Carl Oppel: This Is My Life: How the Founder of Oppel Harvester Set the Standard for Innovation in the State of Idaho
Synopsis "Carl Oppel: This Is My Life: How the Founder of Oppel Harvester Set the Standard for Innovation in the State of Idaho"
Don't Tell Him It Can't Be Done Determination, an entrepreneurial spirit, a lot of hard work, and a God given ability to both understand machinery and relate to people enabled Carl Oppel to create his own success in Idaho, after immigrating twice-to Canada from Germany in 1912 and to the U.S. in 1948. Written in his own words, this book describes how Carl saw the world, his family, his faith, and his work to build Oppel Harvester and make a difference. When I was 16, I got a job as a fireman on Joe Morigeau's steam threshing outfit. I was told that I was the youngest to get a steam engineer license in Alberta. I said we were going to put skids under the house and pull it 11 miles to Condor with two tractors. They said it couldn't be done. But we did it. The skids had worn to about two inches thick and could have pulled apart at any time, so it was lucky we had no farther to go. In 1960, we sold 62 percent of the sugar beet harvesters purchased in the United States. So at the fall board meeting, I told them I wanted to buy all their stock. They said they would have to think it over. I said, "Fine, I don't care how long you think about it, as long as it doesn't take over 10 minutes." We rode the train with Walt Disney and the King of Morocco aboard, which made that ride especially exciting. I had never written to a king before, nor had anyone else. So I started to rack my brain for an idea. "Dear His Majesty, the King of Tonga ... "
