Maybe Don form Sidney, Nebraska, had a natural interest in combines since his father, Joe Wright, put together a 26' pull type from a thrashing machine and two headers in the early 1920's. He used his "homemade" combine for about 12 years. This machine ended up being used for scrap iron during the World War II scrap iron drive.

Don bought his first combine, an Oliver model 30 pull type, in 1947. He was discharged from the service in 1946, married in May, 1947, and rented some farm ground from neighbors. This same year was when his custom cutting got started. He pulled his combine 40 miles south into northeast Colorado to do his first custom cutting job. In 1952, he traded his pull type combine for a new model 33 Oliver self-propelled combine. It turned out to be a dry spring, so Don and two others with the same kind of machines decided to take the Olivers to Oklahoma and cut their way back. This was to help make payments on their combines.

Don loaded his combine on a machinery trailer behind a 1950 L 160 International truck, hired a fellow from Oshkosh (who had lost most of his leg in the war), and they were ready to take off after they made some hand clutch controls to aid "Dick" in shifting gears.

Don hauled along a 55 gallon barrel of fuel with a hand pump to service the combine. He didn't have a pick-up along that first year. Don took his truck about 10 miles one way to pick up an unloading auger drive gear for his Model 33.

The first year they cut at Kingfisher, Oklahoma, as well as Scott City and St. Francis, Kansas. There was no motel at two of the stops. They ended up taking baths in a horse tank and sleeping in an old railroad car on cots. Guess the water got kind of "thick" by the time they got their job done. At Scott City they slept in the same building that the farmer was putting wheat in. Their bathing facilities were upgraded to a garden hose hung over a windmill tower. This type of sleeping and bathing facilities were more the rule than the exception the first several years that Don went on the harvest. The first year turned out to be a fairly good year. He cut a lot of wheat in relation to breakdowns and the size of equipment at that time.

In 1955 Don traded his Model 33 Oliver in on a new Gleaner "A", talked his younger brother into trading his Model 30 for a used 1954 Gleaner "A", and then they both headed south for the harvest. Sure had a lot less down time.

In 1958 they bought two new Gleaners and two row corn heads. That was the beginning of the custom corn picking. Don also bought a new "270" caliber rifle for deer hunting the year before. He has worn out several corn heads, but the "270" is still like new. I guess there hasn't been much time for deer hunting since he started picking corn.

It was 1959 when they traded their 54 & 55 A's for three new A's on propane and rented a neighbor's similar A and took the 4 new ones on the harvest. This turned out to be a good year. They cut a lot of good wheat with very little down time.

When Don and his brother were trying to trade these machines, Allis Chambers didn't think they had enough equity for this kind of deal, but the local banker had faith. The rest is history.

After wheat harvest, Don got to thinking how miserable it was to run combines in corn without a cab. Consequently, they made a couple of cabs out of angle iron, masonries and glass. This was a big improvement, but it did get pretty cold at times. A fresh air heater was added the next year. This was really great. We were picking 15 to 20 acres per machine a day while we were in "real comfort". These cabs were removed for wheat harvest.

In 1963 Don traded for 2 new "C" Gleaners, which seemed huge in size when compared to the "A's". He also traded for his first 4-row corn head, which really increased the amount of corn picked in a day. Also, in 1963 Don decided to go further North into the Dakotas and / or Montana partly because of having hail 10 out of 13 years of farming. Don decided to go more into custom combining. This meant more hours on the machines. He started trading about every year and has been doing so ever since.

Up until 1963 Don was running four, sometimes five A's out of a short 1/2 ton pick-up and pulled a 500 gallon propane tank behind a truck on the road and with the pick-up around the location. He has improved his service truck situation a great deal since then.

Don ran propane "C's and CII's" up to 1968, when he went to diesel G's. Also during the 60's Don and Wayne Adams, of Peetz, Colorado, teamed up and ran four combines for several years. In 1971, Don made the decision to start in Arizona. This worried him quite a bit at the time. It has worked out well, as he has been going there ever since. Don, and now his son, Kent, have even expanded into the Imperial Valley of Southern California.

In 1979 Don ran across a starved dog. It was full of stickers and about to get ran over in traffic. Don picked it up and they adopted each other. "Sam" was his constant traveling companion for several years. Sam was also a first class watchdog. NO ONE went into the trailers if Sam didn't know them!

One night, about 2:00 a.m. in the morning, my phone rang. It was Don calling from Montana. It seemed one of his truck drivers had over revved a 3208 Cat engine coming down a hill. He had driven to Billings to get a short block and on the way back Sam went to sleep. Don was having problems staying awake. He called me from his mobile phone to talk for a while. After about 20 minutes he said he could make it now and hung up. By then I couldn't get back to sleep!

In 1973 Don traded for some L's. He ran L's and LII's until 1982. He kept adding a machine every now and then. In 1982 he traded for 4 N7's (Gleaners). The following year come to switch to 8820's. He has continued to add to the numbers until now. Don and Kent run between eight and nine combines.

Don has the unique gift to pick up a conversation with just about any one, and then end up with the GOOD cutting jobs. Some jobs he has passed on to friends.

Yes, Don has a great gift of gab!!

Submitted by his brother, Bob Wright and his favorite sister-in-law, Norma Wright.

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 97; Sylvia, KS 67581

Email: office@uschi.com
Phone: (620) 200-1381

U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc.

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