Stepping Up When the
(Wood) Chips are Down

Once again the dedication and tenacity of our employees was evident when the chips were down. Scott Meyer, Shane Bingaman, Rob Rogers, Mike Middleton, and Scott Ransburg answered the call to duty on the morning of Monday, Octwober 26th when the auger shaft twisted off the gear box inside our primary silo. Unfortunately, the silo was full at the time. There was approximately 26' of shavings on top of the auger with only one way to move it, through a 3' x 4' hole in the side of the silo.

After some brainstorming, our repair crew got a small auger in the side of the silo to start the process of unloading. The boys worked through the night, a couple even 32 hours straight with nothing but a quick nap here and there. The process was working, but very slowly. To increase the speed, Scott called our friendly farmer neighbor Phillip Miller to see about renting a larger tractor. When Phillip pulled in with a semi, a tractor, and some extra man power, he declined payment for his services, saying that he was our neighbor and was here to help (this was in the middle of corn harvest mind you).

Tuesday was a new day with many setbacks and tired eyes. The auger did a good job cleaning out the silo, but with only a 3' x 4' hole to work through, many wood shavings were beyond reach. Our crew came up with a new plan; after ensuring the conditions were safe to enter, it was time for some man power to start digging and get to the gear box the old fashioned way. It took a good day to get all the shavings out of the small hole. Keep in mind we had a call list of employees each day that we sent home in the mornings to be on call as soon as the auger was ready. We have some incredibly dedicated employees!

On Wednesday the new main silo auger that just arrived presented a new problem; the new gear box frame was not the same as the old one. Scott Meyer went to work doing what he does best and fabricated new holes and alignment. They worked all through the night to get it all put back together again.

On Thursday morning, after three grueling days the silo was finally repaired and the boiler was up and running again. The whole time that these events were taking place not one order was shipped late. As a testament to their dedication, our employees worked long hours, odd hours, different departments, and were on call 24/7 to make sure that our customers felt no effects of our problem. Thank you guys (and farmer Phillip) for all that you did and continue to do!