Spud Harvest

While we were having such a "great time" at home, Doug and Austin were in Dayton working potato harvest on the Beutler Farms.  The Farms are owned by Dougs' cousin Wesley Beutler, and is run by he and his son Andrew.  Austin has been working for them since June, and Doug went up for the spud harvest at the first of October.  He was gone for 3 weeks and sent me some pictures so that I could share them.  He loved working with his Dad and Austin.  Grandma fed them well and made them lunches everyday!  We really appreciate all they did for the boys while they worked!  And we appreciate the opportunity to work!   Here are some pictures from Doug. 

The trucks and the potato digger getting ready to get digging.

The view from Doug's truck as he gets loaded. 
The digger brings 12 rows together and loads them at the same time so
it only takes about the length of a football field to load the trucks to capacity.

The view as Austin loads his truck.

The rear view of Austin loading.

Austin in on his way to the scale and the pit where he will unload
 the potatoes into the cellars.

Austin unloading his truck onto a conveyor belt.

As usual with farming, there are a lot of breakdowns.  This in their mechanic
Virgil Archibald and Uncle Mike fixing the crossover.  (The crossover digs four rows at
a time and crosses the potatoes over then dumps them in between the next two rows so the
digger can pick them up easier)

When they were down for repairs Doug and Austin would haul hay or do the field
work.  This is Austin loading a hay truck for delivery.  They really enjoyed working together,
and worked well together.

This is Doug running the track tractor and pulling the disk ripper. The
new tractors are GPS driven so they basically drive themselves.  He just had
to turn it around when the computer beeped at him at the end of the row.  I called him
once during the process and he said he was dozing.  The disk/ripper is a combination of a disk and
a ripper that turns the ground after harvest.  He is driving a tractor that is on tracks instead of tires.

What a great opportunity it was for Doug and Austin to work together with Grandpa Beutler doing something they all love.  This is a great picture of three generations of truckers doing what they love, and driving the trucks that they love.  Grandpa and Austin are driving Peterbuilts, and Doug is driving a Kenworth.  Grandpa took time off his regular job at Oakdale Eggs to drive for spud harvest.  They worked long hours, sometimes until one in the morning to get the potatoes in before the frost.  We all learned a lot about potatoes, the types and their sensitivities.  Doug really enjoyed working with his family again and being back on the farm.  Working with his Dad and his son really added to the experience.  We are grateful for the experience, and for the work/money that it brought to us.