Helena-based Montana Hydraulics captures the market on a variety of machining contracts

A blue-collar shop in a white-collar town, Montana Hydraulics quietly goes about its business, its employeees doing their part to keep the wheels of industry turning smoothly.

Formed in 1998 when four local entrepreneurs -- Bill Anders, Jerry Nichols, Bill Stinchfield and Jim Burrington -- bought the assets of Mine & Mill Hydraulics, today the company employs between 20 and 25 people, depending on the season, in its shop on Florence Street on the city's east side. The firm is engaged in a variety of industrial machining activities, for both local and national clients.

Soft-spoken manager Mark Ehlke, who co-owns the company with his wife, Della, and one of the original partners, said finding and keeping quality employees is the key to the firm's success. In addition to running the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, many of the workers write their own programs for the equipment.

"We're very proud of our customer service and our quality," said Ehlke, who joined the firm in 2002 after two decades in the concrete business. "Our employees are second to none. They're loyal, they're proud of the company and their input is invaluable."

Montana Hydraulics does work for a number of different customers, and the firm's revenue comes from several disparate sources:

- The company has a close working relationship with Missoula-based heavy equipment manufacturer Felco Industries that dates to the M&MH days. Felco makes buckets and bedding and backfill conveyors for backhoes and excavators, and Montana Hydraulics machines the axles, which have a sealed journal bearing and thus don't need to be oiled.

"The quality of Montana Hydraulics' work is so good, we have buckets out in the field for 10-plus years, and have had little or no complaints or issues with them," said Christine Johnson, Felco's marketing director. "It's nice to have a reliable, experienced, friendly company in the area that can meet our needs so well."

Doing good work is one thing, but the cost has to be right too. "Montana Hydraulics has great prices," said Felco general manger Shawn Skinner. "We have looked for alternate vendors, and no one can even come close on prices."

- The design, manufacture and sale of an industrial dowel mill for post and rail manufacturing through a subsidiary called Round Wood Systems. The dowel mill, which cuts raw logs into smooth dowels or posts ranging from 2 to 8 inches in diameter, has been manufactured since 2002, when the company bought the technology from a Choteau man.

Ehlke said the mill can process more than 3,000 eight-foot logs per day. It takes 45 days to fabricate a dowel mill from start to finish, and the company sells eight or 10 a year, he said, many to customers in western Canada. Fence posts, rails and furniture are things the mill can be used for.

"We have a considerable amount of work on the books right now," Ehlke said.

- Montana Hydraulics also has a long-running contract with the BNSF Railway to maintain a fleet of ballast cars for the railroad, primarily across the western U.S. Ballast cars carry and deliver the rock that's laid beneath railroad ties and tracks, and are used extensively when track is built or re-built.

The contract, which accounts for more than half of the company's work, according to Ehlke, involves having technicians at work across the West servicing BNSF's maintenance trains, in addition to machining new and replacement parts in the local shop. BNSF wouldn't comment on its relationship with the firm.

Purchasing manager Charlie Wiles said the business is growing.

"We've been more aggressive in trying to market what we do. We've gone out and solicited customers that we can manufacture parts for, plus the Felco business is increasing, which has a direct effect on us," he said. "On a local level, we rebuild a lot of cylinders, and as building activity grows, we see an increase in cylinder repair as well."

There's also some synergy with Felco as Montana Hydraulics looks to grow. MH has been machining bucket ears for the Missoula firm as Felco tries to develop a universal bucket ear to make it easier to switch buckets between excavators. And Felco cuts some parts that MH uses in the manufacture of its dowel mills.

John Harrington can be reached at 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com.