Monday, May 5, 2014

Boys and Their Toys

Boys will be boys. Even middle-aged boys will have their toys.

If you ask the Farmer, the Army truck is not a toy. The Farmer's Wife is reserving judgment. We bought the 1991 5-ton, 6-wheel drive Army truck from a local auto repair shop a year and a half ago. Randy intended to add a feed box to the back of the truck and use it to feed cattle in the winter.
As long as it's taken us to actually get that accomplished, you'd have thought we were dealing with bureaucratic red tape. But unlike the government, Randy was looking for a reasonable price to get 'er done. (Again, the Farmer's Wife is reserving judgment about the financial bottom line.)

But on Friday we were both literally and figuratively on our way to adding an Army truck feed wagon to our farm's fleet.
This shows the size of the truck, compared to our pickup.
After dinner on Friday, Randy started on his journey to take the mammoth truck to Goddard's Equipment near Hill City to have a 6- by 12-foot Kelly Ryan feed wagon added to the back. (We were heading that way anyway for a Master Farmer-Master Farm Homemaker Explore Kansas event.)

With a top speed of 58-teeth-ratting miles per hour, it took him 4 hours to get there. Thankfully, I left an hour after him and didn't have to follow him the whole way.

Back during the Korean Conflict, Randy's Dad drove an Army truck.
C. Melvin Fritzemeier, 10th Infantry Division, U.S. Army
We don't have photos of the trucks he operated, but I did find some photos online that might represent the vehicles he drove.
I wonder what Melvin would think of the latest addition to the vehicle fleet around here. I'm guessing he'd be loving it, too. Boys and their toys, you know.
"If I get stuck while I'm feeding in this truck, I'll be really stuck," my Farmer informed me. "Of course, it will have to rain first."

Yes, there is that.

4 comments:

  1. That is awesome. I am totally jealous.

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    1. You know where we live. You can come drive it, once we get it back!

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  2. We have an army truck that was our old fire truck. We took all the fire stuff off, put a steel bed on it and feed cows with it. It's awesome. Goes nice and slow in low range first gear and the 6 wheel drive is great. Not to mention that all the tires are on seepage suspension, so it's a smooth ride on the back through the rock. Congrats on an awesome feed truck!
    Cheri

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    1. I'm glad to hear a ringing endorsement for this newest piece of farm equipment, Cheri! It will be awhile before we get it back home, but we'll be ready for next winter's feedings, assuming we will raise some sudan to feed. It needs to rain for lots of reasons - not just our new ability to get out of "sticky" situations!

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