by RENEE PATRICK Cascade Business News Feature Writer
The Cat Doctor is in.
Ellis Bouvier, heavy mechanic extraordinare, has moved his shop, E&A Heavy Equipment, from Woodland, California to Redmond this past summer. With over 37 years of experience as an expert field mechanic, Bouvier specializes in trouble shooting and diagnostics for heavy equipment in construction, logging, mining and agriculture.
Originally from Montana, Bouvier has spent his career putting machinery back to work. Whether he succeeds by pouring over technical material, inventing the right part for the right job or rebuilding the machine from scratch, he has a track record of success and a list of committed customers.
Bouvier and his wife, Alzada Magdalena, were prompted to move to Central Oregon to be closer to Magdalena’s two children, both in college. Despite leaving his shop in Woodland, he continues to spend about a week a month in California to service his existing customers. The transition process will be gradual, said Bouvier, as he is able to bring some winter projects back to his work shop in Redmond like the John Deer industrial engine he is overhauling and won’t be needed until spring.
The couple bought two units at 555 NE Hemlock Ave., pulled out the dividing wall and moved in 42 tons of equipment. One of the most important aspects of the shop is his service library. He has a complete Caterpillar library on micro film which covers all of the older machines, books on a large variety other machines and access to the internet where most of the newer product specs reside.
“A mechanic has to educate himself. There is always something new, and you have to keep up. This is a huge challenge, more than folks realize,” commented Bouvier. “You have to be able to read and work with technical material…even when the machine is foreign made and the translation has not been made by someone who speaks good English.
“Challenges are what makes the day. I am a person that enjoys doing a lot of different things, In the equipment industry, there are hundreds and thousands of changes each year. We used to have engines that were unchanged for 20 years, now it’s two years.” He continued, “Computers have taken over a lot of the day to day operations of the machines and that can be interesting. Sometimes a machine will be down because of a little sensor that failed. Older equipment just runs.”
Bouvier is very good at emergency fixes, but would like to train people to think ahead, “There is always some sort of disaster. If you think ahead, the winter season is a great time to have machines serviced to be ready for spring,” he said. “If you create an emergency, you create a dent in your pocketbook. I will pay overnight for parts, I will do whatever it takes to make it work. When you combine iron and dirt, emergencies happen, but if you can think ahead, you can minimize those disasters.”
Bouvier became a factory trained Caterpillar technician in Peoria, Illinois while working as a resident field serviceman for Pape’s Caterpillar in Medford. In 1987 he started his own firm and continued to repair and maintain construction, logging and mining equipment; his expertise with Caterpillar machines earned him the nickname, Cat Doctor.
“This is the third time I have moved my shop,” said Bouvier. “You have to put forth more effort at the start of establishing the business and a lot of my business happens word of mouth, you get hooked into the community better once they know what you can do.”
What Bouvier can do ranges from hydraulic work, portable line boring, welding, fabrication and antique repair and restoration. The transformation from rusted out tractor to glossy, functional machine is impressive. From sand blasting off rust, repairing metal components and giving it a new coat of paint to completely rebuilding every aspect of the machine, Bouvier doesn’t just make the tractor look like new, it will run like new as well. A few of his current restoration projects include at 1925 Holt/Caterpillar 2 ton tractor and a 1929 John Deer tractor he bought at an auction.
The antique business is a niche market, but often collectors will spare no expense to restore pieces of agricultural history. In other cases, Bouvier may take years to collect the right parts and pieces, finding time between his field repairs and regular work to restore his personal projects. “There is a market for restoration, but it has to be a labor of love, I do restorations for other people but they really have to want it because there is a lot of time and money that goes into it,” he said. Many of his projects end up in antique shows like the Tulare World Ag Expo and the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum show in Brooks, Oregon.
While Bouvier is currently working alone, he hopes to be able to support more staff as the business continues to grow. Part of his certification from Caterpillar is as a shop instructor, and he hopes to be able to train someone new soon.
www.eandaheavyequipment.com, 555 NE Hemlock Ave. Suite 102, Redmond, 530-905-1995 mobile, 541-526-5877 land line.
