View of the day-Combining hills north of Robinson, ND with the farmers combine picking up swaths just across the way.
An early start to the day as we tried to find the possible parts we might need. We also needed to find out where we could haul the combine if we couldn't fix it ourselves. It looked like the Case dealer in Fessenden (about 60 miles away) would be the best choice since it was sort of on the way north for us. We then headed out to the field to see exactly what the problem was.
We were pretty sure there was a problem in the feeder gear box...the noise that was coming from it when the rotor was engaged sounded pretty severe. Once we took the main pulley off the spline on the feeder gear box, we could see that there weren't any splines left in the centre of the pulley and that was why it would just spin erratically or catch every once and a while. Thankfully the gear box was fine inside, and the spline that the pulley was on seemed to be only slightly worn.
We phoned around to see who had the pulley in stock and we found out Lamoure, ND had one. We were 65 miles away from Jamestown and Lamoure added another 85 miles to the mix...but we needed the part, so "shut up and drive". Fortunately Al remembered our friend Mike from Pingree was occasionally working in the Lamoure area, crop adjusting, so he gave him a call. Mike was indeed in the Lamoure area and was going to be heading home soon. Al got the part ordered and paid for at the dealership and we met Mike in Jamestown for lunch and got our part.
We went back to the field and proceeded to re-assemble the combine, hoping that we had the problem solved. Once we cranked it up, it appeared we had solved the problem, and Marilyn commenced to making dust to finish the last 35 acres.
All the while this was going on there were 60% forecasts for rain and the sky to the south was dark blue most of the day. The rain did stay south of the interstate so we were spared that, at least. It was also a blessing that the farmer had air bins and was willing to take the wheat as long as it was below 15% moisture. We finished!
Marilyn got the header trailer from where it was parked at the first field and loaded the straight header onto it, then roaded the combined back to Tuttle. After unloading the truck, Al came with the pickup and header, and we called it a night, then went back to the camper to figure out the move north tomorrow.
Al's birthday is today and Marilyn wanted to purchase a Yorkton Terrier Junior Hockey season ticket. He has had one for the last few years, and today was the blitz for season tickets, if you purchased one you had your name put into a draw for a chance to get your ticket for free. Marilyn's sister Marg was still in Yorkton, where her son was attending the hockey school, so she went to pick up Al's ticket. She was informed that Al didn't need to purchase a season ticket, because he had been elected to the Terriers executive and they get free tickets. So he sort of won the draw...he got his season pass for free!
Now Marilyn has to come up with a different clever birthday gift...
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