Empire Bucket

What Empire Bucket does

Empire Bucket, Inc. is a privately held American manufacturer of heavy construction equipment attachments and custom steel fabrications, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Hudson, Wisconsin. The company operates from a 45,000 square foot vertically integrated facility equipped with a $150-ton in-floor rail system, CNC cutting, HAAS machining centers, 25 weld stations, a down-draft paint booth, and AWS-certified welding processes. Its proprietary product line spans excavator and backhoe buckets (sand, general purpose, ditch cleaning, skeleton, trapezoidal), front-end loader buckets (general purpose, material handling, severe duty rock, light material, grapple), and complementary attachments (grapples, thumbs, quick couplers, back fill blades, single point rippers, rock hopper boxes, fork brackets, material handling arms, trash poker arms), with Hardox 400/450/500 wear plate specified across Heavy Duty through Extreme Duty grades for extended service life.

The company serves three primary customer segments: construction contractors (excavation, sewer/pipe, demolition, grading, recycling, material handling), OEMs in transportation, construction equipment, mining, and laser equipment requiring outsourced fabricated steel components and welded sub-assemblies, and mining/quarry operators requiring severe duty rock buckets. A parts, repairs, and services arm provides replacement components, bucket repairs, stick and boom extensions, and line boring, extending equipment life and creating a recurring revenue tail. Empire Bucket makes money through one-time hardware sales of custom-manufactured buckets and attachments, contract manufacturing for OEMs (including prototyping), and aftermarket repair services — all quoted via direct enterprise field sales rather than e-commerce. Two dedicated sales contacts cover the construction segment (Jeremiah Ganske) and custom fabrication/OEM segment (Eric Pertz). The company is owner-controlled by Joe Pertz, has 11-50 employees, and operates with no external institutional investors or private equity backing.

Name

Empire Bucket

Legal name

Empire Bucket, Inc.

Website

https://empirebucket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Empire Bucket is a privately held US manufacturer founded in 1970 that designs and fabricates custom excavator buckets, heavy construction equipment attachments, and OEM steel components from a 45,000 sq ft facility in Hudson, Wisconsin, serving construction contractors, mining operators, and industrial OEMs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Construction Equipment Attachments

NAICS

Construction Machinery Manufacturing (33312), Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing (3331)

SIC

Construction Machinery & Equip (3531), Construction, Mining & Materials Handling Machinery & Equip (3530)

akta.pro primary industry

Attachments & Work Tools (Buckets, Augers, Hammers) (IMAHAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Lifting Attachments & Material Handling Accessories (Fork Attachments, Slings, Rigging) (IMAHABAJ)

Keywords

• Excavator bucket manufacturing
• Construction equipment attachments
• Custom steel fabrication
• Heavy equipment buckets
• Wear-resistant attachments

Headquarters

HQ city

Hudson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Heavy Equipment Attachments Sales: One-time sale of construction equipment buckets and attachments for excavators, loaders, and heavy equipment. Products are custom-manufactured to customer specifications with various duty grades (General Duty, Heavy Duty, Severe Duty, Extreme Duty).
2. Custom Fabrication Services for OEMs: Contract manufacturing of fabricated steel components and welded sub-assemblies for OEMs in transportation, construction equipment, mining, and laser equipment industries. Includes prototyping capabilities.
3. Parts, Repairs and Services: Repair services including bucket repairs, stick and boom extensions, line boring, and replacement parts (pin kits, shims, cutting edges, ear brackets). Extends equipment life and provides cost savings over replacement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Empire Bucket manufactures heavy construction equipment attachments, primarily excavator and loader buckets, along with related attachments such as grapples, thumbs, quick couplers, rippers, and rock hopper boxes. The company also operates a custom steel fabrication division that produces fabricated steel components and welded sub-assemblies for OEMs in transportation, construction equipment, mining, and laser equipment industries, supported by a 45,000 square foot vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Hudson, Wisconsin.

Product overview

Empire Bucket is a manufacturer of construction equipment attachments and custom steel fabrications founded in 1970. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of ground engaging products organized into three main categories: construction buckets (sand buckets, general purpose buckets, ditch cleaning, skeleton, and trapezoidal buckets), excavator and backhoe attachments (grapples, thumbs, quick couplers, back fill blades, rippers, rock hopper boxes), and front end loader attachments (general purpose loader buckets, material handling buckets, severe duty rock buckets, light material buckets, grapple buckets, fork brackets, material handling arms, trash poker arms). The product line is complemented by a full range of parts and repair services including stick/boom modifications, bucket repairs, line boring, and replacement components. Additionally, the company operates a custom steel fabrication division serving OEMs with capabilities including plasma cutting, forming, rolling, drilling, machining, welding (AWS certified), painting, and assembly for industries including transportation, construction equipment, mining, and laser equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Excavator Buckets Complete line of excavator buckets including High Capacity Sand Buckets (HCRB, FBRC, FBSC) with Hardox 450 wear plate offering 3x life, General Purpose buckets in four duty grades, Ditch Cleaning buckets, Skeleton buckets with 4" or 6" tine spacing, and Trapezoidal buckets for precision ditch digging. Designed for heavy construction contractors.
• Excavator and Backhoe Attachments Attachments including Excavator Grapples for demolition/recycling, Excavator Thumbs (hydraulic or stiff link), Quick Couplers with manual pin grabber design, Back Fill Blades, Single Point Rippers for pavement/frozen soil, and Rock Hopper Boxes (5-16 cubic yard sizes). Designed for construction contractors and demolition operators.
• Front End Loader Buckets and Attachments Loader buckets for materials 1800-3000 lbs/Yd³ density including General Purpose Loader Buckets with Hardox 400/450 options, Material Handling Buckets with straight or spade edges, Severe Duty Rock Buckets with Hardox 450/500 for mining/quarry, Light Material Buckets for grain/wood chips, Grapple Buckets, Fork Brackets, Material Handling Arms (3-section telescopic), and Trash Poker Arms. Designed for loaders in construction, quarry, and material handling operations.
• Parts, Repairs and Services Replacement parts (PIN kits, shims, replacement blades, BOCEs, ear brackets, brackets for hammers/shears) and repair services including stick and boom extensions/repairs, bucket repairs replacing worn portions, and line boring services for excavators, dozers, wheel loaders, and material handlers. Offers cost savings over equipment replacement.
• Custom Steel Fabrication Services Outsourced contract manufacturing of fabricated steel components and welded sub-assemblies for OEMs in transportation (rail and trucking), construction equipment, mining, and laser equipment industries. Includes prototyping, precision laser tool weldments, wear parts, large hopper assemblies, rail car frames. Manufacturing from sheet metals to heavy plate steel up to 6 inches thick.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 3x longer bucket shell life compared to other manufacturers using Hardox 450 wear plate
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SSAB (Hardox)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSAB is a strategic steel supplier providing Hardox wear plate materials used throughout Empire's product line. Hardox 400/450/500 wear plate is featured in Heavy Duty, Severe Duty, and Extreme Duty bucket grades for extended wear life.
• ESCO CorporationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerESCO Corporation is a supplier of wear parts and ground engaging tools that complement Empire's equipment attachment products.
• HensleyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHensley is a supplier of wear parts and attachments for construction equipment, featured as part of Empire's supplier ecosystem.
• Caterpillar (GET)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCaterpillar ground engaging tools (GET) supplier integrated into Empire's product offerings for bucket attachments.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• John Deere Attachments: John Deere offers factory and aftermarket construction attachments for its loader and excavator lines, including buckets and material handling tools. Comparable at the product level within Deere's installed base.
• Caterpillar Work Tools: Caterpillar's factory-fit attachment and ground engaging tools (GET) division offers buckets, thumbs, couplers, and rippers bundled with new machine sales. Empire is named alongside Caterpillar GET as a partner/supplier but competes with their attachment business on aftermarket and severe-duty segments.
• Komatsu Attachments: Komatsu offers branded excavator and loader buckets and attachments, representing a major OEM channel alternative to Empire. Comparable in product category but vastly broader in scale and dealer footprint.

Direct peers

• AMI Attachments: Manufacturer of heavy-duty excavator attachments, buckets, grapples, and thumbs serving construction, demolition, and mining markets. Closely comparable attachment portfolio and distribution approach to Empire.
• Rockland Manufacturing: Independent US manufacturer of construction equipment attachments including buckets, grapples, and thumbs for excavators and loaders. Closely comparable as a privately held, custom-fabrication-driven attachment specialist serving the same contractor and OEM customer base as Empire.
• Werk-Brau: US manufacturer of excavator and loader buckets, thumbs, rippers, and quick couplers with a comparable custom-build, direct-to-contractor sales model. Directly overlaps with Empire's bucket catalog and customer segments.
• Pemberton Fabricators: US-based custom steel fabricator producing heavy construction attachments and OEM welded assemblies. Comparable as a custom fabricator with overlapping capabilities in buckets, attachments, and OEM contract work.

Emerging players

• Geith Attachments: Manufacturer of excavator buckets, grapples, thumbs, and quick couplers sold primarily through European and international dealer networks. Comparable attachment catalog with regional US overlap.
• Hensley Industries: Supplier of ground engaging tools, bucket teeth, and wear components for heavy equipment. Listed as a partner in Empire's supplier ecosystem and overlaps in wear parts and severe-duty bucket offerings.
• ESCO Corporation: Manufacturer of ground engaging tools, wear parts, and bucket components used in mining, quarrying, and construction. Empire lists ESCO as a supplier partner; they overlap on wear parts and severe-duty bucket content.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Empire Bucket