There's a lot of unsung heroes out there. One such noteworthy guy is my cousin-in-law, John Wilbeck. This Kansas farmer does more than just ride his tractor and feed his livestock. He gets in his garage/shop/barn (which he built a giant automatic door opener from scraps for) and gets a welding torch out and turns his plans into real live, working machines and tools.
He might have possibly been the first or one of the first people ever to build a four-wheel drive tractor. Think about changing the axles and they way they work for a heavy duty piece of machinary like that! Talk about ingenuity -- this guys' got it.
He's also built implements (those things tractors pull behind them), as well as innovative and convenient storage facilities, like an automatic silo device that empties, dispenses grain and probably cleans the silo. He also invented a storage system for wheat storage, which has augers that put wheat kernals in storage and later dispenses them.
I guess you really have to be there and see these things in action to appreciate them. But this guy is a good example of a hard worker that applies himself to solving problems. The results are amazing accomplishments. Celebrity-ism is shallow, and guys like this are solving their own challenges and problems, as opposed to pursuing fame; but it's a shame more people don't know about this guy and the many others like him.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at September 17, 2007 10:16 AM