Brian Braaten, 35-year-old owner of North Country Equipment Repair in Pillager, Minn., enjoys the special benefits that come with being a self-employed mechanic.
“I like those ‘ah-hah!’ moments, like when you’re doing an engine rebuild and finally find the problem,” he says. “Another ‘ah-ha’ moment was when I realized that I’m the boss, and I can shut off my phone and go camping with my family if I want to.”
Braaten jump-started his career as a mechanic by enrolling at Alexandria Technical and Community College in Alexandria, Minn., while still in high school. By starting coursework during his senior year, he graduated with a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree only a year out of high school.
“Tech schools are great,” he says. “With the demand there is for mechanics and other trades, you don’t have to compete for a job after you graduate. They compete for you.”
After graduation he worked for several years in a Ziegler Caterpillar shop in Minneapolis.
“That was important, learning from the old guys,” he says. “One of the guys went off on his own, and I eventually went to work for him, running a service truck. When he decided to sell the heavy equipment side of his business, I bought the truck, and went off on my own.”
It didn’t take long for Braaten to experience a new kind of ‘ah-hah!’ moment.
“After six to nine months, my wife and I saw that the bills were being paid, we were making some money, and I was busier than I could ever have imagined,” he says. “I realized, ‘Yup, we can make this work,’ and it’s been going good ever since.”
So good that after a couple years Braaten decided to upgrade service trucks. He invested in a 2019 T370 Kenworth outfitted with a 14-foot-long Summit service body equipped with Summit’s 12,000-pound capacity hydraulic crane. He chose a Miller EnPak integrated power system to provide compressed air, a welder, a generator and hydraulic power for the crane. Powered by a 24.8 horsepower Kubota diesel engine fueled from the truck’s fuel tank, the EnPak unit eliminates the need to run the truck’s engine at idle.
“I like the EnPak’s auto start/stop option,” says Braaten. “I can program the (EnPak’s) computer so it shuts off if I’m not using air or welding. As long as the truck’s system-voltage is above 12.2 volts, it stays off. At night, if I’m running a lot of lights, it will restart to charge the (truck’s) batteries when they fall below a certain voltage.”
A large Summit-installed storage box behind the EnPak holds Hannay hose reels for oil tanks mounted in the bed of the service body. A sliding metal top protects from the weather a 100-gallon waste oil and two fresh oil tanks. All oil delivery systems use pressurized air, controlled by electrical switches mounted beside the hose reels, to control fluid flow.
Braaten specced four sets of Summit tool drawers with his new service body, as well as two sets of Summit bolt bins.
“I like the tool drawers because they have stops at half-out and full-out,” says Braaten. “If you’re parked on a hillside, the drawers don’t roll closed. The bolt bins are made of heavier-gauge aluminum than aftermarket bolt bins, and they roll out so I don’t have to dig around to see what’s in the rear compartments.”
The only things Braaten has added to his truck have been holders for impact wrenches and an electrical strip (connected to a Summit-installed 2000-watt inverter) to power battery chargers.
“It came with plenty of lights,” he says. “I really like the two swiveling lights on the end of the crane. I use that inside dark buildings, or at night, even if I’m not using the crane to lift. The other option I’m glad I got is the compartment heaters. It’s nice to have semi-warm tools in the winter, and that really reduced condensation and rusting of my tools when I back my cold truck into my heated shop at night.”
Braaten rents a shop in town where he parks his truck and does engine and transmission over- hauls. That shop, along with being his own boss, allows him to balance time with his family.
“I used to work out of my garage, but it was too easy to go out there and work at night,” he says. “The shop in town lets me keep work and home separate. Once I learned I could turn off my phone to spend time with my family, being self-employed works great.”