Quality ~ Craftsmanship ~Pride ~ Since 1994
Our Story
I was working at JR Auto in Estevan Saskatchewan in 1992 working on truck and trailer wiring, starters and alternators, brake controllers, general auto electric service. I had one of the greatest teachers Bob Nixon when it came when it came to learning the trade. When a truck or trailer would come in with lighting problems, we would hook up a trailer plug and put power to the wires from a battery and test the circuits one by one. There were no fuses or circuit breakers in line and sometimes you would see sparks and smoke and before computers you maybe might get away with it. There was no diagnostic equipment at that time, and I built the first tester in a small steel box with circuit protection. It was very archaic but worked very well and this was the beginning of Hall’s Light Testers. The second tester was built over a couple of weekends. It was built into a stand, workbench, wire rack combination and I still have this one today. This tester was primitive but worked very well. These testers were built for my own use but soon had friends and customers wanting them. I started building portables and then putting them on a cart. Jamie Mehler from KRJ Fabricating in Estevan and I designed the test cart that we still use today. The fabrication of the steel carts is contracted out, but all the electrical assembly is done by me to ensure the quality of the product.
I was always fascinated with electrical, and I got my start when I was twelve years old. My dad was working away from home and my brother, and I were left to do the chores. One cold frosty morning our little Ford 9N tractor would not start, and I put a torch under the oil pan, heck I watched my dad do that many times. The gas line melted and was dripping gas on the torch and the tractor caught fire. I was able to put the fire out with snow, but some of the wires got burnt. Wire for wire I replaced the burnt wires and gas line. I was proud of myself when that tractor started up. I then bought a Weller solder gun and put some transistor radio kits together. I still have one of the transistor radios today. Another time during seeding at the ranch the air seeder engine wiring caught fire and a new wiring harness was a week away. I talked the boss into letting me replace the burnt wiring and in a couple of hours we were back in the field. We did not have to put the new harness in.
It is time after a fifty-five-year career since I was sixteen working on a dairy farm, truck driving, crane operating, ranching, construction, drilling rig moving cementing and acidizing in the oil patch, building and maintaining oilfield equipment, to devote all of my time into my passion and that is building testers and control panels.
Over years Hall’s have designed and manufactured products for oil, industrial, farming, commercial, and transportation markets. Products such as truck and trailer light testers, bop savers, early engine warning systems, oil spinners, engine control panels, dashes for service rigs, drillers panels, and sandline controls. Halls have been involved with over the rebuilding from scratch of over twenty service rigs.