No longer the pits: farm brothers invent a swing-away, drive-over pit that transports with the auger

摘要

Sometimes, an idea hits you in the most unlikely place. Like in a grain truck. Or in a recliner. Brent Mast began pondering a new invention nearly three years ago, as he hauled corn to the river. He noticed both the growing number of farmers behind the wheels of semis and hopper-bottom trailers and the easy way they dumped into the elevator's drive-over pit. "Why couldn't farmers have the same thing at home?" he thought. Brent's brother Steve agreed. What they wanted to put together was a swing-away, drive-over pit that would transport as part of the auger. They mulled it over the first year, built and rebuilt a prototype the second year and are now preparing the finished product for manufacture by Port Industries, Palmyra, Mo.