Ranch Hand Truck Accessories

Ranch Hand Truck Accessories

Industry	Truck Accessories
Founded	1986 (1986)
Headquarters	Shiner, Texas, United States
Area served	United States and Canada
Products	Grille Guards Bumper Replacements Headache Racks and Haulers Toolboxes
Number of employees	190 (July 2010)
Website	Ranchhand.com

Ranch Hand is an American manufacturer aftermarket heavy-duty truck protection including grille guards and front and rear bumpers.

History

Ranch Hand Truck Accessories is a Kaspar Company. Since 1898, Kaspar Companies has been doing business the right way in southern Texas. Their family business spans twenty recessions, one depression, two world wars, oil embargoes, steel shortages, 5 generations of family ownership, and twenty presidential administrations.

Ranch Hand was originally founded in Boerne, Texas, and eventually moved to Shiner, Texas, after Kaspar Companies acquired them in 2000. Ranch Hand has become the #1 source for truck accessories. With more than 230 employees processing over 65,000 lbs of steel every day, it's easy to see why the state-of-the-art equipment and production processes in their 320,000 sq. ft. facilities enable them to build the highest quality truck accessories on the market, all proudly made in the USA. Ranch Hand’s products are made in our two manufacturing facilities in Shiner and Beeville, Texas, and sold through their company owned stores, distributors, new truck dealerships, and Truck/SUV accessory dealers throughout the United States and Canada.

Ranch Hand’s reputation was built on rugged durability and has evolved into a heavy-duty product that is designed to enhance the look of the latest model trucks and SUVs as well as offering outstanding vehicle protection.

Products

Ranch Hand manufactures the highest quality vehicle protection products on the market. Their products are built from steel and are one piece fully welded construction to provide superior strength. All front and back bumpers are frame mounted which makes them solid in case of collision. Ranch Hand's reputation has been built on strength and quality.

Legend Grille Guards

Legend Front Bumpers

Summit Front Bumpers

Bullnose Legend Front Bumpers

Bullnose Summit Front Bumpers

Winch Ready Front Bumpers

Push Bars

Back Bumpers

Headache Racks and Haulers

Bed Rails

Running Steps and Steps

Jeep Specific Products

Toolboxes, Receiver Hitches, LED Lights, Skid Plates, Rubber Upright Pads

They currently have products for the full size vehicles produced by General Motors, Toyota, Chevrolet, Ford Motor Company, Dodge, and Jeep

Brand image and marketing

Ranch Hand's reputation was built on rugged durability and has evolved into a heavy-duty product that is designed to enhance the look of the latest model trucks and SUV's.^[1] Their logo has evolved over the years as well as their overall brand image. Similar to Harley-Davidson, they use an advocate marketing strategy where they have created a strong culture of loyal followers of rural ranchers and people in the working trades who use their Ranch Hand product on a daily basis and test it to the limit. This brand image in turn invites other people to join in on the Ranch Hand.^[2]

They are a member of SEMA automotive aftermarket show, where they showcase their product line and update dealers on innovations, new models, and updates.^[3] The company is owned and operated by graduates of Texas A&M University and in 2005, Ranch Hand became a member of the Aggie 100, an organization which identifies, recognizes and celebrates the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned businesses in the world.^[4]

Their grille guards and front end replacements do offer a degree of protection (for the vehicle)^[5] in accidents ranging from fender benders to head-on collisions, but the company will not claim protection as one of their selling points with their marketing in order to avoid liability issues.

History of Kaspar Companies

Kaspar Companies^[6] was founded in 1898 when August Kaspar made and sold his first wire basket. In the 1890s, ranchers had discarded their old smooth wire fences in favor of barbed wire. Kaspar used the discarded wire and fashioned for himself a crude-looking basket intended to carry hay and corn shucks from the barn to the animal stalls. According to his story, a neighbor saw the basket and bought it for one dollar. With the use of no tools besides a pair of pliers, he weaved large baskets in lots of a dozen or more, and peddled his products from farm to farm selling his baskets for one dollar each. A few of these baskets remain in existence today. In 1930, August Kaspar sold the business to his only child, Arthur Kaspar, who built the main manufacturing facility for Kaspar Wire Works. Through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean War, Kaspar Wire Works successfully navigated through difficult economic times by expanding its product line to service the United States military.

August Kaspar pictured in his backyard workshop with a couple workmen and his son Arthur (left)

In the mid-1970s, Arthur passed the business to his only son Don Kaspar. Don continued his father’s work and built Kaspar Wire Works into an international corporation. The booming newspaper business had created a need for newspaper racks and dispensers, a business line named “Sho-Rack” which Don worked diligently to develop. Sho-Rack secured the rights to a coin mechanism patent used to dispense newspapers. In the 1980s, Sho-Rack won the USA Today contract. Ninety-percent of all newspaper racks ever produced in North America originated from Sho-Rack’s headquarters in Shiner, Texas. The migration from print newspapers to online periodicals has since dramatically reduced the size of the print industry, but Sho-Rack continues to produce and service newspaper racks.

Don Kaspar’s four sons (4th generation) expanded the corporation in 2001 through the acquisition of Ranch Hand Truck Accessories. The Kaspar Companies conglomerate is still family-owned and -managed. Kaspar Companies operates several independent businesses employing more than 500 employees. The corporation owns 700,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Shiner, Texas, and Beeville, Texas.

Kaspar Wire Works is one of the oldest continuously operating manufacturing companies in America.^[7] In December 2012, the company was awarded the Texas Star award for manufacturing excellence by the state of Texas.^[8]

Texas Precious Metals^[9] is one of the largest precious metals companies in North America (based on estimated annual revenue exceeding $200M). The company is recognized as a market maker for United States Mint products and is an official distributor for the Perth Mint of Australia

References

External links

• Ranch Hand Website