Hayden on Harvest: 4G Harvesting hauls combines more than 300 miles to North Dakota

The wheat harvest does not come to a custom harvesting crew. The crew has to chase it.

For 4G Harvesting, that meant loading the combines and beginning a haul of more than 300 miles as the crew headed toward its next stop in North Dakota.

The move is documented in a Hayden on Harvest episode that offers a look at one of the less visible sides of custom harvesting: transporting an entire harvesting operation from one region to another.

Moving combines is considerably more involved than simply driving to the next farm.

Large harvesting machines have to be loaded onto trailers, headers moved separately and support vehicles coordinated so the entire operation arrives where it needs to be.

Following wheat across the Plains

4G Harvesting follows the wheat crop north during the summer, making equipment transportation an essential part of the business.

Every move presents another round of loading, securing equipment, driving and unloading before the crew can get back to doing what it came for: harvesting wheat.

The distances involved also illustrate the unusual lifestyle of custom harvesters. For much of the summer, home is not necessarily one town or even one state. The crew moves with the crop.

North Dakota awaits

North Dakota represents a major stage in that journey.

After finishing farther south, the combines are headed into another wheat-growing region where large fields and long harvest days await.

There is still plenty of harvesting left in the season. First, however, the crew has to get several enormous pieces of machinery hundreds of miles up the road.