June 30, 2012

View of the day-Now here's a sign that we have been off work too long.  Al opened up the  tarp on the grain cart to find this bird's nest...empty.

We took it easy this morning, planning to go out to the field around 2:30pm to at least, do a test to see where we were at.  Marilyn drove the combine out and Al brought the straight header to the field, then after getting it hooked back up, Marilyn did a test.  The combine showed moisture of 16%...not a good sign, but we tested it with our small tester and it showed 13.8%, so Roger, the farmer, took the sample to town, after giving us a ride back to the camper.

Marilyn drove the tractor and cart out to the field and Al followed with the General, then we went back to the camper to wait for Rogers call with the moisture...it was 13.3%.  We were good to go.

Marilyn had forgotten that the monitor software had been updated by the ProHarvest guys and that meant a clean slate...so all the calibrations for moisture and yield needed to be done again.  This was quite obvious when the monitor showed 450 bushels and she couldn't fit it all in the cart...only 100 bushels too much.  Once Al called back with the correct amounts, we were back in business.


Here in South Dakota we have to make sure our loads on the truck are not overweight, so that means smaller loads.  Too bad the elevator is over 20 miles away, which in turn means Al might not make it back before the combine gets full.  When that happens, Marilyn gets to break the Freightliner out of retirement and put on her truck driving hat to drive it to the elevator...unless Al is on his way back, then we switch trucks on the highway and she brings the empty truck back to keep combining.

This field was only 35 acres and it was going well over 40 bushel per acre, so Marilyn did have a wait once, but Al said to wait and not put any on the Freightliner.  He took the second load in while Marilyn finished the field, filled the cart, then tarped it and headed for Winner.  Al had dumped the General and was fueling it up at the Winner, then waited until Marilyn showed up with the Dodge to get fuel for the combine.  After that was done, we went to MacDonald's for a late supper, then came back to Hamill.


The sky was lighting up all the way home and the storm warnings are out...hopefully it passes us by.


Three weeks to the day since we last combined...