September 16, 2009

View of the day-Dumping the barley into the latest truck to join the fleet in the field...sporting 'Rider Pride'.

Al was up early to dump the General then go out to the field to service the combine while Marilyn made lunch for the day. We were able to start around 11am...it was promising to be another good day for harvesting. We could have used some wind to keep the heavy straw from piling up against the standing grain, but it was dry enough for most of the day that the straw was disintegrating and didn't create a problem.

Al was driving Kim's combine and about mid afternoon, Marilyn called to say the coolant alarm was going off and after stopping the combine and doing an inspection, discovered the water pump was spewing antifreeze all over the side of the combine. Kim came over with the pickup and confirmed that it was the water pump, so we had to do a parts run to Storthoaks for a new pump. We figured it was a good idea for both of us to go, that way the combine could cool down and we would be able to remove and replace the pump while it was relatively cool.

There was a tanker that had rolled of the side of an approach just north of Carlyle and they had the highway closed all day...some sort of flammable liquid spilled and businesses were evacuated by the hazmat crews. They had been detouring the traffic all day and when we got back to the field from our parts run, the reason for all the traffic on the road past our field became clear. We were on the detour...which made it tough for the truckers trying to get the grain out.

We got our pump and went back to do the fixing...of course it has to be in a place on the combine where you almost need a mirror to look around the corner to see where the bolts holding the pump in place were. We got the old one off and lined up the new one...Al was concerned because everything when 'way too smoothly' according to him...until we tried to get the serpentine belt back on. Once we consulted the manual, the belt went right on and it was time to fill up with antifreeze.

While Al did the filling, Marilyn got the tools back to their homes and prepared to get back to work. Marg had brought supper out and was shuttling Kim to his combine after he brought the semi out for us and she inspected the mess on the side of the combine. That poor combine is going to need a swish at some point in time with all that sticky antifreeze that coated the side of it.

We got back to work and finished up all but the last chunk of the field before calling it a night...the straw had gotten pretty tough and the dust was just hanging like fog, and Al had jumped the reverser chain on Kim's combine...it was time to quit.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a carbon copy of today...minus the breakdowns...