August 25, 2011

View of the day-Al winds his way through the maze of soft spots and water holes to get back to the truck.

We got out to the field a little later than normal and spent some time looking over what the big pull could have damaged on the combine. After scraping the lumps of mud and clay off the tire and underneath the chassis, we could see the screen that protects...as best a screen can...the transmission area. We took it off and straightened it out with what we had on hand, then put it back together...quite a task since we couldn't get it completely straight.

We also hooked on a new tow strap to the chain so that it would stay on all the time. We had been folding the last tow strap over the chain and hooking both loups up to the main tow rope and after all the pulling, the tow strap got cut in half from the chain. We learned from that mistake. We also had to make sure the straps were long enough so the auger wouldn't accidently go through the back tractor window.

We finally got rolling around 1pm and Marilyn was trying to stay on the high spots to avoid having another of "those" incidents and did pretty well for the first couple of hours...then...on the top of a hill...both big wheels dropped down.

Marilyn rode over with Al in the tractor and cart to get Big Red from the other side of the field, then drove the cart back while Al brought the big gun over. We got the strap hooked up and ready for when Danny showed up and when he got in and gave a tug...it came right out. Woo hoo!

Marilyn was even more careful than before and managed to total 40 acres for the day...a far cry from the 140 acre days, but considering the extra curricular activities that have been going on, pretty darn good.

Justin forged on...his combine is 4000 lbs lighter and he has a smaller header, so that helps, too. Al keeps suggesting we go get our old 2588 back because then we wouldn't have to worry about being so heavy.

We worked banker's hours today, starting after lunch and quiting around 7pm. We are getting ready to move over to the last quarter of the three we started out with.

And we hear it is the wettest of the three...