1970s

From Simple Beginnings

After spending decades in and around the agriculture business, husband and wife founders, Ray and Kay Hays began manufacturing fertilizer hauling equipment in the 1970s. An innovator to his core, Ray continuously strived to develop equipment solutions that would fill his customers’ growing needs. Although Kay worked for Mitchell EMC, she was the financial brain behind the business. She spent countless hours teaching her oldest daughter, Donna, about company finances and bookkeeping around the kitchen table after school.

Bringing Ideas to Life

Ray was the heart and soul of the company. He did all he could to make his ideas for equipment come to life. His son, Ronald, spent every weekend and days after school helping him with design. Ray’s desire to manufacture equipment built to the customers specific needs has led to customers becoming lifelong friends. So many of these lifelong friends and customers have since passed but the companies that remain continue build on the relationships Ray established. The footprint he left on his company, his children, and his grandchildren is something that truly cannot be measured.

1980s

A Family Business

Ray and Kay had four children. Donna, Ronald, Lynn and Shari. In the mid-80s, Donna and Ronald, after years of working with their parents, took over the family business. Following in their parents’ footsteps, they continued to manufacture innovative agriculture equipment all while building deep, family-like relationships with their customers. During this time Ronald and Donna put their all into the company by leaning on what they knew to be true, “If you get the relationship right, the rest will work itself out.” They had a good name, a good product and a determination to succeed.

1990s

Increasing Our Scope

During the 1990s, Donna and Ronald increased Hays-LTI’s scope by offering the company’s quality equipment and top-notch service to a wider swath of the country. Transport Tankers and Side Dump Bulk Haulers were in high demand when it came to moving fertilizer and the products manufactured at Hays-LTI were customer friendly, dependable pieces of equipment. Donna and Ronald had developed a wonderful reputation for quality equipment in the Ag Industry and their equipment was selling by word of mouth.

Establishing a Rental Fleet

It was also at this time that the Rental Fleet was developed. Being true to their nature and the nature of their dad, Donna and Ronald heard the needs of their customers, which was to “rent” Hays Equipment for periods of time without having to be the owner of the equipment. So, after much planning and preparing, they built the first pieces of equipment for their Rental Fleet. These trailers are still being rented to this day and the Hays-LTI Rental fleet has grown to over 850 units! The 90’s were filled with highs and lows. The company continued to do great work but sadly our family said goodbye to the best wife, mother and grandmother ever, Kay Hays, after a very tough and heartbreaking battle with cancer.

2000s

Building Equipment. Growing Relationships

After years of growth, expanding product lines and continually listening to our customers to make improvements to our equipment, Hays-LTI became known for its Equipment and Customer Service. Although Ray Hays didn’t technically “work” at Hays-LTI anymore, he was usually the first one there every morning and the last one there at night. He was involved in many design decisions and continued to build relationships with our customers every opportunity he got. In the meantime of doing any and everything Ronald would let him do for work, Ray met and married someone our family loves very much and who he loved very much, Janice, or as his nine grandchildren call her, Mama J. Leaving Donna and Ronald in Camilla to run the day in and day out business, Ray and Janice would take off any chance they got and drive all over the United States dropping off packets of Hays-LTI Equipment Literature and homemade Pecan Pies. Together they’ve stopped at hundreds of Fertilizer Warehouses and Co-ops delivering hundreds of Pecan Pies over the years!

The Tender Joins Our Lineup

It was during this time that Hays-LTI was seeing more and more demand for Fertilizer Tenders. This piece of equipment would open a whole new market for the company. It was a more efficient piece of equipment to move fertilizer with and was preferred by a larger range of customers from different regions. With Ronald’s eye for detail and design, and a push from a friend in farming here in Camilla who begged and begged and begged for Ronald to build him one, Hays-LTI manufactured its first 24 Ton Hays Tender around 2007. Since then, the Tender Market has continuously grown and Hays-LTI has continuously improved its product, making the Hays Tender the most customer friendly, quality designed tender on the market.

2010s

Breaking New Ground

After over 30 years of operating out of the same place, it was put to Donna and Ronald by their banker and trusted friend/advisor that “they had gotten all the goody out of their buildings” and plans to expand and build a new manufacturing plant were under way! At this time Ray’s grandchildren, Laura and Matt had also joined the family business. Laura learning from Donna and Matt learning from his dad, Ronald. Donna’s husband Jimmy, who has always been very involved behind the scenes with the business and who was an integral part in the development of the Rental Program, decided to come on full time at Hays-LTI after an over 30-year career in the Poultry Industry. With a strong team and a desire to build for the future, Hays-LTI broke ground on their state-of-the-art new facility in 2015.

`Papa Ray Was Here.`

Opened in 2018, the current home of Hays-LTI features 8 separate buildings including a Central Office, Parts Department, Rental and Service Department, Pre-Fabrications Shop, Stainless Steel Shop, Paint and Blasting Shops, Washing Stations and Assembly Shops. Ray spent every day he could of his last few years at the new Hays-LTI location. He cleared the 60 acres of land where our new facility is located with just a few pieces of equipment and some very minor “Uh-Oh’s” … which included dents, dings and a couple of stuck tractors here and there! It was joked by the family during construction that we needed warning signs that said, “Papa Ray was Here”. He worked tirelessly on the new construction and for those who knew him knew that he was happiest when he was with his family and on his tractor! Ray lived to see the reality of the new manufacturing plant come to fruition but passed away in February 2019. Although founders Ray and Kay Hays are no longer with us, their spirit of generosity and devotion guides us in everything we do at Hays-LTI.

Hays - Tender - Brochure