The Persuader

When my Dad gave it to me, it reached its 4th generation in our family. No one really knows how old it is, but Dad and I think it’s probably late 1800's. It is about 5 feet long and weighs about 20 pounds. This is a beast of solid iron or steel. Although it looks indestructible, it’s covered with rust pitting and it has a slight bend in it. No normal person could ever bend this thing by hand, so it had to have been done by a tractor, horse or my Dad.

We use The Persuader when building fence. There are fields on our farm that have rocky streaks just under the top soil; little surprises just below the surface. When digging a post-hole, those rocks will stop you in your tracks and that’s where The Persuader comes in. We use the chisel end to loosen the impacted rocks, pound and pry until you can pull them out of the hole and continue deeper with the post-hole digger to the proper depth.

I’m filled with pride when I use The Persuader, knowing there is still at least one thing I do the same way as three generations before me did. I feel the pride, and also the pain, knowing everything they did back then was hard physical labor.

The Persuader: Over 100 years of removing obstacles to get the job done right.

When you build a fence, you need a Persuader.

When you build fiber networks, you need a Collaborator.

I’ve been at Clearfield for 12 years, but its legacy started in the 1980's with Americable, and it continues today building products and helping our customers design fiber networks.  

The Collaborator: Over 30 years of removing obstacles to get the job done right.

By Jim Pilgrim