Friends expedite tractor engine replacement

Tough times call for tough decisions made quickly. It goes easier with the help of a good friend.

Father and son Nate and Chris Riggers hit a rough patch when their combine engine went out Aug. 9 in northern Idaho on the Camas Prairie. Their office is in Nezperce and the equipment shop is east of Craigmont off of U.S. Highway 95.

Depending on the route, it measures between 1,500 to 1,700 miles from Jesup, Iowa, home of long-time friend Ben Riensche.

Ben and Nate met when they attended an Apex Ag Exchange Farm leadership group meeting over 20 years ago.

The Riggers immediately began brainstorming to figure out ways to rectify the situation as they’re in the heart of harvest season.

The Riggers own and operate Clearwater Farms, a dry-land small grains farm in north-central Idaho. The farm grows wheat, malt barley, turf grass seed, canola and chickpeas. The farm is also a founding partner of Cold Stream Malt & Grain Co., which processes craft malt barley and sells finished craft malt to craft breweries throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The Riggers initially reached out for guidance from their local dealership.

On the positive side, they received quick action verifying the engine was under warranty. Time was ticking though. It was determined it’d probably be seven to 10 days before a new engine would arrive and be installed in the combine.

“Our dealer gets a lot of credit. He diagnosed the combine at the farm and we had the old engine pulled in three hours,” Chris Riggers said. “He was awesome for not taking no for an answer on the phone working the channels through John Deere to get an engine, and less than 12 hours later they had it identified and ready to go at John Deere’s complex in Milan.”

But at that point, it sounded like shipping would make it another 7-10 days before the engine would be in Idaho.

Chris and Nate Riggers were undeterred.

“We were driving in the pickup talking and I said to dad, ‘Why don’t we call Ben?’ Milan, Illinois, is not far from him. Maybe he knows some delivery options,” Chris Riggers said.

“So, we called Ben and within a few minutes of describing the situation, Ben said to us, ‘I got a guy available, and we’ll get it and bring it to you.’”

The Riensches run Blue Diamond Farming Co., a sixth-generation family farming operation growing corn, beans and wheat in Black Hawk County. Riensche sent a worker to get the engine and brought it back to Jesup.

“We do this quite often, go to Milan to get needed equipment. We had the engine on a flat bed truck that got to our shop Saturday night,” Riensche said.

Meantime, the Riggers had sent employee Brayden Osburn to meet up with the Riensches’ driver, but he ended up at their farm.

After resting Sunday, Osburn headed back northwest with the engine. He also had some company as one of the Riensches’ employees went to help the Riggers finish up their harvest.

“We share and trade employees as we have harvests at different times. When we get things wrapped up in September, we send a few to them to help during October and November to help them harvest,” Chris Riggers said.

In the heat of harvest 2025, their partnership saved a lot of stress.