Jake Doyel Reflects on His Time at Puck
Puck began in 1979 as a custom manure application company that serviced farms in western Iowa. The experience gained from the field was invaluable and a large key to the success of the first hose cart built by Puck. Experience-based innovation is what still drives us today after 45 years in business. We don’t just build liquid manure transfer equipment; we use it ourselves. Puck still runs a custom application department, led by Application Manager Jake Doyel.
Getting His Start
Jake is approaching nearly two decades of working at Puck Enterprises. “I started in application, and I’ll never forget my first day when I went straight to power washing. I was told if you want to learn the equipment that we have here, just start power washing, you’ll figure it out,” recalled Jake. His application job was Jake’s first introduction into the world of manure, and he was thrown right into the middle of it. Jake learned to drive a tractor by experience, driving the applicators and hose humpers. From there, he moved up to running a crew and, eventually, running the application department at Puck.
“It’s really changed over the years,” said Jake. “I got to be a part of all the expansions; working in the red barn - from building the first hose carts to building the first pump trailers, the first LightSpeed panels, which were Mobile Star panels back in the day.” Jake recalled that certain innovations even involved taking engines from old combines at the junkyard to build new products with.
Innovations in the industry began with a few friends from Puck getting together to see what could be possible. This camaraderie between coworkers remains today, even with the large influx of employees since expanding beyond the original red barn. “Being able to work with all of the younger staff we have here, being able to hire our friends, and building this company,” said Jake. As the sixth hired Puck employee in its history, he’s seen the staff increase firsthand. “Going from the red barn with about six to seven guys to 15 employees and moving over here around 2011, to the couple hundred employees now and the multiple locations. It’s kind of eye-opening in a way.” In addition to the company’s growth, Jake Doyel has overseen amazing growth in the company’s application department.
Growth in Application
The application business for Puck had just started using drag hose when Jake first began working with them. The goal in the beginning — with two crews — was to pump 100 million gallons. “Currently, we pump over 400 million gallons,” said Jake. Today, Puck runs five application crews, servicing the area around Manning, Iowa and in South Dakota. The 15 person department works with multiple dairies, a lot of sow barns, and finishing barns between the two states.
Jake's Favorite Products
As someone who can say they have personally tested all of Puck’s agricultural equipment, Jake is most fond of Puck’s 4WD swingarms on the applicator tractors. “Coming from driving front wheel assist tractors and putting swingers on the 4WD and being able to have the consistent swinger without going up and down beating up the tractors from the 3PTs.” He also enjoys the bypasses on all of Puck’s pump trailers. “Not needing to unhook and rehook your hoses every time you need to blow your pigs out or blow your lines out is a big thing that I was a part of when we came up with that,” added Jake.
Jake Doyel is also a fan of LightSpeed and the changes it has brought to manure transfer operations. “We run everything off of our cell phone, electronically,” said Jake. “I got to be a big part of that throughout the years and have a say in upgrades and changes and what we needed to see while we’re running. Just the safety factor in hiring new employees and being able to train them in LightSpeed is so much easier than training a new employee to sit next to a pump all day like we used to do back in the day.”
In his role as Application Manager, Jake has had the opportunity to work with and give feedback on all of Puck’s manure pumping equipment. His department ensures that the equipment manufactured by Puck can get the job done the way applicators want it done. You can stay up to date on Puck and other staff stories such as Jake’s video on our Facebook page. If you would like to learn more about Puck’s employment opportunities, check our careers page.
