About Wilson Manufacturing
Wilson Manufacturing
Company was founded by Gail Wilson in 1952 in
Pipestone, MN. Gail and his brother operated an
implement business in Pipestone. When Gail or his
brother sold a piece of farm equipment that required a hitch
pin to be hauled home, Gail would have to go to a competitor
and purchase a hitch pin. Gail was not satisfied with
the designs of the pins that were available. So Gail
constructed his own hitch pin from an old hay loader spring
tooth and then would give the customer a choice between the
pin he constructed or the pin he went and bought from his
competitor. Almost every farmer took the pin that Gail
constructed. Soon after this, Gail's brother went back
to farming and Gail started his new career.
Gail started the business in his garage, and worked only on
a part time basis in the summer. He developed his own
line of hitch pins, and many special tools that were used to
wind springs by himself. And some of these special
winding tools are still used today. The astonishing
part about all this, is that Gail was blind.
 Howard
Douty,
an
independent
sales
rep who
lived in
Pipestone,
was
looking
for a
business
that
would
allow
him to
stay
home and
devote
more
time to
his
family.
He knew
of the
business
and
struck a
deal to
buy Gail
Wilson
Manufacturing
in 1969.
At that
time he
moved
the
company
to his
garage
and
operated
the
business
there
until he
required
additional
space.
In 1975
Howard
moved
the
business
to its
present
site,
where it
has
grown to
more
than
five
times
its
original
size.
Over the years Howard was
constantly challenged by the industry to come up with new
and more innovative ideas. To keep up with this new
demand Howard went out and purchased faster and more precise
machinery. Howard's background in sales played a major
part in the early growth and development of the company.
In the
early 80s, Howard decided to change the name of the business
to "Wilson Mfg Co.".
During
this time of growth and development Howard's son Robert
Douty moved back to Pipestone with his family after serving
8 1/2 years in the military.
After 9 years of being the Plant manager
Robert bought the business from his father
in 1990. He is currently the Owner and
President.
In 1997 Robert's son Joseph Douty
moved back to Pipestone after attending Mankato State
University. Joseph is currently the Vice President of
Production.
In
addition to Robert and Joseph working at the shop, Roberts's
wife (Mieko) also works in the Packing Dept. And
Joseph's wife (Alison) is the Office/Accounts Manager.
And Joseph's Father-in-law works in the Mfg Shop. So
we truly are a "Family owned and operated business".
During the early years Wilson
Hitch Pins were painted green, which was a very time
consuming process. Now all pins are zinc
plated.
Wilson
Manufacturing Co. has several salesmen who
travel to various buying group shows and
also call upon individual stores promoting
Wilson Manufacturing Co. products. The
increase in custom orders, assisted by
Computers, Fax machines, E-mail and our new
web page allows faster and more efficient
service for filling orders, and completing
quotes.
Wilson Manufacturing Co. is proud
to be a second and soon to be third generation family owned
and operated business. Wilson Manufacturing Co. prides
itself on quality and timely delivery of its products.
And we know without valued customers like yourself, there
would be no Wilson Manufacturing Co. |
