--- title: "Cody Connelly: Where Is the OCC Fabricator Now?" slug: "cody-connelly-where-is-he-now" description: "Cody Connelly left American Chopper for the trades. He now runs Revel Ranch Excavation in Pine Bush, NY. What he did at OCC and why he walked." pubDate: 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z canonical: https://bobberbrothers.com/pages/cody-connelly-where-is-he-now/ --- The American Chopper viewers who tuned in for the Teutul family fights also watched a teenager in the back of the shop quietly become one of the better fabricators in cable television history. That teenager was Cody Connelly. He turned a high school apprenticeship into a decade of TV builds, and then he did something the show never quite covered: he walked away from motorcycles and went into the trades. Search "what happened to Cody from American Chopper" and you will find a lot of speculation and not much sourcing. Here is what is documented in 2026. ## From Valley Central High School to OCC Cody Connelly started at Orange County Choppers while he was still attending Valley Central High School in Newburgh, New York. The shop sat just down the road. According to cast updates published in 2026, he came in as a young apprentice and became a fan favorite quickly, partly because he was the only crew member who actually had to ask permission to leave for class. OCC sponsored his attendance at the American Motorcycle Institute, where he picked up formal training in fabrication and welding alongside the on-the-job experience he was getting under Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. By the time he finished high school in 2005, he was already a working fabricator on a show that was pulling millions of viewers a week. His early role was the grunt work that fabrication actually involves: cutting, shaping, mocking up, fitting, then doing it again because the build changed. Anyone who has spent time in a real shop knows that is most of the job. We have had a few young guys come through our shop the same way over the years, and they all describe it the same: you spend the first year mostly listening and trying not to ruin a fender. ## What He Built on the Show Connelly worked as a fabricator on dozens of the themed builds that defined the original American Chopper run from 2003 to the show's first cancellation in 2010, then through the Senior vs. Junior spinoff and the 2018 revival. The themed builds were absurd in the best way: a build for a fire department, a build for the Army, a build for a Major League Baseball team, a build for a beverage company. Each one needed custom sheet metal, custom mounts, custom everything. Cody was one of the people doing that work while the cameras stayed on the family arguments out front. Cast updates from early 2026 describe him as "loyal to OCC through the later seasons and the 2018 revival" and note that he "stepped up as lead builder after Paul Jr. and Vinnie departed." That moves a lot of weight onto a guy who started the job before he could legally vote. By the time the 2018 revival wrapped, he had spent nearly two decades inside the OCC shop. For more on the broader American Chopper cast and the Teutul family arc that drove the show, our [American Chopper Paul Sr profile](/pages/american-chopper-paul-sr/) covers the patriarch's side of the story. Our [Billy Lane Choppers article](/pages/6-facts-about-billy-lane-choppers/) covers another fabricator from the same era of cable motorcycle TV. ## Why He Walked Away The honest answer is that nobody outside Cody's circle knows exactly why he stepped out of the bike business, because he has not given the long-form interview that would explain it. What is documented is what he did next. According to industry coverage published in early 2026, Connelly "pursued professional welding certifications and transitioned into industrial fabrication work in the Hudson Valley area of New York." That is the trades path. Not motorcycles. A reasonable read on the move: bike-show TV is not a career, it is a phase. The shows get cancelled, revived, cancelled again. The hours are long, the editing is brutal, and the pay scales for crew never quite match the public's assumption about cable TV money. The trades pay better, the work is steady, and you own your own time. We have seen builders make the same call when the magazine work dried up. There is no shame in trading the camera for a Caterpillar. ## Revel Ranch Excavation What Cody Connelly is actually doing in 2026 is running an excavation and demolition company called Revel Ranch Excavation, based in Pine Bush, New York. According to the most recent industry coverage, the business has been operating for over a decade and serves Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan counties in the Hudson Valley. The services list reads like a working-class small-business catalog: demolition, drainage installations including French drains and stormwater management, septic system repairs and installations, land grading for leveling and runoff control, site preparation including foundation digging and utility setups, and land clearing. The company is set up for 24/7 response on septic and waterline emergencies, which is the kind of detail that tells you the operator actually answers the phone. This is not a side project. It is a real business that has been running long enough to predate the OCC revival. Connelly built it during the years he was still occasionally on TV. ## The 2026 OCC Revival, Without Cody In November 2025, Paul Teutul Sr. posted on social media that a new Orange County Choppers series, titled Orange County Choppers Original, was coming to the Discovery Channel, MotorTrend TV, and streaming platforms in Spring 2026. According to the post, the new show is "100% OCC." The cast updates published in early 2026 list returning members for the new series and note that "certain key original cast members may also be missing." Cody Connelly is not mentioned in the announced cast. Given that he is now running a multi-county excavation company that does not pause for film schedules, his absence from the revival is not surprising. Cable TV does not pay better than running your own equipment in the Hudson Valley, and Cody knows both jobs well enough to do the math. If you want to read more about the broader arc of cable motorcycle television, our [Billy Lane Choppers piece](/pages/6-facts-about-billy-lane-choppers/) and our [Exile Cycles bobber and chopper builds article](/pages/the-6-best-exile-cycles-bobber-and-chopper-builds/) cover other shops that came up in the same era. ## What He Carries Forward The metalwork career did not end. It just changed shape. Connelly is on record describing his time at OCC as "the foundation for a lifelong career in metalwork." Excavation involves welding, fabrication, and machine operation every day. The skills transfer. The difference is that on a job site, the build does not have to look pretty for camera close-ups. It has to drain water and hold a foundation. We hear this question in the shop a few times a year: "What ever happened to that quiet kid from American Chopper?" The answer is that the quiet kid grew up, learned a real trade, built a real business, and is currently doing for septic systems in Orange County, New York what he used to do for chopper sheet metal. That is the most American Chopper ending the show could have asked for. If you are building bikes in your own garage rather than running a Discovery shoot, our [Bobber Brothers t-shirts](/collections/t-shirts/) and [hoodies](/collections/hoodies/) are designed for the kind of guy who actually owns a welder. ## Hit the Hudson Valley Cody Connelly is one of the few American Chopper alumni who took the post-show pivot and made it boring in the best possible way. No reality TV comeback tour. No nostalgia-driven custom shop reopening. Just a working business in a working town, with the same hands that used to grind welds for Discovery now grading drainage on residential lots in Pine Bush. If you are in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County and your septic line failed at midnight, you can call Revel Ranch Excavation and the guy who built the FDNY chopper might be the one to dig you out. That is a longer arc than most TV careers get. For the broader picture of the chopper culture that built the show, our [motorcycle culture guide](/pages/motorcycle-culture-guide/) is the cluster pillar. ## Sources - [American Chopper: Where Are They Now in 2026 - Goth Rider Magazine, March 17, 2026](https://www.gothridermag.com/ride-culture/american-chopper-where-are-they-now). Coverage of the full original cast's current activities. - [American Chopper Cast: Complete Update on Every Member - Goth Rider Magazine, March 17, 2026](https://www.gothridermag.com/ride-culture/american-chopper-cast-complete-update). Detailed cast member updates including Connelly's transition to industrial fabrication. - [Here's What Happened To The Cast Of American Chopper After The Show Ended - SlashGear, January 30, 2026](https://www.slashgear.com/1372947/what-happened-to-cast-american-chopper-after-show-ended/). Confirmation of Revel Ranch Excavation, location in Pine Bush, NY, and service area in upstate New York. - [Cody Connelly biography - FanBuzz](https://fanbuzz.com/racing/people/cody-connelly/). Background on Connelly's role at OCC and post-show trajectory.