Grimes Iron and Metal has bought, processed, and sold ferrous and nonferrous metal in Odessa, Texas, since 1984. The operation averages around 60 customers a day, ranging from larger businesses to the public. After seeing the SENNEBOGEN 835 Vario Tool at ReMA 2025 in San Diego, Owner Travis Grimes added it to his operation and hasn’t looked back.
A Day in the Life at Grimes Iron & Metal
“Every day looks a little different, we do a little bit of everything,” said Nina Grimes, Operations Manager at Grimes Iron and Metal, “We process and handle just about everything. If it’s metal, we buy it, if we don’t know what kind of metal it is, we are definitely gonna find out because we are gonna buy it.”
Their equipment varies from material handlers, mobile shears, balers, and multiple trucks, all aiding in processing the material that comes into their facility. The newest edition to Grimes Iron and Metal is a SENNEBOGEN 835E, which is equipped with shears, a grapple, and magnet attachments. “This machine does pretty much everything every other machine does out here,” Revel Wilson, scrap metal manager, stated, “Travis, my dad, operates it and can do everything without worrying about anyone helping him.”
How SENNEBOGEN’s Vario Tool Fits into the Operation
“You can shear, unhook the shear and hook up the grapple to pick up the big stuff, then switch to the magnet with the Oilquick quick connect to sweep the ground clean,” said Travis Grimes, owner of Grimes Iron and Metal, “You can work in an area with one operator and one machine without having to ask someone to bring another piece of equipment to help you or even get out of the cab. It’s a great machine.”
Travis found out about SENNEBOGEN’s 835 Vario Tool at ReMA 2025 in San Diego, where he spoke with the SENNEBOGEN team. “I walked over to SENNEBOGEN’s booth and decided to ask them about the machine. Bill O’Keefe spent about two hours talking about it, showing it to me, and explaining everything it could do. I thought ‘Man this guy knows a lot about this machine’ and figured I would buy it and go from there. This is the first new SENNEBOGEN I have ever bought, and so far I am very pleased with the purchase.”
Why SENNEBOGEN?
Travis not only owns Grimes Iron and Metal, but founded it. That’s why SENNEBOGEN’s name caught his attention when he met Erich Sennebogen. “I’ve seen people in the past who have a random business name run that business to the ground, then ‘open by new management’ and change nothing but their name. When your family name is also the name of the business, it makes a difference.”
Grimes Iron and Metal has other brands of material handlers throughout its yard, but out of them Travis prefers operating his SENNEBOGEN. Beyond the machine’s performance, He has appreciated SENNEBOGEN’s level of service. “When I’ve had the
little issues that I’ve had, they’ve had someone out here right away, sometimes next day, but most same day.”
“They have been really great, everyone I have met has been kind of awesome,” said Travis, “There have been no regrets on my end, none whatsoever. I don’t know how soon, but I will plan on buying more SENNEBOGENs in the future.”