), Connor (who oversaw our tour), and Suzanne (who helped answer a lot of our early questions regarding the breaking system and how it works).  We give high kudos to everyone we have interacted with at BlueOx.  Rather than giving us a blow off "Proprietary" response, they have bent over backwards to address our questions and/or introduce us to the people who could answer our queries.  I highly recommend this small business in Pender, NE.

Thanks everyone!

The tour is, in a word, MAGNIFICENT.  We never know what we are going to get when we sign up for a factory tour.  The most disappointing ones are where we queue up at a little window and watch someone’s back working at the line.

The BlueOx Factory Tour is not at all like this!  Close toed shoes and safety glasses (BlueOx graciously supply these) required.  No dogs allowed on the tour.

Yes, there are definitely some places in the factory that we cannot go, but we got to see the vast majority of their manufacturing plant and chat directly with the men and women manning the machines.  They ran mills, lathes, plate bending, cardboard cutting, welding, and various other machines during our visit (no photos permitted … disappointing, but totally understood!)  They are manufacturing baseplate and agricultural grain mill components today. 

BlueOx factory tour rates among our top 3 tours, along with Hull Oakes Lumber Company in Monroe, Oregon and the Ford Factory Tour in Dearborn, Michigan.


Performance of Patriot II
Having now pulled the Jeep several thousand miles, we have trouble with the Blue Ox Patriot II about 1/4 of the time it is hooked up.  The 12 volt plug either falls out of the power supply in the Jeep (which could be the Jeep or the plug) or unit simply stops communicating with the wired remote.  This is frustrating, because we never know if the brakes are working or not.  I'm very tempted to contact BlueOx for an exchange unit.  I wonder if the setup is wrong, or if we just got a lemon?