Pictured Above: (L-R) Loren Van Wyk and Craig Boot with the first Thunder Creek trailer (left) and Boot's new FST990 (right)
July 13, 2026
When Craig Boot bought the first fuel trailer Thunder Creek ever built, he was looking for a better way to fuel equipment in the field. Fifteen years later, when it came time to upgrade to newer equipment and DEF, Boot came back to Thunder Creek without hesitation.
Craig Boot has spent most of his life farming. He started in the industry in high school and continued farming at night for 20 years while working a factory job before stepping into farming full-time. Today, the Iowa-based farmer grows row crops split evenly between soybeans and corn north and south of Pella, as well as in the Des Moines River bottoms and the flood plains along the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.
“I’ve got 1,700 acres of my own land, and we do some custom crops on top of that, so we have about 2,400 acres total that we farm,” said Boot.
“It’s just a little bit of freedom and flexibility to focus fully on farming. The world revolves around agriculture. Without it, we’ve got nothing.”
Keeping machines fueled, serviced, and ready to run has always been a constant part of the job for Boot and his team. In the early days, that meant finding ways to keep fuel close to the field without wasting time, fighting unreliable homemade setups, or dragging fuel around in a way that never felt quite right.
That was the need Thunder Creek founder, Loren Van Wyk set out to solve in 2009.
A Better Way to Fuel in the Field
A longtime friend of Boot, fellow farmer, and fabricator, Van Wyk understood the same fueling frustrations because he had seen them firsthand. At the time, he operated LDJ Manufacturing, a company created to supplement the family’s farm income. Looking to solve the fueling challenges Boot and other farmers faced in the field, Van Wyk began developing the portable fuel trailer that would become the first piece of equipment sold under the Thunder Creek brand.
“When Loren decided to go full-time manufacturing, he reached out to me and a guy I used to farm with to ask if we were looking for a portable fuel trailer,” Boot explained. "He already had some pretty good ideas, and pretty much had it designed on a napkin before he reached out to us. But he wanted to know what we’d want in a trailer. We sat down and shared our ideas and that was where it all began.”
The First Thunder Creek Trailer
Boot bought the very first piece of equipment Thunder Creek built: a square-by-design 990-gallon fuel trailer capable of being towed safely at highway speeds without the instability common with homemade solutions. That design was a major step forward from the early prototypes, which could only be towed at very slow speeds and posed a real safety issue for farmers.
“That was a big part of developing this trailer. We wanted something very towable and that was tall enough to see over the back of the tailgate of the pickup for backing up,” Boot said. “After we got it, we asked, ‘Why didn’t somebody do this sooner?’ It was a great step.”
Boot used that first Thunder Creek fuel trailer for 15 years.
“The trailer was amazing. It did everything we wanted out of it and more,” he said.
As newer machinery came onto the farm, Boot’s needs began to change. Along with diesel, he needed a reliable way to manage diesel exhaust fluid for his Tier 4 machines. In 2024, Boot invested in a new Fuel & Service Trailer from Thunder Creek, a decision he made without hesitation.
Upgrading for the Future
He chose the FST990, a Fuel & Service Trailer with capacity for 990 gallons of diesel and 100 gallons of DEF, along with options for grease and auxiliary oil.
For Boot, the DEF system was the biggest reason to upgrade. The FST990 includes Thunder Creek’s patented 2-in-1 DEF system, which is fully enclosed to help reduce contamination risk, along with 10-micron fuel filtration to help protect modern diesel engines.
“The biggest thing was the DEF. You buy any machine newer than 2013, it's got DEF on it,” Boot said. “It’s nice to have it in the field with us all the time and I don’t have to chase a pickup and get more DEF there, and I’ve got the combination with the diesel. I kind of wish I’d done it years ago, but that original trailer always served its purpose well.”
Fueling Faster, Servicing Smarter
Along with the convenience of having diesel, DEF, and service fluids on a single trailer, Boot appreciates how quickly the FST990 can fuel his combine and tractors. His trailer is equipped with a gas-powered pump and a standard 35-foot retractable fuel hose reel.
“That speed really makes a difference. With my old setup, I used to get down and walk around the combine. I’d check the sickle and have time to do some things,” he explained.
“Now I just start the fuel and don't go anywhere. I stand there and wait because it doesn’t take long.”
That efficiency is especially important considering how much fuel and DEF his operation uses.
“The combine goes through about 125 gallons a day and then about every third day, we’ve got to top the tractor off,” Boot said. He explained that his operation burns through more than 990 gallons of fuel each week, all supplied from a bulk tank on the farm. “I usually fuel in the mornings unless I'm running low and I’ve got to get a quick 20 gallons of fuel to finish a night,” he added, noting that mornings also serve as his primary time for maintenance.
Built for the Way Farmers Work
Boot and his team also appreciate that the trailer is easy to tow. Thunder Creek designed the trailer to handle rugged terrain while remaining smooth and stable on the highway.
He and his wife especially like the trailer’s electric-over-hydraulic jack because it makes hooking up and unhooking the trailer faster and easier than using a manual jack. The electric-powered hydraulic jack is operated by a tethered control box mounted in the trailer’s front enclosure.
“My wife's really happy about the FST990 because of the hydraulic jack and how easy it is to use,” Boot said. “I'm happy about that too. It’s one of the best features. I don’t have to worry about losing skin off my knuckles cranking an old jack.”
Boot also chose to add the WorkSight light tower for harvesting in the evening hours. The tower includes four LED lights that produce 7,200 lumens and provide 180 degrees of illumination. It also features push-button controls, a built-in charger, and solar panels for charging the battery.
“I wouldn't buy a trailer without a light kit. It’s really amazing,” he said. “You can’t understand how bright those lights are until you actually turn them on.”
Still a Believer 15 Years Later
From the very beginning, Boot has found value in the products Thunder Creek designs and manufactures. Boot’s decision to return to Thunder Creek says a lot about the trust built over the past 15 years.
It is also the reason he would recommend Thunder Creek to other farmers.
“This trailer follows us everywhere. Fueling is one of the first things we do in the morning and in the evening, quite often we'll move the trailer and the equipment for the next morning, so we are ready to fuel again,” he said.
“I have never regretted the investment. Everything’s been so well thought out and put together. My first trailer lasted 15 years and still looks like the day I bought it, so I highly recommend Thunder Creek.”