When a Des Moines business needs a part that does not exist off the shelf — or a broken one rebuilt — they need a real machine and fabrication shop. Ames Hydraulics runs a machine shop serving Des Moines and the surrounding metro from Ames, building custom parts and made-to-spec steel for trucks, trailers, and equipment.
Serving the Des Moines Metro from Ames
Ames is about 35 minutes north of downtown Des Moines on Interstate 35, and our free pickup-and-delivery zone covers the whole metro — Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston, Grimes, Waukee, and the towns around them. You do not have to haul anything to us. We come to you, do the work in our shop, and bring it back.
Custom Parts the Metro Cannot Buy Off the Shelf
Bumpers and brush guards, headache racks, crane and crane-plate mounts, spare-tire and toolbox brackets, and the one-off parts that keep a piece of equipment working — that is the machine shop and fabrication work Des Moines contractors, fleets, and shops bring us. If you can give us a part to copy, a drawing, or just a description of what it has to do, we can build it.
Repair Parts and Reverse Engineering
When a part is obsolete or backordered for weeks, we can often make it. Bring us the broken piece and our machine shop can fabricate a replacement so a Des Moines operation is not parked waiting on a part that may never come. For older trucks, trailers, and equipment, that is sometimes the only way to keep them running.
Built to Work, Not Just to Look Good
The custom parts and fabrication we build are made to take a beating — heavy steel, welded and finished to hold up to the loads and abuse that metro work trucks and equipment see. This is a working machine shop for Des Moines businesses, not a hobby shop, and the parts are built to last.
One Shop for Parts, Welding, and Hydraulics
Because the machine shop sits next to our welding, fabrication, and hydraulic work, a Des Moines customer can get a custom part built, a frame welded, and a cylinder rebuilt in the same building. See our full machine shop and custom parts services.
Made to Spec for Trucks, Trailers, and Equipment
Most of what we build is for working iron — mounting plates and brackets, pintle and hitch mounts, guards and racks, and structural parts that have to carry a load and take abuse. Give us the old part, a drawing, or measurements off the machine, and we will fabricate a replacement that fits and holds. For metro fleets running older or one-off equipment, that is often the only way to get the part at all.
Local, Fast, and Built to Last
Ordering a custom part from a catalog vendor can mean weeks of waiting, if they will make it at all. A local shop that can build it this week keeps your Des Moines operation moving. And because we build with heavy steel and weld it properly, the part outlasts the bolt-on alternative.
Have a part you cannot find or a broken one to copy? Bring it in and let us build it.
Des Moines Machine Shop & Custom Parts FAQ
Can you make a part that is obsolete or backordered?
Often, yes. Bring us the broken piece or a drawing and we can fabricate a replacement so you are not parked waiting on a part that may never come.
Do you do one-off parts or only production runs?
One-offs are our specialty — custom brackets, mounts, guards, racks, and repair parts built to spec.
Will the part hold up to real work?
Yes. We build with heavy steel and weld it properly, so the part outlasts the bolt-on alternative.
Get Your Part Built
For a machine shop in Des Moines or anywhere in central Iowa, send a photo of the part or a sketch of what you need. Call or text Ames Hydraulics at 515-292-2599.
A Repair Machine Shop, Not a Production House
People searching for a machine shop near me are usually looking for one of two different businesses, and it pays to know which one this is. Production machine shops and CNC machine shops run parts by the hundred to a print — a fine business, and not ours. This is a repair machine shop: one part, no print, often no manufacturer left to call. The spindle that needs turning back to round, the bore that needs bushing, the shaft nobody sells, the obsolete casting that needs a thread repaired — measured off the worn original and machined to put a working machine back to work. If you need five hundred widgets, we’ll point you to the production houses that do that well. If you need the one part that’s stopping your equipment, made or mended this week, that’s exactly what this floor is for.
Machining Plus Everything Around It
What makes a repair machine shop useful isn’t the lathe — it’s the lathe next to the welding floor, the hydraulic benches, and the engine rebuild bench. Worn shafts get built up by the welder and turned back to dimension by the machinist in the same building. Cylinder glands get made for cylinders being rebuilt twenty feet away. Broken bolts drilled out, threads repaired with inserts, keyways cut, hubs bored, bushings pressed — the whole vocabulary of making old equipment serviceable, with nothing shipped anywhere and no finger-pointing between vendors. One building, one invoice, one place to call when central Iowa’s iron needs a part that doesn’t exist anymore.
Written by Josiah Ragsdale
Owner, Ames Hydraulics — Ames, Iowa
Josiah owns and operates Ames Hydraulics. He has worked on hydraulic and heavy equipment since he was 18, and every hydraulic cylinder his shop rebuilds is pressure tested before it ships back to the customer. More about Josiah →
Got something broken? Call or text 515-292-2599