Hessel Tractor Heliport

The heliport's closure is directly linked to the acquisition of its owner, Hessel Tractor & Equipment Co., by The Papé Group, Inc. in 1999. Following the acquisition, the new ownership consolidated operations and likely deemed the private heliport unnecessary for their business model, leading to its decommissioning. This is a common outcome for private corporate aviation facilities after a merger or acquisition.

The site of the former heliport, located at the coordinates 45.588699, -122.653999, is now the address of a Papé Machinery Construction & Forestry dealership (5820 NE Columbia Blvd, Portland, OR 97218). There are no visible remnants of the heliport; the landing pad and any associated markings have been removed. The area is now fully integrated into the dealership's operations, used for parking and the storage of heavy industrial equipment.

Hessel Tractor Heliport was a private-use (PR) heliport serving the corporate needs of Hessel Tractor & Equipment Co., a prominent John Deere dealer for construction and forestry machinery in the Pacific Northwest. In its active years, the heliport was a symbol of the company's operational scale and efficiency. It was likely used for a variety of purposes, including:
- **Executive Transport:** Rapidly moving company executives between headquarters, branch locations, and client sites.
- **Client Relations:** Flying important clients to and from the dealership or to view equipment at remote work sites.
- **Urgent Parts/Personnel Delivery:** Potentially used to quickly transport critical parts or specialized technicians to remote logging or construction sites where equipment was down, minimizing costly downtime for their customers.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Hessel Tractor Heliport. The original operating entity no longer exists, and the current site owner, Papé Machinery, has successfully operated at this location for over two decades without a heliport, indicating no operational requirement for one. Re-establishing a heliport at this location would require new permits and justification, which appears unlikely.