NH News - "Loader Works When Legs Wonít"

MARCH 2004

Disability Refused
Loader Works When Legs Won't

Article by Raylene Nickel
Photos by Rick Mooney

Dairy farming was Jeff Dykes’ dream. At age 25, he was farming with partners in Lake City, Minnesota, and milking 80 cows. They planned to increase the herd and buy more land.

But all that changed in a matter of seconds one winter day 14 years ago. A snowmobile accident left Jeff without the use of his legs. He would have to scrap the dairy farm dream and find another line of work that suited his new and permanent physical reality. Self-pity didn’t last long for Jeff. He found work that suited him with a contracting business based in Rochester, Minnesota.

Jeff and Rosaland Dykes are partners in a skid steer business they developed after Jeff lost the use of both legs in an accident.

Today, Jeff has full-time satisfying work operating his own skid steer with specially adapted hand controls. He and his wife Rosaland work as a team and now have 25 regular clients throughout southeastern Minnesota. By changing attachments, there are many jobs they can perform with the loader.

In winter, they clear snow from sidewalks and parking lots. In summer, they use a big rotating brush on the loader to sweep walks and parking lots. On other jobs, they use a cold planer attachment to mill old or damaged asphalt and prepare a smooth surface for new asphalt.

“If you have the equipment, you just have to go out and look for work, and you’ll find opportunities everywhere,” said Jeff. “We line up jobs that don’t require a lot of physical work, and we stay busy year-round.”

With one bucket small enough to plow snow on sidewalks and a wider one for parking lots, the loader becomes a versatile machine for moving snow almost any place. While Jeff operates the loader, Rosaland plows with a four-wheel-drive pickup fitted with a blade. Jeff then uses the skid steer to load the snow into a truck, and Rosaland hauls it away.

Using a cold planer on his skid steer, Jeff Dykes mills old asphalt to prepare a good surface for new paving.

“If we had a blizzard or snowfall lasting several days, we might plow snow on our route for 24 hours straight,” Rosaland said. “If it keeps on snowing, we just start over again.” In summer, Jeff clears walks and parking lots of debris using a sweeper attached to the front of the skid steer.

After the snowmobile accident, Jeff brainstormed new ways to earn a livelihood. The skid steer idea came naturally since he had operated one on his dairy farm and knew that adapting the machine to hand controls was possible. Since he started the business in 1990, he has had a succession of seven loaders, clocking 1,300 to 1,500 operating hours on a machine every year.

“The first few loaders I traded in annually in order to keep the year-long warranty in effect,” he said. “But with recent models the company has made extended warranties available. Now, we can operate machines up to 3,000 hours and still keep them under warranty.”

Much of the success of the business Jeff credits to Rosaland, who he met and married after moving to Rochester. “She grew up on a farm in Minnesota, and she’s just got a gift and a willingness [to take on physical work],” he said.

Despite the long hours and hard work, Rosaland says she enjoys their contracting business. “It’s perfect for us,” she said. “We’re our own bosses, and we get along great working together. We know each other’s responsibilities on the job.” The independence his work provides has helped Jeff cope with the loss of use of his legs.

Along with learning physical independence, the couple says that learning spiritual dependence has brought them peace of mind to what otherwise could be a frustrating situation. “The Good Lord has surely blessed us with opportunity and work we can do,” Jeff said.

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