14 Jul Jada: Spartans and the new generation camper PART II

This is Part II of my post from yesterday.……

Beverly Froese said prior to owning their current trailer, they owned a Spartan but knew it needed to be replaced. Beverly explained, “We both got our trailer at Ray’s in Ness City at S and S trailer sales. We kept driving past the trailers then Larry and Ray stopped to check them out and decided the Spartans were DONE! That winter they built these trailers!”

A picture of Larry and Beverly Froese’s rig… and yes, it has two levels!

They made their version of a slide-out… A picture of their couch tip out.

And built to last they are! Froese harvesting consists of two brothers, Larry and Ray and their wives, Beverly and Beau. Both couple’s have been living in their custom trailers for the past 18 years. While I am not sure if they are the pioneers of this idea, the Froese’s are the first harvesters I have seen traveling with a truck trailer. When I was a young kid both our operations- Froese and Hoffman Harvesting- harvested in Olney Texas. The Froese’s no longer do but I enjoyed reuniting with them in Dighton where we were both camping this year.

The family dog, Libby, hanging out in the Froese’s living room.

Hidden storage in the entertainment center.

Larry and Beverly allowed Leon and me the pleasure of a tour and now I am going to show you what we saw. The trailer is 48 ft long and 8’6″ wide with a couch tip out that is approximately 12 ft wide and 4 ft deep. Featuring two floors, the trailer has approximately 700 sq. ft of living space and in Bev’s opinion, “The biggest plus is the trailer features ALL full-size appliances!!!!!” I couldn’t see any harvest cook disagreeing with this assessment. When living in a camper for four to six months out of the year, space and storage is something harvesters need.

The *sigh* kitchen. I would love to have a dishwasher!

A bathroom view. There are two full baths in this rig.

The main floor is where the living area and kitchen are. Beverly and Larry had custom built cabinets made to fit the kitchen which has a standard residential stove, a full sized sink, two large refrigerators, a dishwasher, an icemaker and a washer and dryer. A breakfast bar separates the living area from the kitchen. The living area has a large entertainment center, a recliner, and a cozy, custom built chocolate leather wrap around couch which was newly replaced this year. Both ends of the camper have stairwells. One leads to the Froese’s bedroom which has a full bath while the other leads to another full bath and two rooms which were their kids’- Amy and Lee- rooms.  Since their kids are all grown up and living on their own, the extra spaces now serve as an office and storage room. Check out photos of this trailer that has always amazed me!

A picture of the bedrooms.

Since the Froese’s children,  Amy and Lee, are all grown up and out of the house, their bedrooms have been converted into storage and an office.

Fun fact: Larry and Beverly’s trailer is 18 years old this harvest, and was formerly a Dallas-Smith car hauler that had robotic arms in it that lifted cars out. It also featured a tread plate on the entire floor. The cars hauled in the trailer were VERY high end brands.

What I am digging today……….. John Deere’s Clothing line and accessories.
Not only do I enjoy driving green, I also enjoy all the fun clothing/ accessory lines the company offers. It makes going into a John Deere more fun than waiting in line for parts. I know that South Africa can’t get these products but my sister-in-law, Carin, who has previously went on harvest with us, loves the clothes too. So do her friends, even if they are from the city and don’t know what John Deere really is.

Kaidence and I modeling John Deere shirts. Photo by Leon.

Jada can be reached at jada@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.