Cowboy Ingenuity Makes Like a Little Easier

When it comes to inventors and entrepreneurs most people don’t visualize a couple of Idaho cowboys.  That’s where Dave Dorris and Terry Sheldon differ from your average cowboys. 

When Dave Dorris decided to get back into team roping after a thirteen year hiatus he noticed a few changes.  He wasn’t quite as tough as he’d been some thirteen years earlier and chores like getting hay loaded into the trailer’s hay rack were taking a lot more time and energy than they used to. 

Dave searched for a device to tackle the hay loading problem but couldn’t find one.  Creating solutions for such problems around the ranch was nothing new for Dave.  A long time game bird farmer, he had fought with cannibalism among pheasants bred in captivity and invented a hood for the birds which not only solved the pecking problem but also created a business that Dave continues to operate today.

After designing the prototype for a unique system that is both a ladder and lifter, Dave shared his idea with fellow team roper and friend of twenty years, Terry Sheldon.  A successful entrepreneur as well, Terry founded TJT, Inc. in 1977 and continues to serve as President and CEO of the Company. 

Terry, now in his sixties, welcomed the idea of a product that would make life a little easier.  The two formed a partnership, Ladder Lift Systems, LLC and after a year of research and development the Bale Bucker® hay loading system was in production.

Dave Dorris and Terry Sheldon, two Idaho cowboys whose ingenuity and business savvy led to the development of Bale Bucker®, a product that promises to make life a little easier for all horsemen.   

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