SAN MARCOS, Texas — Have a keg? Make a grill. That is exactly what Zach Hanson, manufacturing engineering junior at the University of Texas-San Marcos, does. His keg-grill creations came out of necessity. He had an idea and went with it.
When the Loud Crowd organization needed a grill, member Hanson was able to provide them with not just any pit but one that is rustproof and a conversation piece.
“His creations are a work in progress, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The guy is amazing,” said roommate Brian Wyman, exercise sports and science senior and Loud Crowd events coordinator.
Hanson is no novice when it comes to his experience with welding. While attending the University of North Texas, Hanson operated a business out of his truck in Denton. He provided contract work repairing and welding fences, worked on truck accessories and created an outdoor spiral staircase for a client’s deck.
In the spring of 2006, Hanson transferred to Texas State and this summer moved his business, Zach’s Metal Fabrications, to San Marcos where he runs it out of his apartment with a temporary workshop in Bulverde.
“It was hard to move the business here. It takes money to get a business going,” he said.
Hanson’s idea for the keg grill was initially inspired by a class project to find a better material for kegs. Out of 1800 materials tested, kegs can only be made of stainless steel to function properly. Because the stainless steel doesn’t rust, the kegs are sturdy alternatives to store-bought grills.
Some of his past sales have been to liquor stores in the Fort Worth area. Cool Keg, a keg company, bought a double pit, two kegs welded together, to barbecue for customers on weekends.
Some of the many styles of pits Hanson makes are from single kegs on a supported stand, the double pit, the kind Loud Crowd uses for tailgates and a unique smoker pit with a side firebox.
James Blair, business management junior and Loud Crowd vice president, said, “[The Loud Crowd] bought the second [double pit] made.”
Hanson has a pit that attaches to the back of a truck.
The kegs can be custom painted with high-heat paint, although most buyers who are interested want the true look of the keg.
There are a variety of places Hanson gets his empty kegs. Sometimes he gets them from liquor stores or from authorities who puncture a hole in the metal when confiscated, making it unusable to hold liquid; but it is still usable for grill conversion.
Hanson said it takes about two to three hours to make a keg grill. The prices range from $100 for a custom-made pit to $150 for a double pit. For those larger jobs, Hanson has the on-call help of a friend and welder, John Turk, agriculture student at Texas A&M, who is from Bulverde.
Although he is taking 16 hours of courses this semester with plans to graduate in fall of 2008, he is hoping the grills will jump-start his welding business in the San Marcos community.