In 1986, Larry Kappers sold his construction business and almost immediately started a welding business. Forty years later, Kappers Fabricating, Incorporated, also known as KFI Products is still going strong. Larry passed away in December 2025, but his sons Jeff and Dan Kappers are now the owners of Kappers Fabricating.
In 1986, when Larry first opened the business, he did mostly walk-in welding projects, but that grew as he started taking on manufacturing jobs for businesses such as Featherlite Trailers, Terex Cranes, Oshkosh Trucks, McNeilus, Mayo Clinic, and more. Jeff and Dan, who have worked with their dad since he began the business in 1986, have seen all the changes over the years. In 2002, Kappers Fabricating shifted its focus to manufacturing after-market parts for ATVs and UTVs. At first, they mostly made winches and winch mounts, but in 2011, they added snowplows. They now sell winches, winch mounts, snowplows, snowplow mounts, bumpers, hitches, and accessories for those items, with over 6,000 products in their catalog. Some things are manufactured elsewhere, such as the winches, but everything else is made at Kappers Fabrication. “Ninety-eight percent of what we produce...