Outdoor Equipment Solutions

Outdoor Equipment Solutions is a Merriam small-engine repair shop and outdoor power equipment dealer that grew out of a backyard workshop in 2011 and now also runs a CNC plasma-cutting bench and a sidecar-motorcycle showroom.

Description

Outdoor Equipment Solutions occupies the corner of Merriam Drive and 53rd Street, and describes itself as “your northern JoCo outdoor power equipment small engine repair headquarters.”¹² The shop repairs and sells residential and commercial mowers — push, riding, zero-turn, walk-behind, and stand-on — along with handheld equipment (trimmers, chainsaws, tillers, blowers), snow blowers, some generators and air compressors, and light industrial machines.¹ It is an authorized dealer for Wright Stander, Toro residential and commercial, Billy Goat, Echo, Shindaiwa, RedMax, Oregon, Mantis, MTD, Troy-Bilt, Rolair, Kohler, Briggs & Stratton, Kawasaki, Kubota, and Honda Engine.¹ Toro’s own dealer locator lists the Merriam address and phone.³

The shop makes a point of turning work away. Its published policy is that it will not repair a machine when the repair cost exceeds the machine’s value, it does not service pressure washers of any brand, and during the March-to-November surge period it services only brands it sells and their affiliates.¹ “We only do the work that is necessary and charge only for the time involved,” the services page states.¹

Two capabilities set the shop apart from a straightforward mower bench. It has achieved Kohler Expert Technician and Briggs & Stratton Master Technician status and claims particular strength in repowering equipment with new engines.⁴¹ It also runs small-, medium-, and large-scale computer-controlled plasma cutting, welding, and metal fabrication as a separate service line.¹ Separately, the business has added Ural sidecar, Moto Morini, Kove, and SWM dual-sport and adventure motorcycles to its showroom, sold under an OES Motorsports banner.⁴

Co-owner Leslie Keister is quoted in the Johnson County Post on the shop’s push toward battery equipment: “Our relationship with leaf blowers is complicated. They are noisy, temperamental and if not maintained well, they won’t start when needed.” She said she stocks a little more electric each year — “We hope to be the kind of green shop around town that embraces that kind of equipment” — while acknowledging that gas blowers still outsell electric ones.⁵

Ownership and history

The business was founded in 2011 as Keister Equipment Repair, in a shop behind the founder’s house.⁴ Dan Keister trained as a pattern maker in the US Navy, spent twelve years at Time Warner Cable as a technician and trainer, and then worked several years doing CAD before returning to hands-on work.⁴ By the shop’s own account, “it quickly became obvious that northern Johnson County needed a small engine repair shop,” and demand outgrew the backyard space.⁴

The business moved to its current address at 5244 Merriam Drive in spring 2015, and in January 2020 changed its name to Outdoor Equipment Solutions “to better encompass the business we’ve become.”⁴

Leslie Keister is identified as a co-owner of the business in a December 2025 Johnson County Post report.⁵ The division of roles between the two owners is “.

Links

• Website: https://outdoorequipmentsolutions.com/

Services

• Small engine repair on residential and commercial mowers, handheld equipment, snow blowers, some generators and air compressors, and light industrial equipment¹
• Engine rebuild and repower, with Kohler Expert Technician and Briggs & Stratton Master Technician certification¹⁴
• Seasonal maintenance, offered as BASIC and FULL packages by equipment type¹
• Metal fabrication, welding, and small- to large-scale CNC plasma cutting¹
• New equipment sales across the authorized dealer lines¹
• Parts sales (model and serial number required)²
• Motorsports: Ural sidecar, Moto Morini, Kove, and SWM motorcycles⁴
• Pick-up and delivery — suspended at time of writing due to staffing shortages¹

Sources

Footnotes

1. “Services,” Outdoor Equipment Solutions (official site), accessed 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

2. “Frequently Asked Questions,” Outdoor Equipment Solutions (official site), accessed 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩²

3. “Outdoor Equipment Solutions, Merriam, KS,” Toro dealer locator, accessed 2026-08-26. URL ↩

4. “About Us / Our Story,” Outdoor Equipment Solutions (official site), accessed 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. Roxie Hammill, “Leaf blowers create seasonal racket in Johnson County, but there are no moves to ban them,” Johnson County Post, 8 December 2025. URL ↩ ↩²