February on the Farm: Moving Grain and Making Repairs.

We've been spending the colder winter days moving grain and making repairs in the shop.  With safety in mind the crew has been busy fixing things here and there we put off during fall harvest and performing preventative maintenance to keep our drivers, equipment and others around them on the roads safe.  
 

Break downs don't happen when you are sitting still.  We have been busy moving grain the past few weeks.  Running trucks daily creates shop work to go along with the hauling.  Time is not on your side once semi trucks get a certain amount of age and miles on them.  The motor went down in one of our trucks and had to have an in-frame overhaul at Thompson Caterpillar a couple of weeks ago.  

The top picture shows the new cylinder kit prior to installation.  The bottom picture is the re-manufactured head with the blue shipping grease still on it.  After the overhaul the motor should be good as new for a long time.   

Chris Marklin pictured above replacing a wheel bearing in the water truck.  We go through all the trucks and equipment every winter for yearly and preventative maintenance needs.  Down time is better spent in the winter in the shop than out in the field during the growing season!  As the old saying goes, "Prior planning prevents poor performance!"  Below Jake Mitchell is moving a transmission around so we could replace the clutch in this same truck.  

 Ricky Massey and Jake Mitchell checking for leaks and going over the power plant of Sherman's ride.  

Sherman Marklin and Chris Marklin have been hauling corn to Purina and Equity feed mills daily.  Gotta keep the cows and chickens fed!

We had to haul soybeans to the seed cleaning facility during the snow event a few days back.  Frozen precipitation makes everything harder!  Frozen belts and augers coupled with slick roads make for a challenging haul.  The guys have definitely gone above and beyond to keep the grain moving this winter! 

David has been hauling January and February contract wheat to Siemer Milling Co.  The biscuits and cookies have to be made every day!  Remember if you meet a farm truck on the road we aren't trying to be in your way or slow you down.  We are trying to deliver the commodities to processors and end users to keep the bread and milk on the store shelves!