2019 - Volume #43, Issue #6, Page #05
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Preacher Doubles As Fixit Man
Wisconsin inventor and repairman Jerry Hubert is just as comfortable under a welding helmet as he is speaking in front of a congregation with an open Bible in his hand. “I’m probably the only person in the world who has 32 years of experience as a welder and as an evangelist,” says Hubert. “One occupation doesn’t get in the way of the other, unless somebody needs an emergency repair on a Sunday morning.”
In 2014 Hubert started a traveling repair business after hearing that a couple of guys in his area who had been in the business were retiring. “I jumped in where they left off because farmers always have something to fix,” he says.
With Wisconsin being the dairy capital of the Midwest, Hubert is often called on to repair stanchions, stalls and bunks, or to build gates for big dairies. He also invented an innovative calf feeder.
Hubert is expert at welding steel, brass, copper and even poly. In his shop he re-faces worn out loader buckets, builds new ones, and makes huge metal feed scoops. His mobile trailer has 8 different welders and he travels 100 miles in any direction when customers call.
“If stall dividers or stanchions break, I usually can weld them or make new brackets to support the good pieces,” Hubert says. He makes cattle gates out of schedule 40 steel that he says should last 20 years or more. He’s good at repairing stainless piping.
“Most times it’s easier and more economical to repair things than it is to buy new,” Hubert says, and his pricing reflects that attitude. “I understand when times are tough because I’m out here among my customers every day.”
Farmers and industrial customers also bring broken equipment to his shop, where he and his wife teach their 14, 12 and 10 year-old children welding as part of their home-school curriculum. His 14-year-old son hopes to be a certified welder by age 16 and build his own business.
In addition to his inventing and metalworking, Hubert is pastor of a local Pentecostal church. “Being a person of faith helps me relate well to farmers. They have to have faith every year that the Lord will provide enough moisture and heat to produce their crops,” Hubert says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jerry Hubert, Weldtech Welding & Fabrication, N1570 County Rd J, Kaukauna, Wis. 54130 (ph 920 428-3241; weldtech4u@gmail.com).
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