Who is Brian Miller anyway? (Autobiography)

I grew up in the suburb of Boone County, just south of Columbia, Missouri. But in early 2024, I moved and relocated my business just south of Hallsville, Missouri. I'm a hard worker and my greatest asset is my honesty and loyalty to others in need. I have old-fashioned Christian beliefs and I live a quiet, peaceful life. I don't consume alcoholic beverages, don't smoke, don't do illegal drugs, and I have no tattoos or piercings on my body. (Never have and never will; I guess you could say I live a boring life.) I live a clean and healthy life and I've always had a clear head. Like most young people back in the day, the most fun I had was during the late 1970's and early '80's; I cruised the main drag (Business Loop/old Route 40 in Columbia) back and forth through town on the weekends in my hot rod with my family and good friends; V8's, wide tires, air shocks, glass pack mufflers and low-priced gas (about .75¢ per gallon at the time). I lived in the best of times and didn't even know it. Those days are long gone now. New era we're living in now with the noisy rice burners everywhere. (Not fun for older people!)

Anyway, I perform repairs on small engine equipment, fabricate various garden tractor pulling products and perform specialized machine work in our shop/garage since 1982. I work for everything I have. Nothing is given to me. I've seen a lot of odd things happen to small engines and I know what I'm talking about in my websites. I know everything about small engines and garden pulling tractors, including pull-back and self-propelled tractor pulling sleds. I'm a "Jack of all trades." My intuition with the things that I create is extraordinary. I have intuition with them. I've always been fascinated by electrical and mechanical things,and how things work. They're the only things on my mind and the only things I think about everyday. There's nothing anyone can ask me about a problem with a typical small engine, garden tractor pulling engine, garden pulling tractor, or tractor pulling sled that I can't answer honestly and accurately. If I can't find the answer, then there is obviously are no answer. Some people ask me if I read books on the type of repairs that I perform and parts I make, and I tell them, "Read books? I write the books!" (My websites.) And I rarely sell things on eBay, too. My business consumes a lot of my time and I have very little time to sell items on eBay.

And the reason I don't make any YouTube videos about my business, products and inventions is because I stutter. I'm afraid the ridiculers' comments will take all the fun out of them. (I hate stuttering! It was inherited from my father. He stuttered when he was young, but over it when he hit puberty.) Anyway, a lot of people don't realize how blessed they are to have such a wonderful voice. When I talk on the phone with my customers, I do the best I can to get my words out and make my point. I found that as I got older, I don't stutter as much now. I don't stutter much when I talk to someone in person. I guess I have more confidence now. And I don't stutter whatsoever when I'm angry or upset. I get loud, I make my point clear and I always say the right things that leaves the other person speechless. I haven't lost an argument yet! And sometimes I have to talk loud just to get my words out to keep from stuttering. (Stuttering for me works in a weird way!)

But anyway, in 1988, I became very interested in garden tractor pulling. We (my dad and I) visited some of the local garden tractor pulls in central Missouri to get acquainted with the sport of pulling. In 1989 I built my first garden pulling tractor. It was a model 100 Cub Cadet 30 Cubic Inch (12hp) Super-Stock and I still have it today. A year later I built a second pulling tractor, a model 100 Cub Cadet 10hp Super-Stock. But after a few years, the 10hp class died out in this area and in 2006, I converted it into a competitive stock 10hp for my brother's son to pull.

I own three garden pulling tractors and a motorized garden tractor pulling sled, which I built by myself with the tools in our shop. I sold my sled in late 2020 due to the fact that I and other pullers in Missouri are planning to move up to mini truck and big wheel mini rod tractor pulling. I did build two very competitive small wheel mini-rods with a Chevy V6 engine, but I sold them after a few years due to lack of interest in starting this type of class in my area. I learned the hard way how to build my tractors so they'll be truly competitive. I fabricate most of the parts for them in my shop. That's one of the reasons why I created my pulling tips web sites. To help other pullers to do the same. Besides, you learn a lot by fixing things yourself, and if it performs well, personal pride goes into the projects you build. It's like mental therapy when you can fix something yourself, especially when you improvise.

If you've wondered how I received my knowledge, well, although I'm an electrical and mechanical engineer, I didn't go to college or receive formal factory training. I'm a self-taught mechanic/technician. Some customers ask me where'd I get my training, and I would respond with: "Training? Who taught the trainer, and who taught him or her, and so forth?" Actually, I'm mostly self-taught. I'm a visionary. I have intuition, it's a natural gift. Much like Albert Einstein had. In addition, when I was younger, I asked older local small engine and automotive mechanics, and machinists business owners questions, watched how they made various repairs, bought some books and for anything else there's no answers for, I figured out by myself. I have a good memory and I suppose I'm just one of those kind of guys that know how to put scientific knowledge to practical use. I know how to repair newer engines, but I also know how to repair older engines and equipment. And I know what makes them run right. As a matter of fact, sometimes I receive emails and phone calls from high school AG teachers and college professors who visit my websites, they ask me about how to repair certain mechanical things. This is no joke! I would think these guys would know more than I. I've always have the correct answer for them, too. Several years ago, my brother asked me if I was going to take a small engine course. And I said, "Why, do they need a teacher?"

In 1996, I created my garden tractor pulling tips and tricks web sites to help promote garden tractor pulling around the world and help bring families and friends closer together, and help keep kids out of trouble with the law. It's my way of contributing my experience to society, and try to make the world a better place to live. Although I also sell my high quality parts and professional services through my web sites, I'm not just in it for the money. I'm in it to help people live more productive lives. It gives me a good feeling knowing that there's families cooperating together because I believe that in today's society, family values are the most important thing. It helps build a better family when family members function together and share a common interest. And it makes me feel good knowing that I help so many people around the world. I like to see families work together, get out and have fun. I give so much of myself so others can live a better life and be happy. In this "mad" world nowadays with all the "nuts" running around, I think it's good therapy for them. Makes good memories, too. Remember - "Life is better when you're happy, but life is best when other people are happy because of you. Be an inspiration, spread quality information and share your intelligence." - Anonymous

FYI - If you've wondered why it sometimes takes me longer than anticipated to process a customer's order, well, I'm a one man business. I'm the only person who reads and responds to all my customer's emails (about 20-30 per day), take my customer's phone calls (about 20-30 on a nice day), with customers stopping by my shop, repair and rebuild my customer's parts and engines in my shop, order parts from my suppliers, package and I mail my customer's parts at my local Post Office. Customers would stop by often to drop off an engine (or engines) for rebuilding, to purchase parts or just to meet me in person (I'm like a celebrity because of my websites), they consume a lot of my work hours standing around talking with me about different things concerning engines. I don't mind that. It's hard to find reliable, dependable and dedicated employees nowadays. I found that a lot of younger people nowadays are lazy, not only physically, but mentally. They don't want to think how to get things done. Many of them are spoiled rotten and they want somebody else to do things for them. But I'm not that kind of person and I wasn't raised that way. It's also hard to find help that understands a lot about certain high quality parts and professional services that I offer in my websites. One former employee out of respect called me a mad scientist. Anyway, it seems that I can't find anyone who's dedicated and intelligent enough to help me in my shop, provide the very best service for my customers and correctly rebuild/repair some of my customer's engines and parts. I did hire some guys in the past, but I received so many complaints from my customers, I decided to do everything myself. The work may take longer to complete, but at least I'll know it's done right to the best of my ability. I process all of my customer's orders and perform most of my customer's repairs myself. Most of the time I work seven days a week, including weekends and holidays. I'm a busy person! By the way - I can't mass-produce parts in huge volumes or bulk quantities. I can only make one part at a time. I would love to have a much bigger shop with various types of CNC machines, etc., but I lack the funds to make this happen.

Also, many people copy the parts in my websites, probably because they're not capable of thinking of their own ideas. So I removed certain information from my web sites because I do not appreciate certain online garden tractor pulling parts businesses who plagiarize, steal my concepts, copy my parts, and then market and profit from them for themselves through their web sites, and give me no credit or recognition whatsoever for my hard work and research. If they're going to do this, I would appreciate if they would at least give me some credit or recognition by mentioning my name and/or put a link leading to my web sites in exchange. But I do appreciate them acknowledging my intelligence. Actually, I think they envy my intelligence and expertise, and they copy some of my products because they're not smart enough to come up with their own ideas. They may not like me, but they sure love my web sites!

A-1 Miller's Performance Enterprises Offering Quality Products and Professional Workmanship at Reasonable Prices!

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