Row upon row of old school buses are being returned to salvage metal at Hartley’s School Buses and Charter Service on Hwy 2 west of Rugby.

The process is an interesting one.

Luckens, a salvage metal company, Winger, Minnesota, is doing the work and will be hauling the remains of their work to Winger to be recycled.

Some of the old school buses from all over the state have been lined up at Hartley’s for years. The owner, Hartley Hageness, moved his business to the present site in 1985 and this is the first time the buses have been prepared for removal.

The process begins with a trackhoe which strips the bus from back to front. A crusher forms the metal into bales and the bales are hauled away on a truck. The frame of the buses is cut into three parts and sent along with the motor to Winger, Minn.

Hartley’s keeps the wheels and tires and offers them for sale. Many go to area farmers.