I'm in the Army (Truck) Now

I'm in the Army now!
OK, more accurately, I'm in the Army TRUCK.

 

For the past week, due to circumstances beyond my control, my to-do list has had an addition. I'm the feed truck driver.

In its former life, our feed truck was an Army truck. We purchased the 1991 5-ton, 6-wheel drive Army truck and had the Kelly Ryan feed wagon box added to the back in 2014.

C. Melvin Fritzemeier, 10th Infantry Division, U.S. Army

Since Randy's Dad drove an Army truck in the Korean War, there's a bit of nostalgia there, too.

It still has its Army number emblazoned on the driver's side door.

That first step is a doozy. So I use my handy-dandy ladder to get into the truck.

Once inside, it looks a little like mission control. 

To start the feeding session, I have to zero out the scale. We add grain to the bottom of the feed wagon. Randy augers it in from our storage bin.

 

Right about now, we could use some extra help like we had a few weeks ago when Kinley and Brooke were visiting.

In our high-tech operation, I honk the horn when the scale gets to 650 pounds. (My auger operator can vaguely be seen through the dusty rearview mirror.)

He's a good teacher. Once you get the crash course, the feed truck is not so intimidating. Wait ... maybe I shouldn't say "crash course" when talking about driving. Especially when I consider the rather tight turn into the pasture where the silo is located.

To make sure I don't end up in Peace Creek, I have to pull into a driveway past the actual entrance into the pasture, back up and then come in from the north.

There are no guard rails on that wooden bridge, you know!

Once at the silo, Randy uses the loader tractor to put silage into the feed box. 

Several scoops later, we're ready to be Meals on Wheels and deliver the silage to the feeder calves.

Once we get back to the farmstead, Randy hops onto the step of the truck for a short ride to the pasture, so he can open the gate and flip down the feed chute. 

The feeder calves were ready for their breakfast.

I'm getting better at getting the right trajectory to get the feed delivered to the bunks.

These cows across the road on sudan stalks always look a little envious that I'm delivering already chopped feed to the feeder calves. They are having to forage for theirs right now!

While I put the feed truck back in the shed, Randy gets some grain to top the silage in the feeder bucket.

That mixture goes to the calves we are fattening for our own dinner table.

 Mission again accomplished!