A Sheridan-area rancher wants more classic “Big Wonderful Wyoming” mud flaps for the ranch’s flatbeds and big rigs, and he won’t stop looking until he finds them.
The mud flaps feature an outline of the state and the iconic Steamboat bucking bronco logo, and “Big Wonderful Wyoming” in big, bold letters.
And they’re the only mud flaps that Pepper Fipps, the cow boss on the Rafter Star Ranch, wants on his ranch trucks.
He had a brief moment of hope on Monday, after learning that Carquest stores in Lovell and Riverton carry Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flaps.
They were available at the Carquest store in Sheridan until about a year ago, Fipps told Cowboy State Daily.
During a phone conversation on Monday, Lovell Carquest store manager Michelle Krauseman told Fipps she has some Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flaps in stock.
But not the size he needs.
Apparently, the store has mud flaps in the 12 to 14-inch size range, which might work on a regular-sized pickup.
Fipps needs mud flaps that are roughly 36 inches long by 24 inches wide.
Krauseman said she’d do her best to track some down.
“I will buy eight sets of them,” Fipps told her.
Still Being Made?
After doing some more digging, he discovered that Globetech Manufacturing in Dayton, Ohio, apparently still makes the mud flaps he wants, in the size he needs and according to time-honored standards.
A Globetch representative declined to comment over the phone to Cowboy State Daily, and directed questions to a company email address.
There was no response via email by publication time.
There are some cheaper “knock off” versions available online, but Fipps isn’t interested in those. He wants the real thing.
When they’re made right, Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flaps can outlast the trucks they’re attached to.
“I’ve got a set that are 20 years old now, and I’ve had them on multiple trucks,” Fipps said.
Still, the ranch’s Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flap supply is running thin.
“I’ve got three sets left,” he said.
Used To Be Everywhere
Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flaps used to grace rigs all over the Cowboy State, but they’ve become a rare novelty.
That might be because the all-metal pickup and SUV bumpers of yesteryear have been replaced by plastic or composite bumpers on newer vehicles – which are frequently molded right into the vehicle.
That makes it all but impossible to bolt classic Big Wyoming mud flaps to the bumpers.
Fipps misses the days when heavy-duty mud flaps were a common sight on streets, highways and gravel county roads.
“Those were the cat’s meow,” he said. “Every flatbed that went by had Wyoming or Montana mud flaps on it,” he said.
Why It Matters
Mud flaps are required for semi-trucks and heavy-duty flatbeds, like what the ranch uses.
The main reason is because they help prevent rocks picked up by the rigs’ tires from flinging into other drivers’ windshields.
For Fipps, insisting upon only Big Wonderful Wyoming mud flaps for the Rafter Star Ranch rigs is a matter of honoring the state’s heritage.
“It’s pride in Wyoming ranchers and cowboys,” Fipps said. “It was an iconic thing to see on trucks. I grew up with those mud flaps on trucks and semis everywhere.
“It’s about where we come from and who we are,” he added. "It’s a pride thing to represent our state."
And the mud flaps are pure West, pure Wyoming, Fipps added.
“You don’t see South Carolina rigs running around with them. And ‘Vermont’ or ‘New York’ would look funny on a mud flap,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
