High tech, agriculture produce Harsh reality

EATON — Bob Brown, president of Harsh International Inc., concedes that Eaton is an odd place to locate a manufacturing plant.
But Eaton, right in the middle of one of the richest agricultural counties in the country, is where Bud Harsh founded Hydraulics Unlimited Manufacturing Co. in 1948.
In World War II, he had lost the use of both legs in an explosion as he tried to save three men trapped in a sinking destroyer. An innovator in underwater welding and cutting, Harsh returned home and applied his skills and imagination to agriculture in Weld County. What began with a single dump truck has become an international presence.Robots, computers and lasers
Bud Harsh died in 1960, and his wife ran the company until she sold it in 1986 to the owners of Acme Precision Industries in Denver. Andrew Brown and his two sons, Bob and Jim, had been using Harsh cylinders in their products and saw a good match in the purchase.
"At that time, Harsh produced a super high-quality product," Bob Brown said. "But it was not keeping up with the most advanced technology. API was over capacity with its technology, and so we were able to move some of it up to Eaton and immediately apply it."
Since purchasing the company and changing its name to Harsh International Inc., the Brown family has seen steady growth.
"The manufacturing plant was developed so that it runs quickly and efficiently," Brown said. "Seventy percent of welding is done by robots, 30 percent by humans. Lasers follow computer Ônesting˜ programs to cut precise assembly parts from pieces of sheet metal. What lasers can˜t cut, a water jet cutter does. Our employees — who are all cross-trained to handle a variety of jobs — are in charge of quality control and programming."
The net result of this combination of high technology and human control is a quality product that is capturing more and more of the world market. Harsh manufactures 40,000 hydraulic rams per year and tests every one under full pressure.
"It is cheaper to test each ram than to deal with a warranty problem in some remote part of the world," Bob Brown said. And taking Harsh products to every remote corner of the world is one of the company˜s goals.
To meet an increased demand for its products, Harsh is expanding its presence in Eaton from two to three facilities. The Oak Street plant, the original location and world headquarters, houses all primary manufacturing. Mixers and manure spreaders are assembled in the 35,000-square-foot Collins Road Plant.
"We have just broken ground on a new 27,500-square-foot facility which will house our parts and service department and serve as a center for special products and prototype development." Brown said.Product development, expansion
The feed mixer designed for beef and dairy industries has been a trademark product for Harsh manufacturing. The configuration of the flighting (the mixing apparatus) inside the bed of the truck generates an ideal TMR — total mix ration. Today˜s mixer can blend 30,000 pounds of feed in 90 seconds and do it so effectively that the cow cannot pick out the corn from the hay. The undifferentiated mix creates the most nutrition with the least waste, both of which are critical in the cattle business.
Although the mixer had its original application in agriculture, Harsh has adapted it to mix hazardous waste, chemicals, compost, fertilizer and explosives. In the mining industry, for instance, it is possible to blend two inert chemicals on site and thus avoid the risk of transporting volatile explosives.
But if mixers are the steady players, dump trucks and their great stability are the stars of Harsh.
"The need for more stable tipping gears arose partly out of changes in truck manufacturing," Brown said. "Materials became lighter and more flexible and couldn˜t stabilize the weight in the truck when it was tipped."
The Harsh hoist holds the record as the most stable tipping gear in the world, which makes it the most appropriate tipping gear for use in rough terrain. It treats the truck and body very gently and makes it adaptable to applications in mining, agriculture, waste disposal;, and any other enterprise that requires a truck to dump a load.
Other adaptations of Harsh technology have added a whimsical touch to practical innovations. The "Ditch Dragon" is basically a flame thrower to be used in the control of weeds and willows along irrigation ditches. The business end of the flame thrower has been fitted with a dragon˜s head and eye.
But while there is whimsy in the making, burning the debris on the sides of the ditches leaves no toxic residue to seep into the ground water.
Also related to irrigation-ditch maintenance is the "Ditch Dribbler," a device that precisely meters I polymer thickening agent into the ditch water. Viscid water causes less erosion and helps keep the ditches in good repair. Green business is good business
"We decided right in the beginning that we wanted to use only water-based paint for our mixers and spreaders so we could eliminate the need for toxic and volatile paint thinners, solvents and methyl ethyl ketone," Brown said. "It took a long time and a lot of repaint jobs before we got the paint producers interested in creating a paint that would dry quickly and last on farm machinery. Now we have the paint and a cleaner work environment."
Another green process developed by Harsh is the closed-loop cooling system for chrome plating cylinders to make them durable by making them hard, self-lubricating, rust and tarnish proof. The problem was that the process wasted water and created toxic air and waste. Originally, it took 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water per day to keep the tanks cool; now it takes 900 gallons.
"We have stopped water waste, and good hygiene keeps the tanks in good order," Brown said. "A system for recycling all chrome and toxic fumes keeps the air clean, well beyond what is required by EPA regulations."
Brown acknowledges that the capacity for recycling substances, such as the coolant used in the cutting tools, depends on the thin, dry air of Colorado.
"We tried the same methods in our Houston plant, and they failed miserably," he said.Looking to the future
"We are constantly searching for new markets for our technology and have made a concerted effort to expand our production beyond agricultural and regional," Brown said.
To that end, Harsh has located its market-development offices in the United Kingdom, where there are grants available for market development.
Harsh operates two facilities in the U.K., one in Guadalajara, Mexico, and one in Spain. The company distributes on every continent, and judging by the cover art on a promotional brochure depicting Harsh mixers and tippers on the moon, the present owners put no limit on where their product might be distributed in the future.Lesson learnedThe challenge: Expanding a long-standing manufacturing company that wasn˜t keeping up with the latest technology.The solution: Sell to a company that was over-capacity in technology and could take the manufacturing operations to the next level.