“Thank You for Your Business. We Will Continue to Earn It.”
My father, Tom Daggett, wrote those words back in 2003 in his first letter to May Wes customers. The summer before, he had acquired May Wes as a division of our family’s new business, Pride Solutions, LLC.
Dad grew up in manufacturing and ran a successful second-generation metal fabrication business just down the road from May Wes. He recognized the company’s tremendous potential and was excited to begin the next chapter in May Wes’s storied history.
This year marks May Wes’s 50th Anniversary, an incredible achievement made possible thanks to our loyal customers, distributors and dealers, as well as our hardworking employees who have never lost sight of our founders Wesley and Mavis Bruns’ innovative spirit and commitment to listening to our customers.
Please read on to learn more about May Wes’s fascinating history and how a farming couple from the small town of Gibbon, Minnesota revolutionized agriculture.
Thank you again for your business. We will continue to earn it!
Jack Daggett, President
May Wes Manufacturing
Pride Solutions, LLC
May Wes – What’s In A Name?
In 1972, husband and wife Wesley and Mavis Bruns launched a small manufacturing business at their farm in Gibbon, Minnesota. Their new enterprise needed a name, so they combined their first names and, in a clever play on words, May Wes Manufacturing was born.
The Bruns 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.
From the beginning, Wesley Bruns was always on the lookout for the next great product that would transform modern agriculture.
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| Wesley and Mavis Bruns | Original location at Bruns Farm in Gibbon, MN |
Becoming "The Original Poly People"
After a few years in business, Wesley and Mavis incorporated plastics into their products and May Wes became known as “The Original Poly People.” They discovered that by attaching slick and durable UHMW poly to field equipment in areas of high stress where dirt and debris build up and where friction is the greatest, equipment lasted much longer and passed through fields with amazing ease.
Longtime employees recall stories of Wesley driving to the Twin Cities to fill his pickup truck with sheets of UHMW poly, and how, on one occasion, that slippery material suddenly went airborne on a busy interstate causing all sorts of mayhem. Today we bring it in by the semi-truckload.
Back in the day, May Wes employees hand cut the plastic material on a shear and bent it to make skid shoes for grain headers. In the mid-1980s the company installed a YAM CNC Mill to meet the growing demand for plastic skid shoes. In its first year of operation, with longtime employee Bill Templin at its helm, the YAM met the demand for 1,800 sets of skid shoes for the John Deere 200 Series grain head.
To this day, May Wes Premium Poly Skid Shoes remain the backbone of our company. The good old YAM worked hard for us for over 40 years. We augmented it with a Komo CNC router in 2003 and then replaced the YAM last year with a second Komo CNC router. We were fortunate to have Bill Templin on our team until 2014 when he retired at the age of 75. Sadly, Bill passed away in 2021 at the age of 82, and is greatly missed by us all.
The Original Stalk Stomper
In 1983, May Wes again revolutionized the aftermarket ag industry with the introduction of the “Original Stalk Stomper.” This ingenious invention protected expensive combine tires from genetically modified cornstalks that had become as tough as nails.
Through the years, May Wes has continuously improved our No-Till Award-winning Stalk Stomper lineup with feedback and assistance from loyal customers. In 2018 we introduced our revolutionary G4 Stalk Stompers, which were recognized with the Best Game-Changing B2C Product at the Made in Minnesota Manufacturing Awards. We listened to corn growers and developed a lighter, easier to install and reposition Stalk Stomper featuring a durable compression molded shoe. Our G4 Stalk Stompers have been so well received that we now offer them for corn heads, planters and tractors. G4 Stalk Stompers are now our top-selling product.
May Wes Moves to Hutchinson, Minnesota
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 farm, and the company was relocated to our present facility in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Compression molding presses were added to grow the company’s capabilities. 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.
2002 - The Daggett Family Acquires May Wes
In 2002, Tom Daggett acquired May Wes and established Pride Solutions, LLC, under which we operate four divisions including May Wes, C&A Pro Skis, 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 our industry to embrace e-commerce.
2016 thru Today - The Next Generation of May Wes
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 us 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. This spring we broke ground on a major addition that will double the size of our production facility.
"FarmTubers" Introduce May Wes to a New Era of Farmers
May Wes’s marketing presence continues to lead the industry. In 2018, we 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 our marketing program, and we now work 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 Service, and more. We’ve even become YouTubers ourselves! We welcome you to become part of our story by tagging us @maywesmanufacturing.
As Always, We Remain - "Field Tested, Farmer Approved"
May Wes has come a long way in the past 50 years, but one thing will never change. We remain devoted to Wesley and Mavis Bruns’ spirit of innovation and commitment to listening to our customers. We can’t say it enough: Thank you for your business. We will continue to earn it!
A Salute to Our Long-Term Employees
You know you’re doing something right as a business when your employees don’t want to leave. We currently have 38 employees and 25% of them have been with the company for more than 10 years!
Jason Templin – 32 years
Jeff Hennen – 24 years
Connie Lingbeek – 20 years
Angie Macik – 17 years
Kent Welte – 14 years
Chuck Boettcher -12 years
Anthony Whaylen – 11 years
Dave Elness – 11 Years
Ben Wick – 10 years
May Wes - A Tradition of Innovation
We've been introducing new products nearly every year since 1972!
1972 – Mavis and Wesley Bruns form May Wes Manufacturing at their family farm in Gibbon, Minnesota
– Row Dividers
– Gravity Box Folding Hopper
1976 – UHMW Poly Skid Shoes
1980 – Moldboard Covers
– Tractor Fender Guards
– Wesley Walker
1983 – “Original Stalk Stomper”
1983 – YAM CNC Installed
1984 – Chaff Spreaders
1985 – Slide-N-Drive Fifth Wheel Covers (Now Minimizer Slickplates)
1988 – May Wes distributes its first catalog
– Poly Tin Replacement
– Grain Elevator Paddles
– Chute Liners
1990 – Grain Header Carts
1991 – Feeder House Silencer
1991 – Poly Shank Protectors
1992 – Poly Chain Tighteners
1993 – Poly Cutting Edge
1993 – Retractable Poly Fingers
1995 – Wesley Bruns passes away
1996 – Compression molding added
1996 – Poly Closing Wheels
1996 – Molded Skid Shoes
1997 – May Wes moves to Hutchinson, MN
2000 – Poly Capped Bolts
2002 – New Owner Tom Daggett forms Pride Solutions
2002 – Ear Savers and Snout Savers
2003 – Komo CNC router installed
2005 – Auger Floor Liners, Corn Savers
2007 – Corn Shields
2009 – Drawbar Savers
2010 – Tractor Stalk Stompers
2014 – Quick Disconnect 2 Stalk Stompers
2014 – Poly Pickup Bands
2015 – Row Dividers
2016 – Jack Daggett becomes president
2016 – May Wes becomes Exclusive Distributor for GVL Poly Snouts
2017 – Robot-assisted CNC lathe installed
2018 – G4 Stalk Stompers Introduced
2018 – May Wes partners with Minnesota Millennial Farmer
2019 – G4 Planter Stalk Stompers Introduced
2020 – Crop Shields/Trash Aprons for John Deere and Case IH corn heads
2020 – 5 Finger Quick Tines
2021 – G4 Tractor Stalk Stompers Introduced
2021 – Second Komo CNC Router Installed; original YAM retired
2022 – 50th Anniversary
2022 – Added Baleskiis® Baler Liners and Black Talon Rubber Molded Rake & Baler Teeth
2022 – Construction begins on 20,000 square foot addition.
