Clint Brown lives on and owns 80 acres in West Fork, Ark., but works as a hired hand for the Willow Springs Ranch owned by Larry Walker in Prairie Grove, Ark. Clint was raised both in Devils Den and the Strickler part of West Fork. JR, Clint’s father, believed that a man had to have many skills in order to support himself. Clint took his father’s advice and became skilled in many areas.
When Clint finished high school, he entered a school to become an auto mechanic. One of the most important things he learned while studying auto mechanics was he really didn’t want to be a full-time mechanic. Four days after graduation, he began working full-time for a fencing company. Then he decided to work for Campbell Soup but after about a year, he really didn’t enjoy being around that many people, so he began working with one brother in a haying and chicken litter operation. Getting antsy once again, Clint went to work for another fencing company but got tired of all the long distance driving. That was when Clint went to work for Larry Walker where he has been since October, 2000.
The variety of jobs and experiences helped mold Clint into the ideal hired hand. He builds and repairs fences, uses and maintains a variety of equipment, welds, plants and harvests, works with the cattle, and completes any other tasks asked of him. Clint said, “I really like it when Larry hands me a picture and says ‘this is what I want built.’ Recently, I built a carrier for calves connected by a receiver hitch.”
Last week Clint had to help pull an unhappy bull out of a cowherd. The catch pen they used wasn’t strong enough and the bull jumped the railing, as well as damaging the sides. Clint and another hired hand repaired it and then used a stronger portable pen. Nonetheless, the bull chased one hand up the sides and then chased Clint, who was near the alley. Clint said, “I moved up and out of his way but was able to shut the gate behind him. I wasn’t sorry I wasn’t the one who had to let him out of the trailer. The trailer also held a compartment of horses and a compartment of dogs so the bull was pretty worked up by the time he was let go.”
Clint said that the drought last summer changed the normal cycle of activities because the ponds dried up. In addition to having to set out more water tanks, time was spent catching up on chores that frequently get put off such as building fence earlier than planned and extra maintenance all around the ranch. The equipment Clint works on includes a bobcat, a John Deere telehandler, four tractors, a self-propelled cutter, plows and a rebuilt corn planter that came to the ranch in pieces, which Clint and Larry reassembled and restored.
Clint said, “A fellow has to work somewhere, and this is a good place to work. I don’t want to own my own ranch because one headache for me is four for the owner. I don’t need or want the extra headaches. My 80 acres is for ‘raising’ deer which is just fine by me.”
