We had quite the wreck this Spring. On his first day on the ranch, a new part time employee grabbed my excavator and tried to divert some flood water. A worthy thought, but something that was doomed to fail on our property which is essentially 14 miles of bottom ground along Martin Creek. Had he asked, I would have called him off, because our ground was so saturated that nothing could stay on the surface. My CAT excavator sunk in until less than 1/3 of the cab was visible. The sight of it made me sick. I made sure that he didn’t try to restart the engine and determined to wait until things dried out to attempt a recovery.
I was more than a little embarrassed when the old time tractor club came out to visit and tour the ranch a little more than a month later and saw the disaster. The only saving grace was that Walt and Sheryl Curtis were among the visitors and Walt indicated that he’d come out and help me pull it out once things dried out.
The day finally came at the end of June and we had a great crew. Walt and Sheryl, Don Valle, Terry Wright and Todd McAllister. It was quite the feat just to dig the body of the machine out enough to get to the batteries. A lot of the wiring had been corroded, and most of the day was spent finding new batteries from other rigs and temporarily rewiring the machine. Finally, by about 2 p.m., Walt had moved from chief mechanic and electrician to operator.
My dad and grandpa’s business was earth moving and grading, and they, along with my father in law Les (who built most of the reservoirs and earthen dams and diversions in and around the Martin basin) were among the best CAT operators I’d ever seen…until today. Walt Curtis is a marvel. Not only did he tinker and trouble shoot until he got our machine running, but he carefully and meticulously worked until our mud and earth swamped excavator was freed. I know that my three other earth moving heroes were cheering from heaven and mightily impressed.
You might not think this a feat worthy of a column, but I can tell you that the best heavy equipment operators and recovery guys in Northern Nevada shook their heads when they saw how completely stuck our machine was. All told me I absolutely needed two things…
1. WAIT until it dries out so you have a bottom.
2. WALT CURTIS.
At 82, Walt still works like an in-shape man 30 years younger. He really is a marvel, both physically and in terms of experience and technique. He’s a wizard with anything mechanical. I was delighted when he took some of Fred’s hit and miss engines after Fred’s passing. They got a wonderful home and have been at the Humboldt County fair ever since. I also noted that one of Walt’s greatest assets is his wonderful wife Sheryl. She had no doubt that he would get the machine out and he would work until he did. There is nothing like a supportive, steadfast partner to fuel a man’s confidence and success.
I’ve rarely had a day on the ranch that felt like such a blessing and a WIN. Thank you Walt and crew for doing something that looked and felt pretty miraculous to me.
Kris Stewart is a rancher in Paradise Valley, Nevada.