Page 471 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

Now anything that weighs 350 pounds and ships internationally is not going to arrive literally overnight. The valve sat in customs for a few days. Once it finally arrived, Harden and Duane Jr. spent an entire night getting the job done. “Junior wanted to do it himself, so I just observed and handed him stuff,” says Harden. “It was a struggle because the valve is about 2.5 feet by 18 inches and it has to come out of a small hole underneath the seat. With all the hoses, it’s a pretty tight fit.” Finally, the chronic problem was fixed and the customer was happy.
Peterson techs handle hard-to-solve problems in the field like that everyday—a mix of old school smarts combined with the latest in computer diagnostics. Ultimately, experience and training and determination win the day. “I’ve never been so tired, but it was pretty cool to be finishing the job literally as the sun came up,” says Duane Jr., who became president of Earthmoving in February 2020. “It was a really neat thing to be a part of. That’s the commitment we have to all our customers—to just get it done.”
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