June 30

View of the day-Last sunset for Kansas wheat.

Well, the day started out with good intentions. It was foggy, with the usual high humidity and low temps so we didn't lose any combing to the repair day. Not a good day for combining, but we did see one combine going later in the day.

We went to the Case dealer to get the part we needed, we even had the part number off of our parts CD. After getting the part, we headed to the field and commenced dismantling the broken part, which required removing some very heavyparts. The working area isn't really " Kuntz" size, so that was working against us as well. We got everything off and grabbed the new part of the back of the pickup and wouldn't you know it...it was the wrong part. It wouldn't have been so bad except we had gotten our farmer to add some re-enforcing welds on the new one, to the same area that had broken on the old one.

Marilyn called in and they had the right part, so off to Great Bend for the switch. The parts man was quite accommodating, exchanged the parts, and even though the new piece was a heavier duty one than the first one, it was $20 cheaper! How often does that happen? With the extra welds added again...just in case... it was back to the field, where Al had everything removed and ready for the new part.

So, a five hour repair turned into an eight hour repair, but we got it done and hopefully it will last for a while. We took the header off and moved 15 miles south and cut a patch to park the rest of the equipment, then called it a day. Al got to catch up on some TV while Marilyn went and did laundry...again.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a dusty one...

June 29

View of the day-Al gets his turn combining at the end of the field.

This time the day started out sorta sunny, but cool(relatively speaking). Al had left the grain truck at the elevator, so his first stop was to get it unloaded before he got to the field. Marilyn got her rig fueled and greased and then did a test. The moisture was a bit high, but with the wind blowing and the hope for a sunny afternoon, we started combining.

It was a weird day, low clouds eventually drifted up from the SE and it even seemed to get foggy later in the afternoon, it was really hazy. But we kept on going, with the moisture borderline. Unfortunately the elevator closed at 6, since there weren't a lot of other people combining and only a few trucks hauling.

Marilyn noticed the combine was vibrating in an unusual way, so once the field was done, Al checked up in the engine compartment, and a bracket holding the rotor gearbox in place had broken. Hopefully we can get the part tomorrow and fix it ourselves. This part has broken in the past and we had to replace it, so we should know what we're doing (old age and memory...), we'll find out tomorrow.

Marilyn's brother, Tim and his wife Naomi are visiting to the south of us at Cushing, OK, where Tim's daughter and family are living. Today is Tim's 5?th birthday, and I'm sure they expected to be spending it in the sunny south, but that area has been hit by heavy rains. Maybe they are cruising.

A lot of heavy parts to move, better get some rest...

June 28

View of the day-Post rock fence line with a wild Sunflower.

These post rocks make up a lot of the fence lines in this area of the state. A lot of them are made into signs in front of farms and houses, with the occupants names or sports allegiances carved into them. Millions of years ago, the central US was a sea bed and after everything dried up there were layers of sea life compressed in the earth. When the area was settled, there weren't enough trees around to make fence posts, so they excavated the layers of post rock, using clever method of drilling holes, then splitting of the posts. They are usually 8 or so inches square and 6-8 feet tall, the ones in the picture stick out of the ground about 4 feet, so they are very solid. There is a Post Rock Museum in LaCrosse, which is 10 miles from where we are cutting and we had checked it out about 15 years ago, if it had been wet again to day we would have revisited. There is also a barb wire museum there, it is unbelievable the different kinds of barb wire that would require a museum, but they have hundreds on display.

The day started out cloudy, as usual, but we could see blue sky in the west so there was hope. After Al had his Pizza Hut buffet fix, we headed out to the field to survey the repairs, wash the windows and do a test. We got rolling at the crack of 3pm and, wonder of wonders, there were no stops...well maybe one when the knife broke at the joint, but we're old hands at repairing that kind of thing, so we only lost 15 minutes.

Marilyn had company riding with her for a while, Maitland, 7yrs and Maddy 6yrs, two of Kevin and Mandy's (our farmers) children made a few rounds, then Mandy and Macy, 2yrs swapped out for their turn. Finally we are back to great harvesting conditions...sun, wind and warm temps. Al claims the temps were more like Canada, running in the high 70's, and when Marilyn got out of the combine at 10:30pm the temp was only 63 degrees...it felt like home in September. An 80 acre day even with the late start, the field is running around 44 bushels and the test weight is 59lbs, so that is uplifting.

A final shot of the terraces in the field. It is hard to explain them if you haven't seen them, but sometimes they're a treat to combine, especially if there is water laying in them....

June 27

View of the day-Changing of the "guards" on the header.

Another cloudy day, this time we never did see the sun shine. Al took the part off the wobble box to get the broken bolt stubs removed at a local machine shop. When he went in with it, he told the guy that he had the tools to try to take them out himself, but thought he should leave it to the "professional. The guy replied "That's a nice change. Normally these kind of things come in after the farmer has tried to do it himself and it's a real mess". He had it done in no time. After picking up the guards to fix the header, we had a quick lunch and headed out to the field.

While we were changing the guards, we could see a big cloud dumping just to the SW of us, then one to the SE, then the NE. We seemed to be surrounded, but nothing of any amount hit us, just the occasional sprinkle, but at times the elevator to the S of us disappeared in the mist. We kept going, and had a visit from Jeff, the mechanic from Straubs(the Case IH dealer), to check out the oil leak that we had repaired on Sunday. We discovered a gasket had blown, causing the leak, and since they hadn't started it when it was on the trailer at the shop, they couldn't check it under pressure. He had to go back to town to get the gasket, and we stayed back to take off one of the big side panels off the combine so he could remove part of the pump.

It sprinkled on us while we finished putting the wobble box back on, put on a new chain on the header and lubed up a sticky PTO shaft. Marilyn cleaned up the shop trailer and we headed into town to call it a day. Once back at the camper, we got the dish aimed, so we would have at least some TV to watch...no internet in the comfort of our home at this stop. Once Al was happy with the dish remote in hand, Marilyn was free to get some much needed exercise, doing laps around the WalMart Supercentre (24 hours...mmmmm).

The rig is ready to roll tomorrow...

June 26

View of the day-Moving north thru Albert, KS

Another humid day, really cloudy to start, and it looked like we might get some rain at some point during the day. We did a test around noon and it was 14.5, so we went into Albert to find some place to have lunch. We found Matt's Barbecue, a little place with an older couple running the joint. Excellent hamburgers, and they even brought us out a piece of cake, as they put it "for some extra energy this afternoon".

We got rolling around 1:30pm and finished the field we were on and headed north about 15 miles to another field. Once we got everything moved, it looked like it was going to be a late night of combining, although the straw was not cutting or getting chopped up like it should, the 44 bushel yield was probably a contributing factor. The ever present moisture, and the guards that the knife sections cut against on the header were in need of replacement, since they were so worn. The knife kept jamming up and eventually one of the bolts holding the knife in place, worked itself loose. Thankfully it didn't get lost, so after putting it back in we cut some more until finally the bolts broke off completely, which ended the day's cutting.

We took the wobble box off (that we had just replaced in Davidson) to take it into Great Bend to get it drilled out. Since everything was closed, and we didn't have anything else to do, we decided to do the weekly laundry thing.

Tomorrow we replace the guards, fix the knife and commence to cut once again...

June 25

View of the day-What a change, good yielding, standing wheat!

We started out the day moving the Freightliner load and the shop trailer out to the farm, about 20 miles west of Great Bend. Once we got out there, we unloaded the tractor and cart, and then came back to Great Bend to get the combine from the doctor's office. They claimed it was fixed, but it still looked like there was a leak, but since it was a small one, we thought we would roll until the low fluid alarms went off. We were just ready to leave the lot, when Al got an air leak in the cab of the truck, so we lost 45 minutes getting that rectified. We finally rolled out at the crack of noon, got to the field and unloaded the combine on the road, and commenced to cutting..

What a pleasant surprise the field was, all standing straight and looking like it was going to yield fairly well...Marilyn though she had died and gone to heaven...till the knife broke. It didn't take long to fix and we made dust till the humidity got too high around 10pm. It is very unusual to have such high humidity in this area, usually it is 95-100 degrees with about 15% humidity. Today it topped out at 84 and the humidity never got below 45%. The crop is yielding around 40 bushels/acre and the test weight is 60 lbs (the norm). Our farmer said this field was the one hit the worst with the last frost, they didn't think it would amount to much, and are really surprised (and pleased, of course). Their other fields should do alot better, as long as the weather holds.

It was amazing the number of fields getting combined between Great Bend and where we are just south of Albert (that's the town name where Al is hauling). It doesn't appear that any of the combines out cutting are custom crews, they all seem to be local farmers. Everybody is going like mad, and the farm reports on the local radio are talking about how there are no cutters around, which is going to slow down the harvest.

Beautiful weather, gorgeous views-everything is so green this year, great crop...Al is putting the rope away again...

June 24

View of the day-The loads from Cherokee, OK to Great Bend, Kansas.

Well we made it to Great Bend. We left with the first load of General, combine and header, at 8am and made Great Bend by noon. We had to drop the combine off at the Case IH dealer, and what a surprise...a Sunday, the service manager was working and there must have been four or five mechanics working on equipment! Did we mention it was SUNDAY??! It may cost a bit, but at least it is getting the repair needed so we can roll tomorrow...oh, and we probably don't have to pay the $10 after hours service call fee either...rant off.

We had a quick lunch and headed back to Cherokee to get the second load of Freightliner, tractor/grain cart and camper. Once everything was packed where it belonged, we hooked the shop trailer behind the camper and we were on out way out of Oklahoma by 5:15.

These water towers are in Pratt, KS...just couldn't resist...

We got to Great Bend right at 8pm and left the rig and the shop trailer on an empty lot and nestled the camper in to it's cozy spot at the Finer Mobil home park. Marilyn was a bit concerned the camper wouldn't maneuver into the spot on such a narrow street, but with the hand held radio to direct Al into the lot, it was accomplished without a discouraging word being uttered. We are half settled in and are getting calls from northern Kansas for more work, it could get hairy.

No internet at the campground yet, so it's off to the motel down the street to get signal to send this off...

June 23

View of the day-Getting ready to clean the combine and header by our camper.

Well we are officially finished the harvest in Oklahoma, although the harvest is far from finished for a lot of farmers.

We finished the last 25 acres and then moved everything back to town. We were only about 5 miles south,so it didn't take long to get the equipment moved, especially with the help of the farmers. Once the combine and header were in our "yard", Marilyn got the pleasant task of cleaning the chaff and dust off the machine, inside and out, and then pressure washing the whole thing. The worst part of blowing the chaff off with the air compressor, is that most of the time, the wind just blows the crap back on you, and with the hot sun and high humidity, one ends up with sort of a "mud pack", which really gets you scratching. It doesn't deter the mosquitoes, though.

Once the combine and header was dusted off, out came the pressure washer. This is a lot less unpleasant, since, once you get wet, it tends to cool you off. Of course, if you haven't blown all the chaff off, you end up with a whirlwind that sticks all the chaff to the newly washed surfaces...sigh...more work. Because of all the moisture and heat, the grain that was piled up in the hopper had sprouted, an interesting smell to say the least, but it cleans up faster when it is in clumps. After all was said and done, the end result was an almost new looking combine and header, which made all the work worthwhile.

We finished cleaning just after it started to sprinkle. A lot of nasty looking clouds had developed, and the daily, late afternoon storms had kicked up, fortunately they split over us, so it didn't last long. We moved everything back to the field where the trailers and trucks were, and got things loaded and tied down. The ground was a bit spongy from all the rain, and when we tried to use the lifts on the trailers, they just pushed the steel plates they were sitting on in to the ground. It took a bit of ingenuity to get them high enough to hook up, but once we did, we went looking for the "easy button".

After an much needed cleanup, we went out for a late supper to the Smoke Shak, at Ingersol, about 6 miles from town, with John and Peggy, our farmers. Always a great meal, and we closed the place down.

Tomorrow we take the General with the combine and header to Great Bend, Kansas, where we will leave it at the Case IH dealer to have an o-ring replaced on the hydraulic pump. It was rebuilt in the spring and they figure the o-ring must have been pinched when in was put back in. Or, there is a possibility that something might have happened during the "stuck in the mud" episode. Either way, it will get fixed. The ProHarvest brigade will be moving up to Great Bend from Fairview, OK on Tuesday, so it looks like they have to move where the harvesters have congregated, and not wait for the harvest to finish where they are at.

We will drop the rig off and turn around and come back to get the Freightliner load and the camper and hopefully get everything moved up in one day. Out Kansas farmer called to tell us they were getting a downpour this afternoon, so we do have a bit of a reprieve.

But, that never lasts long in Kansas...

June 22

View of the day-Seems like yesterday..oh, wait....it was. Al and his "Cat". Had to use the picture from the video camera still camera, which doesn't have the resolution of the regular digital. Imagine...Marilyn actually forgetting to take the camera to the field!

Compared to yesterday, a rather uneventful day. High humidity again, so it was a late start, but at least we got going. The field had a lot of water sitting in the terraces, so we pretty much patched out what we could, without taking any chances. It is always a temptation to "just get a couple of feet closer" to get what you can, and it usually ends like yesterday did...with an oops.

We talked to our farmer in Kansas and we will be moving (hopefully) up to Timken on Sunday. We moved to our last 50 acres and got about half of it done before the cutting got tough. We actually had more acres to do, but unfortunately, we couldn't get to them, which really is a heart breaker, one of the awful aspects of the job. Some years you can't find work, and others, like this year, you can't go to the elevator without having the manager saying "I know this is a stupid question, but, are you looking for any more work?"

We just want to get done with what we have left here, and hopefully there won't be any moisture in the forecast...

June 21-Summer's Here!

View of the day-It could be worse, the two trucks (neither one ours) met on a narrow bridge. The cradle from the combine trailer clipped the guard rail and the other truck was nudged over, blowing a tire and heading into the ditch. No one was hurt, but it took quite a few hours to get the tanker truck loaded on the tow truck. I don't think the front tire is supposed to turn that far.

Well now, what a day it has been. It started out cloudy and very high humidity (what's new), so we headed over to the laundromat for our weekly outing. We fixed a few things on the combine trailer and grain truck, just killing time until it looked like we could get going in the field. We headed out around 4pm and did a test, and it was good and dry...too bad the ground wasn't in the same shape. Al got to start combining while Marilyn moved the grain cart to the other end of the field, although she never got there. Just as she was rounding the corner, came the ominous phrase from the radio from Al..."It looks like I will be buying the beer this summer". When we had a crew, the first person to get stuck had to buy the beer for the summer...so...

First we went back to town to get the chains and tow strap, and then we unhooked the grain cart from the tractor and got things lined up to try and pull out the combine. As soon as we tried that, the wheel dug down deeper, the ladder got buried and the header just couldn't raise high enough, so it started piling up the mud. We unbolted the ladder, and tried again, the tire just went deeper on the one side, and wouldn't budge on the other. The first picture shows the combine at it's worst.

After the tractor tires started digging its own holes trying to get traction, it was time to call in the big artillery. The local construction company brought out a D6 Cat, and in no time at all, he had us pulled out. The second picture shows the combine out and the farmer standing beside the wheel that was buried. Once we got out, it was back to cutting, although a change of venue in the field was in order. Marilyn headed up to the top of the field, thinking that would be the driest area, but noooo. Feeling brave and with nothing to lose, Al took over combining, while Marilyn worked on the grain truck door. Apparently, the latch was broken so it wouldn't open and Al wasn't going to do the "Dukes of Hazzard" entry. When the sun set, we called it a day, no more mud, and a door that now opens (with a Ukrainian handle).

Let's hope for a better tomorrow...

June 20

View of the day-Harvesters comparing stories.

Wow, what a day! We got to sleep in, sort of, thanks to the storms that went through. We went over to Alva to visit with some other harvesters in the same boat (no pun intended...oh, hell, yes it was) as everyone in the area. It was unbelievable the amount of outfits we met as we were heading back to Cherokee. We must have met at least three crews with a total of 15 machines on trailers, and all of them were moving north. In Cherokee, there has been a steady parade of crews moving north, you wonder how many harvesters are left...there are a LOT of fields left standing, and some crews are still in Texas!

While we were at the motel in the picture, a gentleman came up to us and asked if we knew anyone who would be able to cut 700 acres for him up at Liberal, Kansas(about 150 miles NW). They didn't get the rain and the yields on dry land were around 50 bushels and acre, and the irrigated was running around 70. No one put their hands up, the story was the same all around the area. The local farmers are looking to find cutters, since theirs have pulled out to head to their next jobs, and it would appear all of Kansas is ready.

As the rains keep coming, the quality of the wheat goes down, and the price goes up-$5.73 today. A lot of the farmers have had insurance come in and zero their crops, which isn't helping the cutters who have stayed behind. If it isn't one thing, it's another, and each day brings new challenges.

Al got to unload the seed wheat on his truck, and do a few repairs on it. Marilyn went out to the field to check the combine out, and the rain gauge on it showed 2.75 inches, although the top of the rain gauge had blown off, and not knowing at what point in the storm that had happened, the best we could do was guess at the amount.

Marilyn had a conference call meeting at 8:30pm with Theatre Saskatchewan, on which she is a board member. We didn't bother getting phone hooked up in the camper this time, so Marilyn had to use the only payphone in town, down at the convenience store, right on the main highway through town. It was fine until the sun went down and all manner of insect creature found it necessary to dive bomb, and just generally creep her out. It wasn't too bad...the call only lasted til 10pm!

All day long, the sun shone and the wind blew, so maybe tomorrow...

June 19

Views of the day-Just before the rain hit

Ahh...some things never change. The day started out humid and cloudy...AGAIN, but sort of cleared off as the day went on. We headed out to the field to do a test around 2pm and it was still to wet...surprise, surprise. Our other farmer stopped by the field for a chat, and after an hour we tested again and it was finally fit to go.

We made a couple of rounds, did a couple of terraces and didn't get stuck, which was nice. We were trying to at least get a truckload of seed wheat before the rains came. For a while it looked like it was going to miss us, but everything was just so unsettled, we knew something was really brewing. We managed to get back to the grain cart just as the sky let loose...guess who had to roll the tarp in the rain...? Standing in the pouring rain really wasn't that bad, more like a pleasant shower, since the temperature was still around 90 degrees.

Al took the grain truck to the farmers yard, just a few miles south of Cherokee, and parked it in his shed. By the time we headed into Cherokee, the rain was so bad, we couldn't see the elevator from four blocks away, it just poured. We got back to the camper and with the awning still out, were able to take in the downpour. That is until the hail started falling. No casualties on the camper or truck, even though some of the nuggets we picked up were almost two inches across. Fortunately, it didn't hail too badly in town, but we didn't really get the brunt of the storm, lots of rain, lightning and thunder, but nothing like they got around the rest of the area. Tomorrow's reports should be interesting, so far our rain gauge at the camper shows and inch and a half. We will be travelling over to Alva to visit with some other custom harvesters from Canada, who were able to keep combining for at least a couple of hours before they got shut down too, we believe they got hit harder over there.

Al claims this weather system will have all of the harvesters in Oklahoma sitting and waiting for a bit...just what everyone needs when they are waiting for us up in Kansas...

June 18

View of the day-Great Salt Plains Spillway NE of Cherokee, OK

Another cloudy and humid day, but we kept our fingers crossed that it would clear off. We moved the grain cart and tractor out to the field and then went into Carmen to hook up the combine trailer to the General grain truck to move it back to Cherokee. We stopped for lunch in Carmen, and then moved back to Cherokee, where we did a few repairs on the trailer and truck. The rest of the afternoon was a waiting game.

We talked to one of our customers, who had gone out and checked one of the fields we were to combine and they will be zeroing it out, since they figured it would only yield 1 or 2 bushels per acre. Not good news for any of us. We also received a call from northern Kansas, and they are already harvesting in that area. It seems the crop is ripening everywhere at the same time, and there have been a lot of crews heading north. At the restaurant at lunch, one of the local farmers was talking about how his neighbor's harvesters had pulled out and left him high and dry(well...not really dry...), so if we can't make it north, we might have to double back to pick up our lost acres.

We did go out and do a test, but it was still borderline, so we wait some more. It's tough to do when we are camped along the street the grain trucks use to get to the elevator, which is a half a block away. There's cutting somewhere, they keep rolling past.

Soon that will be us...

June 17

View of the day-the Cherokee elevator waits...

The day started out looking good with the sun shining and wind blowing, but once again it sprinkled again in the afternoon. We were invited out to fathers day lunch with our farmer's family, so we got a real great home cooked meal. Marilyn left the awning out on the camper, so when the rain and wind started, we had to leave early so the camper wouldn't blow away.

We moved the combine north to another field that did not have as much rain, there had been 4 inches at Carmen over the past few days, and this field had less than an inch. When we got out there, the neighboring field had four red combines making dust, so maybe tomorrow...

June 16

View of the day-Gloss Mountains near Orienta, OK where the tornados visited on June 13.

Still too wet to do anything, so we unloaded the tractor and grain cart, then went down to Carmen to do a bit of work on the combine. It looks like there was more rain in the Carmen area, the side roads were carved up in places, but drying out. Of course with the grain lying down, the fields will take a bit longer to dry.

And we wait...

June 15

View of the day-Storm clouds brewing over Walmart.

Nothing much today, rain during the night and rain off and on during the day. We went on a road trip to Enid, and the rain hit there too. A lot of the fields are lying flat, with water in the terraces and low spots, so it should be interesting once we get rolling.

June 14

View of the day-Checking the loads along the highway heading north

Well, we finally made it to Cherokee, OK.
We did miss a lot of the bad rains on the way back to Davidson, but the effects of what they had done during the night were evident as we made our way north.

A lot of rain had fallen during the night and the forecast is for more rain the next couple of days as the weather system is stalled over Oklahoma. One of the places we pass through had gotten eight inches overnight! They were working on getting the highway repaired in one spot, as the water rushing over the bridge had peeled off the top layer of pavement. You could see the fence lines with grass tangled on the top wire from the water running so high. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures, since we were on the move. With more rains expected, we will get some put up.

We got into Cherokee and got the camper nestled into it's new home. Al took a drive out with our farmer, while Marilyn did the important stuff...setting the dish up. After we cruised around town to see what crews were around, we headed over to Miss Dotties restaurant, our regular eating spot when we are in Cherokee.

We were out of bottled water for our dispenser, and since the grocery store in town had removed it's refill station, well, we had to go to Alva, 20 miles west, to the Walmart Supercenter to get refills. We checked out the campgrounds for familiar faces, and then got out of town just as the rains hit. It absolutely poured off and on all the way back to Cherokee, and continued through the wee hours.

Same old, same old...

June 13

View of the day-Storm clouds brewing over Orienta, OK around 2:30pm. A tornado was on the ground later on in the evening in the same area.

Well, we're half-way there. We left Davidson with the combine and header, and got to Carmen, OK around 3pm. We were fortunate enough on the way up with the load to have missed most of the weather, but it was slightly different on the way back to Davidson.

A lot of the fields had been combined on the way north, and many had combines cutting to beat the weather. Wheat prices today were $5.34, so the more they can get off before the hail, the better.

We had a couple of different crews pass us heading north, and on the way back we must have met at least 10 crews, so everyone is on the move.

Once we got to Carmen, we unloaded the combine and headed back to Davidson. We hit a couple of heavy downpours, but by the time we got back to the camper, the sun was shining. It was back into Frederick to do laundry again, and tomorrow we pack everything else up and move to Cherokee.

June 12

View of the day-Loaded up and ready to make the move north.

With only 25 acres left to finish, it was a short day of combining. After moving the equipment back to Davidson, and cleaning them off, it was time to load. We managed to get everything loaded and almost chained down, when the rain hit. A couple of different showers went through, but we forged on.

Later we went into Frederick for Al's Pizza Hut fix, and noticed the fields all cut and the campgrounds empty. It's kind of weird - the "circus" comes to town for a couple of weeks, then moves on, and it's like you were never there. But, no matter where you are, for the time you are there, it's home. Some days, after a month or so and after several stops, when you get up in the morning, you really have to stop and think about where you are camped. It's actually kind of neat, you could be anywhere.

The crop yielded all over the place averaging from 20 to 50 bushels an acre. The price of wheat at the elevator today was $5.24, and it has been going up regularly over the last week, so there is a bright spot on the horizon.

Now, if only the fuel prices would go down...

June 11

View of the day- Cotton plants in the wheat that refused to give up the ghost.

We got started early again and were going great guns until another hose went. It was next to the last one that went, so it didn't take as long to get it apart, get a new one made, and get back in the field.

Trucks were an issue today, with the lineups at the elevators. Al could haul 10 miles to the east to the small town of Harrold, or 10 miles to the west to the city of Vernon. Harrold had the line-ups because they were loading rail cars to make room for more grain. The first load of the day had a line-up of 18 trucks, so Al turned around and went to Vernon. There was a cloud burst while he was unloading outside so the box was a bit of a mess.

Still, with the delays and breakdowns, we added another 120 acres to our total, and the end is in site. Hopefully, we will get finished and get some equipment loaded to head north on Wednesday.

June 10

View of the day-nothing to do but look around...

A weird weather day, starting out cloudy with sprinkles and thunder. We headed out to the field, Marilyn fueled and serviced the combine, while Al took the last load of the field to the elevator. The high humidity and the scattered showers made the moisture in the grain a bit high, so we went into Vernon for brunch, and got a Walmart fix in.

By the time we got back out to the field around 4pm, the grain was dry enough to start. After only two rounds around the field, a hydraulic hose sprung a leak, which made steering a bit of a challenge. By the time we got the ruined hose off, it was too late (and Sunday) to get the parts, so it was an early night.

There is 140 acres left to go before we move north, and this field will be the first of the season with terraces. We have been spoiled with flat fields, but things will start 'rolling' along as we move to the high plains.

June 9

View of the day-the only view of the day for the combine driver...

Best day ever, and one that will be hard to beat. Up early, home by 1 am, but covered 155 acres! Lots of combines still around going hard, but when we got in tonight the six campers parked across from us were all gone. Soon that will be us.

Needless to say a short entry, after a lonnnggg day.

June 8

View of the day-loading the truck for it's one hour wait in line at the elevator in Harrold, TX.

Woo-hoo, another 100 acre day, even with a breakdown and having to move a few miles.

Things were running smoothly, we even got rolling by 10am, but with only 5 acres left the knife broke. We spliced it back together and it lasted one round before it broke again, and after doing the same repair, the third time it broke the bolts, we decided to see what the cause was. Originally it seemed to be the fact that the wheat had been broken down and was lying close to the ground. There were also various weeds intertwined with the wheat and that seemed to keep stopping the knife by jamming it up with the rope-like stems.

We figured the wobble-box that drives the knife could be the problem, so after removing it, we were able to get hold of the Case IH ProHarvest brigade again and they saved the day by bringing us out a new one, and once it was mounted back on the header, we were off. So, even with the two hour delay, we finished the field and made the move to the next 160 acres.

So far the crops have been running anywhere from 24-50 bushels per acre, and since the weather has smartened up, moisture is down around 9-10%. With only slight chances of precipitation for the next week (although we never trust the weekend forcasters) we will hopefully be finished by Monday and be ready to move north to Cherokee.

June 7

Enjoy the view of the day-crossing the Red River into Texas.

The day started out very humid, and we were working in a weedy field the day before, so with a late start in store because of the grain moisture, we were able to go into Frederick to do some much needed laundry.

We managed to finish the field we were on and then made the move to start on the Texas fields. There had been a lot of rain, and we were not really looking forward to getting stuck, but with the wind and the heat from the past couple of days, the field was reasonably solid. That was the good part, the bad part was the wind and heavy rain had taken a toll on the stand of the wheat, and most of it was broken down, which made for some tough picking. Even with the move to another field and starting late, we still managed to cover 100 acres.

The weather was impressive, with the dry line just east a few miles from where we were cutting. We were able to watch as the small line of clouds turned into some massive thunderheads, and we had quite a light show for most of the evening. Fortunately, it was moving NE, so we missed any bad weather, at least from that one. They are calling for the possibility of some storms over the weekend...our fingers are crossed so they miss us.

We did some banking at the local bank in town, one of the last community owned banks. The manager was really accomodating, so we thought to show our appreciation for his help, we would give him a couple of Canadian beer that we had brought with us. The problem was how to present them to him, in his place of business. Here's the conversation-

Marilyn: Thanks for your help, here's a couple of Canadian "cucumbers" for you. They are warm so you might want to put them in the fridge for a while, "cucumbers" are a lot better cold.
Manager: Thanks, a lot.
Marilyn: I hope you like "cucumbers", if you don't partake in them, you can give them to your tellers.
Manager: Oh, no, I really like "cucumbers". As a matter of fact, I think I consume to many of them sometimes.

The end of a productive day...

7. June 6

Another great harvesting day, although the wind could have been a bit slower. There didn't seem to be an ideal direction to combine without the air cleaning system getting plugged, causing overheating. When that happens, the front end shuts off and there is nothing left to do but wait til things cool down, or head across the field to the compressor and blow out the chaff. Finding a couple of two inch holes in the air screen narrowed down the cause for overheating, and some red duct tape on the inside and outside of the hole fixed things well enough to finish the day. Of course the ProHarvest brigade from CaseIH came right out to the field to bring us the parts we needed...now that's service!

We finished the harvest for one of our customers and then moved about 6 miles to the next field. While we were getting things organized to start, a local farmer stopped to see if he could hire us for a few acres. It's 'feast or famine' in this business. Oh well, 50 acres to go and then we head across the Red River into Texas, to continue the harvest. The fields look to be a bit wet, but hopefully the wind will dry them out before we get there, or another storm system passes through.

Al is depressed now that the hockey season is officially over. Actually he is more depressed that he got knocked out of first place in his playoff draft, at pretty much the last period of the series. There's always next year...

The fields are disappearing daily, as you can look in any direction and see dust flying from all the combines at work, it really is something to see.

It's after midnight and it's still 80 degrees outside, tomorrow should be another good one...

6. June...

June started out with strong storms and lots of rain. We were fortunate to only have gotten half an inch here and there, but there were areas around that had in excess of 5 inches! Even with the rain that fell, we were able to get rolling later on in the day, and although we didn't get a lot of acres done, it did take some off the total that had to be done.

The weather had gotten back to normal for Oklahoma, we had drying weather, hitting the low 90's, and the winds have picked up. Combines are going all over the place, it's hard to tell where the highway is at night with all the lights in the fields from the various crews trying to get finished so they can move up the road to the next stop. A lot of crews have already moved on, some are stranded further south, waiting for things to dry up. We have a bit of time before we have to head north. Al has found, with every load he takes to the elevator, they ask how many acres we have left and do we want more work, cause they know a couple of farmers looking...

So far Marilyn has managed to get in a couple of 100 acre days, which really helps to whittle down the acres left to do. It makes for long days, but with XM satellite radio to pass the time, the acres go by. It's surprising how familiar a field can be from year to year. It used to be when Al would say "I combined that field...", Marilyn would always add "...in 1942", because he always remembered where the fields were (although he had a tough time with city addresses).

Now Marilyn is finding herself doing those things, and it seems when you spend 15+ hours travelling over every part of a field, checking out the scenery, it does tend to stick with you, and you actually look forward to getting out there every year. And the views! Today we worked on a field right along the top of the Red River. On a perfect Oklahoma day, great cutting, great weather and beautiful scenery, what's not to love about this job?