Feature Story Friesen Machine’S Continued Success Formed by Long Legacy See Story on 2D
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thecarillon.com AgricultureSECTION D • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 Now Feature Story Friesen Machine’s continued success formed by long legacy See story on 2D Masterfeeds in Grunthal hopes you and your family have a very It’s been our pleasure serving you this past year and we look forward to serving you in the New Year! 2D – THE CARILLON | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 STEINBACH, MAN. www.thecarillon.com Friesen Machine history spans four generations PHOTO BY WES KEATING Reg uses a file to put the finishing touches to a key lock in a gear shaft. by WES KEATING the yard in front of the first Friesen The projects that come through Machine building. the door these days are as varied as here is a great deal of history When Reg or Peter looks out of the fabrication of saw collars for a hanging on the walls of Stein- the window at the rear of the shop, local cabinet shop to the creation bach’s oldest business, but not the view is of that original Friesen of unique steel stairs and landing T Machine location. The two-storey for Mammoth Homes, a local house all of it involves tools of four gener- ations of Friesen metal fabricators building stood where Solomon’s builder. Sometimes it is easier to sat- and machinists. Furniture is today. The woodwork- isfy a customer by creating an item Brothers Peter and Reg Friesen, ing department was on the second from his drawing than to satisfy their part of that fourth generation, are floor and metal work was done own curiosity about what it will be currently carrying on the family tra- downstairs. used for. dition at the Friesen Avenue busi- Reg says the photo at the entrance On a table near the front of the ness. at Friesen Machine was probably shop is an example. A metal box Peter purchased the family busi- taken from the upper levels of the with a hinged cover at one end and ness when his brother Robert retired original Friesen mill. a threaded pipe through the middle in 2012 and was soon joined by Reg, “It was a photograph of the very of the other end, probably has to do who returned to the environment he first Summer in the City… they just with something electric because it loved, after a decade as a pressman didn’t know it.” was ordered by Pennlite, but what it at Derksen Printers. Next to the family photo hang the is, neither Peter of Reg could offer an On the wall behind the service wooden forms used to create the explanation. counter at Friesen Machine hangs moulds for the casting of gears for Friesen Machine also does a lot of a huge photograph of earlier days of a walking dredge that was used to the same type of machinists work as the company which has been owned dig drainage canals in the Southeast the previous generations did. Peter and operated by the Friesen family and worked on the Winnipeg aque- says the difference is that today they since 1892. duct from Shoal Lake. The same type are doing a fair amount of engine PHOTO BY WES KEATING of wooden forms provided a pattern work on “parade tractors and parade In a blending of technology, Reg uses a caliper to get a precise measurement while A row of family members, dressed in their finest, pose for a photo on for the moulds used for the casting cars.” Peter has his cell phone at the ready to order materials for their next project. of gears for the first Steinbach grist Neither Reg or Peter are worried mill. about the future but agree it will be Then, as today, if someone came a sad day when Friesen Machine up with an idea and could draw even closes its doors. It has been around a rough sketch on paper, the Fries- since the beginning of time and Pe- ens would make it. The company ter says come customers who come slogan for Reg and Peter remains in now say they have been coming something their father once said. here with their dads since when they “If it’s man made, man can fix it.” themselves were just little nippers. The shop is only restricted by the There are not too many people out size of a project, but if it’s metal, they there that do this kind of work and fix most anything from power take- while there are always resumes com- offs and planetary drives, to truck ing in from people who want to work flywheels. The shop is kept busy here, there are no plans to expand to sharpening onion slicers, pizza cut- take on more staff. ters and refacing a ton of flywheels “This is a family business and if for every truck shop in town. we went big we would have to have Work will slow down for a while a new shop. We don’t advertise and and then speeds up again. In the still are kept as busy as they want to summer the Friesens fix a lot of be.” outboard motors drawing up plans There was a time when Friesen to recreate an aluminum skeg (the Machine was well-known for its lowest point on an outboard motor) work on boilers and steam engines, which has had an unfortunate colli- sion with an underwater rock. Continued on next page BIG, BIG NEWS! FIRST 5 ONLY!! NOW AUCTIONS BOOKED OFFERING FOR 2019 ONLY 3.5%!! YES, THAT’S RIGHT! Any size, anywhere, anytime!! First 5 booked for 2019…..Guaranteed 3.5%! GIVE US A CALL AND PUT SOME “GAS” IN YOUR SALE GRUNTHAL AUCTION SERVICE! Call Brad 204-346-2440 www.thecarillon.com STEINBACH, MAN. | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 THE CARILLON – 3D Work underway to restore shipments from Port of Churchill by GLEN HALLICK ork is underway at restoring the Port of Chur- chill to its former glory. Omer Al-Katib, spokes- Wperson for Arctic Gateway Group Limited Part- nership, said this includes work on grain storage, the wharf and new grain cleaning equipment. “The port fell into a state of disrepair as the port was not being fully utilized over the last few years,” Al-Katib said. However hauling grain to Churchill by rail, he said, won’t begin until the spring. But he pointed to the strate- gic significance of the rail line and port located in north- ern Manitoba. “Churchill pro- vides a real ad- vantage to Can- ada as the only “Churchill provides rail-serviced Arctic deep wa- a real advantage to ter port in North Canada as the only America,” he said. Not only is the rail-serviced Arctic port on Hud- son Bay closer deep water port in to Europe than ports along North North America America’s east – Omer Al-Katib coast, Churchill is 7,000 kilometres closer to Shang- hai, China than the Port of New York and New Jersey in the United States via the Northwest Passage. With global climate change the passage will be an important trade route. Still given its location, Churchill is not a year-round port. Al-Katib said its shipping season is usually Septem- ber to November. “Because of the limited shipping period, the port is vi- able as a surge port option for Western Canadian grain,” he said. When there are backlogs in major grain ports such as Prince Rupert and Vancouver in British Columbia, Chur- chill can take some of the pressure off. That’s something PHOTO BY WES KEATING that has been missing in the last few of years. According Peter cuts a 45-degree angle on a piece of channel steel which will become part of stairs and a landing. to figures on the Hudson Bay Route Association’s web- but that is ancient history by now, Reg says. site grain shipments through Churchill in 2013 amount- And although, neither Reg or Peter are anywhere ed to 640,000 tonnes and dipped to 530,000 tonnes the near being ancient, they do have a lengthy history at following year. Shipments plummeted to about 185,000 the family business. tonnes in 2015 before drying up. For Reg it is a matter of a second time around while Besides grain Al-Katib believes Churchill can be used Peter has been at Friesen Machine since the early to ship other commodities. 1980s. “All kinds of things could be moving in and out of that Reg says the timing was right for his return to port as the season opens,” he said and cited potash as Friesen Machine. Although the press operators’ job one. in many ways allowed him to use his skills as a ma- Arctic Gateway includes AGT Limited Partnership in chinist, he couldn’t get used to the temporary nature Regina, Sask. along with Fairfax Financial Holdings in of what he was creating. It required the same kind of Toronto, Ont. and Missinippi Rail Limited Partnership, precise measuring to get the registry just right in the which is comprised 41 First Nation and other communi- operation of a printing press and there was a feeling ties in Manitoba and Nunavut. of accomplishment for a job well done when a quality All rail service to the northern Manitoba community print job rolled off the press. But Reg says he couldn’t was cut in May 2017 when the line was washed out. Only get use to the idea that all those calendars and all that after Arctic Gateway purchased the line and the port great stuff he created was so temporary.