tribute page

This page is dedicated to the special professional and personal family members and friends who have supported and encouraged me, and helped me get to where I am today. I will be forever grateful to all these special people who hold a special place in my  heart.

My tribute to Dawson Brothers, Tooley & Fisher Family Farms

I am pictured with the 12 row 38" PATS cone roller I built for Dawson Brothers Farms in 2015. We utilized a PATS Rip-Trip-Till that I sold them in 2002.    Picture I also sold Fisher Family Farms a 4 row cone roller  to mount behind their KMC ripper bedder in 2015. They were both pleased with the rows they were farming, but had problems in extremely wet and dry conditions with bulldozing. Scott informed me in 2016 that he had seen on YOUTUBE cone rollers being driven hydraulically in Europe. I built my first hydraulically driven cone rollers for the 2016 season at Langley Industrial located in Sharpsburg, NC. These worked very well. Scott was so impressed that he modified his machine with hydraulic motors. After seeing Scott's machine work on my website Rodney Dawson came to Scott's in 2018 to see how to put hydraulic motors on theirs. 


Also in 2018 I assisted Ray and Charles Tooley in building the world's first 24 row 30" hydraulically driven stainless steel cone roller for the 2019 season. It was their idea to purchase a Bigham Brothers 16 row 30" inch double 7"x7" stacking toolbar and cut an Orthman folding toolbar in half and weld 4 rows on each end to make a 24-row double folding toolbar. It was also their idea to utilize stainless steel to make their rollers. This machine has just finished its fifth season covering over 4000 acres per year for a total of over 20,000 acres with no noticeable wear on the rollers.


The reason I am documenting these events is to demonstrate my ability to cooperate with farmers to:

1   - Listen to their ideas.

2   - Build prototypes to make their ideas work.

3   -Once a design is agreed upon I:

A- Work with them to see can we utilize existing toolbars, gauge wheels, clamps, brackets or any other parts they may already have.

B-Source at dealer cost any components that are available.

C-Work with fabrication shops with CNC technology to design and fabricate needed parts.

D-Provide welding and assembly assistance at their shops to reduce costs.

E-Provide a price for a fully assembled machine ready to go to the field.

F-Provide in field support.


 

personal tributes

tribute to ms. julia

I am writing this tribute about one of the most special people I have ever had in my life.

I met Mrs. Julia Condit in May of 2011. I was working at the NC-DOT, but coming to Rocky Mount every weekend to work at her nephew Joel Boseman’s farm.
We hit it off well and I stayed a couple of weekends until I had problems at the NC-DOT with what I considered frivolous writeups. I took leave to work on the tobacco flower clipper sprayer that Joel and I were working on full time.
The facing page above shows a tribute I had done for my family. My Mother died in 1984 and my Father in 1990. It was such a blessing to have someone to come home to after 21 years.
I dated my high school sweetheart for about 5 years and my relationship with my ex wife lasted about 5 years. Except for my Mother and my Sisters,  Mrs. Julia is the longest relationship I have ever had with a woman.
It was such a blessing to come home to her. She was always so happy to see me and I was always looking forward to coming home, cooking supper and telling her how my day went!

Until Mrs. Julia was put under Hospice last September, I was responsible for taking her to all of her doctor’s appointments. Our trips to Greenville to the Heart or Arthritis Clinic would always include a trip to Wendy’s for a Frosty and chicken nuggets or after Boice-Willis Clinic, it would have to be Bojangles for fried chicken! We had a great quality of life with each other.

Mrs. Louise Brown, one of her dearest surviving friends who is also a widow from New York City told me that Mrs. Julia told her how much she appreciated me living with her and how well I took care of her. Many of her Master Gardner Club friends have told me the same thing.

Mrs. Julia was put on Hospice last September. The Boseman Family, Hospice and I made the commitment to keep her in her beloved home to pass away peacefully when the time came. Mrs. Julia did remarkably well until January, when as the Heart Institute said her heart valve was constricting would make her weak, unable to walk or go to the toilet by herself.

For the next 3 months, until her death on April 5 I worked 24/7 putting her on the porta potty and carrying her to the living room where she could see her beloved birds and flowers daily. She always made sure I fed her birds and watered her flowers! She never gave up!

I would like to give a special thanks to the Nash County Master Gardner’s Club for the special 93rd birthday party they gave her on April 2.  Mrs. Julia donated all of her books to the Nash County Extension Center where they are setting up a memorial library in her name. They also took the inside flowers as well as many outdoor plants that they will plant in her memorial garden at the Extension Center. Her passion for flowers will live on!

The reason I have written this is to share the wonderful relationship that Mrs. Julia and I had and to express my sincere appreciation of having a wonderful place to live and a second Mother to share my life with for almost 8 blessed years! Rest in Peace Mrs. Julia!