Hi all,
Reading the thread on Temporary HGV work in Canada (Harvesting)
Did anyone go for it?
Would be intersted to find out how you went on!
My wife and I along with 12 other guys went on a harvest run for a USA firm in 2002.Some of them have been back every year since some haven’t been back but would like to find the time to do another “run” myself included.
What would you like to know?
P.S. Always remember one Sunday in June in Medford Oklahoma,There was a crew of 12 of us cutting wheat with the combines with a support crew of 4 tractors and grain carts and 20 trucks parked at the side of the 600 acre fields.
Everybody had two way radios and there was some “craic” to be had that day 
Hi Bigtruck (Glad I spelt that right)
Would I need a work permit to go out to the states or Canda for the harvest?
How long could I stop out in the states for on a holiday visa?
Is payment under the table as to say?
Whats the working conditions like long days long nights?
ETC
Ok
I did the harvest in the USA in 2004. You need a visa, total costs for which are about £150 including all the travelling to London and back to sort it.
Payments are 100% legitimate, and untaxed. Most companies pay a pretty poor rate per hour by local standards, but it’s all tax free (from both govts) and there’s no deductions to speak of. So you’re not too badly off all in all. And food in the states is dirt cheap.
Hours are variable, some days extremely long, others none at all, depending entirely on the weather.
You pay up front for your ticket, and the company will usually refund your flight costs when you finish.
You’ll be doing a whole new licence out there to drive wagons, and learning to use the old roadranger crash boxes. Great fun tho, to pile up the North Dakota interstates at 75mph in a fully loaded wagon totally legally too! (and note the number of canuck wagons piling past at 80+ too - 
… )
After finishing work, you can just go to any INS office and swap your work visa for a visitor’s visa good for up to 3 months.
What kind of visa would you need, and how difficult is the truck test?
You need a H2A temp harvest visa which should be sorted out via the US embassy in
London and your employer in the USA.
You can get a full class A CDL (class 1 HGV) with hazmat,doubles/triples and tanks in around 45 minutes from scratch, I KID YOU NOT 
If you want to go with a decent Canadian “custom cutter” check out www.taylorharvesting.com or refer to the USA custom cutter websites I mentioned down below on the “temp HGV work in Canada” thread.