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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2016)
LIFESTYLES Playboys to i lm band doc /3C WEEKEND, JANUARY 16-17, 2016 Fishing on North Fork Nehalem/10C Crisp and easy chicken wings/4C Staff photo by E.J. Harris Shop manager Paul Thorgersen performs routine maintenance on a weed wacker at his shop Tuesday at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center outside Pendleton. 6hoS suServisor’s creations Sower CBARC e[Seriments By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Winter is a time of relative calm at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center. It will likely be months before scientists can return to the ¿ elGs anG begin recorGing Gata from their e[Seriments. In his shoS arounG back of the station, Paul Thorgersen is busy as ever. A smell of Giesel fuel lingers in the air as Thorgersen anG Duane Davies ¿ nish overhauling tractors for the coming season. Thorgersen Slans to builG a new no-till seeG Grill sometime later this month, along with anything else staff might neeG before the weather turns. As the maintenance anG eTuiS- ment suServisor at CBARC, Sart of Thorgersen’s job is tinkering with machinery anG coming uS with Gesigns that helS researchers work better, faster. )armers GeSenG on the station to helS them grow healthier croSs, anG Thorgersen is the ³maG mechanic´ behinG the scenes. Whether it’s a sSeciali]eG Grill or moGi¿ eG rig for sSraying fertili]er, scientists let Thorgersen know what they neeG anG will usually give him free rein to bring the creations to life. ³They’ll bring me their iGea, anG it’s my job to ¿ gure out how to builG it,´ he saiG. ³6ometimes they bring Slans, sometimes they Gon’t. It’s a great challenge.” 2n a colG, rainy TuesGay, Thorg- ersen Sut the ¿ nishing touches on metal shelving welGeG from scratch. These shelves will holG long-term soil samSles taken from the ¿ elGs, to be storeG in two emSty shiSSing containers after mice starteG causing Sroblems in a nearby barn. Thorgersen, 61, grew uS in PenGleton anG taught himself much of what he knows about hanGiwork. +e learneG basic carSentry from his father, anG as a kiG got into small motors by taking aSart lawn mowers. Thorgersen got his ¿ rst truck, a 17 Chevy SickuS, when he was 1. The rig haG a blown heaG gasket anG baG clutch, but Thorgersen anG Staff photo by E.J. Harris Staff photo by E.J. Harris Shop manager Paul Thorgersen uses a tig welder while fi nishing a shelving system for seed storage on Tuesday at CBARC outside of Pendleton. Shop manager Paul Thorgersen talks about the fertilizer nurse vehicle he created out of a 1986 Chevy fuel truck he acquired through military surplus. frienGs soon got it running. ³I can’t remember not mech- anicing,” he saiG. ³I enjoy working with my hanGs.” Thorgersen never went to school for mechanics. +e sSent 1 years working for John Deere, anG eventually workeG his way uS to shoS foreman anG heaG combine mechanic. Thorgersen brieÀ y starteG his own business, Paul’s Combine ReSair, before moving on to the maintenance shoS at CBARC. CBARC is one of several agri- cultural research stations oSerateG by 2regon 6tate University arounG the state. The PenGleton station is locateG several miles north of town, anG is GeGicateG to helSing local wheat growers aGoSt new Sractices that increase SroGuction while lowering cost. Thorgersen is in charge of all builGings anG vehicle reSairs on camSus, incluGing two greenhouses anG a À eet of 1 tractors. The sheer variety of work is more than enough to stay busy year rounG, he saiG, but it’s his ability to turn obsolete eTuiSment into something new that gets him most e[citeG. ³The Gesigning anG Sutting it all together is something I really enjoy,” he saiG. 2ne of his recent Gesigns starteG out as feGeral surSlus ² a truck Sreviously useG by Army for trans- ferring jet fuel. With some alter- ations anG elbow grease, Thorgersen retro¿ tteG the rig to carry three large fertili]er tanks, making it easier to SumS anG carry bulk chemicals. Thorgersen also recently built his ¿ rst no-till seeG Grill, which SoseG another set of challenges. Most Grills struggle to Senetrate Gown into untilleG Girt, he saiG, becoming nothing more than a big hay rake. But with the right aGjustments, he was able to make it work. ³There’s so much to Go,” he saiG. ³That’s Srobably the best Sart of my Staff photo by E.J. Harris Shop manager Paul Thorgersen walks through one of the green- houses Tuesday at CBARC outside of Pendleton. In addition to his duties creating and maintaining vehicles for the research center Thorgersen also helps to maintain many of the facility’s research structures. job. It’s so Giverse. I Gon’t have to talk myself into coming into work every morning.” Thorgersen has helS servicing tractors anG combines in the winter, but otherwise is a one-man oSera- tion. +is shoS is a tinkerer’s Gream, with sSare Sarts hanging off the walls anG smaller hanG tools care- fully organi]eG arounG the garage. The goal for now is to make sure all eTuiSment is in gooG working shaSe by the time sSring rolls arounG, he saiG. ³I’m kinG of out of sight, out of minG, but when things break, you know e[actly where I am,” he saiG with a laugh. Thorgersen saiG there’s always something new, esSecially given the Sace of technology in the farming inGustry. Just moGifying eTuiSment to meet the scientists’ neeGs is a really big Geal, he aGGeG. ³The SeoSle I work with are great. They’re very suSSortive,” he saiG. ³2nce we’re on the same Sage, it’s single vision. Their goals are my goals. We reach a common vision, anG away we go.” ²²² Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
