NEW LEIPZIG - Gott im Himmel, those fences are dirty.

Mark Stelter's invention is perfect for the Germans from Russia country around New Leipzig, where Gott-liness and cleanliness are both revered.

In truth, though, a guy doesn't have to be a neat-freak to value a clean fence.

He just has to recognize that a fence weighed down by tumbleweeds will cost him money, or time, or both, sooner or later.

This year, tumbleweeds outnumber fences a gazillion to one around New Leipzig. The fences never stood a numeric chance.

The tumbleweeds are dried up Russian thistle or kochia and they flourish when summers are dry, like the last pair were.

Farmers cut back on herbicides, for one thing. Weeds grow where crops don't, for another.

So the weeds propagate in summer, dry down in the fall and blow off in the winter wind. Off they tumble in search of the nearest fence to get stuck into. Combined with heavy snow, the weeds snap lines and in some places, lay the fence right over.

New fence isn't cheap. And the filled fences just don't look "sauberkeit," German for tidy, never mind the damage.

Until now the only remedies were a pitchfork and a strong back.

Stelter is a New Leipzig native and an owner of Stelter Repair, a three-generation welding shop with a reputation for good work far and wide.

Stelter's been thinking about those problem tumbleweeds and how they get stuck to fences since 2002. It was a year like this one. Tumbleweeds filled ditches and barbed wire all around the countryside.

He put his thoughts and his ability together and invented a fence cleaner.

He and his son, Preston, built two of them and are working on a third. They've been tinkering and experimenting in their shop not far from the now-closed Leipziger Hoff German restaurant and out in the field.

What they came up with is a pull-along piece, attached to tractor hydraulics, that has two basic functions.

Stelter is applying for a patent on the first function of the cleaner. So, without giving away his trade secret, the first part sweeps weeds out of the fence.

The second part grabs and grinds the weeds, leaving a windrow of chopped vegetation in its wake for baling or decomposition.

It leaves fences clean enough to eat lunch off.

Don Skretteberg rented the fence cleaner for $200 a day a few weeks back and ran it along nine miles of fence on his farm.

He's been out there 13 miles south of Elgin since 1972. Never, in 35 years, has he seen tumbleweeds like this year. Some are monsters 3 feet tall.

"They came for miles and miles," Skretteberg said. "They roll and roll, and once the fence is full, they roll right over."

He said he wishes the machine could clean tree rows, which are stuck full of weeds. The weeds will tear the trees apart if they get weighed down with spring snow. With time, they'll rot away.

Now that his fences are cleaned out, he doesn't have to worry about more damage, or about busting through the thick prickly weeds to do spring fence work.

Skretteberg said he wouldn't buy a fence cleaner, for the few times he needs it, but he'd like the option to rent one again because it did a good job.

Stelter said he's talking to companies that may want to distribute the fence cleaner. Likely customers could be operators that provide equipment service to other farmers, a group of ranchers and farmers, or agencies that manage soil districts or wildlife preserves.

He'd like to at least get his $50,000 investment in return.

Stelter said he plans to paint the fence cleaner so it looks sharp.

And then, he needs to give it a name, maybe something fancier than fence cleaner.

Hmmmm- "The Stelter Sauberkeit" macht gut?

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511, or lauren@;westriv.com.)