Hutchinson, Minn. – May Wes Manufacturing, inventor of the Stalk Stomper and the world’s leading manufacturer of aftermarket poly products for the ag industry, is celebrating 50 years of service in 2022.
Known worldwide as “The Original Poly People,” May Wes revolutionized agriculture with the application of slick and durable UHMW poly in areas of high wear on farm equipment. Thanks to May Wes, modern agricultural equipment is now equipped with hundreds of heavy-duty plastic parts designed to protect it from wear and increase efficiency and yields, from skid shoes and Stalk Stompers to auger trough liners, poly retractable fingers, 5 Finger Quick Tines, poly pickup bands for hay balers and much more.
The Hutchinson, Minn.-based plastics parts manufacturer was founded by Gibbon, Minnesota farmers Mavis and Wesley Bruns in 1972. The couple needed a name for their family business so they combined their first names and May Wes Manufacturing was born. Mavis and Wesley foresaw an opportunity to help other farmers improve their operations with aftermarket products that increased efficiency and yields. Some of their first products included galvanized steel “Grain De-Viders” to guide grain into headers and “Gravity Flow Hoppers” that folded out for unloading. After a few years in business, they discovered that grain headers glided through fields with ease and held up longer by attaching plastic skid shoes to their underside. UHMW poly skid shoes remain one of May Wes’ top selling products.
In 1983, May Wes introduced the “Original Stalk Stomper.” This ingenious invention protects expensive combine tires from genetically modified cornstalks that have become tough as nails. Through the years, May Wes has continuously improved its No-Till Award-winning Stalk Stomper lineup with feedback and assistance from loyal customers. In 2018 May Wes introduced its revolutionary G4 Stalk Stompers, which were recognized with the Best Game-Changing B2C Product at the Made in Minnesota Manufacturing Awards. The company listened to corn growers and developed a lighter, easier to install and reposition Stalk Stomper featuring a durable compression molded UHMW shoe. G4 Stalk Stompers are now May Wes’ top-selling product and are available for corn heads, tractors and planters.
After Wesley Bruns passed away in 1995 at the age of 66, his sons Mark and Steve Bruns took over the family business. By 1997, May Wes had outgrown is space on the family’s Gibbon farm and the company was relocated to its present facility in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Compression molding capabilities were added to grow the company’s manufacturing capacity. In the early 1990s, May Wes began molding C&A Pro snowmobile skis for snowmobile racing legend Dale Cormican. Today most professional snowmobilers run C&A Pro skis, including Levi LaVallee and four-time Snocross champion Elias Ishoel.
In 2002, Tom Daggett acquired May Wes and established Pride Solutions, LLC, under which the Daggett family operates four divisions including May Wes, C&A Pro, Pride Engineered Plastics and Pride Assembly. Tom transformed May Wes’s business operation, utilizing the experience he gained as the second generation to run his family’s nearby metal fabrication business, Hutchinson Manufacturing. He introduced a number of organizational and strategic changes, improved inventory management processes, and made major investments in new manufacturing equipment. Under his leadership, May Wes secured its enviable marketing presence and became one of the first in its industry to embrace e-commerce.
In 2016, Tom’s son Jack Daggett became president of May Wes and Pride Solutions, LLC. Jack had worked on the company’s production floor from high school through his college years, gaining hands-on knowledge of its production processes. In 2013, he became Operations Manager and helped improve the company’s planning processes with an engineered approach to specifications and purchasing – a process that has helped the company thrive during the pandemic despite many supply-chain challenges.
Under Jack’s leadership, Pride Solutions and May Wes adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, putting the company on a solid growth trajectory. The company has introduced numerous new products in recent years, including its ever expanding G4 Stalk Stomper and skid shoe product lines, 5 Finger Quick Tines, poly pickup bands, and much more. Jack has continued investing in the company, acquiring its first robot-assisted CNC lathe and second CNC router for its plastic fabrication shop. In 2022 May Wes broke ground on a major addition that will double the size of its production facility and added additional compression molding capacity.
May Wes’s marketing presence continues to lead the industry. In 2018, the company partnered with a rising YouTube star named Zach Johnson, the Minnesota Millennial Farmer, who introduced May Wes to a new generation of farmers around the world. This led to a complete transformation of its marketing program, and May Wes now works with numerous FarmTubers and social media influencers including Larson Farms, Welker Farms, Brian’s Farming Videos, Stanley “The Dirt Monkey” Genadek, Fast Ag Montana, Finstad Skidloader and Snow Removal Service, and Northern Chill.
Jack Daggett attributes May Wes’ continued success to its commitment to innovation and customer service as well as to its dedicated employees, of which 25 percent have been employed with the company for more than 10 years.
“May Wes has come a long way in the past 50 years, but one thing that has never changed is our devotion to Mavis and Wesley’s spirit of innovation and commitment to listening to our customers,” said Jack Daggett. “We came across a letter my father wrote to our customers back in 2002. He wrote ‘Thank you for your business. We will continue to earn it.’ Those words hold true to this day. May Wes products have always been and always will be - field tested and farmer approved. We are fully committed to our customers’ success.”
May Wes Seeking Historic Photos
Do you have historic photos of Mavis and Wesley Bruns or old photos of May Wes employees or equipment in action? May Wes would love to add your photos to its archives. Please e-mail them to sales@maywes.com or call 1-800-788-6483.
