New Holland Construction has teamed up with Successful Farming magazine to offer the Top Shops® Contest – a nationwide search for the most outstanding farm shop designs. The grand prize is a New Holland 200 Series L218 skid steer loader, valued at more than $35,000.

“Just as the contest rewards farmers for their innovations, the New Holland skid steers feature superior engineering and design,” said Dave December, marketing manager at New Holland Construction. “We’ve talked to hundreds of customers and built a line-up of seven all-new 200 Series skid steers to tackle the toughest jobs on the farm. They’re bigger, badder and better – and the best machines to hit the market since our first skid steer introduction in 1972.”

Contestants can submit entries in as many as five different project categories:

Best Shop Design. Entries for this category include creative shop layouts offering a variety of service, repair or fabrication bays supported by such features as workbenches, overhead hoists, storage lofts, service pits, wash bays or painting rooms.

Best Shop Feature. Entries for this category include unique, farmer-built shop innovations such as workbenches, overhead hoists, tire repair centers, wash bays, service pits, hydraulic presses, metal-cutting stands, machining areas, painting bays or storage rooms.

Best Welding Center. Entries for this category include outstanding welding centers featuring workbenches, ventilation, special lighting and overhead hoists, and supported with machining equipment and tools such as hydraulic presses, drill presses and metal lathes.

Best Office. Entries for this category include offices with unique features such as wall desks and shelves, or a complex of rooms featuring bathrooms, kitchens, employee break rooms, executive offices or storage.

Best Service Truck or Trailer. Entries for this category include service trucks and trailers used to extend the service, repair and fabrication capacities of a farmer’s shop out in the field.

The best entry from each category will be selected to advance to the final round to compete for the grand prize and the opportunity to drive away with the New Holland L218 skid steer loader.

The new L218 skid steer loader delivers best-in-class forward dump height and reach. Featuring the longest wheelbase and the widest, most comfortable cab in the industry, the machine is rated at 57 hp (42 kW), with a rated operating capacity of 1,800 lbs (818 kg) and a bucket breakout force of 5,435 lbs (24.2 kN). The 53-degree dump angle on the L218 lets operators empty the bucket faster, increasing cycle times and productivity. The new self-leveling bucket feature allows attachments to maintain the preset location throughout the lift cycle.

“The New Holland 200 Series skid steer loaders have been engineered from the ground up to meet the needs of our customers,” December said. “The grand prize winner of the Top Shops Contest will work faster, smarter and more profitably with their new L218 on the farm.”

Contestants must provide a detailed description of the entry, as well as any supporting materials such as diagrams, layouts, drawings, photographs or videotape. Multiple entries are allowed, but each entry must be submitted separately, along with its own supporting materials.

The Top Shops Contest begins March 5, 2011 and ends June 30, 2011. It is open to active farmers and/or their spouses or immediate family members who are 21 years of age or older and are legal U.S. residents.