TEXAS NEIGHBORS | SUMMER 2019 \FORD TOUGH TALES\ WORKHORSE TRUCKS: Chris and Norma Chaffin By Justin Walker Communications Specialist “One Ford. Two Ford. Green Ford. Blue Ford.” It may sound like a line out of a Dr. Seuss book, but for Chris and Norma Chaffin, it’s just another day on the ranch. Because the couple has both green and blue Fords. And it doesn’t stop there. The Chaffins are the proud owners of eight Ford trucks, each with a different story and pur-pose. “We use them for work mainly but also to do our running around, going out to eat, custom hay bal-ing, cattle hauling and cattle work,” Chris said. “Sometimes, we have to make long trips, but most of the operation is ranching around the area.” The Chaffins run cattle in South Texas, mainly in Gonzales County. They also do custom hay baling in Karnes, Wilson and Guadalupe counties. They drive through pastures, gravel roads and highways. The miles add up, and the workload isn’t light. “It’s always nice to have a truck that you don’t have to hook up and unhook, and hook up and unhook,” he said. “When I first started in the business, I wore a truck out every three or four years. But now they last a little longer being one maybe just pulls the trailers, and one is for service, and then one’s the welding truck.” Eight trucks. Eight different jobs. Eight pieces of the business. Their Ford trucks power their farm and ranch. The 1984 F-250 is the feed truck, while the 1995 F-350 is the welding truck. The 2000 F-250? That’s the service truck. The 2002 F-250 is the utility vehicle. The 2002 F-350 is the hay feeder, and the 2011 F-350 hauls hay and cattle. The 2015 F-350 is the hauling truck, which stays hooked up to the trail-er ready and waiting for the next big trip. The running around truck? That would be the 2008 F-150. And that’s Norma’s favorite. “It has a lot of memories,” she said. “It’s the simple one. My little 2008 gets me in and out of places.” There are plenty of reasons why Norma loves that truck. It’s good on fuel. It’s reliable. It’s solid. And it gets the job done. They all do, Chris said, which is why they continue buying Fords. It’s why he purchased his first Ford truck in 1977. During school, Chris had worked for a man who owned Fords, and he recognized then their dependability and dura-bility. So when it came time to buy his first truck, he broke away from his family’s preferred line of trucks and bought a Ford. Norma’s dad owned Fords while she was growing up, so she followed suit in 1978 with her first Ford. Forty-two years later, the couple have owned 15 Fords between the two of them, including their current lineup. With each one, Chris and Norma have thousands of memories. But it’s more than just a history and memories for the Chaffins. They can count on their Fords to do the jobs they need them to do. “Ford means dependability,” Chris said. “Strength, toughness, durability, practicality—Ford has a good product. They build a good truck, and I’ve just had good luck with Ford.” Ford is also supportive of Ameri-can farmers and ranchers, which is important to Norma. “I don’t think our nation really understands how important it is to keep the rancher up and going ev-ery day, because without the prod-ucts that we provide for the cus-tomer, there wouldn’t be food,” she said. “We transport a lot of things across this nation. You can see the Ford trucks. They’re from state to state.” Ford vehicles have kept the Chaf-fins going. And they will continue to do so as far as Chris is concerned. “When you have a good thing, you stick with it.” WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG