“The name on the side isn’t a product name; it’s my name,” Steve Peck notes with obvious pride when talking about his excavator attachments. Since the summer of 2002, he and his wife Kathy have built the kind of business anyone would be rightly proud to own.
To hear Steve tell it, he has been building stuff and running equipment for most of his life.
He worked as a union operator for many years running big iron. Out in the field, he was often called on to work on the rigs when they broke down. That experience proved invaluable in designing and manufacturing his own products: “Unlike some manufacturers, I know how they will be used and abused.”
Peck Weld began in a 600 square foot shop in Steve and Kathy’s back yard. Steve had been laid off for the winter and decided to see what he could come up with. He started by making clearing rings. Soon he got an order for a bucket and then for a thumb, but the business didn’t really take off until he got a big order from Valley Truck: “Then I had instant orders for more than I could produce.”
So, an operation that literally began in the head and hands of one man grew in a year and a half to a business grossing $1,500,000. Kathy said of those first months, “Steve did everything.” And she does mean everything. “The first three years all the engineering, design, and production all came from here,” Steve added pointing to his head. Of course they began to hire employees including Carlos Velarte who brings 25 years experience in attachment engineering. Even so, when he came on board, Carlos had to change very little of the designs which originally came directly from Steve’s head.
The strength of Peck Weld attachments begins with the welds. You might say that they have built their reputation on them. Steve says with justifiable confidence, “I weld better than anybody.” Because of that, he will hire only the best welders in the business. Only about one in 25 applicants for jobs at Peck Weld can meet Steve’s exacting standards.
That same passion for quality is reflected throughout the manufacture of Peck products. They use only high strength A514 or T1 steel even though their cost for material has risen 100% in the last two years. And now the steel plate is cut with computer assisted torches, a major step up in efficiency from the early years when Steve cut every piece manually.
The quality can easily be seen in the overall design of the products. Peck Weld non-link thumbs gain up to 20% more range of motion than the competition. In most cases, Peck’s progressive link thumbs have the same full range of motion as the bucket.
What about reliability? The 800 buckets sold to CAT had a 0% failure rate over one year. That’s hard to beat. Doing an honest job for an honest price is the business philosophy which guides Peck Weld.
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