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Rhodes Equipment Company is a manufacturers representative specializing in the supply of utility, industrial and institutional power plant equipment.  

History

Rhodes Equipment Company was started in 1932 by Dusty Rhodes.  Dusty had moved to St. Louis from Worcester, MA and established his company as the Riley Stoker boiler erector for the St. Louis territory.  For the next 25 plus years, Rhodes Equipment Company was an engineer/contractor building small, industrial powerhouses.  In 1955, we built our last power house as the prime contractor at The Ohio Oil Company (now Marathon Petroleum) in Robinson, IL.  It was shortly thereafter that Dusty decided to transition from the contractor business to become a manufacturers’ representative in the power/steam generation industry.

In the late 1950’s, Bill Baker, Sr., after working several years as an area engineer for Republic Flow Meter, was hired to work for Rhodes Equipment.  In the mid 1960’s, Bill Baker, Sr. purchased the company and guided it through the boom years of the 1970’s and early 80’s of the steam generation industry, making Rhodes Equipment Company one of the most respected rep agencies in the country.

In 1981 Craig Tapperson (“TAP”) joined Rhodes Equipment right after graduating with his BSME from the University of Arkansas.  It was unheard of at the time for someone of this young age and no experience to jump right into the manufacturers’ representative business, but Bill Baker, Sr. knew exactly what he was doing with this hire.  “TAP” was a sales engineer like no other and he was the backbone of the company, serving as President for 20 years, up until severe health issues lead to his retirement 2014.

The company is now owned jointly by Bill Baker, Jr and Rick Luetkemeyer both of who have over 25 years of experience in the industry and handle all outside sales functions.

Rhodes Equipment Company prides itself on our integrity and our knowledge of the industries we cover, the companies we represent and the customers we serve.  We continue the business of supplying equipment to the utilities, refineries, and industrial plants in our area and take pride in the fact that we are one of the oldest and longest continuously operating representative firms in the industry. 

July 2017 marks our 85th year in business!

SERVICES
ABOUT

Companies Represented

Acoustic Cleaning Systems, Inc.

Acoustic Cleaners and Sonic Horns for use in removing material buildup in baghouses, ESPs, SCR-Catalyst

Adsco Manufacturing, LLC

Expansion Joints - Metal (Slip & Bellows Type)

Boiler Tube Co. of America & IMTEC Doors

Boiler Tubes, Boiler Pressure Parts, IMTEC Flexiseal Access Doors, Spiral Tube Weld Overlay

Riley Power

Steam Generators, Low NOx Burners, Pulverizers, Riley OEM Parts, Engineering Services

Thermal Engineering, Int.

Feedwater Heaters & Condensors, Process Heat Exchangers, Shell & Tube, Replacement & Repair Services

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Beaudrey

Intake Screens and Filters, Condenser Tube Cleaning Solutions

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Bliss America

Magnetic Level Gages & Transmitters, Radar Transmitters, Site Flow Indicators, Diaphragm Seals

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CLYDE BERGEMANN, INC.

Boiler Cleaning Solutions, Water Cannons, Soot Blowers, Replacement parts and services 

Conval, Inc.

High-Performance Isolation Valves

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Cooling Tower Depot

Cooling Towers, New Field Erected & Rebuilds, Cooling Tower Parts

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Coperion

Stock Equipment Gravimetric & Volumetric coal Feeders, Batch Scales & Valves, Bulk Material Conveying, TR Sets, ESP Control Solutions

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CORMETECH

SCR Catalyst Management and Regeneration Services

Curtiss-Wright - EST GROUP

Heat Exchanger Tube Plugs, Tube Test Guns, Test Plugs

DeJong Combustion

HRSG Duct Burners

Delta Measurement & Combustion Controls

Single Point Carbon Monoxide Monitors for Continuous Combustion Tuning and Optimization

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Delta Ducon Inc.

Ash Handling Systems & Pneumatic Conveying Equipment 

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Environmental Energy Services Corporation 

Boiler Performance Optimization and Emission Reduction Solutions - CoalTreat®, STEP Combustion Group, Delta Measurement

EPIC, Inc.

Ash Handling and Abrasion Resistant Material Handling Products & Services

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Flextech Industries 

Industrial Dampers - Butterfly, Guillotine and Louver Design 

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Fossil Power Systems 

Electronic Level Measurement, Level Gages

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GIW Industries, Inc.

FGD Slurry Pumps, Bottom Ash Pumps

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Integrated Global Services

Surface Protection Solution, Metal Spray, Coating, LPA Filteration Screens

ITT Engineered Valves - SKOTCH TRIFECTA

Burner Safety Shut-off Valves for Gas & Oil Firing

Kaydon Filtration 

Oil & Fuel Filteration Systems, Filtration Vessels & Assemblies, Replacement Filter Elements

Koch-Glitsch, LP

Mist Eliminators for Fuel Gas Desulphurization Scrubbers

NewCon Company

Knife Gate Slurry Valves, Self-Flushing Zero Leakage Design

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Perma-Pipe, Inc.

Pre-Insulated Direct Buried Piping, Containment Piping Systems, Leak Detection

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Precision Hose & Expansion Joints

Expansion Joints - Fabric

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Rotork

Electric and Pneumatic Actuator Solutions

South-Tek Systems, Inc.

Nitrogen Generators, Layup Protection Systems

SPL Control Inc.

Gas Turbine Acoustics – Emissions and Noise Control Solutions

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Trillium Flow Technologies 

Atwood & Morrill Engineered Isolation & Check Valves, FFRC Valves, Sarasin Pressure Relief Valves

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Valmet

Boiler Diagnostic Systems - High Performance Infrared Imaging Cameras, FEGT Measurement Tools

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Victory Energy

Boilers, HRSGs, Combustion and Heat Transfer Solutions

WesTech Engineering, Inc.

Water & Waste Water Treatment Systems

PROJECTS

Territories Covered

MISSOURI  ▪  ILLINOIS  ▪  INDIANA  ▪  KENTUCKY

Based in St. Louis, MO, Rhodes Equipment Company covers portions of a four state region, for most all our principal companies, which includes

Eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Southwest Indiana.

CLIENTS

About Us

Bill Baker, Jr.

President / Sales Engineer / Co-Owner

Born and raised in Webster Groves, MO, Bill attended Clemson University and received a BSME in Mechanical Engineering in 1987. After school he went to work for BBC Brown Boveri (today ABB) as the Southeast Regional OEM Sales Manager in Columbia, SC. He moved to Chicago as the Midwest Regional OEM Manager in 1989. In 1992 he moved back to St Louis and started with Rhodes Equipment.

Today he handles, among others in Missouri and Illinois, all of the AmerenUE facilities, Southern Illinois Power Coop, Dynegy Joppa, Prairie State, Sikeston Power and all of Rhodes’ business in the Western Kentucky- Southwest Indiana area.

Rick Luetkemeyer

Vice President / Sales Engineer / Co-Owner

Born and raised in Florissant, MO, Rick graduated with a BSME in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and shortly thereafter joined Rhodes Equipment in October 1990.  Initially hired to handle sales responsibilities for smaller industrial accounts and contractor plan and spec work, his duties now include utility customers such as Vistra’s Illinois plants and CWLP, Nooter-Eriksen, larger industrial accounts and consulting engineers and mechanical contractors in both Southern Illinois and Eastern Missouri. 

Lori Niebling

Office Manager / Inside Sales 

Sarah Denu

Accounting Manager / Bookkeeper 

CONTACT

Contact

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           5922 Hampton Ave

           St. Louis, MO 63109

           Tel: (314) 353-2463

           Fax: (314) 351-1569

Bill Baker, Jr: President / Co-Owner

bill@rhodesequipment.com 

Rick Luetkemeyer: Vice President / Co-Owner

rick@rhodesequipment.com

Lori Niebling: Office Manager / Inside Sales 

lorin@rhodesequipment.com

Sarah Denu: Accounting Manager /  Bookkeeper 

sarah@rhodesequipment.com 

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