Neat video of a National Geographic harvesting story!!!!

Here is a direct link to a video of Max Louder Custom harvesting wheat. It is narrated with pictures of the 1971 wheat harvest. It is real neat to watch.
National Geographic video of the wheat harvest

great vid for sure thanks for posting I enjoyed it a lot cnt

Thanks

Neat video.We enjoyed it.Thanks for shareing.Steve

Thanks that was great to see.

The good old days. I picked up one of the Gleaner parts trucks in Pierre, SD, and took it to Great Falls, MT, in 1969. That was a fun experience - well, except when some custom cutter came banging on my motel door at 1:30 in the morning to get some parts.

I'd gladly get up and get them the parts, even though it made for a short night. I'm sure their night was a lot shorter than mine by the time they got back to the combines and replaced the parts so the machines could start cutting early in the morning. It was a good thing that I grew up on the farm and knew what needs to be done to get the harvesting done.

The neat part about the Gleaner Caravan was that I could call the factory at Independence, MO, before 2:30 p.m. and pick up the parts at the airport at 10:30 that night.

Neat video..I always wanted to make a harvest run but never got the chance..

Today the machines are bigger but the people and the conditions are the same. Boy, it makes me want to go back out there and do it again, 110 degrees or not! Gives me the 'itch' again.


Some of the things that came to my mind are-
1. That cutting torch could set the whole world on fire out there.
2. Seeing that guy unplug the chopper makes me hot, itchy and puts me in a bad mood. The straw must be green.
3. You'll never catch me, a married man with a family, driving one of those combines on a tall truck like that with the tires hanging over.
4. The caravan of trucks heading down the road, the excitement of going to the next destination and the relief of getting away from where we were. How many blown tires will we fix along the road on 120 degree asphalt! Who's gonna lay under that truck with the jack and steel plate that keeps the jack from sinking into the road. Who left that steel plate in Oklahoma!!!
5. Ever tried leveling a moving truck?
6. I hope those campers have air conditioning! When the propane runs out even a cold shower feels good.
7. When my son went on the harvest he came home with a strange blanket the girl in Colorado forgot to take with her!!???Jim

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed the video.

Nice video. I have read the article in National Geographic and should have the copy around here somewhere. I took it to my Dad to read since he did the harvest run for a couple years and the Louders lived about 20 miles east of us. I asked if he knew of them and he did but didn't like Max very much. Said he was the kind who gave custom cutters a bad name. But he made a good story.

your lucky she wasn't still in it.

thanks , that was neat.

The better custom cutters that I knew had strict rules for their crew. Usually they were very strict about no drinking on or off the job. Some where very strict about when and where the crew could smoke.

One operator told me that if they were shut down for rain or some other reason, he hired out his crew to local farm equipment dealers to assemble equipment that came in knocked down from the factory - to keep them from wandering off and getting into trouble.

He also had a firm rule that if anyone ever quit him, he would never hire them back again for any reason. He would let a combine set idle rather than hire back a guy. Word got around, so when he hired a crew at the start of the season, he knew they would stay with him through the run.

Nice to see a fleet of 510's.

Great video! $16000 for a new Massey back then and that same $16000 won't even buy the header for the new ones now.Just wondering--Did anyone else notice the propane tank stuck up in the trunk of the car the little boy was taking a nap in? I'll be DOT would have a field day on that now.

I think if you look close the combines are all propane too.

I just completed my 7th run, 5th year with my own crew and it is def. a lifetime experence. "Everydays a holiday and everynights a saturday night" I allow drinking on my crew as long they are not working. I agree totally on never hiring anyone back , i also keep half their pay until they finish the run, kind of a reason to finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1gX_AvqM9w

I recognize the Wolfpoint-Canada road sign. Pulled a double combine trailer with two combines on board down from Sask to Iowa on snowy roads. We were snowed in for a two days in South Dakota. Oversize, overweight and couldn't see if the pavement dropped off at the shoulder or not. Was I glad to be home! My hat goes off to anyone who does oversize hauling for a living. Jim