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Crawfordsville, Arkansas | I went in 2000. Used 30’ rigid heads and tandem trucks along with hoppers when we were close to home.
We had a lift made that fit on the combine that looked like a bigger version of an engine cherry picker. Heads were on Goldenbell tricycle front end trailers. Tandems had a square tube that ran from front to back right in the middle. Header trailers were made with notches that corresponded with the tube in the bed of the tandem. Pulled the tongue off and it pinned onto the side of the header trailer. We had jack stand legs that pinned onto the front of the trailer and used the lift on the combine to raise the trailer up 4-5’ in the air. Put the jack stand legs on and line up the tube with the notches and back the tandem up. Header slid right in and we pinned it in place and lower the bed and remove the legs. Hook up the combine trailer and load combine. Pretty slick but pretty scary to a bunch of 18-21 year olds too. We only had a drop deck to haul the grain cart and tractor. Pulled crew camper with a F250 and the bosses trailer with the Kenworth service truck.
Any move around 100 miles or so we would road them. Bigger moves of a few hundred miles meant loading everything up. Personally I bet I put 1500 miles on a 9650STS that year. Drove one from near Hutchinson Kansas to Plains in far southwest Kansas with a 8 row 30” corn head on. That trip took a while. Lots of 60-80 mile trips back and forth between a customer and their home place because it rained in one place and not in another. My combine would go 1 mph an hour faster than the others so I tried to get in front if I could. 60 mile trip meant I was back home before everyone else. Those 20-30 minutes meant I could shower, eat or bathroom time without 7 other guys waiting on me.
Biggest trip was from eastern Colorado to Big Sandy Montana. 2 full days to make the trip. Lots of pretty country except for Wyoming. Pretty sure I saw a dozen houses and a few dozen cars on that entire trip. Lots of big open area with not much other than grass. Montana was the best part of the trip. Spent close to a month there. Big Bud factory, a trip to Alberta and got to see the 747 Big Bud on its home farm before it got “famous”. Met the Williams brothers too. Stood in Ron Harmons office and talked with him for close to 2 hours. He showed us around the factory. Minot ND was fun because we were in an actual city with lots to do and see.
Such a fun summer for me. I’ve never regretted going. | |
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Custom harvest logistics
