There''s a shovel of dirt lurking on many farms that threatens to cost thousands of dollars in equipment repair and downtime. And it''s hiding in a place most farmers will never look. That place is inside their diesel storage tanks where mismanagement and misunderstanding have allowed the threat to grow.Last summer, Successful Farming magazine worked with petroleum experts from Country Energy LLC, a regional fuel supplier formed by Farmland Industries drillpressandhanddrill and Cenex Harvest States, and employees of the Andale Farmers Co-op, Andale, Kansas, to help make farmers aware of this threat. We shared the $110 cost of sampling and cleaning diesel storage tanks on 20 farms in south central Kansas. Though stored gasoline also gets dirty, we didn''t include it because fewer engine problems result.

1625DE; drillpressandhanddrill Pumps--three Emsco FB-1,600 Triplex;Prime movers--four Cat. 3S126-B, Tech PowerSCR; Rotary Table--37 1/2"; Pipe Handling System--VarcoIron Roughneck; Top Drive--Varco TDS-3.DERRICK: 160'' Lee C. Moore; 1,000,000-lb hook ad.BOP SYSTEM: One 27 1/2" nom. Regan KFDJdiverter; one Hydril GK 13 5/8", 5,000 psi; Two CIW13 5/8", 10,000 psi double.CRANES: Three LeTourneau PCM-120 AS.WORK AREA: Gulf of Mexico.OCEAN NUGGETRIG DESIGN: Modified Levingston Class IIICONSTRUCTION: Levingston Shipbuilding Co.,

Leave it to Bobcat Co. to come up with something to address those issues. Bobcat, the division of Ingersoll-Rand that is generally credited with inventing the skid-steer loader, has taken the skid-steer loader concept and turned it somewhat on its head with the introduction of the A220, which is an all-wheel steer loader with skid-steer capabilities--in essence, a skid-steer that doesn''t skid."This machine came about because of customer requests," said Mike Fitzgerald, loader product representative, at Bobcat Co. "They were looking for certain things on skid-steer loaders, like reduced tire wear, less ground disturbance, less marking on asphalt and concrete. drillpressandhanddrill Now the question for us was, how do we accomplish that?"

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