August 27, 2013

View of the day-Made it just under the wire before the rain hit...it wasn't running off the header.

With the forcast of another hot, humid day, we knew we should be able to get the last 75 acres done. We hoped, at least.

We went out to the field just before noon and Marilyn went directly to combining, while Al kept busy rearranging the General and cart. This field was the one that was on the edge of the big hail that had hit in July, so the yield was lower than the first one, but still ran about 33 bu/ac.

The clouds were starting to build in the SW, but there weren't any weather warnings out. Still, we didn't want to get into the position of having a few acres left to do because of the rain.

As the clouds got darker...and closer...we crossed our fingers and dropped the hammer to try and get done. One problem...besides the weather...was that we hadn't fueled up the combine today.  Marilyn thought she should have enough left to finish and we were right beside the fuel tank, so if we needed to, we could just stop to fuel. But time was precious.

With only about 10 acres to go, the first low fuel light came on.  Marilyn knew she had some time before the second stage one came on and was hoping it wouldn't come on until after she was finished. But...Al had also told her, "what ever you do...don't run it out of fuel", so being gun shy, she stopped to get enough to finish the field.

It had already started to sprinkle, but the rule is...you don't stop until it is running off the header...and it really wasn't that bad. But it was coming. Al watched as Marilyn made the almost last pass, giving her the "thumbs up", thinking she was finished. Nope. There was a 6 ft swath left that she had to clean up...which wouldn't have been there if she had of had auto steer.

Al got the last load off the cart and finished dumping the last of the wheat into the bin as the sprinkle started to get a bit heavier. After Marilyn got the combine and tractor parked, Al moved the General into the lineup as Roger closed the bin before the big stuff could hit.

Before we left the field, Roger and his wife Shirley had sent out a chicken dinner with watermelon and cantaloupe for dessert. No cereal for supper tonight!

That's it. The last of the combining in the United States for the 2013 harvest season. Now we clean up to go back into Canada this weekend.

But don't worry, we're far from done. You know harvest in Canada...