03 Jun The Combine Dance

Great Bend, Kan. — My triple shot-extra strength-English toffee cappuccino was one of the best decisions I could have made yesterday morning. Day one of moving is always the hardest and longest of the entire harvest. Leaving home always takes just a little bit longer than it should, whether it be on account of little oversight hiccups or saying our final goodbyes to family members who come to see us off.

Throughout my years of having a driver’s license, I have moved up in the ranks of the convoy. The first year or two, I drove the suburban and pulled the hired man camper. Once I mastered that (and had obtained my CDL), I drove the service truck pulling the header trailer. The following year, I drove my beloved Purple and pulled the tractor/grain cart. Ever since that year, I have driven Purple and pulled the hopper bottom trailer… until this year.

This year I have officially made it to the tip-top of the convoy ladder; I am driving our blue Peterbilt while pulling the combine with the header trailer trailing right behind. What better way to learn than to go through the five-state obstacle course to get to our first stop? I have discovered how much more the combine “dances” around on the trailer than any other rig I have pulled before now.

Osowski Ag Service is scheduled to arrive at our first stop today. We made it to Great Bend, Kan. on our second travel day and are all ready to get to a stop where the campers can be set up for more than eight hours before moving them.

Ready for takeoff! Tradition is tradition — we always park at the scale house on the east side of town before leaving for the summer harvest run.

This is what rain does to a crew photo! But we tried, right?

Lunch on the go!

My co-pilot.

Stay tuned — I have a few tricks up my sleeve for the blog this year. For now, get to know the members of Osowski Ag a little more with these short driver profiles. Enjoy!

Meet Dad (Bob), driver of Maverick that pulls the combine with header trailer behind. He loves Snap-On tools and a good cup of coffee.

Meet Mom (Loree), driver of the pickup that pulls the camper. She has an apron that says “Queen of Everything” but I am starting to believe it might actually be true.

Meet Brandon, driver of Purple that pulls the hopper bottom trailer. He can be found purchasing new lights for various machinery or fiddling with GPS at any given time.

Meet Peter, driver of the service truck pulling camper. About 10-feet tall in reference to the rest of the Osowski crew. Accent is included but assorted foreign languages are available upon request.

Meet Steph, driver of Blue pulling combine with header trailer behind. She can be found with a camera strapped on and sarcasm ready on demand.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. You can contact Steph at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.