This August, we drove to Mountrail County, where Dozer Operator Dale Standen is currently working, to chat with him about his potential retirement. Although not officially announced yet — Dale has hinted at his retirement earlier this year, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with him before he heads back home to Michigan for the winter.  Take a read!

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Dale Standen

Dale, how long have you been at Baranko Companies?

I’ve been with Baranko for twelve and a half years. I ran scraper first, then blade for a little bit, and then for the past 11 years, I was on dozer.

So, what do you enjoy the most about bulldozing?

Well… I’ve pretty much done it my whole life, you know. 52 years. And the blade jobs were always taken when I grew up… so dozing was the second best thing. But as I grew older, I’ve really come to enjoy it.

Wow. 52 years. That’s a long time.

Well, I started out as a laborer when I was 18 years old, and then I went to loader, loading trucks. I also ran gravel train back home in Michigan. I was on a crusher for a while too and also in the oil fields. But how I got to Baranko Companies was after my job shut down in Tennessee. I emailed — oh wait, I didn’t email – I faxed an application to Baranko, and Joe Kessel called me back wondering when I can start. I started May 2nd, 2012.

Any favorite memories of working at Baranko?

Well….. we used to do a lot of partying — after work though! *laughs* I have a lot of good memories from that. But that was a long time ago. A more work-appropriate answer: the North Dakota scenery. I was way up there by Beach a few years back. It was pretty out there, so I have a lot of good memories of seeing beautiful places.

So in your extensive years of experience, what was an important life or career lesson that you’ve learned or had to learn?

Always learn from the old guys… When I was growing up, I watched when I could. I also asked a lot of questions because everybody had their own way of running a piece of equipment. There’s a lot of training, tools, and information nowadays, but I didn’t have all of that. So I had to learn from the old guys, you know? There’s a lot of tricks to run blade, scrapers, dozers… and then, there’s some tricks that I know I won’t tell. *laughs*

Haha. Why is that?

Well, it’s just something that you got to experiment operating with your equipment — like how to do it faster, more productive, and stuff like that. And you got to get the feel of your machine… how it works. You can feel if you’re going up or down or grades. And there’s a lot of handwork too. You can’t cut on the GPS all the time. I’ve done a lot of stuff by hand.

So, Dale, The most important question of the day…. the elephant in the room. I hear you’re giving up your bLADES this year?

Yes, as a matter of fact, I got to give it up this year. This is probably going to be my last year. I’m going to be 71 in August… And I don’t really want to retire. I like it here, but the problem is my age. I can still do the job. It’s just that… the grandkids are complaining I ain’t home enough. *laughs* No, but I want to be home more. I live in Michigan and travel in the summer to North Dakota for work.

What are you looking forward to the most after you retire? And what will you miss most about working at Baranko?

Well… I do want to enjoy a big boat. *laughs* As for what I’ll miss… I like to work, I give 100% all the time. I bust my butt, you know — that’s how I was raised. And I have a lot of friends out here. Jason Hicks, Joe, Glenn and so many more — they’ve always been good to me. Never said a bad thing to me or anything.

And I’m sure they’ll miss you as well…. As for the younger generation, what are some advice you’d like to give to the guys coming up?

The young guys coming in today? The most important thing is you got to love your job. If you do not like this kind of work, you should go someplace else because you’re not going to learn it. But if you love this work, you will learn it. And being on time every day. It’s so important to show up on time. 

So my last question, and you don’t have to answer this…. What are the Odds of you coming to visit us when you’re retired?

Oh, definitely. 100%. I want to buy a boat that you can sleep on and bring it out here and get a sip of Lake Sakakawea. Oh, I’m not going to disappear. I got a lot of friends out here, and we’ve had a lot of fun. The people here are really good people…  We may not always be friends while on the job, but after work, we are. *laughs*

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Dale, thank you for your expertise and years of service at Baranko. It’s not a goodbye…. It’s a… “see you at the Lakes!”