View of the day-Here we go again…but we weren’t the only one to get stuck.
Today was the day we were going back to straight cutting, so we went out to where we had left the combine to fuel and service before moving to where we had left the straight header.
While we were servicing we noticed that the feeder chain had jumped a cog and one of the three strands was shifted making the chain crooked. Fortunately, we were able to get it back in the right cog without too much work and we were back in business. But first we had to go and pick up one swath that had been left from the night before…there were a lot of sloughs that connected and it was no surprise that something was left out there.
We got moved over to the other field, got the header hooked up, then waited for the rest of the crew to show up from lunch before getting started. There was a farmer that wanted to bale some straw, so we took our spreaders off, moved the chopper knives and got started ‘laying a bead’ of straw…hopefully he doesn’t curse Marilyn too much. Although there was straw, the challenge of keeping the swaths in order was a bit tough because of the sloughs…and speaking of that…
While going around one of the sloughs, far enough out…or so she thought…the front tire dropped into a soft spot. The farmer that was wanting the straw made the mistake of coming to inspect…and got stuck too. There is the making of a song, here. One of the Massey’s was able to pull the truck out, but Al said not to even try using it for the combine…the big CaseIH 435 was put into action and since Marilyn knew from experience that once you hit the mud, you stop and don’t try to spin your way out, it wasn’t that deep. Or as Al likes to say…once you’re in a hole, stop digging…although it doesn’t only apply to the mud.
Once we got the tractor hooked up, it was no time at all and Marilyn was out…and back combining. We finished that field without any more incidents, moved across the road to finish the field we had started last week, then moved about 4 miles over to the next field and got started on it.
After the sun went down, the temperature dropped and the humidity went way up, making the straw pretty tough to spread…Marilyn had the spreaders and choppers back in operation, because there was no need for straw here. We shut down, had a short ‘safety meeting’…it was gorgeous out, even with the humidity. The 85º day probably helped a lot.
More of the same tomorrow…minus the getting stuck, of course...
Today was the day we were going back to straight cutting, so we went out to where we had left the combine to fuel and service before moving to where we had left the straight header.
While we were servicing we noticed that the feeder chain had jumped a cog and one of the three strands was shifted making the chain crooked. Fortunately, we were able to get it back in the right cog without too much work and we were back in business. But first we had to go and pick up one swath that had been left from the night before…there were a lot of sloughs that connected and it was no surprise that something was left out there.
We got moved over to the other field, got the header hooked up, then waited for the rest of the crew to show up from lunch before getting started. There was a farmer that wanted to bale some straw, so we took our spreaders off, moved the chopper knives and got started ‘laying a bead’ of straw…hopefully he doesn’t curse Marilyn too much. Although there was straw, the challenge of keeping the swaths in order was a bit tough because of the sloughs…and speaking of that…
While going around one of the sloughs, far enough out…or so she thought…the front tire dropped into a soft spot. The farmer that was wanting the straw made the mistake of coming to inspect…and got stuck too. There is the making of a song, here. One of the Massey’s was able to pull the truck out, but Al said not to even try using it for the combine…the big CaseIH 435 was put into action and since Marilyn knew from experience that once you hit the mud, you stop and don’t try to spin your way out, it wasn’t that deep. Or as Al likes to say…once you’re in a hole, stop digging…although it doesn’t only apply to the mud.
Once we got the tractor hooked up, it was no time at all and Marilyn was out…and back combining. We finished that field without any more incidents, moved across the road to finish the field we had started last week, then moved about 4 miles over to the next field and got started on it.
After the sun went down, the temperature dropped and the humidity went way up, making the straw pretty tough to spread…Marilyn had the spreaders and choppers back in operation, because there was no need for straw here. We shut down, had a short ‘safety meeting’…it was gorgeous out, even with the humidity. The 85º day probably helped a lot.
More of the same tomorrow…minus the getting stuck, of course...
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