The U.S. Custom Harvesters Hall of Fame

INDUCTEES OF USCHI HALL OF FAME

Max Louder, Mankato, KS and Pasco, WA - (2008)

Max received his first taste of custom harvesting in the early 40’s working with his Uncle’s, Jones Brothers Harvesting.

After returning from the service he, brother Roland (Rollie) Louder & Lyle Bird teamed up to travel the harvest circuit.

In 1947, Max ventured out on his own, heading from his home in Jewell Kansas to start the season in Texas where harvest began in late May.

The annual trip would start near Munday Texas traveling through Hooker Oklahoma, Manter Kansas, Otis Colorado, Alliance Nebraska, Cheyenne Wyoming, Great Falls & Cut Bank Montana. There were also years where trips to the Dakota’s, Arizona & South Texas sprinkled Max’s harvest itinerary.

Max bought the Sweet farm off Highway 14 near Mankato in 1952 and based his operations from there.

1958 brought a change to the name of the Louder combines, when Massey Harris became Massey-Ferguson.

1967 celebrated his twentieth consecutive year of harvesting for the Baker family of Munday Texas a feat recognized in the “Munday Times” local newspaper.

Raymond Hitchcock asks Max to harvest rice with him in 1968 traveling to Louisiana.

The first cab’s and air conditioning were on the Louder combines in 1970.

Possibly his biggest moment would come in 1971 when his family, crew and business were accompanied by a writer and photographer from National Geographic. That article would become published in August 1972’s “North with the Wheat Cutters”. The Geographic society also welcomed him as a member that same year.

That article also spawned a made-for-television movie (starring, actor Dennis Weaver) called “Amber Waves”.

Near the time the Louder‘s were published in National Geographic, Max relocated his family and operations to Pasco, Washington. He soon was traveling to the Arizona/California border to start the harvest season.

One summer in the early 80’s Max and his crew traveled to a nearby farm to watch a fellow custom cutter. This particular crew had a mixture of Massey Ferguson, International & White combines. The White and International’s were equipped with the rotor thrashing system opposed to the Massey, which still had the cylinder type. The International’s and the White were literally “lapping” the Massey’s in the field, while still doing a better job of thrashing the grain out of the wheat head.

The next season Max started the transition from Massey Ferguson to International (which would later become Case-IH, then simply Case)

The Guinness Book recognized Max in 1990 for establishing a new record for most wheat thrashed in an hour at 54 ton, smashing the previous record of 40.48. The key to the run was the use of the Shelbourne stripper, a header without a reel or cutter bar, which literally beat only the heads into the combine. This meant the combine could travel at 6 miles per hour or double it’s usually speed.

Upon his retirement in 1997 Max sold his equipment to Jerry Sheffels of Wilbur, Washington. Max had spent 50 years in the industry and worked alongside numerous custom harvesters over the years, including Ted Heininger, Ron Ressler, Gene Kohn and Bernie Crutchmeier to name a few. He’d also witnessed former crew members who followed his path into custom cutting, Jerry David of David & Figgins Harvesting, Willie Thull & the late Willie Fichtenberg.