June 11

View of the day- Cotton plants in the wheat that refused to give up the ghost.

We got started early again and were going great guns until another hose went. It was next to the last one that went, so it didn't take as long to get it apart, get a new one made, and get back in the field.

Trucks were an issue today, with the lineups at the elevators. Al could haul 10 miles to the east to the small town of Harrold, or 10 miles to the west to the city of Vernon. Harrold had the line-ups because they were loading rail cars to make room for more grain. The first load of the day had a line-up of 18 trucks, so Al turned around and went to Vernon. There was a cloud burst while he was unloading outside so the box was a bit of a mess.

Still, with the delays and breakdowns, we added another 120 acres to our total, and the end is in site. Hopefully, we will get finished and get some equipment loaded to head north on Wednesday.

June 10

View of the day-nothing to do but look around...

A weird weather day, starting out cloudy with sprinkles and thunder. We headed out to the field, Marilyn fueled and serviced the combine, while Al took the last load of the field to the elevator. The high humidity and the scattered showers made the moisture in the grain a bit high, so we went into Vernon for brunch, and got a Walmart fix in.

By the time we got back out to the field around 4pm, the grain was dry enough to start. After only two rounds around the field, a hydraulic hose sprung a leak, which made steering a bit of a challenge. By the time we got the ruined hose off, it was too late (and Sunday) to get the parts, so it was an early night.

There is 140 acres left to go before we move north, and this field will be the first of the season with terraces. We have been spoiled with flat fields, but things will start 'rolling' along as we move to the high plains.

June 9

View of the day-the only view of the day for the combine driver...

Best day ever, and one that will be hard to beat. Up early, home by 1 am, but covered 155 acres! Lots of combines still around going hard, but when we got in tonight the six campers parked across from us were all gone. Soon that will be us.

Needless to say a short entry, after a lonnnggg day.

June 8

View of the day-loading the truck for it's one hour wait in line at the elevator in Harrold, TX.

Woo-hoo, another 100 acre day, even with a breakdown and having to move a few miles.

Things were running smoothly, we even got rolling by 10am, but with only 5 acres left the knife broke. We spliced it back together and it lasted one round before it broke again, and after doing the same repair, the third time it broke the bolts, we decided to see what the cause was. Originally it seemed to be the fact that the wheat had been broken down and was lying close to the ground. There were also various weeds intertwined with the wheat and that seemed to keep stopping the knife by jamming it up with the rope-like stems.

We figured the wobble-box that drives the knife could be the problem, so after removing it, we were able to get hold of the Case IH ProHarvest brigade again and they saved the day by bringing us out a new one, and once it was mounted back on the header, we were off. So, even with the two hour delay, we finished the field and made the move to the next 160 acres.

So far the crops have been running anywhere from 24-50 bushels per acre, and since the weather has smartened up, moisture is down around 9-10%. With only slight chances of precipitation for the next week (although we never trust the weekend forcasters) we will hopefully be finished by Monday and be ready to move north to Cherokee.

June 7

Enjoy the view of the day-crossing the Red River into Texas.

The day started out very humid, and we were working in a weedy field the day before, so with a late start in store because of the grain moisture, we were able to go into Frederick to do some much needed laundry.

We managed to finish the field we were on and then made the move to start on the Texas fields. There had been a lot of rain, and we were not really looking forward to getting stuck, but with the wind and the heat from the past couple of days, the field was reasonably solid. That was the good part, the bad part was the wind and heavy rain had taken a toll on the stand of the wheat, and most of it was broken down, which made for some tough picking. Even with the move to another field and starting late, we still managed to cover 100 acres.

The weather was impressive, with the dry line just east a few miles from where we were cutting. We were able to watch as the small line of clouds turned into some massive thunderheads, and we had quite a light show for most of the evening. Fortunately, it was moving NE, so we missed any bad weather, at least from that one. They are calling for the possibility of some storms over the weekend...our fingers are crossed so they miss us.

We did some banking at the local bank in town, one of the last community owned banks. The manager was really accomodating, so we thought to show our appreciation for his help, we would give him a couple of Canadian beer that we had brought with us. The problem was how to present them to him, in his place of business. Here's the conversation-

Marilyn: Thanks for your help, here's a couple of Canadian "cucumbers" for you. They are warm so you might want to put them in the fridge for a while, "cucumbers" are a lot better cold.
Manager: Thanks, a lot.
Marilyn: I hope you like "cucumbers", if you don't partake in them, you can give them to your tellers.
Manager: Oh, no, I really like "cucumbers". As a matter of fact, I think I consume to many of them sometimes.

The end of a productive day...

7. June 6

Another great harvesting day, although the wind could have been a bit slower. There didn't seem to be an ideal direction to combine without the air cleaning system getting plugged, causing overheating. When that happens, the front end shuts off and there is nothing left to do but wait til things cool down, or head across the field to the compressor and blow out the chaff. Finding a couple of two inch holes in the air screen narrowed down the cause for overheating, and some red duct tape on the inside and outside of the hole fixed things well enough to finish the day. Of course the ProHarvest brigade from CaseIH came right out to the field to bring us the parts we needed...now that's service!

We finished the harvest for one of our customers and then moved about 6 miles to the next field. While we were getting things organized to start, a local farmer stopped to see if he could hire us for a few acres. It's 'feast or famine' in this business. Oh well, 50 acres to go and then we head across the Red River into Texas, to continue the harvest. The fields look to be a bit wet, but hopefully the wind will dry them out before we get there, or another storm system passes through.

Al is depressed now that the hockey season is officially over. Actually he is more depressed that he got knocked out of first place in his playoff draft, at pretty much the last period of the series. There's always next year...

The fields are disappearing daily, as you can look in any direction and see dust flying from all the combines at work, it really is something to see.

It's after midnight and it's still 80 degrees outside, tomorrow should be another good one...

6. June...

June started out with strong storms and lots of rain. We were fortunate to only have gotten half an inch here and there, but there were areas around that had in excess of 5 inches! Even with the rain that fell, we were able to get rolling later on in the day, and although we didn't get a lot of acres done, it did take some off the total that had to be done.

The weather had gotten back to normal for Oklahoma, we had drying weather, hitting the low 90's, and the winds have picked up. Combines are going all over the place, it's hard to tell where the highway is at night with all the lights in the fields from the various crews trying to get finished so they can move up the road to the next stop. A lot of crews have already moved on, some are stranded further south, waiting for things to dry up. We have a bit of time before we have to head north. Al has found, with every load he takes to the elevator, they ask how many acres we have left and do we want more work, cause they know a couple of farmers looking...

So far Marilyn has managed to get in a couple of 100 acre days, which really helps to whittle down the acres left to do. It makes for long days, but with XM satellite radio to pass the time, the acres go by. It's surprising how familiar a field can be from year to year. It used to be when Al would say "I combined that field...", Marilyn would always add "...in 1942", because he always remembered where the fields were (although he had a tough time with city addresses).

Now Marilyn is finding herself doing those things, and it seems when you spend 15+ hours travelling over every part of a field, checking out the scenery, it does tend to stick with you, and you actually look forward to getting out there every year. And the views! Today we worked on a field right along the top of the Red River. On a perfect Oklahoma day, great cutting, great weather and beautiful scenery, what's not to love about this job?