Young diesel mechanic opens shop in Jamestown
Makenzie Heiston is the first to admit that she doesn't look like a typical diesel repairman.
But the 23-year-old has been all about engines since she was old enough to escape the house and hang out with her dad in his shop in their back yard.
Ray Hieston owns Hieston Trucking and for years has repaired his own diesel dump trucks and other equipment in a pole-barn shop behind his rural Jamestown home.
Makenzie began racing micro sprint cars when she was 13 and hopes to move to sprint cars in summer.
And she opened her own shop, Hieston Diesel Services, after graduating in June from WyoTech Advanced Technical Training in Laramie, Wyo., where she studied advanced diesel technology and business management.
Makenzie is certified in diesel repair for heavy vehicles such as semis, dump trucks and buses, but not light vehicles such as pickup trucks. Her experience includes engines, electrical systems, starters, hydraulics, transmissions, power train systems, brakes, and more.
But she also accepts welding jobs. The 2023 Western Boone High School graduate welds her dad's aluminum dump truck beds and even teaches welding classes for the West Central Indiana Career and Technical Education Program when her former instructor, Kelly Murphy, takes a day off.
She operates out of her dad's shop for now, while she sets up her own larger shop behind his at 7601 W. C.R. 600 S., Jamestown.
Makenzie forgives her all-male classmates for ribbing and underestimating her. They didn't matter because her dad took her seriously and encouraged her to take technical training, she said.
'She was never into housework,' Ray said. 'She'd always come out here with me. She used to run for parts and hold my flashlight.'
'Now you hold my flashlight,' she said, and they both laughed.
'I hated holding the flashlight for my dad,' Ray said with a shake of his head. 'And now I'm doing it again.'
'I was always out here with him,' Mackenzie said as she crawled under the Boone County Sheriff's Office's amphibious vehicle to check the oil drain.
For an appointment or more information, call or text 765-577-9914. Or, visit Hieston Diesel Services on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563662606142.
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