For the past 45 years, Scotchman Industries Inc has manufactured a product that has revolutionized the metal fabrication industry. The product? The hydraulic ironworker.
In 1967, Arthur A Kroetch, founder of Scotchman, saw an opportunity and grasped it with both hands. This opportunity was created by a “newly designed” hydraulic ironworker. With financial assistance from the Small Business Administration, he purchased the US patent for the Dvorak hydraulic ironworker. This was the first machine of its kind that could punch, bend, and shear metal using hydraulic pressure with a 35-ton force. This hydraulic ironworker transformed the metal fabrication industry into what it is today.
Acquisition of this patent is considered the birth of Scotchman. The firm evolved from a small salvage business with six employees that also manufactured farm products. Scotchman began manufacturing this one model of hydraulic ironworker in 1967 at its facility in Philip SD and has become the largest North American manufacturer and supplier of hydraulic ironworkers. The present Scotchman facility has 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 65 employees, and a network of more than 500 distributors nationwide.
Scotchman sells in more than 50 countries with consistent markets in Mexico and Canada and fair markets across the Pacific Rim. Scotchman continues to pursue new and emerging markets nationwide.
The company now offers 13 hydraulic ironworker models from 45 to 150 tons in three styles:
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Component Tool Table design allows the operator to use tools including punch, angle shear, channel shear, solid round and square rod shear, flat bar shear, rectangle notcher, 90° V notcher, press brake, pipe notcher, and tube shear.
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Fully Integrated Ironworker with five built-in tools consisting of a punch, angle shear, flat bar shear, round and square rod shear, and a rectangle notcher.
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Dual Operator machine where two operators work simultaneously without loss of speed or pressure.