The Minnesota Simmental Association is excited to present Katelyn Ristau, daughter of Doug and Deb Ristau of Preston as the 2013 Minnesota Simmental Queen. She was crowned at the 40th annual MN Simmental Banquet held on February 22 in Rochester, Min
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"Where Fillmore County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Sunday, May 19th, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:56:33, May 18th 2013 - modgudur - I guess the child is anti-gun control since Obama went to all that trouble ... [Read More]
- 9:27:41, May 16th 2013 - caal girl - Nice outfit on you. I loved some of the dresses but am holding my breath ... [Read More]
- 2:03:34, May 14th 2013 - - Thanks for sharing the trip with us! ... [Read More]
- 4:12:01, May 9th 2013 - Amanda Ziebell - Wow! Thanks to the Fillmore County Journal for this kind story. For a ... [Read More]
- 11:47:30, May 7th 2013 - EW - ramble.....ramble.....ramble..... ... [Read More]
- 10:25:25, May 7th 2013 - Thunder6 - Great article! I love to see the Youth of Fillmore County receiveing acco ... [Read More]
- 6:52:10, May 6th 2013 - Jason Sethre, Publisher of Fillmore County Journal & Olmsted County Journal - Maryh, ... [Read More]
- 7:29:56, May 5th 2013 - maryh - Where are OCJ's available for pickup...other than at the new office? ... [Read More]
- 2:41:47, May 3rd 2013 - Remark1976 - Mrs. Buckbee, I just looked up Senate File 796 and in it there are said p ... [Read More]
- 2:22:20, May 3rd 2013 - Remark1976 - Mrs. Buckbee, how do you come up with $1.1 billion that trout fishing bri ... [Read More]
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Man vs. silo
Fri, Apr 5th, 2013
Posted in Preston Agriculture
Posted in Preston Agriculture
Comments
Ristau Farm Services and Scheevel and Sons worked together to take the silo down. Photo by Jason Sethre
By Jason Sethre
On the morning of Monday, April 1, 2013, a group of farmers and heavy equipment operators from the area assembled to take down a 600,000 pound silo full of silage and standing over 70 feet tall.
Like the days of Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids, these men gathered to use leverage, gravity and momentum to take down a silo that could fall in any direction.
There was a reason they had to take this silo down. As one person said, “It looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.” At Steve Mandelko’s farm, just south of Preston, he had every reason to be concerned. If he tried to empty the silo, it could collapse and literally create a life or death situation. And, if he left it full without pulling it down, it could fall at any time. Essentially, this silo had to go. And, it would be better to try to guide the silo to the ground, instead of rolling the dice and waiting for fate to take hold.
With a crowd of more than 50 farmers gathering to watch the descent of a 25-year-old cement silo filled to the brim, Steve Mandelko could have sold hot dogs and hot chocolate to this crowd. It was cold and the wind was whipping, biting into any visible skin. The collapse was initially anticipated to take place around 9:45 a.m., but there were a few unexpected challenges.
As Ristau Farm Services, from Lanesboro, took their crane with two men in a bucket up to the top of the silo, they wrapped a 5/8 inch cable around the top of the silo. In the distance out in the field, a dozer was waiting to pull the silo to the ground.
A tense yet excited crowd awaited the fall of a 600,000 pounds silo. At the first attempt, the dozer moved forward in the field and within about a minute the cable snapped. Fortunately, while there was recoil from the cable flying in the direction of the dozer, nobody was harmed. Interestingly, a number of onlookers pointed to an area at the top of the silo that started to buckle.
“Looks like we need to go to plan B,” said Steve Mandelko.
At this point, the farmers and neighboring onlookers had waited this long, so they weren’t going anywhere. They wanted to see this silo come crashing down.
For plan B, Scheevel and Sons, and Ristau Farm Services worked together to see what they could do to weaken the foundation of the silo. They removed supporting cables tied to staves on the backside of the silo nearly ten st .....
[Read the Rest]
On the morning of Monday, April 1, 2013, a group of farmers and heavy equipment operators from the area assembled to take down a 600,000 pound silo full of silage and standing over 70 feet tall.
Like the days of Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids, these men gathered to use leverage, gravity and momentum to take down a silo that could fall in any direction.
There was a reason they had to take this silo down. As one person said, “It looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.” At Steve Mandelko’s farm, just south of Preston, he had every reason to be concerned. If he tried to empty the silo, it could collapse and literally create a life or death situation. And, if he left it full without pulling it down, it could fall at any time. Essentially, this silo had to go. And, it would be better to try to guide the silo to the ground, instead of rolling the dice and waiting for fate to take hold.
With a crowd of more than 50 farmers gathering to watch the descent of a 25-year-old cement silo filled to the brim, Steve Mandelko could have sold hot dogs and hot chocolate to this crowd. It was cold and the wind was whipping, biting into any visible skin. The collapse was initially anticipated to take place around 9:45 a.m., but there were a few unexpected challenges.
As Ristau Farm Services, from Lanesboro, took their crane with two men in a bucket up to the top of the silo, they wrapped a 5/8 inch cable around the top of the silo. In the distance out in the field, a dozer was waiting to pull the silo to the ground.
A tense yet excited crowd awaited the fall of a 600,000 pounds silo. At the first attempt, the dozer moved forward in the field and within about a minute the cable snapped. Fortunately, while there was recoil from the cable flying in the direction of the dozer, nobody was harmed. Interestingly, a number of onlookers pointed to an area at the top of the silo that started to buckle.
“Looks like we need to go to plan B,” said Steve Mandelko.
At this point, the farmers and neighboring onlookers had waited this long, so they weren’t going anywhere. They wanted to see this silo come crashing down.
For plan B, Scheevel and Sons, and Ristau Farm Services worked together to see what they could do to weaken the foundation of the silo. They removed supporting cables tied to staves on the backside of the silo nearly ten st .....
[Read the Rest]
Katelyn Ristau 2013 Minnesota Simmental Queen
Fri, Mar 1st, 2013
Posted in Preston Agriculture
Posted in Preston Agriculture
Comments
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