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Keeping pace with diesel technology keeps Holdrege shop growing

Today's diesel engines provide 20-to-40-percent better fuel economy and offer more torque at lower rpm when compared to their gasoline counterparts. Diesel engines are cleaner than ever before, and in the next few years the diesel industry will virtually eliminate key emissions associated with on- and off-road diesel equipment. Long popular in Europe, all of the major manufacturers are taking a serious look at diesel technology today.

Who knew?

One man who seemed to know the future of diesel grasped it at a young age and has ridden it into a highly successful rural enterprise.

Jim Wiser owns and operates South Central Diesel, Inc. in Holdrege, Nebraska. Wiser’s company distributes the new high-tech diesel parts and repairs diesel pumps for implement dealers, car, truck and semi dealers, and independent contractors. The company is an authorized Bosch Service Center and Bosch Diesel Service Dealer, making South Central Diesel an important hub for one of the largest players high-precision diesel pumps, controls, and parts.

“We’re a distributor of parts from the manufacturer to diesel fuel injector service shops,” Wiser said. “Most shops don’t buy direct, they buy from us. Being a distributor makes us more competitive and high volume helps us get a good price.”

In addition to its distribution contracts, South Central Diesel cleans, repairs and tests diesels pumps and injectors. They serve customers in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Missouri, South Dakota and North Dakota.

A family of mechanics.

Jim’s training for a career in diesel mechanics began early in life. His dad and uncles were skilled welders and mechanics, and he grew up working alongside them fixing machinery on the farm and learning about engines and how they worked. He recognized early in his school years that he was talented in mechanics. While in high school, he worked in an auto repair shop in Holdrege.

“I was most interested in learning about carburetor repair, and the day I saw a diesel fuel injector, I knew I wanted to learn all I could about diesel mechanics,” said Jim

Wiser’s first diesel repair job was on John Deere tractors for the local John Deere implement dealer, during which he attended John Deere Schools on engine and diesel systems.

He said, “By age 18 with a high school degree plus the experience I had working on engines, I had acquired the fundamentals to start my career as a diesel mechanic and business owner.”

The youngest entrepreneur.

Jim credits his high school counselor and the school’s business instructor for teaching a kid who was hungry for learning the basics of business and mechanics.

“The guidance counselor gave me a brochure on careers in diesel and electrical mechanics, and the information I read decided my career,” said Jim. “I knew I wanted to own my own diesel repair business.” His high school business instructor taught him the basics of bookkeeping.

Only five years after graduation from high school, Jim Wiser opened his own business.

“In the beginning, I got any kind of mechanic work I could until the fuel injection diesel business built up.” he said. Jim thanks a local banker for having the vision to help him finance his new business. “He got me started,” says Jim. “He wasn’t afraid to loan someone money on an idea.”

From one customer in 1971, Jim built the business to serve a customer list of 30,000 in a seven state region.

A new kind of diesel.

“Trucking and agriculture businesses are our main customers,” says Jim. “UPS, John Deere, and Caterpillar are among the companies who work with us.”

A far cry from those smoke-belching diesel engines you might remember, the fuel pump on modern diesels delivers fuel through the injector into a combustion chamber under compression so high that the fuel leaves the injector nozzle as almost a gas. Because it’s in this virtually  atomized state, it burns cleaner. Injectors require extremely close tolerances because they work under 20,000 pounds of pressure or more.

“Some parts we deal with have one-millionth of an inch clearance, and a single fingerprint causes a stickiness that will act like a glue, and stick the parts together,” Wiser says. “Diesel engines require clean fuel, but when they get it, they will last virtually forever because a diesel is self lubricating. People think diesel is dirty. It is not. Diesel engines are the cleanest running engines on the market today, and they pollute less than gas powered engines. Sixty percent of the cars in Europe are diesel.”

Skilled technicians with high-tech equipment.

Along with highly skilled technicians, a diesel repair business like Wiser’s depends on high-tech testing equipment.

“We bought and paid for the high-priced equipment,” Wiser said. “The equipment costs are so high; they knock a lot of fuel injection shops out of business. We invest in equipment, and we can pay between $148,000 to $170,000 for one test machine.” South Central Diesel spends big dollars on maintenance, too.

“Our testing equipment is calibrated to 1.5 to 2 % tolerance. Our Factory reps tell us that most other companies calibrate their testing equipment to 10% tolerance,” Wiser said. “I am hard to work for because we are very particular, but accuracy is our strength.”

That’s no doubt the reason why business flourishes even during the recession. “We are very busy, ahead of last year,” said Wiser. “We have contracts into 2010.”

Hometown bias.

Wiser’s decision to locate and remain in his hometown has had its benefits and disadvantages. On the one hand, he’s an integral part of a tight-knit community of friends he’s known all his life, with his wife and son deeply involved in his business. On the other, his customer’s need for overnight shipping means he must make regular runs to Kearney to pick up or ship parts.

Another frustration is the lack of qualified technicians. “Nebraska is not funding tech schools adequately,” Wiser said. “The Nebraska tech schools that do teach diesel technology don’t have testing equipment that is equivalent to what we use. We end up doing a lot of our own training.”

For the future, Jim hopes to not only start a turbo rebuilding facility, but to market a turbo of their own and distribute it all over the United States. And for a determined entrepreneur whose business has grown steadily for 38 years, there’s no reason to think it won’t get done.

Who to Contact

Jim Wiser
South Central Diesel, Inc.
115 South East Avenue
Holdrege, Nebraska 68949
Telephone: 308-995-6528,  800-228-8462
www.southcentraldiesel.com

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