August 26, 2011

View of the day-Changing of the guards...and sections on the header.

WE DIDN'T GET STUCK TODAY!!!

But, of course, we didn't cut today either.

Al was up early and into Jamestown to pick up some oil and a filter for the combine. The alarm had been going off for an oil change so he figured we could get it done after we were done cutting today. He had also arranged to meet with Chris, the territory rep for MacDon that was in the area, so he could take a look at our header.

Once Al got back, Chris showed up and he hopped in with us in the pickup and we went over to the combine to check it over. He did a few tests, then said new guards and sections would make a big difference, so we decided to bite the bullet and get that job done...hopefully it would make using the useless reverser unnecessary. After we took him back to his car, which was at the camper, we went over to the Cafe for lunch, then headed back into Jamestown to get the guards and sections.

We stopped at West Country to get the guards, and the gentleman who was helping us out just happened to have some toy tractors on his desk...well, there was another 20 minutes comparing notes. He has several 1/16 Versatile tractors that he wants to get rid of since he is now into the 1/32 scale...Al was pretty excited about a couple of them and they will likely end up in his collections at some time.

After we got the parts, we picked up the shop trailer at the farmyard, then trundled it down the rough road out to the field...no wrenches left on the wall from the ride. We started the assembly line at the knife head, so we would do the hard part first. That went well, so we continued on taking off 5 guards and the knife sections underneath, then putting on the new ones...it worked like a dream. We had visitors while we were out there, but didn't stop our assembly and we were finished in 3 hours and after getting the hold downs set to perfection, it looked fabulous.

While we were working on the knife, we had time to drain the oil and change the filter, so Marilyn could reset the alarm and get rid of the chimes for another 300 hours. Marilyn greased the combine, then we tested out the new guards and sections...it ran like a top...smooth and chatter-free.

Justin was able to keep combining and worked at cleaning up all the patches that we couldn't get to earlier. He did manage to get stuck after we left last night with a full hopper, but we didn't get to see it, so it could be just a rumor.

We cleaned up all the tools, leaving the wrenches on the counter because that is where they would end up with the trip back down the trail, then took the shop trailer back to the farm and called it a day.

Tomorrow, we get to test the new knife...