August 31, 2017

View of the day-All five machines moving to the last spring wheat fields.

Marilyn was missing in action for the last couple of days, so no pictures or blog. She was helping to move her mom and dad over to a new apartment. Her dad just celebrated his 91st birthday and he mom's 87th is coming up at the end of September, so you can just imaging the amount of stuff that had been packed into their two bedroom suite. And it had to be downsized to a one bedroom...we had our work cut out for us.

Al, on the other hand, was making dust from early morning to late at night. The weather has been perfect and the crop, close enough to dry to be taken off. Three other combines from another custom crew showed up, so we have a full crew with a couple of extra trucks. No rest for the poor buggy driver...but he doesn't miss a beat.

We were in a storm watch for most of the day, but so far it has moved to the north. Where it can stay, thank you very much...

August 28, 2017

View of the day-One of three pull-type combines working across the road from us today.

Al was out early to start combining in the oats. If today went without incident, it would be the last of the oats. Marilyn didn't need to go out until lunch time, so she worked on getting some water issues looked after at the camper.

Marilyn had gone back to Yorkton on Friday to be ready to hit the floor at Staples first thing Saturday morning. It was her weekend to work, so she got to see what the latest happenings were in the bright lights. Not much new that she could see.

On the way back Sunday after she finished work, she was surprised to not see a lot of combines in the field. Wait. There were combines in the fields, they just weren't making any dust. In the 100 miles back to the field, she saw two...which was't much considering how perfect the weather has been.

Today was a different story. There was dust flying everywhere and there was very little wind, which made it just hang. And it was HOT...even by southern standards...it was over 92ºF. But it was a dry heat...only 17% humidity.

We did get the oats done, then got moved a couple miles over to the first of the spring wheat. After cutting a semi load for a test "sample". We called it a day.

We'll see what the sample tells us tomorrow...

August 24, 2017

View of the day-Got started in the oats.

Got the combine moved out to the field this morning, ready to start cutting oats once we got the go-ahead. There was a heavy dew on everything this morning, so the start time had changed, although there was a strong east wind that helped to speed the drying.

We were down to two combines, but it was just as well, since the oats was running in the high bushels, and the haul to the bins was a 20 mile round trip.

Marilyn had a visit from one of her theatre friends, who was passing by on her way back from Carlyle to Yorkton. This year she didn't get a ride in the combine, since Al was doing the driving.

We quit just after we lost the sun behind a cloud bank...the straw was getting really tough and we didn't want to plug anything up.

We learned our lesson on that, the hard way...

August 23, 2017

View of the day-Our puzzler for the day. How to fit the header on the new high speed trailer, without hitting the tires together.

It was parts run day. We drove over to Windthorst to get a few parts for the header and to return the chopper belt that we didn't need. Marilyn talked to the service manager about the autosteer, but since the tech was on holidays this week, he had no solution. The product specialist for the area was supposed to give her a call back, but that never happened either.

On the way home, we swung by to check out the RV facilities at the next farmers job that we have. It is between Kipling and Windthorst, so the drive will be too long from where we are parked now. After a chat with the farmer we headed back to the camper after lunch in Kipling.

Al blew out the rads...a job Marilyn thought he had accomplished yesterday. Then we set in to see if we could get the brackets on the new header trailer set in the right spots for transport. This was not going to be an easy job. The trailer is capable of hauling a 40ft header and ours is only 35ft. You think that would make it easier to set down just about anywhere on the trailer...except for two things...the wheels on the axles.

We moved the brackets back and forth to try and tweak them, but every time those axle wheels were either in the way of the header transport or else the feeder house.

We took a break to go on the internet to see if there were any pictures of a MacDon header on one of these ArcFab trailers. There were some pictures...either the wrong angle or such poor resolution that we couldn't tell what was going on. It looks like the only thing to do is move one of the axles back a ways so the tires on the header fit between the axles. We don't need the trailer for a while, so that will be a rainy day project.

While cleaning up a memory card from one of the cameras, Marilyn found a shot of our Parking Lot Farm Toy sale from the July long weekend. We set up at H&R Block where we work in the off season...Al full time and Marilyn part time around her Staples hours. We even had the Mini88, our 1/4 scale combine. It really had the people pulling in off the street to check it out and have their pictures taken on it.

And there were actually harvesting pictures on it as well...and current ones, to boot.

A couple more barley cutting shots to close out the day.

Tomorrow is oats day...

August 22, 2017

View of the day-Servicing, fueling and fixing this morning.

We got to sleep in a bit, since we were done with the barley. We drove over to the farm to fuel/DEF up then put the header in transport to move back to home base.

We had water issues in the camper. The hot water was smelling like rotten eggs, but we thought we had solved the problem when we put the new anode rod in the water heater. After doing a little research, Marilyn decided we had to sanitize the system...but we didn't have any bleach to do it, so it got added to the shopping list for the day.

We took a road trip up to Stockholm to visit with a friend who had just upgraded from CaseIH 2388's to 7088's. Al helped him tweak the settings for picking up wheat, then Marilyn got in and set up the monitors. Actually, he wanted nothing to do with the monitors, so she set up the main run screen, shut off any information only beeps, so he could just drive it like the old ones. 

After spending a couple hours there, we went into Esterhazy to get a few groceries and the items for the water sanitizing, then headed back to the camper.

Marilyn got the water business going, while Al went and blew out the rads and filters at the shop. It took a while to get the bleach through the system, but after letting it "cook", draining and refilling, the rotten egg smell was gone. Replaced by a chlorine smell, but that was preferable to the alternative.

Al has decided to try and keep the Pull-Type Combine heritage alive, by collecting and displaying real combines on our land along highway 16 near Rokeby, just east of Yorkton. 

He had mentioned it to one of his toy customers at the threshermans show a few weeks ago...told him what his limit was...and tonight he called Al to let him know he got three for him at the auction in Yorkton over the weekend. 

One International 914 and two John Deeres *spit*, a 6601 and a 7721.

Now he just needs to figure out how he will display them...

August 21, 2017

View of the day-Supper break for most of the crew.

Yesterday we serviced the combine, switched out the Nav controller from the farmers combine into ours to see if there was any difference. None. Kind of a good news/bad news thing...good that it wasn't the controller/bad because we don't know what else it could be. We were back at the camper by 5pm and that was the end of the day.

Today we were back combining in the barley and looking forward to the eclipse. We knew we weren't in for totality, but we had hoped it would dim a little bit at least. Didn't see much change at all.

We continued on with no incidents, just had to break once to change a few knife sections and a guard on the header, but it was otherwise uneventful. With four machines running there were a lot of acres covered.

Marilyn had to take a break in the evening to attend a theatre meeting via phone. She finished the first meeting just as Al was quitting for the day and parking the combine. The "post meeting" meeting took a little longer.

We are finished with the barley, so tomorrow the combine will come back to the yard to wait for the oats this weekend.

Maybe we will get that autosteer working yet...

August 19, 2017

View of the day-Dancing with the poles again, cutting barley with the John Deeres.

An early morning as we were up and moving the combine back over to the first area we started in. Itchy barley again...and lots of it. This was yielding over 100 bu/ac so the buggyman and the truck drivers were kept hopping all day.

Al combined all day and with the exception of plugging the straw spreaders a couple of times, there were no issues with the combine. Marilyn went back to the yard and spent a couple hours cleaning out the shop trailer...something that has been on the to-do list for quite a while.

Marilyn drove back to pick Al up after they quit for the day. He had combined just over 100 acres, top day so far. 

Tomorrow is 100 hour service day for the combine and since they are short a truck driver, Big Red gets the day off. It is Sunday after all...

August 18, 2017

View of the day-And, we wait. Finished the winter wheat and had to wait for the other truck to show up.

We had high hopes of the combine parts sliding on as smooth as they came off. We were also hoping last night was a bad dream. Both wrong.

We started working on the combine early and were having the same issues as last night. Fortunately for us, Alex was fueling up the combine and was able to give us a bit of input into the way it should go back together. The biggest problem was that the hammer we had been using on one of the old parts had made a mess of some of the parts. This would be one of the expensive parts that we thought we could salvage.

We got various files out and started to "unmash" what the hammer had reformed. We worked on those splines for quite some time before deciding we wouldn't need the slow speed option so we could slide the toothed bearing on from the other side. And it worked.

After getting everything back on the shaft, we tried putting the range shifting yoke back on. No way would it go...the shaft was sticking out too far. This meant we had to take it half way apart to get that put on. Once that was accomplished, we put the rest of the shields back on and went to test it out. It worked fine...that was a relief.

We got to help finish the field they had been working on, then moved over to combine some seed wheat. It wasn't a big patch, but with four machines, it didn't take long to lap up.

We moved back to the yard and blew off the combine before parking it for the night. We have finished the winter wheat and have a week or so wait until the oats is ready.

Maybe we'll find something to occupy the combine until then...or maybe get the autosteer working...

August 17, 2017 Happy Birthday, Al!

View of the day-What we spent the better part of the day working on. The straw chopper.

We had rain during the night, which worked out well for us. We needed to fix the straw chopper drive, which meant disassembling it to find out exactly what parts we needed.

Al was pleasantly surprised at how "relatively" easy it was to get everything apart. After phoning around to see where we could get the parts needed, we were off to Yorkton to pick them up.

With the parts in hand, we needed to press the old bearings out to use in the new pulley. We don't have that type of tools, so we went out to see Al's favorite repairman, Danny. It took some time, but we got everything apart and back together without incident and were back on our way home by 6pm.

Apparently it didn't rain enough to hold up the combining, as they were all running when we got back to the field. But first we had to reassemble the parts we had brought back. This turned out to be the hard part.

We fought with getting everything back on the shaft until it was too dark and the mosquitoes were too hungry.

Best to sleep on it and look at it in the early morning light...

August 16, 2017

View of the day-A little drone action on the last of the winter wheat.

Al went out to the combine early to see how the tech from the dealership was making out. He had a list of things to try to get the autosteer going, so Al figured he would hang around in case someone had to hold the flashlight.

Marilyn got out to the field just as the tech was putting his testers and laptop away...still no luck. We continued combining "old school"...until the chopper plugged again.

This time Al was driving and he thought he had stopped it in time, but it appeared he had actually stopped it to soon. He felt the wad might have gone through. Too late. We drove back to where the trucks were parked and started pulling straw.

Once Marilyn got inside, she realized it was only 50% as plugged as yesterday...still plugged though. It seemed strange with all the power this machine has, that the chopper would be the weak point. The belt was getting smoked a lot from the slipping, so to be on the safe side, Al sent Marilyn to Windthorst to pick up a new one so we would be prepared.

Marilyn was a mile out of Windthorst, on the way back to the field, when Al called to say she should go back and see about getting some other parts for the chopper. It appeared, after inspection, that the splines on the high speed drive for the chopper were worn on the edges and that was causing it to slip into low gear and plug the chopper.

Al explained the parts needed as best he could...Marilyn did know "sort of" what he was talking about. Back at the dealership, she worked with the parts lady to figure out the right pieces to the puzzle. After getting the service manager in on the job, we decided on the parts. They didn't have them, but could get them by tomorrow morning. She was good enough to give a few print outs of the parts so we would have a check list.

Al figured we wouldn't worry about getting it right away, that we would get the winter wheat finished with it the way it was. The farmer was OK with the coarser straw that was being left, so we continued with the chopper in low range.

Shortly after that, one of the other combines blew a chopper belt, so they had to run to Windthorst to pick up a new one and install it. It didn't take too long before they were back with the rest of the machines and we had all four running until the field we were on was finished.

We had a new grain cart show up at the field later in the day. This was to replace the green one that was "resting" in the field. This one is 2000 bushels and allows us to connect via bluetooth on the cell phone to see how much we have unloaded for combine calibrations. Now that's a smart cart!

One day left on the winter wheat...

August 15, 2017

View of the day-Servicing time while we wait to see if it will rain or get dry.

We took the shop trailer out to the field so we could use the compressor to blow out the filters and rads. It sprinkled enough on the way over that we had to use the wipers, but two miles away, at the field, there wasn't a drop.

While Al worked on cleaning the filters, Marilyn did a bit of cleaning on the GPS antenna to see if we could narrow down the autosteer issue. We swapped the module out with the one on the farmers combine and it worked perfectly. Back to square one.

After several phone calls to ProHarvest, it has pretty much boiled down to a software issue, which the local dealer promises to come out to rectify. But first we have to finish the winter wheat.

The weather threatened all day and there were even severe weather watches out, but we managed to be in the right spot as they seemed to split and go around us. With time to kill while we waited, we went into Kipling for lunch.

Back out at the field, we did some more waiting and finally at 3pm we did a test...15.7%. We were good to go. All four machines cranked up and we were making dust...not a lot, mind you...but at least it was going through.

We cut until 7:30, which was when it got tougher and the dust basically quit coming out the back.

Dark skies to the south and north of us, but we stayed dry...

August 14, 2017

View of the day-Morning servicing time.

The promise of a great day of combining...sun, heat and wind. We got serviced, fueled and rolling by 10 am. Al combined while Marilyn went back to the camper to get lunch made for the day.

After bringing lunch out and making a few rounds with Al, she decided to take a detour moving the pickup to the next field. Across the road, and in the middle of the already harvested field, sat the grain cart. Well, sort of sat. The huge pin that holds the track mechanism had broken and the cart called it quits after the whole track fell off.

This must have been quite the scare for Alex, who was running the cart. It looks like the track is the only thing holding the cart upright. It will stay there until the winter wheat is finished.

It seemed of the four machines in the field, each one had a turn at parking for a fix of one sort or another. Air conditioning wasn't working on one, mechanical issues on another, plugged chopper on yet another. The kinks were worked out and finally they were all making dust and filling the grain cart.

Al needed a break from combining, so Marilyn took over for a while. He joked that she might need to get retrained. Jinx. She didn't even get to the end of the field when the chopper plugged.

For the next three hours, she was inside the back of the combine pulling wet straw out from behind the chopper. Wet, ropey, solid packed straw. Fortunately, Alex came by with the grain cart and swapped jobs with Al...sort of...he jumped in and started pulling straw, rather than supervise as Al had been doing. Al took Alex's job of cart driving. A nice change for him.

It took three hours of pulling, but we finally succeeded in getting the wads all pulled out and the combine put back together. By this time, it was dark, the straw was getting tougher and Marilyn was gun shy about plugging again. We dumped what was on the combine and shut down with the rest of the crew. By the way, our fleet consists of four CaseIH combines...9230, 8230, 8120 and an 8010.

Rain in the forecast for tonight, but none so far...

August 13, 2017

View of the day-Finally got the drone in the air...this was on Friday, though.

Al was out at the combine early to meet with the tech from Young's Equipment. He worked on the combine until noon, when Al decided it was time to call it and get out to the field with the rest of the combines. No luck with the autosteer or GPS, even with all the suggestions from ProHarvest.

The story from the tech was that he would have to go back to the shop and do some "research".

Marilyn got the drone out for some action during the afternoon. This season the propeller guards are off...mainly due to the crash into the trees at home. We had a nest of ravens in the top of a tree, so during a practice run in the spring, Marilyn decided to try and take a look in the nest with the drone. It would have been a success if it hadn't been for the north wind that had been blocked by the trees around the house. As soon as the drone cleared the protection of the trees, the wind caught it and sent it crashing into the tall cedars and down to the ground.

Two of the prop guards took the brunt of the damage and three props needed to be replaced. We now only fly in the open areas...

It was a good day of combining even without the autosteer. We were left to our own devices, cutting along the water runs, where keeping it straight didn't matter. The farmer had an issue with one of his machines when the boot fell off the auger into the cart. Fortunately, the cart was the right height to put it back on.

We combined until 9pm, then quit so we could swap headers and go over to the other farm. Marilyn pulled the straight header over and Al was going to bring the other pickup over and get a ride back for the combine. Marilyn had to go work at Staples, Saturday and Sunday, so it would have been on her way back to Yorkton. Al decided to leave the combine over there until the morning when he could hook up the header in the daylight.

Al got everything moved the next morning and started combining...and continued on all day without issue...for us at least...and still no autosteer. There was an issue with the farmers grain cart, however. It threw a track...and not just the rubber part...the whole mechanism. There might be pictures tomorrow if Marilyn gets the release signed.

Sunday was more of the same, with four combines running. They had to borrow a smaller grain cart...if 1100 bushels can be called "smaller"...from the farmer that was helping out with the combining. With four machines the buggy-man is kept really busy, especially since the crop is yielding 50 bu/ac or better.

Marilyn left work at Staples just after 5pm and drove back to the camper to unload some of the stuff brought back from Yorkton. She doesn't work again for two weeks, so she might see some combine time.

Sure would be nice to see it involving some autosteer...

August 10, 2017

View of the day-It was a beautiful day at the campground after all the rain yesterday.

Even though it didn't rain during our combining the other night, it made up for it by raining all night and half the next day. One of those misty, soaker kind of rains, which left us with 1/2". We wouldn't know for sure on the combine since the rain gauge has a large crack in it and the only thing it is holding is spider webs.

We spent today trying to figure out what was wrong with the autosteer on the combine. Several calls to the local dealerships came up with nothing, except of course we would likely have to purchase a new controller for $6500. No thanks.

We did call on our old friend, Ray, with CaseIH ProHarvest, who had been a lifesaver on more than one occasion. He was able to walk us through several things to try to narrow down the issue. 

One suggestion was to use a multi-tester to check voltage. Now, we did have one of those units in the shop trailer and it was in decent shape, since neither of us really knew how to work it. We had removed the controller to take it over to our regular farmer, hoping we could switch it out with the one on his 9230 combine. If it worked in there, then we wouldn't have to spend the big bucks...we could only hope. And it worked. Cross that off the list.

Alex, the farmer, gave us his multi-tester to use, which included instructions on how to use it. We discovered it was getting power, so now it was another call back to Ray, who narrowed it down to a software issue...which he couldn't help with.

A call to the dealer and we were on the waiting list...maybe tomorrow someone would get out to do the upload. Good thing we weren't combining.

We only have one more day left for this farmer, then we move over to our regular stop. With the extra time we had, we figured we might as well move the camper over to its regular spot under the trees and just drive the 15 miles. Not like that hasn't been done a time or two.

The drone might be coming out of mothballs for some action tomorrow...

August 8, 2017

View of the day-Yes, actually today. We were picking up barley at Langbank, SK alongside three green machines.

The first entry for the season is always the toughest...lots of ground to cover. This is mostly due to the procrastination during the off season and the multitude of "irons in the fire".

We started combining yesterday, actually, cutting straight winter wheat. We are always anxious on the first day, since we never know how the uptime repairs are going to hold up...or if they got done. It was a day of stopping to check things over...everything seemed to be in order and Al even survived the autosteer refresher course.

Today we were rushing to beat the rain that was forecast. We were in a severe weather area for most of the day, but fortunately it went all around us and except for a few sprinkles, it didn't hold us up. We had switched over to the pickup head to do the barley and it was working great with the new pickup teeth Al had installed a few months back. We did lose the autosteer for some reason and even after a few calls to the pros, still ended the day doing it manually.

So the blog ice has been broken. More to come tomorrow...honest...