45 Years of Puck
Since Puck first began building our own equipment, there’s been rapid growth within the small town business. This thriving growth was on display at Puck’s 40th anniversary open house. There, customers and the local community gathered to watch demos of new equipment that would help progress and lead the liquid transfer industry as a whole. The advancement of Puck didn’t slow down. There has been even more success in the years following our last open house in 2019.
Company Growth
The acquisition of U.S. Coupling, a hose connecting and fittings manufacturer, was completed in 2020. The addition of U.S. Coupling to the Puck Family of Brands solidified Puck’s commitment to the advancement of the liquid transfer industry. With this acquisition, Puck Enterprises can have a hand in developing new solutions and providing customers with high-quality products for their operation. In the last five years, U.S. Coupling has seen new opportunities in the agricultural, industrial, and fire markets. Additionally, new opportunities have been created in areas and markets that were limited in the past. This is all achieved by the teamwork and support U.S. Coupling receives each day from the Family of Brands behind it.
To accommodate the business’s growing customer base, Puck Enterprises was in need of more space. In 2021, Puck broke ground on the largest expansion project yet. This expansion included an additional 100,000 square feet to connect most of the Manning campus buildings. With the exception of the service building, the connection of the buildings allowed for more streamlined production. This streamlined production was useful in 2023 when Puck took on a custom project to build the first Twin Engine Variable RPM parallel centrifugal pump unit. This pump trailer, dubbed the Scimitar, was the very first of its kind. It is part of a fleet of rental pumps in Texas, where it remains in high demand years later.
Entering A New Industry
At the 2023 FDIC trade show, which is the largest annual firefighters conference, Puck launched Puck Fire. Puck Fire utilizes the decades of liquid transfer experience in the liquid manure industry to innovate the way firefighters bring water to the fire. For onsite industrial firefighting brigades, island-based fire departments, and other non-traditional fire suppression crews, Puck Fire equipment provides a complete end-to-end solution. The FF4500-45, a Force Feed trailer for pumping water out of deep pits or natural bodies of water, was launched a few months later with great success. Combined with LightSpeed, firefighters who see the FF4500-45 demonstrations are eager to take advantage of the safety and power of a Puck pump unit. The addition of Puck Fire gave Puck three distinct branches of liquid transfer; agriculture, industrial, and firefighting.
Milestones
Puck’s flagship product, the Turn Table Reel, reached a milestone in 2023 - the 400th TTR 20 was built. This achievement came with its own evolutions, adding more hose capacity, wider steps, and a hydraulic jack on the A-frame chassis. This development of the TTR 20 is one example of the continued growth and commitment to innovation within the industry. The standards we set for ourselves directly affect customer satisfaction and confidence in our products. Our core beliefs led Puck Enterprises and our Family of Brands to produce a quality management system compliant with ISO 9001:2015 standards. The processes defined in our system compliant with ISO standards embeds a systematic approach to identify and capitalize opportunities to innovate in the industry.
The dedication to continuous improvement includes rigorous testing of our equipment. Puck has always used our own equipment for custom manure application, sometimes running it to the breaking point to test the boundaries of what’s possible. To do this with even more efficiency, Puck constructed a 2.5 acre pond at the Puck Manning location in 2023. This pond acts as an easily accessible location for equipment demonstrations, as well as a testing ground for new products in development. The same year, Puck introduced the FF 3009 T, a more compact Force Feed pump trailer designed to tackle hard-to-maneuver areas like hog confinements.
This Year
In preparation for FDIC 2024, Puck Fire introduced the TTR15P, a turn table reel capable of holding 2,500 feet of 7.25 inch fire hose. This innovative hose cart, as well as BullDog’s Hi-Vol TPU supply hose and U.S. Coupling’s Spyder manifold and hose fittings, set FDIC ablaze with the possibilities it brought to firefighting. Firefighters who understand the struggle of moving or flaking LDH know that the two-way hydraulic motor and single person operation is a game changer for long-distance operations.
The summer of 2024 will be Puck’s 45th Anniversary event, during which Puck will open its doors to the public for tours and product demos. Puck Enterprises has seen a snowball of success in recent years, with more products and locations than ever before. There have been many changes over the last 45 years, and many big changes have happened in just the last five years. We encourage everyone to come see our expansion and progress on July 12th. It won’t be long until Puck Enterprises grows again.
