Felling Trailers, Inc. is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a a community open house and lunch on October 25 from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Sauk Centre, Minnesota, location.
On Nov. 1, 1974, Kathy & Merle J. Felling purchased a small welding shop in downtown Sauk Centre known as Sauk Centre Welding. Sauk Centre Welding began in 1954 and catered to local farmers and businesses by doing repairs, small custom welding and fabrication jobs.
The business name was changed to Sauk Centre Welding & Machine Works, Inc. and had four people on the payroll. Sauk Centre Welding & Machine Works performed farm & industrial equipment repair, custom fabrication, and manufacturing of comfort stalls, hog crates, Bale Feeders, and Bale Forks.
Merle always had an interest in manufacturing trailers. Noticing a lack of quality in many of the trailers that came into the shop for repair, Merle designed and created the Felling Trailers product line. A few trailers were built for local businesses and contractors, and within a short time, demand grew and Merle continued to add to the product line over the years.
After five facility additions, Felling Trailers outgrew its downtown Sauk Centre location and relocated to its current headquarters at the Southeast corner of Highway 71 and Interstate 94 in Sauk Centre to accommodate the expansion of the Felling Trailers line.
In 2012, Felling Trailers opened a second production facility in Litchfield, MN, bringing its office and production facilities to over 250,000 square feet and employing 250 people.
Felling Trailers currently manufactures over 3,500 trailers a year ranging from a 3,000-lb utility trailer to a 120,000-lb hydraulic gooseneck trailer, and its standard trailer line includes over 220 models.