skip to main |
skip to sidebar
View of the day-First of the season and it only got worse as the day went on.
Al took a road trip over to get the General unloaded...apparently it was a nightmare getting down the roads. He had to give Danny a call to come over and help him get the auger tractor running so they could dump the truck.
Marilyn spent the day cleaning out the camper and hauling stuff into the house. When Al got back, he claimed to have seen a mouse running across the floor of the garage, so he set up his trapline.
Marilyn was working on emptying some of the tubs that she brought in, when she saw a mouse dart out from under the stove...in the house. Just great.
After setting a trap with peanut butter near the stove, we watched as the little bastard came out, ate the peanut butter, but sidn't spring the trap! Marilyn had set a different style of trap down the hallway and the rodent crawled all over it, but it didn't spring either.
Apparently, we need to put some weight on the pest...
View of the day-The skinny road to the bin yard that looks like it will wash away in a strong wind.
It was cold, cloudy and WINDY! We went out to the field early so we could get the combine unloaded, since rain was threatening.
While Al got the General unloaded, Marilyn got the combine fueled and in position to dump. It was already sprinkling pretty good, so we knew we wouldn't get going right away. The hope was that it was just a passing shower.
We got everything unloaded and the auger moved to the new bin, then decided we might as well go back home for a while to wait it out.
We had lunch, then Al did a little maintenance on the compressor, which was now riding in the box of the truck instead of the shop trailer. Around 2pm, we headed back out to the field to give it a whirl. Fortunately, it hadn't rained, so it was a go.
We combined until after dark...which falls at 5:30pm these days...or so it seems. Again, we were concerned about the sloughs in the dark and with the wind blowing the dust and chaff around, it was near impossible to see very far. We still managed to add another 40 acres to the total, which was pretty good considering the rain that was falling all around the area, was missing us.
Unfortunately, here at home tonight, it is pouring...
View of the day-A perfect start to the day...beautiful weather and great cutting.
We had to stop in town before we came out to the field, to get four new hydraulic hoses made for the grain cart. It didn't take long to get them made and we were out at the field, putting them back on the cart. All systems go.
Marilyn got cutting right around 10am, while Al went to the bin site to get the truck unloaded. There were bearing problems on the auger, but he was managing to limp it along until Dale could get out with a replacement. Unfortunately, Dale was having issues with one of his combines...the back axle broke on his 2188...something we have dealt with on a couple of occasions.
Dale did show up with the bearing later on in the afternoon, so he and Al started the rebuild while Marilyn kept on combining. By the time they had finished the fix, it was already dark and Marilyn had filled the General, grain cart and the combine hopper. Everything will get unloaded in the morning.
It has been a long time since we have left a full hopper in the combine overnight...
View of the day-Finally in the wheat.
Another early morning with the end of the canola in site. It went pretty fast and we were finally finished at 2pm.
We got the combine set for wheat, hooked up the straight header and moved across the road to start in the four quarters of wheat that is left to do. A nice change, with a beautiful stand and the option to cut whatever way Marilyn feel like.
We were all set to leave the field for town, when Al discovered one of the hydraulic hoses on the grain cart was leaking profusely. We got it taken off so we could get it fixed in the morning, then it was home time.
Terriers game for Al, theatre rehearsal for Marilyn...
View of the day-Rock picking with the wrong implement, as you can see by the large rock on the bottom left. One of the disappearing fingers had a dirty hook to it, but didn't break as it was manufactured to.
We were out at the field and rolling before 10am again, until Marilyn picked up a rock as she was going around a slough. The disappearing finger is made so that if it gets broken, it snaps off inside the auger in the holder and the rest of it drops or goes through the combine. The pin that was holding this one had broken, but the finger stayed in and try as we might, we couldn't get it out of the holder. Al got the big rotor wrench out of the engine compartment and used it as a pry bar to try and straighten the finger, since it refused to budge. It worked.
Al watched as Marilyn started the combine to see how it was going to work when the feeder started. He heard something at the back of the combine and when he inspected, it was what was left of another finger that had run through the combine and shot out the back, just missing the tractor. But the bent one stayed in the auger.
We had another good day with just over 80 acres, which has been the norm for the last few days. It was warm, windy and cloudy...but there was a small break in the clouds to see the height of the solar eclipse that happened in the afternoon, just after we moved to the last quarter section of canola.
We combined without issue until Al got another bin filled just after dark. We shut down, fueled the combine and called it a night.
Tomorrow, we finish the canola...
View of the day-This is a google map view of the section we are working on. There are a lot more sloughs on them now, thanks to the wet weather. North is up on the map and we have finished the NE & SE quarter sections and are working on the SW. This will be one of those fields that we will be glad to have behind us.
We were at it early again, getting the servicing done and picking up swaths before 10am. There was a chance of rain, but it never materialized where we were working, which was great.
We almost got finished the second quarter section...there was still a small patch that we couldn't get to from the main field. Hopefully we will find a "back door" in to get it as we work further into the SW quarter. Al is having to haul all the way out to the road on the east side of the field, so the tractor and cart are indispensable...can't imagine working without one.
We worked until dark again, still not taking any chances of getting stuck...
View of the day-how long has this old girl been sitting here for the trees to have grown in so thick around it?
We were up early and out at the field servicing by 8:30am.The thought was, it was safer to start early, even if it meant it would be tough and we had to go slower and quit early to avoid getting stuck...or lost. We put in a new inner air filter, hoping it would eliminate the air filter warning light that kept coming on sporadically. It did the trick...to start with, at least.
Al had a truck to unload as Marilyn got started back into the maze of sloughs in the field. Things were going quite well until the header started squeaking and after investigation, we found an eyebolt had broken. We managed to patch it back together by having the break held together by the nut.
Marilyn went on a parts run to Yorkton, while Al continued combining. We figured if the eyebolt broke again, at least he would be able to dump the truck while he waited for Marilyn's return.
It was just over an hour and Marilyn was back with the part. She was talking to Al on the radio as she pulled in the field and he said "wow, perfect timing, the bolt just broke again". Al dumped the combine, then it was fixing time.
We got the header back together with the right part and continued combining until the sun set. Unfortunately, the air filter warning light had started up again, but it never shut us down.
Best day on the canola, so far. Almost made 100 acres, but were short by 9...
View of the day-Getting the bearing pressed onto the shaft of the pulley at Minute Muffler in Yorkton.
We were up and out early to get to town to see if our pulley was in stock at the CaseIH dealer. Lo and behold, it was and we were able to get a replacement bearing, too. Once we had that in hand, we got Danny to press the bearing into the nice shiny pulley and we were on our way out to the field.
The pulley went on without any issues and once we got most of the shields back on the combine, Marilyn was able to do a test run and once that was given the seal of approval, the last shield went on and we were away. And only 45 minutes behind our usual start time.
We got the field we were on finished and moved a mile down the road to start on the full section that was left. More sloughs and short swaths...which Marilyn was getting used to, but still not liking. We got as much done as we could before the sun disappeared, then called it a night...no sense getting stuck.
Another beautiful day, with more of the same for tomorrow...
View of the day-Got to walk past this on the back road by our place...a lot of happy ducks in there.
Today held such promise...sunny, warm, windy...perfect harvest weather. We were out at the field and making dust before 10:30am looking to get at least 80 acres done. We had to scale back from 100 due to the move down the road to a new field and the constant backing up near the sloughs so we wouldn't get stuck.
We finished the last of yesterday's field, then moved to the the new field. This one was a full quarter...minus all the sloughs we had to go around. Marilyn made the first round and this field seemed to be running a lot better than the last one...the feeder kept getting plugged, so it was slow going for a while.
Al had to get the auger moved to a new bin and once he got it set and shut everything off, he heard...nothing. Where was the roar of the combine?
Marilyn had plugged the feeder and used the reverser to get the wad out from under the auger in the header, but when she tried to get the header started, the auger wouldn't turn forward. She couldn't see what the issue was, because she had to be sitting in the seat for the front end to run, so she waited for Al to come back.
Once we surveyed the situation, we discovered the pulley was turning but the shaft it was on, wasn't. We got the pulley off and thankfully the shaft was still fine...the grooves were almost like new, as you can see from the picture. The pulley, however was another story.
We had a good look at the pulley and you could see the problem right away. There were supposed to be matching grooves where it fit on the shaft and this one was as smooth as if it belonged on a round shaft. It couldn't have been machined better.
We tried to get the pulley apart from the bearing, since we didn't need the whole kit. Of course, even though we had the shop trailer with us, getting the bearing off was going to be a task. Al called his friend Danny, who was working out in the field around 10 miles north and he met us at his out door shop to do some dividing. He came up with a plan and the bearing was out in no time at all.
Tomorrow we need to find parts...
View of the day-The view from our office is ever changing but always beautiful.
We had big plans to get started early today, but that didn't work out. It was cloudy and foggy...or perhaps it was smoke in the air...either way the humidity was up there, so we wouldn't get going before noon.
We did a bit of service work on the combine, then started rolling around 1pm. The wind was wicked, it was chilly out and there were even the occasional sprinkles...none of which amounted to much. The worse part of the wind was the chaos that it was creating with the swaths at the top of the hills...they were spread all over.
Our other issue was trying to figure out the swathing. There were only two rounds around the sloughs and with it being so wet, that made turning around kind of sketchy. Fortunately the duals are doing their job by keeping the combine afloat. The swather man had his work cut out for him with all the sloughs he had to work around, so...shut up and drive.
The first fields we did were patches that had sloughs so close together, that when they pinched off an area, Marilyn was running into herself trying to get the small spaces cleaned up. We got it done, though.
Al decided to run the cart over to the bins where he left the General parked, rather than trundle it through the rough passes between fields. Once we get moved over to the wide open field along the road, it should be a lot smoother trip for him.
We quit just around 8pm...it was getting a bit tough and we would be moving over to the part of the field that really needed to be done in the daylight.
Plus, we had a 30 mile drive home...
View of the day-Picking up canola again.
We needed to get the camper parked so we could get it unloaded as time permitted between harvesting. Marilyn thought we might as well put it in its winter spot and just walk the extra way to unload it...it wasn't packed as heavy as when it made the USA run.
When we went back to see if the ground was clear for parking, we noticed one of the cedar trees that had been dead for sometime was starting to tip over...right towards the garage. We figured out a way to run some chains and ratchet straps around another tree to pull it away from the garage, yet not fall on the towing vehicle. We figured on using the neighbours tractor and walked over to get it...and proceeded to spend an hour trying to get it started. That took longer than the pull down...it dropped perfectly. Al picked it up and added it to the wood pile down the road.
Once we had the camper spot open, we got it parked, stopped in town for lunch, then we were off to the field. Marilyn got the windows washed on the combine...it took quite a hit from the rain and dust on the move up. After getting the combine set back for canola, we waited for Dale to show up and give us a tour of the fields we had to do...and warn us of the wet spots to look out for.
We started combining but quit just after dark. We don't know the fields and it would just be a lot safer working in the daylight, besides, there was a hockey game in town and Marilyn had to get the dish set up and the camper emptied...or at least make a start.
Fabulous weather day and more to come...
View of the day-The combine is loaded and ready to hit the road.
Al was on the road early with the General to go pick up the combine trailer where we had left it near Kipling. Marilyn had to wait for the trucker to show up for the combine, so they could start for the field near Saltcoats.
Al got the trailer parked where he had planned on our field near Rokeby, then went up to our yard to empty all the "stuff" that had been loaded in the back of the General. Once he had all that done and the truck fueled up, he started back to the field to meet us.
It was raining pretty good at Carlyle while the combine was getting loaded. The driver got it done and with Marilyn and here flashing light to lead the way, we hit the road. Fortunately, we ran out of the rain just north of the Moose Mountain park...and we even managed to see a cow moose in the ditch that was thinking about trying to get across the road. A good blast on the air horn sent here back into the bush.
We made it out to the field, just as Al was coming down the road from the north. They got the combine unloaded and we parked it in the bin yard, then headed back to Carlyle.
We were planning on staying one more night in Carlyle, but because we had made such good time...even considering the 45 minute wait for road construction...we decided to pull up stakes and go back to Yorkton. It didn't take long to get everything put away and hooked up...Al had brought the 1/2 ton to pull the shop trailer back, so we each had our own ride.
We got back to our yard around 10pm, pulled the camper up on the lawn, grabbed what we needed in the house and called it a night. We could see that SaskEnergy had trenched a line across our front yard...they had to move a couple of things to get through. They cut through the power lines to our front pillars and didn't hook them back up.
Someone is getting a call tomorrow...
View of the day-Getting the last of the beans dumped in the bin means Kim and Marg's harvest is done.
We got out to the field and started combining just after 10am and with Kim working on one "island" and Marilyn on the other, we were finished in an hour and on our way back to the yard.
Marilyn started blowing off the header and we got it loaded on the high speed transport trailer. After getting the rotor compartment blown out, we pulled the two concaves we had taken the wires out of.
Since there were no more beans on the horizon, we had to replace the wires we had pulled, fortunately Marilyn had numbered them in the order they came out...the hope was that they would go back "home" easier. Al would hold them with the vice grips and pound the grips with the hammer, 10 inches at a time...for 28 wires.
It actually only took us 45 minutes to get all the wires back in. After getting the concaves back in the combine, we hooked the header trailer up and headed north.
We had gotten a call a while back from a former farmer we had harvested for who was looking for some help around the Saltcoats/Bredenbury area. This is about 30 miles SE of our place at Yorkton, so the move will get us closer to home. First we had to find the field.
After a few texts and a phone call, we managed to find the bin site and a spot in the field to leave the straight header. There is straight wheat and some canola to pick up, so both headers will be needed.
We went back to Carlyle after grabbing a snack in Esterhazy. Tomorrow we have more moving in store...Al is taking the General back to Kipling to get the combine trailer and take it back to the farm to park it for the winter.
Marilyn is going to be the pilot vehicle for the Kardynal Transport truck that is coming down to take the combine up to Saltcoats. We decided not to take the duals off and our trailer won't handle the load...Al is leery about hauling the extra wide load on it.
A slight chance of rain tomorrow, so it should be interesting...
View of the day-Al gets to start combining in the beans today.
Al and Kim got rolling by 10:30am, while Marilyn got to make a parts run to Redvers. Because we are cutting right on the ground, the rocks are wreaking havoc on the knife sections, so a couple of boxes were in order.
Imagine, in farming country, a town the size of Carlyle (pop approx. 1440) and there is no place that carries these things.
Marilyn took over combining and Al did the hauling for the afternoon. We quit just after sundown, with about 40 acres to go. Those acres are on two "islands" that are cut off by water runs and we don't want to be navigating that in the dark.
Last of the beans tomorrow...
View of the day-Gordie got the ladder fixed. Window and air filter cleaning will be a lot easier now. He had to cut them off at the bend, then weld them back together again and paint them. Let's hope we don't get stuck and bend it again.
Today we got the chaff and straw blown off the combine, so we wouldn't get dusted out too bad when we took the concaves out. With a good wind blowing, we opened up all the shields and blew out all the dust that had been hiding in the guts of the combine. Once the coast was clear, we pulled out the middle of the three concaves and started pulling wires.
This is the middle concave with the wires as they should be...considered a "small wire" concave. This one works fine for small grains, but since we were going to be moving on to soybeans, the spaces had to be wider. We did...or do...have a set of wide wire concaves from back at home, but when Al went to find them when he was home for the hockey game, they had "disappeared". So we had to do it the old way...pull every second wire.
We got that done without too many problems. Marilyn made a point of numbering them all, so when we have to put them back in, it will go a lot smoother...we hope.
Once we got that one finished, we took the front concave out. It has an extra collar on it and there are "disrupter" bars, that fill in the gaps to make more threshing area. This picture shows the wires pulled on half of the concave...and Al's hammer.
We finally had the wires pulled and the concaves back in the combine. This picture shows the difference between the front two concaves on the left, and the third one. It was now time to get it set for soybeans, then go out and do a test. Kim got his combine cleaned off and ready...he had different concaves and didn't have to do any pulling, so he was ready in no time.
We moved over to the bean field a few miles east, then got the header into "flex" mode. W haven't combined soybeans for several years now and not since we have been running the MacDon header, so we were eager to see how it would work. First we had to get the manual out to see if we had done everything right.
Kim was working with his Honeybee header, which was a draper, similar to ours, but it was not a flex draper. He had never combined beans, so had no idea of what to expect. It didn't take long before he had it "sort of" figured out and we were both making dust.
Were we ever making dust. With what ever wind was blowing and the combination of bean dust and road dust along the outside rounds, it was almost impossible to see where we were going. As you can see...or not see...from this view out the combine window. Al was doing the combining and Marilyn was co-piloting. That job included going out to take the rocks off the header that had been picked up from running the header on the ground.
As the evening wore on and the wind died down, the dust was just creeping low across the field.
We got the semi loaded, then headed back for the farm. We thought we would celebrate the first of the beans, with a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, so we went home through town. They were closed for Thanksgiving. Curses. Leftover pumpkin pie filled the gap.
And, of course, another beauty of a sunset...
View of the day-The buggy man was kept busy today in the barley.
We were out in the field, ready for action by 10:30am. It had been a warm night, dry morning and the day was promising to be just as gorgeous as yesterday.
All machines were running...as was Kim, doing the trucking. Gordie had taken over in Kim's combine, so Al was relegated to cart duty...once he returned from Yorkton. He got back around noon and spent the rest of the afternoon chasing across the field dumping the combines.
The cart was just one size too small for three combines, so we weren't always able to get the whole hopper unloaded, just so none of us had to stop and wait. Kim helped out a bit by chancing a drive out into the soft field to pick up the overflow...and you could always tell where he had been by the tracks he left. No one got stuck, though.
We finished the barley around 4:30pm and moved everything back to the yard. It is Thanksgiving in Canada this long weekend, so Marg cooked all weekend to make supper for us. And we all ate WAYYYY too much.
But at least the barley is done...
View of the day-Crossing the waterway to get to to the last of Kim's wheat...no one got stuck.
We had a 10 acre patch to finish off for Kim then we were ready to swap headers for some pickup work. After a quick lunch back at the yard we headed across the road to the last of Bob's wheat.
Bob had his combine fixed in no time thanks to the guys from Redvers, so there were three machines running on the little bit he had left. Once we finished that, we fueled up in the yard and got things set up to combine some barley...Al's favorite...heavy sarcasm there.
All three machines got rolling in the barley and the conditions were perfect. The weather has really turned around, which has helped a lot and we had a good wind to keep drying the crop.
Al had previously booked the evening off so he could head north to watch his Terriers in the second game of the Highway 10 battle with the Melville Millionaires. Unfortunately, they lost both games, but the season has just started, so they will get them back in the next battle.
We got a picture sent from our little patch of land 5 miles from Yorkton, near Rokeby. We have someone else custom farming it, which includes the harvesting. What's new...the harvester never seems to get to harvest his own crop. This is the first crop we have put in the bin that we had put up several years ago.
More barley for tomorrow...
View of the day-A gorgeous day with...sundogs? Say it isn't so...that usually means cold weather is on the way. At least it means that in January, but that's relative, isn't it.
Even though the dew was heavy, we rushed it a bit and got started by 11am. Kim started combining to see where the wet spots might be...nothing to serious to deal with, so we were off and running. After the first hopper, Al took over combining for the rest of the day.
This field is cut up into several pieces by the water runs that go through it, so we had to find the driest of the wet spots to cross. Fortunately, we had the cart, so it wasn't a worry since it had to do all the crossing.
We finished the really low section of the field and moved over to the last chunk right along side the #9 highway. Everything was going smoothly until Marilyn lost a section knife right in the middle of the header and it was stripping, so time off to fix.
While Marilyn did her fixing, Al kept combining so we could get this field finished.
We figured this would be the last of the wheat that Kim had, but then he got a call from his dad that his combine had a breakdown and wouldn't be fixed for a couple days...no word on the break...but we would have about 70 acres of pickup work right across the road from Kim's yard.
We finished around 5:30pm...too late for Al to go to Yorkton for the big Highway 10 game where the Terriers were playing against their nemesis, the Melville Millionaires. We got the semi loaded, then got the combines in to road mode and started back to the farm.
A gorgeous day and evening, with a promise of more to come...
View of the day-The first tentative round on the last half section...of wheat, at least. Lots of mud hiding, but no one got stuck.
Al and Kim spent the morning moving trucks up to the next field of wheat, then after lunch, we got into the combines and tractor and made the move.
Kim decided to haul grain, so Al got to drive his combine for the day...which made him happy. There were a few water runs through this field, so we had to cut out around them, but there were still a lot of wet spots that we had to be careful around. The dual tires really made a difference, Marilyn was able to drive through the soft spots with a full hopper without sinking, although she isn't getting too cocky just yet.
The tractor and cart were needed most of the time to get across the driest spots along the water run. At least the trucks could get close enough to the other side of the run so it was a short shot for the cart.
A beautiful day and more of the same for tomorrow...
