August 31, 2018

View of the day-The man in demand...no rest for the buggy man.

Early start and a productive day. As more and more got cut, the tractor and cart were having to cover more of the field to get to the combines, so there was a bit of waiting.

The rest of the half section was finished by 5:30, then there was a 15 mile move to the last spring wheat field...another 300 or so acres. That won't take 5 combines too long.

Then, it's on to the canola...

August 30, 2018

View of the day-If it wasn't for the red tractor and cart, we would be outnumbered by the green machines.

Another early start to the day, moving from the finished oats field to the yard for cleanup and setting for spring wheat. Two more John Deere combines made the scene, so now with 5 machines, the buggy is covering a lot of acres to keep up.

We got the first half section done and got moved over to the next big field closer to the yard. This one had us waiting once in a while, because even though the plan was to stay together and work each smaller piece round and round, a water way would cut through and split the party up...and it was no party for the buggy man.

We kept going until we all got confused in the dark and the trucks were full, then quit for the day.

More wheat tomorrow...and no rain in sight...

No jinx...

August 29, 2018

View of the day-Cutting near the yard is always handy for servicing and fuel.

With all the fog and humidity during the night, we knew it wouldn't be an early start in the oats...but at least there would be a start. The best part was the cloudless sky, brisk wind and warm temperatures helping to dry down the straw.

First call was for noon, but then that got pushed back to 1:30 pm. Al had gone out and done a bit of servicing in the morning, so he was able to rest his eyes for a bit before going out to the field.

Once the combines were rolling, the acres got knocked down, but once again, the straw had to be dropped for baling, so there was to be no unloading on the go. Never the less, they got the oats done before 10 pm.

Spring wheat is up next...

August 28, 2018

View of the day-A road trip to Stanley, North Dakota for our annual visit with Ray and Robert from CaseIH ProHarvest.

Sorry there was no blog the past few days...Marilyn was in Yorkton working and she had the internet phone with her, so Al couldn't do any updates. Not that he would have anyway. Nothing news worthy from Yorkton, other that the fields had combines in them all over the place on the way up from Kipling.

We had a wedding to attend for one of our H&R Block co-workers son, near Melville. Al had his brother Jeff take over in the combine for the last half of the day so he could get away and after Marilyn got off work, he picked her up and it was off to the wedding. We had missed the ceremony in the afternoon, but went later for the evening's festivities...until Al got a phone call from Jeff that the fuel filter alarm kept going off on the combine. That was it for the wedding. We headed back to Yorkton.

Al went back to Kipling and the combine to relieve Jeff so he could get home earlier that anticipated. Marilyn went back home for the night...one more day at Staples to go.

Al started combining around 10:30am on Sunday and they were running until 5pm, when the rain came. Done for the day. Marilyn worked until 5 then left for Kipling.

Monday we did some servicing on the combine...changing fuel filters was top of the list. After getting it serviced and ready to hit the field, we waited for the call. It never came.

Today, we waited for another call to go, but with the low clouds and the odd sprinkle, it didn't look like it was going to get any drier. Once we had "no cutting" confirmed, we decided on a road trip...at 2:30 pm...it was going to be a quick one.

We had been wanting to get down to Stanley to see the ProHarvest guys and Marilyn had gotten a text saying they would be getting there August 28, so after confirming they would be there, we were off.  We also had some farm toys to pick up at Carpio.

The trip down was a fast one, we sailed through the border without incident and got to Stanley to pick up our ProHarvest hats. It was great to see the guys and get caught up on the current harvest season down south. 

We left Stanley and headed east to Carpio to get Al's stash of toys that he had purchased and had shipped there. After a quick visit with Pete at his "warehouse"...a two car garage...we were on our way to the border. We needed to get there before it closed and we would have had to take the long way home...through the 24 hour crossing. That would have been way too busy for us.

We made the border with an hour to spare and got back to the camper by 9:30 pm...and we needed the furnace.

Hopefully we get back in the oats tomorrow...

August 24, 2018

View of the day-Al makes room for the trucks to park in the latest field of oats.

The combines were rolling early this morning, a good strong wind helped that happen. It didn't take long to finish the last 70 acres and move to the next field. This one will take a bit longer since it is five quarter sections.

Marilyn brought Al lunch then after riding around for a bit, headed north to Yorkton. This is her weekend to work at Staples, so she left early to get some errands done before the stores closed.

A brief shot of rain came down in Yorkton, shutting down the local farmers. Al said they had nothing at their field, but there were weather warnings out for the region. That changed about an hour later when they were talking again, it started raining and shut them down. Al said by the time they got back to the yard it had stopped, but it was late enough they stayed quit.

More of the same tomorrow...and a wedding to attend...

August 23, 2018

View of the day-A change of crop. We are now straight cutting oats.

Since we had the combine all set up and ready to go in the oats, it was just a matter of jumping in the combine and driving out to the first field to get started.

The landlord for this field wanted to bale the straw, so all the combines opened up the back and dropped the straw. We are only three combines now, since the other two left to work on another farm.

With the straw getting dropped, there was no unloading on the go into the cart because those tracks on the rig would be mashing the row of straw into the ground making it all but impossible for the baler to pick it up. Productivity dropped quite a bit due to that and the fact that it was running over 125 bushels/acre, so they were filling up fast and stopping often.

Combining continued on until around 8pm when the straw was too tough to put through.

Hoping for an early start tomorrow...

August 22, 2018

View of the day-The best of both worlds...Marilyn's sewing machine and Al's farm toy.

A road trip to Windthorst to finally settle up the damages for the pickup head repair. Marilyn almost got a picture of Al choking as he was handed the five digit invoice...and that was without the decimal point! What are you going to do...

We put a new backup alarm on the combine to replace the silent one and that was the extent of the harvest related work today. Al did go out to give the farmer a ride back to the yard after running a test on the straight cut oats we will be doing tomorrow. Plenty dry, just have to get the bin space organized.

The next toy show we attended July 26 - 29 was in Austin, Manitoba. We got there a day early, since we had never been to that show before and had no idea about the camping...which we had booked back in April...or how the setup was going to be in the hall. Or anything really.

We got our camper parked, which was relatively easy since it was well before the festivities were to start. A perfect spot, as well, only 20 steps from the display hall across the road. We only had power and water at this spot, but for some reason they had decided this year...and didn't tell the volunteers or campers... to shut the water off from 8am-9pm! We could have had our tank filled had we known they were going to do that. There were not a lot of happy campers in the park for the weekend.

We got into the building early the next day and ended up getting a sweet spot at the end of the hall, nestled in between two steam engines.

One of them was the exact one that the 175th Anniversary model represented.

This was a killer show, lots of people attended and 85% had to pass through our building to get tickets to enter and Saturday they were lined up and down the inside of the building and out the door. The hours were killer too...10am to 7pm!!

We each got a little time to go check out some of the sites. Wow, there was so much to see and it was kept up quite nice. There were a lot of "Pete's Passes" through the trees that were full of campers parked willy-nilly and most of the passes led to another old tymie display.

It was also the IHC Chapter 38 Roundup...a LOT of red tractors in pristine shape. We are members of the group, which was the reason we set up shop at this show. We didn't have a lot of time to check them out because the main outing was to see Big Roy.

This tractor was the only one of its kind built by Versatile. It was redone a few years back for an anniversary and was out for all to see.

It wasn't as big as we had imagined it to be, but it was still amazing to look at. 

We also wanted to see the Versatile pull type combine that had been painted New Holland yellow.

We had seen video of this one on Facebook and though it was fake, but here it was in all its glory.

There were only a couple of these painted yellow.

In the "mini" area, there was a Big Roy working replica that was really cool, too.

Al did get to see the owner crawl in through the cab top and take it for a spin.

Just a lot of neat stuff to see and it would have been nice to have a day to explore it all.

Still one more toy show coming...

August 21, 2018

View of the day-Al does a daylight fill to get ready for the oats.

We had fixing on the agenda today. A little bit on the pickup head, some tweaking on the straight head and some greasing and crop setting changes on the combine.

We took an ice cream break when we went into Kipling to get some bulbs for warning lights on the header. With everything on the list crossed off, we were finished for the day...on the equipment at least.

Al had gotten a sticker from a friend that had toured an International Harvester Museum in Florida, so he decided it should go on the door of the combine for laughs.

Our second toy show July 7 & 8 was to Killarney, Manitoba. We have gone for the past few years, suffering in the heat, but enjoying the break and talking to the attendees of their annual threshing show.

This year there was a mix up at the campground due to new caretakers, so we had to move to a different campground to have all the hookups. Roger and Linda from Lipton, SK were able to stay in the campground next to the buildings, so because we couldn't camp next to them, Al missed out on the campfire at night. Not really...that's not his idea of camping, at all.

This year we didn't even get to go out on the grounds to check out the goings on. It could have been because this year featured Jon Deere. It was a good show and it actually wasn't as hot as it has been other years.

We're ready for oats, just waiting for the call...

August 20, 2018

View of the day-Al's birthday present from Marilyn...a mini fridge from CaseIH. It's going to look pretty good on the summer toy show tour, especially when Marilyn puts the JAKz Farm Toys logo on it.

Road trip day today. We went to Windthorst to pick up a couple of parts and pay the damage on the pickup head. They still didn't have the total figured out, so we aren't broke yet...we'll just have to wait for the shoe to drop.

We took the scenic route to Yorkton going north of Windthorst and up through the Qu'Appelle Valley. There were a few fields combined, lots had been swathed but no one was making dust.

We had a few errands to do, but the first stop was to H&R Block to check in on the latest news...actually it was where Marilyn had gotten Al's mini fridge dropped off thanks to Curtis, the owner. After catching up on all the news, we went out to the farm to pick up a few things, then stopped for supper before heading back to the camper. This time there were lots of combines going on the way back.

Tomorrow we get the combine set up for oats...

August 19, 2018

View of the day-Not today, but the first of our summer toy shows...our Parking Lot Sale at H&R Block in Yorkton.

Al went out early and helped to finish off the last of the winter wheat that was left from last night. They had it lapped up by 10:30 am, so everyone came back to the yard. We did a bit of radiator and filter blowing, cleaned the cab then parked to wait for the oats.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were playing football at 5pm, so we got cleaned up, then drove down to Carlyle to watch the game with Marilyn's sister, Marg and her husband Kim. Marg missed the first part of the game because she was combining peas and wanted to get the truck filled. It was a great game with the Riders winning 40-27 against a team they hadn't beaten since 2013.

Since we won't be combining this week...unless something comes up to fill the gap...we will cover the toy shows we had during July.  The first one was just us set up in the parking lot at H&R Block for the Canada Day weekend. We had a good one last year and decided to do it again...the Mini88 combine even got to see the light of day.

Saturday was a busy day with people showing up before we even opened...some even helped us set up! Sunday we had to dodge the weather and its intermittent rains, but it was a slower day, so we were able to shut down early and get everything packed for the following weekend in Killarney, Manitoba.

Back to the present...we go to Yorkton tomorrow to do a few errands...

August 18, 2018

View of the day-Al's borrowed wheels for his road trip today to bring home the pick up header from the shop.

Combines were in the field early today in the hopes that we would get the straight winter wheat finished. Everything was going great before lunch, then Marilyn took over combining while Al went to Windthorst to get the pickup head. While he was gone, we got a message that we would be filling the trucks, cart and combines, then shutting down...the grain auger had bearing issues.

We filled everything and went back to the yard and waited for news of the repair. There was no place to get the bearing today, so plan B was to get another auger.

Al had gotten back with the header on the trailer, so while there was time, they got a fork lift to take it off and just set it on the ground. When the straight wheat was finished, there would be a quarter section of swathed winter wheat for seed that we would need it for.

Once the auger had been acquired and set up, the trucks were dumped and everyone went back out to the field to finish. It didn't take too long before it was done and the combines moved back to the yard to swap out headers and move onto the swaths.

The repair job seemed to have all things back in working order on the header, which was a relief.

With the change of auger making a move to a different bin necessary, there were no lights for dumping near this one, so once the trucks and cart were full, we shut down for the night around 11 pm. If we hadn't had the afternoon off, the field would have easily been finished before dark.

Tomorrow will be a short day with what is left in the field...

August 17, 2018 - Happy Birthday Al!

View of the day-A short jaunt with the drone...

Not an early start to the day, but at least it was before noon. Al hitched a ride out to the field with with the trucker, so Marilyn didn't have to go out right away. By the time she was ready to go, Al called to say they would be finishing the field they were on, then they were moving to the fields around the yard, so she might as well wait and come out then.

Today was going to be grain bagging day, but before anything could get set up, the plans changed due to the weeds that hadn't died down from the spray. It wouldn't have been too good to have all that baking in plastic tubes...no good could come of it, so it was back to the bins.

The rest of the day went smoothly and we were even able to go well after dark. there's light at the end of the winter wheat tunnel.

Tomorrow the pickup head comes back from the doctor...

August 16, 2018

View of the day-Going "old school"...round and round the piece, staying together as you can see in the mirror. At least for a while.

Heavy smoke in the air and clouds...possibly...couldn't really tell with all the smoke in the air. This kept the humidity from dropping, so we didn't get started combining until 1pm.

The going was slow when we did get started and we never did get up to speed during the day. It all had to get combined, so we all kept plugging along.

We got a couple of short breaks during the day. One, to fix a broken section on the header knife, and several more to pull the dead stumps off the header before any damage could be done. We got the call to shut down at 8pm as the humidity had gone up to 80%. Just a bit damp.

Looks like a late start tomorrow, unless the sun is shining...

August 15, 2018

View of the day-The only time the buggy man doesn't have to chase combines all over the field.

Good day to get an early start. Once the combine was serviced, Al started combining and Marilyn went on a road trip to get fuel in Whitewood.

We had another 30ºC day with a strong wind and a hint of forest fire smoke in the air. While filling the slip tank with diesel at the cardlock in Whitewood, Marilyn struck up a conversation with a gentleman pulling a 5th wheel camper. She was wondering if he was travelling somewhere and having to fight the wind. He said he had just gotten back from a camping trip to Grasslands National Park in the SW of the province.

He told her the weather nearly killed him with the heat...he just couldn't handle it and the A/C couldn't keep up in the camper. Then he said when they closed up the slides to come home, the bedroom slide had been a resting spot for about 30 bats! Some had managed to get past the seal and were flying around inside the camper. Never heard of that before. They got them out, but now have to deal with all the $hit they scared out of them.

Once the slip tank was filled, Marilyn headed back to the farm to fill the one ton, then hooked up the shop trailer to do a little cleaning on the pickup head we rented. The barley "leavings" had to be blown off since the header was going to be used for picking up seed wheat.

It was hot and the wind was helping to blow the chaff and straw away...most of the time. There doesn't seem to be a way to not get the itchy barley on you when cleaning. Once the header was done, the shop trailer went back into its parking spot and Marilyn went out to the field.

By this time the combines had moved to a new field and were working east. Marilyn timed it right to get picked up by Al near the road to ride for the rest of the day. It was slow going with a lot of patching out due to weeds, so most of the time was spent turning around, or almost running into one another.

We didn't make it to sunset, since it was getting tough and there would have been a lot of confusion trying to figure out where we were going in the dark. Quitting time was early for everyone.

More heat tomorrow...

August 14, 2014

View of the day-Unloading on the go with the best buggy man around.

Al got up extra early and took the pickup head to the CaseIH Dealer in Windthorst, 20 miles west of the farm. Since we didn't have the right trailer to haul it, he had to take it over on the combine...at 22 mph. He was back by 9:30, so it wasn't too bad.

We were going into straight cut winter wheat, so we had to hook up the header and make sure everything was in running order. It was, so all we had to do was move to the field and crank up. 

With five machines running again, it didn't take long to get the first quarter section done. We moved over to the second field, but had to do a bit of cherry picking to find the dryest wheat. It had been desicated but there were still some green heads that were bringing the moisture up. Fortunately it was a lot dryer on the north end of the field.

We lost our wind just around sunset, but the timing was right. With another hour to go, we had finished the dry wheat and it was quitting time.

More of the same tomorrow...

August 13, 2018

View of the day-Finally the sun comes out to attempt to dry out the barley straw.

Al got started early again, but it was really slow going. Partly due to the grain cart driver being able to keep up with five combines and the other was tough straw. It was cool...Marilyn would describe it as cold...and cloudy all day, which didn't help to change conditions.

Al got a great bargain with his latest acquisition for his Heritage Fleet...AND he even got it delivered! A Massey Ferguson 851 to go next to the last one. Big thanks to Mike Karpinski for buying it at the auction and delivering it.

While Al was combining, Marilyn pulled up stakes and got the camper ready to move 15 miles east to our next farmyard campground. It was a lot easier to make the move since the shop trailer was able to hold the hoses, tanks and satellite dish. It got moved first, then the camper got pulled over and set up.

After setup, Marilyn went into Kipling to pick up some groceries and parts for the dish cable...the end had mysteriously disappeared from under the camper over the winter. With the cable fixed and groceries put away, it was time to head back to the field.

It was only two swaths after Marilyn had jumped in the combine with Al, that the rotor had plugged picking up a headland around a slough. Al had a couple other plugs during the day, but they had been easy to reverse out...not this time. We spent a good 30-45 minutes rocking the rotor to try to get the wad out, but finally it gave way and we were back at it.

We called it quits just after 8pm so we could go back to the yard and clean off the rented header. After filling it with fuel and DEF, Al started his road trip back to the farmyard where the camper was. We drove back to get the little Dodge pickup and bring it back with the rest of the equipment and called it a night.

No air conditioning tonight, it's fireplace time...

August 12, 2018

View of the day-Al gets to keep cool and dust free...for the most part...picking up barley.

A 10 am start helped to make a 120 acre day possible. We moved over to work with the John Deeres today and it was nice to work with a grain cart as well...no time for bathroom breaks.

We had another 30C hot one for most of the day, the wind was also blowing hard. Al started combining, then after Marilyn came out, she took over while Al had a lunch break. While she had the combine to herself, she got the autosteer working...finally. It had been a issue last year and since we had to purchase a new monitor to repair the problem, there was some relearning to do. 

When Al got back to the combine, he noticed the engine temperature was a little high, so he borrowed some air from one of the semis in the field and blew out the radiators. This cooled it down in a hurry and we were back in the barley before too long.

The other red machine was missing for part of the day due to an electrical problem...it wouldn't start. The service truck from Moosomin came out and discovered it was a wire to the key. It wasn't long before they were back in the swing of things. 

The cart driver had his work cut out for him, with all of the machines rolling and the barley running as well as it was. It wasn't until later in the day that we started to have a backlog and had to wait. With 3/4 to a mile long runs, machines were never together enough to make unloading efficient. They got it done, though.

Later in the day, the wind started coming out of the NW and the temperature dropped dramatically...down to 23C. Marilyn was wishing she had a jacket stashed in the combine, it seemed downright chilly with the wind. The wind was also making it tough when unloading on the go into the cart. Good thing it's a big target.

Tomorrow we should finish the barley...

August 12, 2018

View of the day-Picking up barley on a HOT August day.

We have been having high heat weather warnings all week and they weren't wrong. We almost hit 40C/104F...at least there was a good wind to cool things down. Relatively speaking.

Al went out and started where he had left off in the barley last night. Marilyn got lunch ready and was just about to head out, when Al called and told her to hook up the shop trailer and head over to the bins. It didn't sound good.

At the bins, Al had the cover plates taken off the table auger on the pickup head. A shaft holding the disappearing fingers that pull the crop into the feeder house, had come out of the holder inside the auger tube. When we took the last cover plate off, we could see it was more serious than first thought...the bearing holder had torn the plate that it was mounted on. It looked like it was beyond repair...at least for us to do.

We called around to see if there was someplace we could get it done professionally, but then decided it would be better in the long run to get a new drum, so we wouldn't have a repeat wreck. Although, we have never had this happen in all our years of combining.

With the decision to go new and it being the weekend, we had to find a pickup head to use. Luckily our next farmer wasn't ready to start combining until next week, so we managed to rent his pickup head. We were back in business.

We were working in the barley with another red combine, but he had bearing issues that put him out of commission as well. We both got back into the field just after noon and the rest of the combining day went smoothly...except for plugging the rotor a couple of times. The hydraulic reverser on the rotor saved the day both times.

We didn't have a grain cart in our field, so a lot of time was spent driving to the trucks to dump. This took a lot more time since the barley was running close to 90 bu/ac, which meant the combines were filling fast and the trucker had to be on his toes...and he was. There was never a wait for a truck.

More heat tomorrow...

August 9, 2018

View of the day-The "Heritage Fleet" expands rapidly. 

Today we started our 2018 harvest. Al is on his own down at Langbank, picking up barley, while Marilyn finishes off the last of her current shifts at Staples.

Not much for the first day of combining, since Al is without internet and was likely to overwhelmed with reacquainting himself with the combine. Rumour has it, the rotor might have gotten plugged...can't confirm or deny...

More background on the pull-type combines and the threshing show finds to come...