Bass & Hays Foundry, Inc.

Company history…

Bass & Hays Foundry’s founder, Marvin Hays was born in 1904 somewhere around Wichita Falls, Texas. Raised by his daddy and his oldest sister, he grew up chopping wood and picking cotton. He met his wife Mary in Wichita Falls in the early 1920’s where he worked on her daddy’s farm. While still in Wichita Falls he apprenticed for the trade at Taylor Foundry. They moved to the Grand Prairie area in the 1930’s, bought land and built a homestead. For many years Marvin ran a part time backyard foundry behind the home. This was the original Hays foundry location. Later during the 1940’s, he became foreman at Dallas Foundry, and continued to run his home foundry “part-time”.

Marvin’s son Jack, learned the basics of the trade by doing work in the family shop. In the early 1950’s, he apprenticed on the U.S. Navy’s “U.S.S. Grand Canyon”, which was a destroyer converted into a tender ship. On board there was a complete working foundry and machine shop, and anything the Navy needed for another ship could be made, fixed or rebuilt, anywhere in the world- and right there in the ocean. By that time Jack had learned to be an excellent machinist, pattern man, and craftsman. Coming home he got a job at Dallas Foundry where Marvin was still foreman, and their friend Don Bass was sales manager.

In 1958, the three of them decided to pool resources and convert Marvin’s part time backyard foundry into a new business called Bass & Hays Foundry. Dallas Foundry was in the process of closing, so Bass & Hays bought many of their patterns. In 1966, Bass & Hays incorporated with the State of Texas and became Bass & Hays Foundry, Inc. The old Hays home was converted into the 238 S Bagdad office. Marvin’s business slogan was “If it’s cast iron, we make it”. He insisted on nothing less than total honesty and integrity, and selling the highest quality products while providing the best service around. He believed in putting in an honest day and full work week, Monday thru Friday. He always reserved his weekends for taking care of the most important things like family, hunting and fishing. He was an avid sportsman, and enjoyed the great outdoors.

Located in Grand Prairie, near the train tracks and the old US Naval Air Base, Bass & Hays Foundry produced quality, competitively priced gray iron municipal castings for many years. Fast forward to sixty years later, and Bass & Hays Foundry, Inc. remains 100% Texas family owned and operated,  has an outstanding sales force and work crew that are committed to the same high standards and values as our founder. We still go the extra mile even if we aren’t asked to, and “we are committed to providing you with the absolute best quality in American made municipal products and durable goods, with superior unmatched customer service.” – J.D. Hays, President.

Bass & Hays has been creating solid partnerships with the nation’s top castings manufacturers to provide you with the best available cast gray and ductile iron municipal products and durable goods. We also manufacture items such as our galvanized and plastic meter boxes. We have a firm commitment to the best quality and durability. “Bass & Hays brand” products are proudly “Made in the USA”. We are a stocking manufacturer’s representative of  big players in the industry such as EJCO®, Oldcastle®, and many others. We stock what we sell, and maintain the largest inventory of this type in the State of Texas. We know cast iron, it’s what we do. So insist on genuine BH® brand products whenever you purchase municipal castings, durable goods and products. Just look for the BH initials or the Bass & Hays Foundry name.

At Bass & Hays Foundry, Inc.  “We got you covered®”