Less than typical snowfall in northern Minnesota has pushed lawn equipment manufacturer Toro into Michigan's Upper Peninsula to test some of its machines.

Toro has been testing snowblowers at Gogebic-Iron County Airport since Jan. 10, the Daily Globe in Ironwood reported Friday. Plans were to test the machines in Toro's home state, but not enough snow has fallen in Minnesota this winter. So the company looked east, and found the Michigan airport.

"When they called asking about doing the testing here, we had only about three inches of snow cover, but they said, `We'll take it,"' airport manager Duane DuRay told the newspaper.

The lack of snowfall has frustrated snowmobilers, cross-country skiers and others in Minnesota this winter.

But snow was piled two to three feet and higher this week at Gogebic-Iron County Airport in Ironwood, about 250 miles northeast of Toro's main office is in Bloomington, Minn.

"They'll probably be here for two or three more weeks," DuRay said of Toro. "Their bosses love it. They said they'll put Ironwood on the map for future reference."

The company hired 10 local residents to test its snowblowers and may spend another three weeks at the airport, DuRay added.

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