Field Technician Avery Theeck

FACES OF KIRBY-SMITH MACHINERY

Avery Theeck enjoys being a field technician, keeping customers’ downtime to a minimum

Working on equipment comes naturally to Avery Theeck. It’s something he’s done practically his entire life and has always wanted to do.

Avery Theeck, Field Technician, KSM, Abilene

“I grew up on a ranch with machinery, so I was always tinkering with something,” said Theeck, a field technician at Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc.’s (KSM) Abilene, Texas, location. “I have a brother who’s nine years older than me, and growing up, he was a diesel mechanic working on pipelines. I got to watch him work, and I always admired what he did. Since I was little, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”

Theeck was part of an agriculture mechanical program in high school. He hadn’t necessarily considered diesel technology until a recruiter from KSM visited his classroom and told the class about the program at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) that’s backed by Komatsu and distributors such as KSM, which sponsored Theeck.

“It’s a great mix of on-campus learning and hands-on experience in an actual shop,” said Theeck. “Having Kirby-Smith backing me was another positive thing about the program. Kirby-Smith was committed to my success, and I couldn’t have been happier to come to work here after I was done at OSUIT. I still feel the same way. It’s a great company that really cares about its employees and takes care of us.”

Avery Theeck, a field technician for KSM, works on rebuilding a hammer at KSM’s Abilene, Texas branch.

First hammer tech

KSM further helped Theeck build his skills by training him to be the Abilene branch’s first hammer technician. Theeck tears them down and rebuilds them to like-new condition. He estimated that now his time is split fairly evenly between field work and hammer rebuilds. Whatever the day’s tasks, Theeck looks forward to doing them.

“I enjoy the challenge of solving an issue with the right fix as quickly as possible,” said Theeck. “Every minute a customer is down it’s costing them, so the pressure is on. Seeing an operator go back to working that machine is very satisfying. I love seeing customers so happy. I also love getting to travel and meet different people.”

Theeck concluded, “I definitely am encouraging others to consider this as a career. There’s a lot of new technology, and you get to work on big machines. The pay is great too. I love it — the work, Kirby-Smith — and I see myself here for the long haul.” ■