The Chaffins use a fleet of eight tough and reliable Ford F-150 and Super Duty work trucks to haul cattle and bail hay for their clients.
Chris and Norma Chaffin don’t have what you’d call an “easy job.” They’re in the business of bailing hay and hauling cattle. That’s hard work that requires a tough truck. Luckily, the Chaffins have a Ford. Actually, they have eight.
As part of its “Ford Tough Tales” series of videos, the texasfarmbureau YouTube channel interviewed the Chaffins about their demanding line of work and the Ford trucks they use for it. “I’ve just had good luck with Ford and we just kind of collected them. It just kind of snowballed from there and when I’d find a good truck and a good deal, I’d just buy it – if it was a Ford,” Chris Chaffin said.
The Chaffin fleet includes a few F-150s and an array of Super Dutys. The husband and wife duo doesn’t have eight trucks just for show, though. The Chaffins use every one of them for different tasks. Some have a regular bed, but many have a flat bed that holds specialized equipment in place.
Chris Chaffin said, “One maybe just pulls the trailers and one is the service truck. And then one’s the welding truck. The one’s got the cube box on it, that strictly just feeds cube. And then the ’02 F-350 is my hay truck.”
The Chaffins drive a different one to get parts. Not even the Chaffins’ personal truck gets a break. It takes them to church and the grocery store, but occasionally doubles as a feed and parts retrieval rig, too.
It’s safe to say the Chaffins have developed a deep, real-world knowledge of Ford trucks going back several generations. They don’t just go to work in them; they dowork in them. Norma Chaffin said, “I can depend on my Ford to complete a job that I start – if we’re doing it for ourselves or a customer. They’re good, they’re sturdy, they’re reliable.” She forgot to mention one thing: Her trucks are also award-winning because they helped her and her husband get the top spot in the Workhorse Trucks category of the Texas Farm Bureau’s Ford Tough Tales contest.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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