Get To Know Leaf & Limb: Meet Luke
From motorcycles to custom hybrid trucks, learn how Luke Freeman became Leaf & Limb's go-to mechanic.
Introduce yourself any way you would like.
My name is Luke Freeman. I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. I currently live in Wake Forest. I am Leaf & limb’s mechanic.
You’re actually more than that. We’ll get to that in a bit. What made you want to be a mechanic and get into that kind of work?
My grandparents farmed in Durham while I was growing up. My father majored in forestry and worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers, and between the two of them, they had a lot of equipment. So I was exposed to plenty of big machines and equipment from a young age. I always thought it was really cool to see what they were doing with them and working the land. As I got older, I learned to ride motorcycles and four-wheelers, and honestly, I was destroying them. My father showed me how to fix them, and that sparked an interest in repairing and customizing them. When my father noticed I was pretty good at it, he started giving me manuals and buying me more specialized tools. So I began working on his equipment and my grandparents’ machinery. I never set out to become a mechanic; I just ended up being good at it.
How did you come to be our Leaf & Limb mechanic?
Interesting story. At the time, I owned a grading company, and when the economy took a downturn, we fell on hard times. I met Colin and Basil when I sold them a dump truck and a bobcat from my business. They noticed my toolbox - I have a toolbox that’s, unless you’re a mechanic, hard to understand; it’s ridiculously large, and they wanted to know who the mechanic was.
Colin asked if I could come over to the shop, check out the equipment, and see what could be fixed. I loaded up my tools in my flatbed truck and set off. I repaired everything in his lot as if it were a normal job for me. He thought it was record time and asked if he could tell some of his friends about me. The phone started ringing off the hook because of Colin’s contacts and encouragement. It never slowed down. So I was back in the mechanic business again! I got more tools, better trucks, cranes, and I was getting better set up to do mobile repair work. That’s how I became a mobile mechanic for hire.
Eventually, I became Leaf & Limb’s full-time mechanic. I was always impressed by how Colin and Basil treat their employees. I was recovering from a hernia and appendicitis. I took about a year off just to heal, gather my thoughts, and spend time with my son, and we did a lot of fun things. But it was time to get serious again, and I no longer wanted the responsibilities of running my own business. People like to glorify it, but it’s a tough way to make money. Every day you wake up, you don’t have a job until you find work.
Because it’s Leaf & Limb, you get to work on some pretty fun projects that aren’t mainstream mechanic projects. Did any of those take you in a new direction?
For sure - our unique “hybrid’ trucks. Basil provided me with a list of features he wanted on a truck that could handle everything we do at Leaf & Limb — soil, spraying and more. When we first came up with the idea, I took it to several truck manufacturers, and they said it couldn’t be done. But I had already decided it could be, and in my mind, I had worked out a plan. When we couldn’t find an established builder to make it, it kind of fell into my hands. The first one I built from scratch, from an old chip truck. We added nearly 500 gallons of liquid tanks and installed an engine-driven air compressor that runs off the transmission. The crews can do air spading with it, and it also features two 400-foot reels so two people can spray or fertilize while it still functions as a chip truck.
The first one was very hard to build because we constructed it, took it apart, made modifications, rebuilt it, and took it apart again. It took a lot of time but it essentially paved the way, and we used that concept as a template to build five more. So far, they work great; we haven’t had any issues.
You definitely make sure we can hit the ground running. You’ve rescued my day in the field a couple times, and probably everybody else’s too.
That’s my job, though.
What’s your favorite thing in your job?
My favorite thing used to be traveling to different places for various jobs. Now, I believe my favorite thing is the people I work with. I really enjoy the communication between the office staff, my managers, and coworkers. I like that everyone is always in a good mood. I love giving advice and sharing my knowledge with others. I enjoy helping people become smarter because I have little formal training. I did earn an associate’s degree in machining technology from Durham Tech, but that doesn’t help with most of the tasks I do. I’m mostly self-taught, so I always encourage others to learn and try new things — I find that fun.
Okay, well, everybody knows what you do for us here. What do you do on your own time that people might not know so much about you?
I’m a father with three kids. I’m currently building a home on a river property in the mountains. I’m about halfway finished with a 1,400-square-foot, two-story house I’ve been building by myself for the past six years. I believe I take the most pride in being a parent. Many things I used to enjoy doing now bring me more joy watching my kids do them. My oldest son is a talented mechanic and has made a name for himself in that field. My youngest son and daughter — he’s nine, and she’s seven — love to come to work with me, get popcorn and snacks, watch what I do, and talk to people. They say that when they grow up, they want to be mechanics at Leaf & Limb.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out in your field?
Never be too proud, because that attitude just means that other people won’t want to share advice with you, and you won’t learn from them. And don’t give up.
