25 Jul Z Crew: Truckin’ Along

Limon, CO: Colorado has been providing perfect cutting conditions for the last week; 95 degrees and sunny all day long with just enough wind to take a little bit of the heat off. Wednesday I jumped in the truck with Dad to make a few trips to the elevator and had no idea how much of a drive I was in for.

Over a week, Dad has made 40 trips to the Flagler Co-op Elevator 2W location south of Limon. Not only has he taken 40 loads of wheat, each drive is roughly 25 miles one way! 1,500 miles on the semi and we’re not even done yet!

As we drove the dirt roads from the field to the elevator we didn’t meet a single vehicle. No stop signs, no red lights. Nothing but wheat fields all the way there. As we pulled up east of the elevator, Dad hopped out of the Pete to untarp the truck.

Once the tarp was off the truck, we rounded the short corner to face the elevator straight on.

We crawled forward until we were under the tester probe to sample the wheat. Once the sample was taken, we pulled between the large bins and onto the scale/pit.

Once the truck was stopped and the initial weight of the truck was established, Dad jumped out of the truck to begin emptying the trailer full of wheat.

A quick 60 seconds later and all the wheat was on its way to the bin. At this point, as we stepped into the office, Dad told me it’s the “fastest elevator in the west.” We had a quick chat with Mark who is a local farmer and employee of the Flagler Co-op. The 2W location has been open for two years. Although you never have to wait in line, that doesn’t mean they’re not as busy as the other Flagler elevator locations. There’s never a line at 2W because of the two 1500 bushels pits the grain is dumped in to. The elevator will take the grain as quickly as it will unload.

Dad encouraged me to ride with him to the elevator because of Mark. A loyal All Aboard follower, he actually informed me of the most recent blog I posted! I walked in and he told me he’d just finished reading the last article. Dad speaks very highly of Mark and the great work he’s doing at elevator 2W. On the picture of the ticket below you can see how quickly the job was done! 11:06am start and 11:07am finish – that’s unheard of! Mark and another truck driver are trying to get done within a minute. I hope they can get it done before the season is over!

It’s people like Mark who do their part in harvest that are often forgotten. Mark, it was great meeting you. I hope you continue to follow our adventures!

Dad and I made the trip back to the field and turned right back around as soon as we were full. Wednesday, over a course of around 6 hours, we made 4 trips to the elevator. I hardly had time to step out at the field!

After the first trip to the elevator we came back to the field to find Mom had had a minor incident. She picked up an electric fence post that knocked out a few sickle sections but it was an easy fix for our awesome pit crew!

After the second trip to the elevator we pulled into the field to see the boys lounging in a kiddie pool. You never know what you’ll find in the field! This one probably blew into the field from a nearby farm house.

That evening before dinner, as everyone pulled up to the house, we had to stand back and laugh at the “used car parking lot.”

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. The Z Crew can be reached at zcrew@allaboardharvest.com.