Strengthening Relationships on the Job Site

On June 19, 2025, a team from TAG Manufacturing and Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co. visited a job site where Max Rieke & Brothers, Inc. was hard at work. At the time of the visit, the contracting company was operating a 210P excavator equipped with a TAG main pin hydraulic thumb and a heavy-duty bucket.

Murphy Tractor sales representative Mike Kolpin led the way, introducing our TAG Manufacturing team—salesman Scott Tanner and sales/marketing intern Sebastian Udland—to Max Rieke machine operator David Sheffield. Mike has worked closely with Davis for years, and their relationship continues to grow. The goal of this field visit was to gain immediate feedback, observe customer interactions, and see TAG equipment in action.

Job Site Conditions

This job site was located on the grounds of an elementary school, where Max Rieke & Brothers, Inc. Had been tasked with tearing up grass to prepare for the construction of a new road. After speaking with David, we watched him remove fabric from the job site using our heavy-duty bucket and main pin hydraulic thumb. We also observed him lying and smoothing topsoil brought in to prep the area for pavement.

Customer Testimonial

In an interview, David told us he has been with Max Rieke & Brothers, Inc. For 25 years and has been a machine operator his entire life. He continues to purchase TAG products through Murphy Tractor due to his long-standing relationship with Mike Kolpin.

“The bucket is good; the durability is good… It’s stout: I like it,” said David when asked about the TAG attachments in use.

When asked why he continues to work with Kolpin and Murphy Tractor, David has a simple answer:

“Good to work with, very knowledgeable, and I like John Deere.”

David also praised the machine service, dealership responsiveness, and attachment durability. His relationship with Mike has resulted in years of successful equipment purchases—and it’s through that dealer-customer connection that we get to see our products making a real difference.

Dealer Importance

When we asked Mike and David about their long-term relationship, Mike said:

“Every time he gets a new backhoe, I come out and see him.”

You could see the easygoing nature of their partnership as they both laughed at this remark.

While on-site, David mentioned:

“The only thing that I would say is the reach on the thumb—another foot on the thumb would make all the difference in the world.”

Mike immediately responded by informing David about our Progressive Link Thumbs that we sell. He explained how it’s set up differently and how it offers extended reach compared to the main pin hydraulic thumb. Because of Mike’s deep knowledge of our product line, he was able to actively listen to David’s feedback and recommend a solution on the spot. That kind of responsiveness and expertise is what makes our dealers so valuable—the ability to suggest and deliver the right product for the job.

The Importance of Relationships

At TAG , the strength of our manufacturer-to-dealer-to-customer relationships allows us to have meaningful job site visits like this one, where we see our products in action and hear directly from the people using them. Mike Kolpin reached out to one of his trusted customers, allowing us to visit the site—an opportunity made possible by strong, lasting relationships.

Our visit to Olathe, along with ongoing collaboration between dealers and contractors, ensures our attachments do more than move materials—they help move businesses forward.

Beyond the Blog

After the day on the job site, we at TAG as well as Mike at Murphy take in the information gathered to utilize it in future purchasing orders. Based on what he heard from the customer and his selling speech about the TAG progressive link thumb, Mike took his information and made a note to talk to his inventory manager at Murphy to look into ordering more progressive link thumbs.

On the TAG side of things, salesman Scott Tanner was able to successfully listen in on what the contractor thought about the products to gain customer insight for future selling points. Customer insight is very important for our team so that we can continue to advance our products and selling points based on customer testimonials.

The Purpose of Our Blog

We want to start this blog to show some insight on our manufacturer to customer process and all the relationships along the way. As you can see throughout the blog, we value relationships. Building and keeping relationships are a couple backbones of business and we want to share with everyone how we build and keep ours.

Future blogs will highlight job sites that our product is being used, interesting jobs that contractors are doing, relationships between us and our customers and so much more.

We are excited to share the journey that TAG attachments take from the manufacturer to the job site.