Shed Geek Podcast

Building Legacy: The Story Behind Cold Spring Enterprises

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 5 • Episode 52

Share episode

Send us a text

When you're in the business of metal buildings, the tools you use define not just your efficiency, but the quality of your finished product. That's why we were thrilled to welcome Wendell from Cold Spring Enterprises to share the fascinating journey of his family's three-generation manufacturing business and their game-changing VersaBend system.

Starting from a converted chicken house in Abbeville, South Carolina in 1977, Cold Spring has grown into a respected manufacturer whose VersaBend machines are powering production at approximately 130 metal building shops nationwide. What makes this system special? It handles four different tube sizes with one die, creates full radius bends for cleaner aesthetics, and processes a full bundle of 25 tubes in under 30 minutes – that's about a minute per bow. At $19,500, the compact machine represents an investment that quickly pays for itself through increased productivity and consistent quality.

Wendell shared an exciting preview of their upcoming Swedger machine, expected to launch in early 2025. This innovative tool will swedge tube ends so they fit directly into one another, eliminating the need for separate sleeve pieces and creating stronger connections while saving valuable assembly time. Beyond equipment, Cold Spring also manufactures thousands of the brackets, clips, and hardware components that are essential to metal building construction.

Our conversation highlighted a crucial point for both manufacturers and dealers: understanding the components and construction methods that differentiate quality buildings is essential for success in this industry. As Jared noted, "Time is money," and tools like the VersaBend and upcoming Swedger allow metal building professionals to work smarter rather than harder.

Ready to elevate your metal building production? Contact Cold Spring Enterprises at 864-446-3645 or visit coldspringmetal.com to learn how their American-made equipment and components can transform your business.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.

To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.

To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.

This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: J Money LLC

Shed Geek Marketing
Realwork Labs

Intro:

Hey, this is Joel Oney at the J Money Studio in the heart of the Buckeye State, and I want to personally welcome you to today's episode of the Steel Kings Podcast with my good friends Jared Ledford and Eric Olson, better known to you as the Steel Kings. Be sure to check out jmoneyllc. com for financing solutions for your buildings. And now let's get back to the Steel Kings podcast.

Jared Ledford:

Hey guys, what's up? This is Jared and Eric, and this is the Steel Kings podcast. We are live for another episode here. And Eric, what's up? Brother? We've been missing you for the last few weeks. What's been going on? You've been traveling destinations?

Eric Olson:

Dude, I don't even know.

Jared Ledford:

It's the busy time of the year, right?

Eric Olson:

It's the busy time of the year and normally when I get busy I'm also doing other things too, and it just seems like I made a road trip out to Seattle Washington with a guy I go to church with and pit stopped at like three different people's houses close, some deals did a water fast. You know, typical Eric. Life came back. Now I'm doing podcasts, just the normal just the normal stuff, just normal day in the life of a missionary man, I guess.

Jared Ledford:

So yeah, cool, yeah, well, I'll tell you what man I'm gonna see you on camera in a minute, you know I'm, uh, I'm, I am better than I deserve. I uh, I am living a blessed life. We're on a. We're on a podcast. I'm on a podcast with my best friend. I'm selling metal buildings and woodshed. Starting to dabble in pole barns.

Eric Olson:

We are better Kids are out of school.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, kids got out of school. So, you guys are probably going to be getting this mid-June, maybe first part of June. Kids just got out of school. Last week I've got a couple of third graders who are no longer in elementary school, so I'm feeling older than usual. I'm getting a little extra gray in the hair, but yeah, you know, I'm trying to trying to see if my hair will grow back. I did the, I did the summer buzz and somebody called me bald recently.

Jared Ledford:

So, we'll see. You know, we'll see if it grows back, right, we'll see how that goes.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah.

Jared Ledford:

It goes with. It goes with the flow, right? I don't want to waste a whole lot of time. We've got a really exciting thing to go to today. We've got a new sponsor on the podcast and that is Cold Spring Enterprises. These guys are behind the VersaBend system For all of our metal building manufacturers and wannabe metal building manufacturers. This is going to be one to listen closely to as we provide you product updates and give you the ins and outs of the product line and, obviously, something that you've seen at trade shows, something that a lot of you might already be using in your shops.

Jared Ledford:

I want to give a quick shout out and plug to our team over at J Money. They will help you out with your financing needs, whether you're a metal building dealer, shed dealer, manufacturer, contractor, all of the above, the guys at J Money will give you exactly what you need. Contact the team over there. Joel and Katie are happy to help, as always. Podcast team over at Shed Geek Podcast and Shed Geek Marketing. I want to give a quick shout out to those guys. I'm not going to waste a whole lot more time. Eric, we've got Wendell from Cold Spring Enterprises, the owner, here with us today. I'm going to bring him into the studio now and we'll let him introduce himself and go from there.

Jared Ledford:

Sounds good, Wendell. Can you hear us, brother, are you with us? Yes all right, Wendell, it is an absolute pleasure and honor to have you on the Steel Kings podcast. Um, for most of our listeners. Um, I'm sure you've probably heard from Wendell on Shannon's podcast. Um, he's been working with Sam over on the Friday show, but we're happy to have you with us here on the Monday show the Steel Kings Wendell. How are you doing today, brother?

Wendell Hochstetler:

Doing well. Yeah, we're blessed.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, good brother. So, Eric and I were super pleased to hear from you. We made contact with you about a week or so ago and we've been wrapping back and forth on getting on the podcast and talking a little bit more about what you got going on. Can you give us a couple-minute breakdown on Cold Spring Enterprises, Versabend, and we'll kind of go from there. I want to share as much of your story as possible, so tell us a little bit more about Wendell.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Yeah, sure, just a bit of a history on our business. My father, Ernest, would have had, his background would have been in the metal fabrication side, and so he started the business here in Abbeville, South Carolina, back in 1977. I was still in school and, yeah, once I graduated from high school I joined my father. I'm the only son in the family. I have three sisters and, yeah, we left the little chicken house where we started. He had taken an old chicken house, turned it into a little metal fab shop and that is where we actually started doing the carport frame. That was soon after the tubular buildings started showing up and he made the first bender for ourselves after doing one or two carports. And then we started bending frames for other companies and then one or two said, hey, why don't you make us a bender? So, we did that.

Wendell Hochstetler:

You know that's been, that's been probably 25 years ago or more, but in the last 15 years now we have produced. I'm thinking we probably have around 125, 130 of these VersaBend machines out and working and we don't have a big shop. We have around seven, eight employees here. We do a lot of other metal fab work but we do produce and build them. The tubular buildings. We erect them, we make the machine, we fab out all the brackets, hardware clips to go with this. We sell that to other tubular companies that are doing the buildings. So that's who we are, and we'd love to do more of this type of work.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, that's what we want to hear, man. I mean I think that you know most of our listeners are probably going to be dealers and manufacturers alike, but if we can introduce someone that we trust, someone that's been a good proponent for not only the Steel Kings but for Shed Geek and for so many of our partners out there that are probably using a VersaBend machine, I mean this is the man right here. So, if you need anything from VersaBend, Wendell is going to be a really good contact for you guys. It sounds to me like not just producing tubular steel as far as forming, you're also supplying the brackets, you're also supplying hardware. So, you become I mean, you're also supplying the brackets, you're also supplying hardware. So you become I mean you're really kind of the American dream, right, you started in a you say, a chicken house.

Wendell Hochstetler:

That's right.

Jared Ledford:

So, we were talking a little bit offline, and I was fascinated. It's a third generation business, that's right. So, you're now onto the third generation of your family that are that's doing this, and you know that's just. I mean, that's right up me and Eric's wheelhouse. I mean what we're trying to do here is build legacy for our family and we were learning from people like you, Wendell, that have already built a legacy, and I mean third generation is impressive. I mean that's just something to be really proud of and something to be, you know, have a lot of honor in. So, I mean we're really happy to have you on the podcast for sure, Eric. I know you're, I know you're just fuming at the mouth. I can see you just drooling over there. What do you got for us, brother?

Eric Olson:

Well, I'm, I'm just in awe about our connections that we've made over the years. And, um, you know, at first it's like oh gosh, you met an owner of a carport company and then you meet a couple of them, and then you go some trade shows and it gets deeper and then you hear people's stories. It's just, I'm thinking of where I started selling sheds, and it similar to a chicken coop or chicken house. You know, this is a hole-in-the-wall place and it's so cool to see how God's blessed everybody in their businesses and I mean, obviously we're. So, we're fortunate for you to get on the show, because we do have a good network of manufacturers that either we can. We'll connect them somehow, and I'm sure we'll get some pings after we launch the episode too. But so thankful to see Legacy. Legacy is good and it's hopeful for the future too. So, I'm just excited for you to be here.

Jared Ledford:

I think it's fair to say. I think it's fair to say, Wendell, your, your dad, probably had a fair amount to do with the growth in the industry. I mean you as well. I mean I think that you know, when you're talking about 120, 130 vendors out there, I mean there's not that many, there's not that many folks out there doing these. Now it seems like you know, when you talk to dealers and you think about it like we work with I don't know, 18 to 20 manufacturers currently across the United States, I mean and those are those guys are selling a lot of buildings, I would. I would venture to say most of them are probably using a VersaBend in at least one of their shops. Wouldn't you think so, Wendell?

Wendell Hochstetler:

Yes, we've sold quite a few. Most of the places where we've sold the machines have been to, uh, smaller, you know fellas companies. We did sell to one or two larger ones, so I'm not sure exactly where all they're at um but yeah, how does one, how does one go about?

Eric Olson:

do you find that trade shows cold calls and like hearing a referral, somewhat something like that, like how, how is, how is it best for you guys to gain new business is, uh, do people just call you and inquire? Do you reach out? Is it you know?

Wendell Hochstetler:

yeah, how do?

Wendell Hochstetler:

they locate you yeah, so trade shows we have found the last number of years have been a great way. That has been really good. That's why we don't want to miss one. We do have a very good online presence. We, we, we joined up with um, the impact, and they really got us online. Anybody searching for a tube bender we pop up pretty quick, and so we have a lot of website referrals wanting to know you know what's the price, and so there's a lot of that connection as well. And, of course, you know businesses that have had a machine want to add another one referrals. That's all been good as well, yeah.

Jared Ledford:

I think that's exciting stuff. I mean, I think that it doesn't take much, right. I mean, this is a product that kind of sells itself in the space. It's affordable, it's not going to break the bank, it's not going to break anybody's wallet. It's something that you really are benefited by having. I mean, it's a tool specifically built for our industry, specifically built for what we do, right.

ADVERTISEMENT:

Let's face it in the shed industry, content is king and always has been. Thirty years ago this meant having the cleanest shed lots on the busiest corners with the best looking inventory. But today, digital ad placement and high quality video have taken their place. The brands pulling ahead right now are the ones showing up visually with sharp, modern, professional content. That's exactly why we here at Shed Geek Marketing created the Premier Content Capture Package.

ADVERTISEMENT:

With this package, we send our video production team to your location for a full day and a half, and we don't just film the pretty shots, we capture your brand's entire backbone, your corporate team in action. Shed building and craftsmanship dealer locations show lots, deliveries, testimonials and drone footage, those panning shots of your unique shed styles and fine details that make your product shine. This gives you a deep library of original footage to build high-performing, cost-efficient campaigns that stay fresh and dominate attention. No more scrambling for content, no more mediocre ads, just real footage that helps you build trust, tell your story and convert like crazy. If you're ready to stand out and stay out in front, this is your content foundation.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Our machine would be different than there's one or two other machines out there that are being sold and work and do the job. Our machine comes equipped to bend four main sizes of tube in the industry, so that one machine comes in to do all of those. It also does a full radius bend on the corner if you're going to do a, you know, a bent frame corner versus most of the other benders are doing two bends there they have just two kind of like two hard crush bends where we do one full radius Gives it a little neater look. So yeah, that's what we have and it's been a very good machine. It's just very simple to operate. All the components are just, you know, off-the-shelf type components. There's nothing. You're going to have to wait long. If something does break down on it, we can get you up and going again.

Jared Ledford:

That's awesome, that's awesome.

Eric Olson:

When you first started making that machine, after that first customer, did you guys know like, this is the business. We need to make these. We need to business, we need to make these, we need to figure out how to make these.

Wendell Hochstetler:

No, no, okay, it was no, it was like we built, you know, one and then, and then we built the second one, you know, maybe a year later, and it took, you know, I don't know, eight, eight or ten years like that, just one or two here and there. But now it's probably in the last 10 to 15 years that you know we're pushing it and actually trying to sell it. So, we manufacture the buildings. I only have one local crew that does it, but our goal is to be more involved in this piece of machinery, as well as the components and the brackets and clips that we do thousands of them now and ship out as well to manufacturers and so when you, when you guys first started, did you guys sell the pull the kits, like the building kits, because I heard you kind of you erected them.

Eric Olson:

So right is that like your typical four or five foot off center Same deal as okay, gotcha, okay, and then you kind of shifted away from that Like where, where did that kind of stuff be a thing? That's right?

Wendell Hochstetler:

We did.

Wendell Hochstetler:

So, we weren't doing a lot of that, but we had one or one particularly that we would. There was another fellow too that that we would sell the frames to. They would buy their own heating and, you know, have their own crew to put them up. Well then, when we sold a bender to the, the one company you know, then he started of course buying his own tubing and gotcha and so, yeah, it kind of took that business away from us.

Wendell Hochstetler:

But we were okay and even now we, if someone's wanting to start up, we're not so much about trying to sell them the tubing, we'll. We'll give them contacts for different mills that roll tubing and just let them buy their own tube. If they want to buy a few bundles from us to start off with, they can't, you know, afford to buy a full truckload, we'll help them out with that as well. But basically, just helping someone get in business. Um, and yeah, providing the, the hardware and things, and of course, with the other, the new machine that we're coming up with I think we'll talk about that here in a bit um, that's something that's a big kind of an interest for us to get out on the market as well.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, tell us about the Swedger. Right, that's correct, the Swedger. So, tell us a little bit about this. I mean, I want to give a quick pop off to you guys. Check them out at ColdSpringMetal. com. Give these guys your full attention, because if you're out there and you're using anything other than a VersaBend machine right now to bend your tube steel, you're probably doing yourself a disservice. Um, these are guys that have come up in the industry. Like Wendell said 1977, they they've got some, uh, some real traction in this industry and they've gone from, you know, metal producer, metal fabrication, to now they're supplying quite a lot of the industry with really high- end components, really the best tools in the industry to do what we do. Tell us about the Swedger, Wendell. I mean seriously, I want to hear about this thing.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Right. So, the Swedger is something that we actually have a machine here. It is, it is working. We're looking at actually offering the machine and getting it out on the market. It's gonna be, I don't know, six, eight months yet, until that happens, hopefully.

Wendell Hochstetler:

But a Swedger will take your tubing, whatever. If you're building your carport, your buildings, out of two and a half, two and a quarter, two by three, this Swedger takes that and takes the end of the tube and swedges it down, takes the last six inches of your tube, swedges it down so that it fits inside of your joint, which allows you to, you know, put together these buildings without a separate piece, an individual little sleeve, that that you have to put in there. So, there's been quite a few people asking us that have bought our bender. They're asking do we offer swedgers? You know we just been saying no, we don't have it. So that is our goal, hopefully by the end of the year. First of next is to have the Swedger available to where you can sweat your tubing and slip fit your joints.

Jared Ledford:

You're talking about a lot of saved time and money over time as opposed to using sleeves and dealing with the half. So for installers this is a huge deal. I mean you know from I've been on enough build sites at this point to understand how metal buildings are constructed you probably know more than me by a country mile Wendell but I mean you're talking about a significant amount of time and cost savings over the course of a run. Right when you're talking about sledging versus using, you know, brackets and sleeves and all that kind of stuff.

Wendell Hochstetler:

That's right, yeah, yeah, and, and I think there's also I don't know, we haven't done any testing, but I think there is even a, a, a strength issue as well, because you know, you just have two, two pieces joined together versus three now.

Jared Ledford:

So, um, yeah, we're excited about it and I think there'll be a market for it yeah, anytime you have movement, anytime you have like an additional piece in there that can cause friction and movement, I feel like there's room for it to be less, you know, less well built. I mean, I don't know exactly the word I want to use, Wendell but to me if you've got a piece of steel moving in between two other pieces of steel, that friction can cause, you know, hardware to back out things like that, whereas when you swedge you've got that built-in kind of connection off the rip and then use your fasteners to hold it together. Is that a good understanding?

Jared Ledford:

yeah okay, yeah, I like to really. I mean, you know, for all of our metal building dealers. I can't stress enough, you know, pro tip of the day. You know we've been getting a lot of feedback from. We've been getting a lot of feedback from. We've been getting a lot of feedback online that some people love the pro tip, some of you don't. I can tell you. If you don't like them, that's okay. They work well for us. What I can tell you is you need to know your product inside and out. Raise your standards up, learn about the manufacturing process of the buildings that you're selling, because you will be that much more in the game when it comes to talking to customers.

Jared Ledford:

I really want you to understand the metal building construction here, for those that are listening. When you're talking about an upper, so a leg, coming down into a base rail, the difference between that base rail and that upper or that leg meeting together with a sleeve bracket to hold it together versus swedging, there's just a significant quality difference. And when you're talking about you know, manufacturer A 4 foot on center, 12 gauge, 26 gauge wrap swedged, the quality that you're talking about, versus a 14 gauge, 29 wrap, bracketed, you know, we've seen this. You know, eric and I have been doing this for you know, eric's been doing it for almost seven years now. I've been doing it for a little over four. What I can tell you is the quality difference on the breakdown of the building is what you can use to justify selling a higher quality product, and that's why it was such an honor for us to get with Wendell, because it was a product that I already believed in.

Jared Ledford:

I remember and I don't think Wendell remembers, but I remember meeting Wendell at a trade show, so I like Gary's shows, the Shieldwall Media shows. We were talking about that. Wendell, we'll be excited to see you. I'm sure we'll bump into you at the next one. Is the next one going to be in the fall that you'll be out with Gary?

Wendell Hochstetler:

It's in January,

Jared Ledford:

January, okay, so I was pulling that up here. I wanted to give everybody a quick shout-out. It's being rebranded as the Rural Builder Show, is that right?

Wendell Hochstetler:

Is that right? I think that's right. Yeah, he's putting kind of two together. He's going to have a building that will have both.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, it was that really long name Garage Shed, carport Expo, now rebranded the Rural Builder Show. I think that they're really looking to get into that. Shield Wall is known for their post frame, Gary's. Gary's really connected in that space and I think he's really looking to tie together the two industries pole barn and metal. And you know that's really where our wheelhouse is, as Eric and I, you know, start working on our pole barn projects and getting really excited about that. Wendell, how do how does a customer make initial contact with you? Is it going to be through the website? Is there a phone number that they can reach out? What's the easiest way to get a hold of somebody at Cold Spring to get more information about VersaBend and future projects?

Wendell Hochstetler:

Yeah, so you definitely can get a hold of us on our website and hopefully I can get back with you fairly quick and get back with you fairly quick. But you actually do better if you just call, because it's always good to just talk and you can find out who we are and what we have to offer. So I'd love to have that chance to just talk.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah, and I think we'll probably reach back out to you fairly often I mean maybe once every six, eight weeks and just get a check-in with you. I mean I think customers would love to know what you guys got going on at Cold Spring. I know we're real interested in learning when the Swedger is going to become available so that we can get that out to our friends and listeners that are really in the market for something like that. Again, these machines, you know, am I roughing it when I say starting around 20K? Wendell?

Wendell Hochstetler:

That's right. Yeah, the first event is itself for 19.5 and then most of the time there's some shipping, but yeah okay, I mean that is an affordable number.

Jared Ledford:

So, I mean, if you're listening to this and you're manufacturing metal buildings, I mean it doesn't take long to overcome that initial buy-in. And from there, what kind of? What kind of service, what kind of you, what kind of you know what kind of maintenance, what kind of you know long-term protection do you have on those Wendell? Do you guys service them? Do you guys do that kind of thing?

ADVERTISEMENT:

Hello Shed Sellers. Did you catch the latest Real Work Labs interview with George Converse? If not, don't miss this value-packed episode. Head to Shed Geeks podcast, youtube and search Real Work Labs. George and the Real Work Labs crew are riding the wave of Google's latest updates, taking your digital presence to the next level. We're tech artisans crafting your neighborhood brand voice for shed sellers like you to stand out, gain trust and get found online. Our software will easily capture your work snapshots, videos, weave your craft story and get reviews all in one virtual experience. Our innovation goes beyond getting found for your business location, rather, getting found for your work locations. Reviews intertwine with their corresponding job sites. When potential customers seek local expertise, you're the proven solution they'll find. It's high time to map your reviews and showcase your beautiful work in a meaningful way that builds trust in customers' neighborhoods. Ready for the journey? Visit shedgeek. realworklabs. com or call George today at 480-787-7575. Real Work Labs elevating your trust, increasing your conversions and getting you found where you work in the neighborhoods you serve, one shed at a time.

Wendell Hochstetler:

We would. Yeah, I mean, I don't know that we've ever had a machine necessarily come back for service. They just work. But if there is something, that breaks or whatever, we're right there to support. Most of the time we can, we can just talk, you know, a shop manager, whoever maintenance person on the floor we can, we can help them take care of the issue. We can get them to parts. We keep things here, but there's very little of that happening so far.

Jared Ledford:

So yeah, well, that's good. I mean, I wouldn't expect much less from a third generation American company making a really top, top, top tier type of product. And that's what we expect when we're when we're dealing with like that quality. Eric and I are really high on working with quality partners. Working with quality manufacturers I think we've stressed that probably just about on every episode is find the right manufacturing partner If you're a dealer find the right dealer find the right dealer.

Jared Ledford:

If you're a manufacturer and you're listening to this and you're tired of getting bum orders, maybe it's time to care a little bit more about the dealers that you're bringing on. You know you have to. You have to continue to realize that in this industry it is, it's a quality concern and I and I want to make mention of this just because it's on my mind every day the race to the bottom doesn't have to involve everyone. A rising tide raises all boats. We don't have to. We don't have to compete with each other to the point of nauseam and at the point where it's costing us money. You know, eric, and I go about this. I mean, we talk about this probably multiple times a week, right, I mean, this is you know, we deal with this all the time where we get competing quotes from dealers who clearly are not looking out for the best interest of the customer. You know, the only thing that I can really ask you guys, from an industry-wide standpoint, is do better, not just for yourselves, but do better for your customers.

Jared Ledford:

If you're looking for an option in helping you scale your business, a tool like Versabend is going to absolutely revolutionize what you're doing. I've seen some jobs. I mean, Wendell, give us a breakdown on how much easier it is. I mean you can form tubes, you can bend tube seal. I mean, Wendell, give us a breakdown on how much easier it is. I mean you can form tubes, you can bend tube seal. I mean, but tell us why. What's the why behind the 19-5? You know, if you had to tell somebody, the one reason why VersaBend is the absolute best tubular steel bender on the market.

Wendell Hochstetler:

What would you say? Yeah, yeah. So, I would say it's because you're getting a machine that's gonna bend four sides of the tube. That's just. It comes equipped for that one die does all those tubes. The only thing that you have to do is take we call them shims and then that little shim literally picks in and out of the die. No tools, no bolts or anything, it just slides in and out and it's that quick that you can change your die from a two by three tube to a two and a quarter tube, so that you know to change out for different size tubes. It's very, very quick, we can do. You have two guys, one guy running the machine, one guy running the end of the tube.

Wendell Hochstetler:

If you're doing a bent what we call a bent frame, traditional bent style carport you can do a bundle of tube, which is 25 pieces. You can do a bundle of tube in less than 30 minutes. So that's just about a minute for a bow. So it's very quick. And it does the full radius versus the double bend. Just a really neat-looking bend that it does.

Eric Olson:

Do you bring that to a trade?

Eric Olson:

show.

Jared Ledford:

It gives you that quality.

Eric Olson:

Do you bring at the trade show? Are you bringing a machine with you?

Eric Olson:

We do yes and you just do. And if there's somebody there and you're not, you know, obviously wasting material, but you're putting on a show a little bit. Okay, I think the Steel Kings are going to try to come to that trade show. We're trying to get a schedule, so definitely want to come by the booth. I know it's not until January, which is six months away, but time flies in the metal building industry. So, okay, cool, I didn't mean to jump in there.

Jared Ledford:

No, no, For those of you that haven't checked it out, check out Shield Wall Media. I'm going to give them a free plug. I love Gary. A free plug. I love Gary. I love the guys over there. They do a great job with their shows. They do the Post Frame Builder show, they do the Role Forming show, which the Role Forming show, ironically enough, is going to be in date. So, the Steel Kings will be there one way or the other. For that one for sure, that one's going to be in date in October. And then the Role Builder show next year, first part of next year, and you know it's fun to see. That's what drew me to your booth, Wendell, when I was there in Knoxville, was seeing the equipment. It's not big either. I mean, that's the thing Like. If you're thinking this thing takes up a big space, it's probably, I'm guessing. What about four feet wide? What's the dimensions on it look like Four feet by two, that's right, it's probably about four feet wide.

Wendell Hochstetler:

you know stands about close to four feet tall. It might be about five feet long, but you put in the back of your pickup truck, you know that's the shocking part about this guy.

Jared Ledford:

You know, and I'll credit, I'll credit the Deanna and the edit team because I'm sure they're going to show one. But if you guys are on the YouTube or you're watching us on the video, hopefully we've got a spliced in picture of this machine, because the cost is really not that prohibitive. If you're selling tubular steel buildings, you're making enough money to cover the cost of this, probably in one or two buildings, and at that point, like Wendell said, you can do a bundle in 30 minutes. Bend this thing out. I mean, think about the time, think about the quality. We're talking uniform, we're talking uniform bends, we're talking things that look good and are quicker and, at the end of the day, time is what Eric Time is money Time is

Jared Ledford:

money. Time is money. So, you got to think about all those extra minutes of bending, all that you know, and the fact that you're not getting uniform bends, the fact that you're not producing the kind of quality that you want to. That's where something like VersaBend really plays a key role in scaling. So, if you're you know Wendell, and we were talking before the podcast started working with small manufacturers, I mean, if you're a one man show, give Wendell a call. If you're a huge conglomerate and you want a couple extra machines, give Wendell a call. I mean, this is not a situation where we're looking for huge manufacturers. We're not looking for really anyone in particular. We're looking for someone that wants to get into this industry or just has a need. It may not even be that you're a metal building manufacturer. You may use tube steel in another form, but this gives you the option to do, to do. Let's see. You said two and a quarter, two and a half, two by three. And what was the fourth one? You said you.

Wendell Hochstetler:

You can do that also a two by two, which isn't used a lot. Okay, if people are you doing greenhouses now you can do but, we also have a separate die that will bend a two by four tube. So, there's been a few people doing two by four tube and going a little wider yeah, you know, I've seen, I I've started to see stuff like that.

Jared Ledford:

I think the quality, you know, we used to just see two and a half, two and a quarter, 12 and 14 gauge framing. You know, now we're starting to see all these different configurations of things. You know they'll use two and a quarter in the know, they'll use two and a quarter in the ends and they'll use two and a half in the side. I mean, they break down these things so differently. The manufacturers are kind of all over the place and you know, again, for our metal building dealers and those who don't know why, a lot of it's because they use the different components to meet engineering specs. So in some parts of the building they may need to use two and a half or two and a quarter, based on whatever engineering specs.

Jared Ledford:

That's one thing I was fascinated about when I went to my first build with site-specific blueprints is, even though I sold a 12 gauge upgrade, I was expecting all the tubing to be two and a quarter 12 gauge. Some of it was two and a half. Just because it's what you expect doesn't mean it's what you're actually going to get when you get there. Understanding every component and makeup on the building is super important to giving your customer a thorough, a thorough expectation of what to expect when they get their building, and I think that's what we do exceptionally well. Eric and I on our team, we know the product as well as any dealers out there, I would think. Eric, where does that benefit? You know we're going to wrap up here, but what you know, what do you hear from this as a dealer and as a you know someone, that's just.

Eric Olson:

I think it's the thing that I was thinking about is the Swedger is more of like a Versatube it. And I just keep thinking of that guy in Michigan that was going to buy that building from us and his eye was struggling to explain the difference. And if you're a dealer and you don't know, and really honestly, if you're probably a manufacturer, you should know. But if you're not knowledgeable and then you get questions about something and you're just basically ignorant to what the information is like, what is the difference between an American Steel joint, an American Steel product, versus a Versatube product? Because they look the same, you know and um, but being able to describe where the joint hits, where the up goes into the base rail, it's like that right there makes so much sense and paints confidence to a buyer, which is what this industry needs.

Eric Olson:

The industry needs knowledge. The people perish from a lack of knowledge. So, if you're just selling somebody something and you're not sure, what I'm taking away from this is that there's more than one way to skin a cat and you should know all the ways, all the possible ways. You should know, and I'm very excited to get a demo of the new product that's coming out. So, stay in touch with us about like a release date and love to get some footage, like a footage of it in operating, like a 60-second clip of how quick it works or, you know, putting you on the spot to say yes on that.

Eric Olson:

But that might be helpful for the new product line that's coming out, and I'm sure you guys have some marketing team that but, but, but. But, just yeah. So just to summarize my answer, it's just basically there is more than one way to connect joints. You know, there's the old fashioned way with a three foot brace or and some welding, or you got this new thing, and it's important to know the difference between both, because customers some customers are going to be picky and want explanation and some customers want the cheapest, and then you don't even have to tell them, you just give them the cheap, you know, cause you know they don't care, and so, um, yeah, we're blessed to have you on the show, Wendell, yeah.

Jared Ledford:

I'll follow up. I'll follow up with one last thing for our manufacturing, for our manufacturing friends, if you are not using, if you're not using, a Versabender, you know, I would question why. I would at least say, hey, reach out to me, I can, you know, at least give you some guidance, connect you with Wendell directly. Um, I think it's one of those things where work smarter, not harder, measure twice, cut once, kind of a thing. If you can save 10, 15 minutes on a bundle of steel, you really need to consider what you're doing right now. And not just that, but again, the uniform, the precision, everything behind this machine speaks to quality and it speaks to saving your time, which in turn saves your money. So, Wendell, you got anything for us on the way out? Yeah, I'm sure we could talk to you all day because you're again one last time. Third generation business, us, all the things that you want to hear in a business. They help build this industry, they help shape this industry. Wendell, leave us with some good, some good remarks for everybody remarks for everybody.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Yeah, well, thank you for having me on and great sharing this.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Yeah, the other piece that I would say you know, not only do we have the VersaBand and the Swedger that's coming up, but we make all the components. If you go to our website, you'll see that there's a little two by two angle clip and a two by four flat clip that's used in the industry. Literally thousands of these are made. We make that. We bought a new machine so we have the price down, I think about as low as you can find them out there. We'd love to pick up more of that business. Of course, the more you buy type thing, the better the price. We have those at a very, very good price and, yeah, we'd love to just sell components to anybody that's interested yeah, I, I, I cannot encourage you guys enough.

Jared Ledford:

Check them out um Cold Spring. Let me get your website pulled back up one more time. Cold Spring is the company coldspringmetal. com. Check them out. Give us the phone number. One time as a shout out, say that again. Give us the phone number that they can reach you at yes, 864 446 3645.

Wendell Hochstetler:

Alright, that they can reach you at, yes, 864-446-3645. All right.

Jared Ledford:

Well, I'll tell you what guys we're going to end on that note. This has been a great episode, Wendell, we're so appreciative of you. Brother, we're going to hear from you more in the future. We're going to get some videos up for our listeners and everything on how the VersaBend works. We're going to share some links. Be on the lookout for those of you that are listening for the newsletter from Shannon. We'll make sure to get you guys some really good content from the guys over at Cold Spring Enterprises. Again, coldspringmetal. com. 864-446- 364 5. Contact the team over there for anything that you need as far as components. I'm sure they're happy to answer any questions about VersaBend. Be on the lookout for the Swedger, hopefully first part of next year, and we'll keep you updated on that too. Eric, you got anything as we close out this week, brother.

Eric Olson:

I have no pro tips. Sometimes don't have pro tips.

Jared Ledford:

Yeah. That makes sense Fair enough.

Eric Olson:

The pro tip is.

Jared Ledford:

I'm going to leave it like I always do guys Get out in your community. Get out in your community and be a good neighbor, Be a good friend.

Eric Olson:

Do something for somebody else.

Jared Ledford:

That's right. Do something for somebody else. Trust me, you will feel good when you do. I promise you Amen. So, in the meantime, guys, I'm Jared, he's Eric. We got Wendell over there. We love you guys and we appreciate you guys. We will be back for another episode of the Steel Kings podcast next Monday. Check out Shannon's show on Wednesday, if you have anything. I'm Jared at the Steel Kings, he's Eric at the Steel Kings. We will talk to you guys soon. Have a great week, all right, peace out.

Eric Olson:

Thank you, Caleb Grimes, you're next.

Outro:

Before you go, the J Money team wants to thank you for listening to today's Steel Kings podcast. Remember, money is king. If you need a financing option on your portable wood sheds or steel buildings, we are here to help. Just check out jmoneyllc. com for more information. Don't forget to catch the next episode. We'll still be here. Have a great day.