Behnke Enterprises, Inc.
Behnke Enterprises, Inc. is a family-run business that was established in 1987. What started as a small welding shop that made boat trailers and did farm repairs with two employees in a 3,600 square foot rental building in Holy Cross, IA has evolved into one of the industry’s leading trailer manufacturers with dealers across the US and Canada. Today Behnke Enterprises, Inc. has 200 employees and 436,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing in Farley, IA. “Family owned” means that we have the power to make quick and effective decisions that can benefit your company without having to consult an exhaustive chain of command. It also means that we’re still able to stay true to what got us here in the first place, and that is a quality product. We focus on manufacturing heavy duty trailers for the agricultural, construction, utility/telecom, heavy haul, commercial, and OEM markets.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Agriculture
- Market Focus:
- Internationally (various countries)
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
Please, visit the following links for more info:
Why Behnke
Behnke Enterprises has been family owned, since day one, with our dedicated owners still logging long work weeks to bring you the best trailer money can buy.
With some of the most advanced equipment, our talented workforce, unrivaled finishes, and fanatical attention to detail, you will find that Behnke trailers are the highest quality on the market. Our trailers can be put to work day-in and day-out. We have one of the most diverse product lines, allowing our customers to order trailers with hundreds of custom options, specific to their needs.
From start to finish, our process is unmatched.
- First, all steel used in the manufacturing of Behnke trailers is sourced from multiple Midwest steel distributors and mills to ensure that we are getting quality steel at the best prices possible.
- We process all of our material internally on our saws, structural plasmas, structural lasers, and laser tables.
- Material is then taken to our industrial shot blaster, so all steel is clean, virgin metal before being welded.
- Next, our highly trained welders are provided material for each specific build.
- When trailers leave welding they are taken to our wash room and are rinsed with an acid wash and then taken to a drying room where they undergo inspection while drying.
- Once dry, we apply a zinc rich primer, then roll the trailer into our 1st convection oven, where the primer is cured.
- We apply our powder coat top-coat and then bake the finish in our 2nd convection oven. Top-notch quality PPG ultra durable powders are exclusively used on all of our products to extend the longevity of our paint job. Our obsessive powder coat process gives us a leg up on the competition, because we go the extra mile to ensure you get the best paint job possible.
- Next is our finishing area where the trailer starts to take shape: axles are mounted, electrical is run, air lines and hydraulics are plumbed if applicable, and reflector tape and decals are applied. All trailers have modular wire harnesses running thru conduit, and have flush mount LED lighting. We use top notch components such as Dexter axles and suspension, Hutch suspension, and Ridewell Suspension.
- Finally, our trailers are taken to our decking department, where No. 1 treated yellow pine, rough oak, apitong, or composite decking is applied, and then the trailers are stacked.
Our Capabilities
Behnke Enterprises has some of the most advanced, automated, and efficient equipment in the trailer industry.
Our engineering department also utilizes SolidWorks 3D CAD to build all of our models. With all of these tools at our disposal, we are able to design and build, the strongest and most durable trailers in an efficient manner to maintain competitive pricing.
List of Equipment
- Over 250,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehousing
- BLM Jumbo 14 Tube Laser (14” pipe,12 x 8 tube, 12” Channel, 12” I-beam, 12 x 8 Angle Iron cutting ability)
- BLM LT8 Fiber Tube Laser (9″ pipe, 8 x 8 tube, channel and angle iron)
- HGG RPC1200 Structural Plasma (Can cut up to 48” wide beam, up to 672 lbs/ft, Can also cut tube, channel, and angle iron from 3” to 48”)
- Mitsubishi Automation Tower with two 6’ x 12’ laser tables
- Tanaka 13’ x 65’ laser table (Utilized by cutting all 1 piece fabricated beam webs and flanges in house for our heavy haul series)
- 60’ Beam Welder with dual welding heads
- (1) Lincoln Dual Robotic Welding Cell
- Akku-Cut Plasma Table-6’ x 12
- Industrial Automatic Shot Blaster (all metal blasted before welding, so metal is completely clean)
- (21) 20’ x 60’ welding bays with two to three welders each and equipped with hand plasmas
- (2) Marvel PC2150A-PC3S Saws
- (3) Doall Automatic Saws
- Cincinnati CB230-230 ton press brake with 14’ bed
- Cincinnati 175BX10 175 ton press brake with 12’ bed
- Cincinnati FM90, 90 ton press brake with 10’ bed
- (2) Powder Lines each equipped with (1) 12’ x 60’ primer booth and (1) 12’ x 60’ top coat finish booth, and (2) 12’ x 60’ convection ovens (Trailers are first coated with a zinc rich primer, then move to our 1st oven, where they are baked to cure the primer coat, they are then pushed into our top coat booth, once the top coat is done it moves to our 2nd oven where the top coat is cured for an unrivaled finish)
- Wash room where trailers are acid washed, then dried before primer is applied
- CNC Mills: Yama Seike BM-1200, Amera Seiki VAS 3, and Fadal VMC15
- CNC Turning Centers: Okuma LU15-2m and Okuma Genos L400
- Full Decking Building with No. 1 Treated Yellow Pine, Rough Oak, Apitong, and Rumber Available