View of the day-Spring wheat...no beards...seems strange. Al wanted AIS by 10am, but Marilyn was way ahead of him and was ready to go by 9:30. We moved the 25 miles over near Kisbey, swapped the pickup head for the MacDon and started combining. We made pretty good time on the first patch...the farmer wasn't sure if we would get here in time, so he did some swathing of the outside rounds. He runs a 914 International pull type combine from the 70's, so swathing is the only way he can go. We got the first 35 acre patch lapped up, then moved the combine over to the next field. Al picked Marilyn up with the Dodge and went back to get the General so he could take it to the bin. Marilyn started back with the pickup but noticed something in the field...she thought it was a big bird, but then she realized...it was one of the spreaders from the combine. Great, here we go again. After collecting the parts laying in the stubble, she went back to the combine to put it back onand start combining again. Next, she gets a radio call from Al telling her the service guy from White's Ag was coming out to the field to see where the leak on the header was coming from...another work stoppage.
Alvin took the shield off where the leak appeared to becoming from and discovered the hydraulically filter had not been tightened all the way and the angle of it made the oil leak off the back of the filter and on to the hoses. Well, that was an easy fix. Combine back together and back in the wheat. Marilyn had noticed a squeaking noise every time the separator was kicked in, but Al figured it was one of the spacer pipes rattling around. It got worse in the afternoon and after getting Al to start it up while Marilyn looked for the squeak...and found it. The bearing had gone out of one of the stationary idler pulleys...time for a parts run. We called to Estevan to see if they had the pulley and bolt we needed...yes, they did, so off we went the 50 miles SW to get the part. Of course, when we got there it was the wrong part..and they didn't have the one we needed. But Weyburn did. Another 50 miles NW this time. We got to Weyburn and they had left the part in the "will call" box for us and even did it on warranty...something that we find a lot of the dealerships won't do. After picking it up, we stopped at Canadian Tire to see about getting a metric ratcheting wrench, although Al wasn't sure if it was 19mm or 20mm. We found a set and the price tag for the 7pc set was $44.95, but when we rang through the cash register it came up as $14.93...we paid and went out in shock. Should have bought two at that price. Now to drive the 60 miles back to the field.
We got back to the combine and by now it was dark, but with the lights of the pickup, Al was able to get the pulley and belt back in working order. He tested it out on 2 acres of wheat that were left in the patch we had been working on, then we shut it down for the night. Then drove 21 miles back to the camper...
View of the day-Organized chaos in the yard as everyone gets their rig ready for the day. We worked bankers hours today. Got started combining at 11am...still short the JD due to a wrong hose sent out...so Kim and Marilyn combined on Bob's canola, while Dudey and Bob hauled grain. Al decided since he now has initials after his name...Al Kuntz, SSRL...he should take the day off to drive around with his elbow out the window and survey the area.
At 12:30pm, we took a break for lunch...not a usual thing we like to do...once you get in the combine you don't get out until the end of the day. Today, however, we were getting "Dinner in the Field", courtesy of CJ 1280 AM and 102.3 FM radio out of Estevan.
Pam and Sue came out with a cooler full of KFC with all the trimmings. Doug, Kim's neighbour, had entered his name at a business in Estevan, his ticket was drawn and since he had been doing some swathing for Kim...we were in! There were a couple more neighbours that came and with Bob, Dudey, Gordie and Al, we had a good crowd to work those buckets of chicken over. After swapping stories and chowing down, we were ready to go back to work. We finished the field then moved over to another 80 acre patch and by 5pm, we were done for the day...bankers hours, right? We went back to Bob's yard to fuel the combine, then Marilyn took it back to the shop over at Kim's yard to clean it off. We are going over to Kisbey next and will be working for an organic farmer, so it has to be really clean before we can start there. While Marilyn was cleaning off the combine, Al took the General over to Kisbey and Gordie followed him in our Dodge to bring him back to the camper after he had Big Jen parked at the field. After supper in the house, we were done for the day...
View of the day-The JD gets a house call from the doctor as they discover the combine needs a new rad...no green running here today. Another good start to the day, we were out at the field and making dust by 10:30am. With the JD out of commission, Al drove Kim's combine, while Kim and Dudey hauled grain for the day. Kim had been using our handheld two way radio in his combine to keep in contact with us, but for some reason, it didn't get charged enough and after two conversations, it was dead...so the cell phones got a workout. We get to listen to a lot of different radio stations during the day, knowing what time to switch over for the news or a certain program or announcer. Today, Al was listening to CJME out of Saskatoon/Regina and decided to call in to their weekly "Saskatchewan's Smartest Radio Listener" contest. The question was...Saskatchewan has, per capita, the greatest amount of what? Al called in and said, although he hates the game...he thinks the answer is golf courses. And he now gets to wear the title of Saskatchewan's Smartest Radio Listener for a week and gets to go on the radio and ask next weeks question...he also gets a $50 gift certificate to Audio Warehouse.
After that bit of excitement, it was back to combining...although we never stopped during the aforementioned action. We were combining just north of the drive-in, right along the #9 highway and on one pass, Marilyn noticed a semi pulling a red combine and grain trailer...it was followed by another and another, then the headers and the campers...a harvest crew moving north...a site we hadn't seen for a while. It was Holland Harvesting out of Minnesota heading up to Indian Head. It was an interesting day watching all the hawks cleaning up the rodents in the field and it was even more entertaining seeing how they maneuvered around the canola stubble. Those stalks are anywhere from 10 to 20 inches tall and hurt like hell when they skewer your legs...even with jeans, so those birds were having a time trying to miss them when they dive bombed their lunch. A busy day in the field with lots to look at.
We finally got the field finished just after 9pm and after Marilyn got the combine dumped into Kim's tandem, she was on her way back to the farm with the combine. Al tried to get his combine emptied, but there was no room left in the truck, so he parked it by the Dodge and followed Marilyn back to the farm. Finally a 120 acre day...
View of the day-Al driving the combine, as we meet Kim...see, he does get to drive once in a while. He needed the air conditioning after the hot day we had today. Today started out pretty much like the last couple of days, servicing and getting started combining by 11am...well, Al started combining, at least. Marilyn got lunches made and then ran into town to get some new water filters for the camper. Back at the field, Marilyn took over combining from Al and we finished the first field, moved to the second quarter and finished that one, then drove back to the yard to fuel the combine up. We were going to move over to Bob's canola, but he decided he better do a test before having us all jump in and start combining...good thing, it was still a bit high in the green count department. Kim took his combine about 8 miles north east to see how his green count was. Bingo. We were good to go, so Marilyn started driving the combine up to the field and Al followed in the General.
This field had more than a few swaths that had been blown around by the wind...this is what they were supposed to look like going into the feederhouse. The outside rounds were just spread apart, but the east-west swaths were rolled up into those hoagies again. After picking up the first headland swath, Al jumped into the combine and took over driving...now it was his turn to work those piles of canola through the combine.
He did a fine job, with no casualties or plugging...well, maybe a couple of times in the feederhouse...but no rotor plugging. As you can see, that is quite a wad that has to get through the combine.
The wind died down just at sunset, but the temperature was still well above normal for Saskatchewan...we're not complaining...it was a gorgeous evening. More of the same tomorrow...
View of the day-The morning lineup and meeting of the minds. We went out to the field just before lunch...there was a lot of dew this morning. After Marilyn got the windows washed on the combines and the truckers showed up, we were back in business.
We finished the field we were on, then moved across the road to the next quarter section. There were several pump jacks on this piece...as there were on the last one...so there was a lot of dipsy-doodling around them.
The wind had also wreaked havoc with the outside rounds and it took three passes on one swath to get all the spread out canola picked up. There were a couple of spots where you could see the wind had rolled up the swath leaving a massive "hoagie" for some unfortunate combine driver to try and pick up. The above picture is where the swath had been and further up, you can see how it neatly rolled it up.
Here you can see the beaver house that Marilyn was "lucky" enough to have to pick up. After skipping over it and picking up the next swath, she was able to come at it from the narrow end and after some work, had it all cleaned up. Ya gotta love a challenge.
We were lucky enough to have pizza brought to the field by Precision Ag. They came out with their weigh wagon to check on a couple of test strips that they had Marilyn combine. While they were waiting for the test, they brought out a cooler full of "beverage" and a couple of delicious pizzas from The Office Bar and Grill in Carlyle.
After dining, they proceeded to dump the weigh cart into the General, before gathering up the leftovers and leaving us to our business once again. Marilyn had her Wheat Harvest Movie t-shirt on and was asked what it was all about, so here it the trailer for the upcoming movie.
The wind died down so the dust was really hanging in the air, which made for yet another bright red sunset. It had already been a gorgeous day and that just topped it off. We kept going until Al had filled the bin which meant the trucks had no place to dump and who wants to move augers in the dark? We filled the last tandem truck at the field, then called it a night.
The truckers have it pretty tough during the day as you can see from this picture.
And then there is the pie that Al insisted that Marilyn pick up from Costco yesterday. You can see the size of it...a foot wide pumpkin pie...now that will take a can or two of whipped cream. This picture had to be posted to prove to Bob from Balcarres that Costco now has the big pumpkin pies. Marilyn prefers the fruit...
View of the day-Some weird looking webs on a tree in Moose Jaw. We didn't get too close, but they look like home to some insects...the bigger one that you can see is almost 2 feet long. Marilyn was in the house having coffee at 7:15am...quite a shock to the system. Marg and Marilyn were going on a road trip to Moose Jaw to have a birthday breakfast with their dad, John, who will celebrate 86 years tomorrow. Also along on the trip was nephew Gordie and Marg's neighbour, Barb, who was getting dropped off in Regina at a 75th birthday party for a friend of hers. While the girls and Gordie were away, Al and Kim started back into the straight wheat, got it finished, then switched headers and were joined by Bob in the JD combine on the canola. The did about 25 acres, then Bob decided that the green count was too high, so they all moved west a couple miles to start in on Kim's canola. Our road trip to Moose Jaw took us past a lot of fields of canola that had been ravaged by the strong winds yesterday. We also noticed a lot of the fields were still pretty green and we even saw one canola field that still had some blooming going on. Marilyn thought she was still in North Dakota as we passed by fields of corn, soybeans and blooming sunflowers...how the times have changed. We got to Regina, dropped off Barb, then made it to Moose Jaw just in time to meet the group at Smitty's for breakfast. It was a surprise to John, he had no idea we were coming...thanks to mother, Anne's subterfuge... and was thinking it was just going to be our brother Mike (who never showed) and cousins Linda and Greg...who had just moved back to Moose Jaw...and who Marilyn hadn't seen for almost 30 years. Strange how cousins are so close when they are young, then everything changes as the years go by. We stopped at their apartment to do a bit of computer tech support for Anne, then left to start our way back home...via Regina and the Costco store. We got our shopping done, met Barb, then drove back to Carlyle. Surprisingly enough, we only saw three fields being combined on our 120 mile trip back home...so it is still a few days off.
We got back in time for Marg to make supper and Marilyn got to take the General out, since the guys had filled the semi and silver streak tandem and needed just a bit more room to empty the combines before calling it a night. We had supper in the house with the rest of the "crew", then went back to the camper...done for the day. Marilyn is back in the combine tomorrow...
View of the day-Al working in the wheat, fighting the wind...and it was a wicked one. It wasn't an early start, due to the rain from yesterday, but with the wind blowing as hard as it was, it didn't seem like it would take long to dry down. Al and Kim went over to Redvers to pick up a new header for Kim's machine. He had an older MacDon header with bat reels and he was having quite a time in the downed wheat. He also wanted to go from 35ft to 30ft to help with the feeding of the heavy crop...that and the pickup reel promised to make picking up the lodged wheat a lot easier...he hoped. He ended up with a HoneyBee header, but since Marilyn didn't see it up close, the model number will wait until tomorrow. Marilyn picked up lunch for Al from Subway, then dropped it off at the combine and rode around for a round. Al was having trouble with the scraper brush on the outside of the radiator door, stopping from the strong wind. This caused the alarms to go off in the cab...and with Al...so he put in a call to Ray at ProHarvest and while he didn't find a permanent cure, he was able to combine the rest of the day. Marilyn got the day off...sort of...to get a few things done in the camper. Marg had gone into Estevan and had brought home supper, so we ate early and fixed up a second round when Al and Kim came in for the night. Tomorrow should be another good day of combining for Al, while Marilyn has AIK(a$$ in kitchen) for 7:15am...road trip, perhaps...
View of the day-Any one need a cat? Seven of the little cuties in one batch...lots of scrapping going on come feeding time. Al was up early-ish to unload the General and get all the chaff blown off the combine. Today we were getting back into the straight cutting on some wheat across the road at Bob's. While Al was working on the combine and getting the header flanged in and greased up, Marilyn went into town to see about getting a replacement phone for Al. Nephew, Gordie, was working at the electronics store where Marilyn went to get the phone and Al kept saying..."don't let him up sell you into something I don't need". Really Al...you are talking to the Queen of 'up sell'. After finding the phone and making sure by changing over we wouldn't lose our current cellular plan, Marilyn walked away with a new hard shell, no frills, flip phone for Al. Now the big job came...how to get the contacts transferred from his old phone. With no working screen and the phone would not connect to the computer to sync up, it was going to be "old school"...they would have to get typed in to the new computer program manually...all 185 of them. Fortunately, Marilyn wasn't needed at the field, since Bob was having trouble getting low enough to cut the lodged wheat, he switched over to driving truck. So with Al and Kim in the red combines, Bob and Dudey drove truck...this left Marilyn free to get those contacts moved. The good news was that Marilyn had backed up Al's phone just last month, so she could at least print them out for reference.
We had clouds all day...and it felt like something could be brewing. There were some weather warnings out and we did get a shot of rain...enough to shut the guys down just before supper time...but by sundown, most of the clouds had moved northeast. Just in time for the CFL game on TV...how convenient...
View of the day-Al passing by the drive in screen. We got some rain up at the combines...not much, but enough to push the start time to 1pm. Al started out driving the combine, while he had Marilyn working on his cell phone. It still worked to call and receive, but the screen is white, so texting is out. After a thorough cleaning and inspection, Marilyn wasn't able to get the screen back, so we have to come up with some way of working around the 'cell contract' system.
The plan was for Al to run our combine until the semi was full, then he would take over Kim's 2388 and Marilyn would run our 7088 and Kim would haul grain. Dudey, Kim's nephew was the main hauler in his tandem truck and he was keeping up pretty good, so Marilyn just sat in the Dodge and waited her turn. Eventually, the time came for her to start combining, just in time to finish the field...then wait some more as we looked for trucks who must have been lined up at the "elevator"...the bins in the yard.
We got the big part of the field done, then crossed the creek...on the road...and started on the last 20 or so acres. We finished just at sunset, then rushed to get the rigs back to the yard before dark. We had to drive past the entrance to the drive in and they were already lining up, so with the pickup heads still on, it was a tight squeeze to get past some of the vehicles rushing to get in line for the show. We got the combines back to the yard, then Kim gave us a ride back to the field to get the Dodge and the loaded General. After a shower and BBQed brats, Kim came over for a "nightcap" and Marilyn dusted off the bread machine to make a loaf of bread for lunch tomorrow. Another piece of equipment that gets to make the run next year...
View of the day-Well...yesterday. Somehow this one never made the upload. Al getting ready to pull into the yard with the last load. We had a list of things to do today...small things, but necessary. We stopped to pick up some antifreeze and Bars Leak for a small leak on the tractor radiator, then went for fuel. While Al was getting the fuel, Marilyn ran into A&W to grab a quick snack, then met Al at the Coop cardlock. We went to the cardlock to get diesel for the tractor, and the pumps were screwed up, but we still spent 30 minutes trying to get them to work. No point in putting a sign up saying it's not working, right? The guy even came out and tried to fix it, but we're pretty sure he didn't succeed...we had no time to wait. We dug into the bag of snacks that Marilyn had picked up, only to find they had screwed up the order...Al made short work of going in and getting it "straightened" out. What could happen next?
It was cloudy all day and it really looked like it was going to rain at any moment, but we lucked out and were able to get started combining. We had a bit of servicing to do before we got going...Al tightened the reverser chain and shortly after we started, it was making a heck of a racket. We checked it out and could see that it was stretched, so we loosened it back a bit to stop the clatter. Then Al sent Marilyn back to town to pick up a new 10ft box of 80H chain. Marilyn did as ordered, but nearly choked when she got the bill...$2.43 per inch X 120 inches...yee-ouch...with taxes $350! That's some kind of chain. That didn't help Al's mood much. After getting the chain, Marilyn tried to get fuel again...same $hit, different pile. No fuel. We finally got on a roll and between the three combines...Al, Kim in his Case 2388 and Kim's dad Bob in his JD 9600...we got the field lapped up around 3pm. We went back to the farm with the combine, while Kim moved 8 miles up to the next field to do a test on the canola. We waited for the results. While we waited, Marilyn's friend, Teresa, was passing through on her way back to Yorkton and stopped in to get caught up and fill Marilyn in on all that had been going on at home over the summer. The rest of the crew stopped to eat in the house where Marg had picked up pizza for supper...nice, thick, cheezy pizza.
Al had taken the combine and headed up to the other field and got started on the outside round with Kim and Bob. After Teresa left for home, Marilyn went up to the field to keep Al company. Some of the "beaver houses"...great tall lumps of canola that got caught in the swather made for some delicate work on the reel speed button, but Al got it done without plugging the feeder house.
We were getting drops of rain on the windshield off and on...there was a 30% chance of thunderstorms and the way the bugs were clouding up, we knew there was something coming. As Kim was coming around with the outside round, you can see the swarms.
This field has the local drive-in on it and it still has shows every weekend. Dark Knight Rising is on this weekend, but we will likely be done before we get to "sneak a peek"...
View of the day-Al heading over with his paperwork to the office on the USA port of entry. Up early and ready for the last day of moving. We were a three person crew today as we enlisted the help of nephew, Gordie, and his pickup truck. We needed him to pull the pickup head so we could get all three loads back at once. We got to Kenmare and Al jumped in with Gordie to go out to the farm and hook up the pickup head trailer. Slight problem...a train stopped on the tracks and it was blocking the only road to the farm. Marilyn had gone with the Dodge to get the General started and aired up before hooking up the straight head...her load for the trip to Carlyle. While waiting for the guys to come back, she grabbed a quick snack, then went across to the Ace Hardware to see if she could find the fixings to build a 50 amp extension cord for the camper. They couldn't help, but they sent her out of town to a specialty electric place...no cord, but she did get an outdoor outlet, so that was one part looked after. Al and Gordie were still waiting at the crossing and with patience wearing thin, they decided to come back to grab a snack and kill some time...hopefully the train would be moved by the time they got back out there...and it had. They got the header back to the parking lot and we were ready to forge on.
We stopped on the USA side got rubber stamped and were on our way to the Canadian side...and they seen us coming. We went in and paid our GST on the cargo trailer, got the combine imported and were on our way to Carlyle. We got out to the pasture where we were parking everything, got the combine unloaded, then went in to town to get Gordie's pickup fueled up before stopping for lunch. Just as we were heading for the A&W, we met a van from a local electric company, so we stopped to ask him if we could get a 50 amp extension cord made up. He sent us to see his son back at the shop, who told us no problem, he could get one of the guys to do it right away. All we had to do was decide how long we wanted it...Marilyn thought 60 ft was long enough and Al didn't, he figured it should be longer. Marilyn said she could move the trailer closer to the house if it was too short, but went ahead and got a 70 ft one made up. Back at the combine, we were getting it serviced and fueled, when one of the farmers we had worked for in the past asked us if we could do the last 30 acres of canola that he had left because he had smouldering fire issues with his 2388 Case combine. Al got the go ahead from Kim, so Marilyn moved the combine out to the field and Al started combining. Marilyn picked up the extension cord and went back to the farm. By this time, Marg was home from work and between the two of them, the new outlet was wired in and both air conditioners in the camper were cooling the joint down. Al was thrilled. Next job they had to do was to try and find out where the air leak was on Kim's grain truck. It was sitting loaded, at the far end of the field and there was a major air leak in one of the lines to the brake pot, so back to the shop trailer to get some Rescue Tape. The hope was to wrap it with this silicon tape and hope it would work to get the truck into the yard...it worked like a dream, so Marilyn was able to drive it to the bin site so it could get dumped.
Al finished combining for the farmer, then moved over to start on Kim's canola. Marilyn brought out the General, so he would have something to dump into and Marg went out to do a green count on his canola sample, then gave Marilyn a ride back to the camper. Now it was time to aim the dish and get cleaned up after a long hot and humid day. Today's humidex was every bit as bad as Oklahoma...nasty to work in...
View of the day-A beautiful sight in the morning...a field of sunflowers on our way to the farm to get the last load. We were up early to get the camper closed up and ready for the road, before going out to the farm to get the General and combine. After getting the General across from the campground, we hooked up the camper and started north. A mostly uneventful drive until we neared Cole Harbor. Al thought he heard something and looked in the rear view mirror just in time to see a chunk of rubber flying off one of his back wheels. We limped the truck onto a side road in the small town of Cole Harbor and proceeded to try and find the nearest place to get a new tire. Even though the rubber cap had peeled off the tire, it was still holding air, so after getting the combine trailer blocked and unhooked, he took off 15 miles to Garrison to get a new one.
Marilyn stayed with the combine just in case someone came along and wanted us to move...that never happened. After about an hour and a half, Al made it back with a spanking new tire...$540 later...we proceeded to get hooked back up again and we were back on the road again.
We got to Kenmare and while Marilyn was fueling up the Dodge, Al got the General parked, then went over and started the Freightliner, since it would be crossing the border first. It started without issue and after airing up, we were rolling north, once again. We got to the border and stopped on the USA side to check out before we went on to the Canadian side. Smooth sailing there. On the other side, it was a bit different than it had been in the past. We needed registrations for all the equipment and the officer was surprised when we didn't have any for the tractor and cart...until we told him they didn't need to be registered. He was cool with that and after 20 minutes, we were on the way to Carlyle. We got out to Marg(Marilyn's sister) and Kim's place, then got the tractor and cart unloaded out in the pasture, then it was time to find a spot for the camper. We opted for sewer hookup as opposed to high power hookup...each option was on the opposite side of the yard. We thought we could live without the A/C since it cools down so much in the evening and we wouldn't be hanging around the camper during the day(we hope). With the no sewer option, we would have had to hook up the camper to dump the tanks somewhere. A sewer sidenote...Marilyn saw a septic pumper truck go past the field one day in Menoken and the business name was "The Turd Burglar"...she still chuckles every time she thinks about it.
Camper parked, windows open...a good night's sleep before going back for the last load first thing in the morning...
View of the day-A driverless tractor and cart outside Minot, North Dakota...no trucks in sight, so they may be waiting for a while. We left the camper at 9am and went out to the farm to get the Freightliner started, then hooked up the straight header to the Dodge. After doing our circle checks to make sure everything was working, we struck out for the road north. It was an uneventful trip, not a breath of wind, but crazy traffic...fortunately, we had four lane highway for 120 miles. Marilyn thought we must be in Canada already, because all the vehicles that were passing us had Saskatchewan licence plates. There were lots of combines in the fields as we drove along and we even saw a huge field of standing canola that a couple of combines were just getting started on...and one that had been standing, but the wind had completely flattened it. Someone is going to have a time of it. We made Kenmare around 2pm, got the rigs parked, then headed back for Menoken. We stopped in Minot for a late lunch, then we were off again. We made it back to the camper in plenty of time for Al to watch his CFL Riders game...which, apparently, was an embarrassment. Marilyn went into Bismarck for her last shopping trip before crossing the border. Hopefully we get one load across the border tomorrow...
View of the day-Al makes one last check around the rigs before calling it a day. Perhaps the old age comment from yesterday should have been for Marilyn, since she got the blog done and was sure she hit the 'publish' button...apparently not. Today was cleaning and loading day. We had a good wind to keep the chaff away as we blew everything off and the temperature was a lot lower than any of the other loading days we have had this season. First we had to go and get the Freightliner from its parking spot, then take it out to the farm to get it set to load the tractor and cart. Once it was in place, Marilyn started blowing off the header while Al worked on getting the grain cart cleaned out with the pressure washer. The water supply had really low pressure, so we didn't use the heater, but it didn't matter much because the water was so nice that it didn't leave any spotting and it did a great job of taking the black canola dust off the header and combine. We got the header loaded onto the high transport trailer and Marilyn took the pressure washer to it. With that ready to go, we got the tractor and cart loaded, chained down and hooked up to the Freight...load two ready to go. Before Marilyn started washing the combine, we decided to go in to Lincoln for lunch. We had our burgers, then fueled up the Dodge and filled one of the propane tanks for the camper before going back to finish loading. Back at the yard, Marilyn started washing the combine and pretty much went through two tanks of fuel doing it...but it was finally done. Now to get loaded. While Marilyn was washing the combine, Al got the shop trailer hooked up to the combine trailer and had everything lined up for Marilyn to load the combine. After we got that done, we chained it down, got the backup camera hooked up and called it a wrap at 7pm.
View of the day-Making the second last pass on the canola...light at the end of the tunnel and a wash is in order. Happy Birthday to Al! It was his day today and he made a point of reminding Marilyn of it every chance he got...just so she would be nice to him. She couldn't decide what kind of cake to get him, so he got carrot cake AND cheese cake...and season two DVD's of Modern Family and The Middle. Marilyn has learned not to get him something she "thinks" he will use...or learn to use, so you can't go wrong with his favorite passtime TV. The night got down to 38ºF, which made getting up this morning pretty slow. The sun was shining, however, and once the blinds were opened it warmed up quickly. After making lunches and getting the water iced up, we were ready to take on, what we hoped, was the last day of canola.
We had a bit of a wait for the humidity to drop, but we finally started making dust around noon. We estimated there were about 90 acres left, but we had a slough to work around which cut back on productivity. It was at the far end of the field, so Al had to do some shuttling all the way back to the yard, but the good news was that the bins were really close now as we were getting to the end, so he could just leave the truck at the bin and dump the cart right there.
Roger estimated that we should be done by 7pm and Al figured more like 7:30-8pm. Roger was the winner, as we lapped up the last pass with 10 minutes to spare at 6:50pm. The 2012 USA portion of our harvest was officially done as Marilyn did the same thing as the cart and dumped right into the General as it was parked at the bin. We got everything parked, then went back to the camper to get some papers that needed to get faxed to the border so we could take the combine back through, then went into Bismarck to find someplace to fax. The truck stop was right next to McDonald's, so we faxed first then ate later and never even had to go into the city. Back at the camper, Al's phone was ringing steady as he got birthday calls from back home. He was still counting down the hours he had left for "Marilyn being nice" time, and even tried to weasel an extra hour by using the time on the satellite receiver that was still on home time...an hour behind. Marilyn got off easy...he went to sleep early to get ready for cleaning day tomorrow. Or is it old age...
View of the day-Al dumping canola into the grain cart. We got out to the field around 11:30am and Al pulled the first shift. He combined until the General was full, then Marilyn came out to the field with lunch and took over in the combine. Al had a short haul, since the bin site is in this field and we are continually getting closer to the bins, so at some point he will be meeting himself coming back on one of his trips. The temperature was a lot cooler and there was a strong north wind, but the sun was shining which was a nice change. It almost felt like late September...and we are only halfway through August! Still, we know fall is coming and the rest of the week is looking like it will have the same temps...except the nights are forecast to go down to 40ºF...brrr. We managed to get in 125 acres and are looking at slightly less than that to get the field done, so...we could possibly be done with our USA harvest tomorrow.
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We custom harvest in the summer and fall, and to find out more check out our first post. Click on any picture to enlarge and view!
