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View of the day-A harvester parked in Cherokee with some pretty fat tires...good flotation.
We had our usual breakfast and while Marilyn went out to service the combine, Al got the header trailer hooked up and brought it to the field so we could load and start moving to Carmen. While Al was tightening up the feeder chain he complained that the morning was almost shot and did we have to start getting up at 5am to get everything done. Marilyn asked what time it was informed it was 11:45 already. As we were driving down the highway to Carmen, Marilyn notice that the combine clocks read 10:30...apparently the battery needs to be changed in the clock that is in the shop trailer. Al was happy he had gained an extra hour.
We got the combine and tractor/grain cart moved first and then the farmer gave us a ride back to the field to get the General and the pickup & header. By the time we got back to the field and got the header hooked up it was time to start making dust...and that is exactly what Marilyn did for the rest of the day, covering 130 acres...very productive.
Al was quite impressed with the elevator this year. Last year he had complained profusely to the manager that he didn't spend a pile of cash on a combine to have it sitting in the field waiting on trucks...a common complaint last year by all the harvesters. His complaining must have paid off because they put in a new leg and Al figured it could easily handle 50,000 bu/hr...ah, yes...the squeaky wheel. Or, it could be that it was planned.
We only have 50 acres left here, unless we find some more work. A lot of harvesters have packed up and moved on already...what a short harvest, although there is still some wheat left to cut.
And now it's time to give the sheriff someone to watch as we park by the library for our internet...
View of the day-Al's view in line at the elevator...hot and windy...perfect cutting weather.
Up early and ready for a 100+ acre day. There was no rain in the forecast for our area today and we took advantage of it.
We stopped for breakfast first and got to have a short visit with one of the first farmers we cut for in the area back in the "old days", he had retired and moved to southern Oklahoma. He was the one who introduced us to catfish fishing and every year we combined for him he took us out to try our luck...we did alright and ended up with some mighty fine fish fries.
Speaking of the old days, we were discussing how many years we had been coming south...20 years! That is including the first four years working for someone else before branching out on our own with Al's brother Jeff. Are we that old?? No wonder we know the roads and fields so well...where does the time go...
After Marilyn fueled and serviced, she got to cutting around 9:30am...fortunately the alarm beeping didn't start until later in the afternoon, so she had some quiet time. Ray didn't make the scene to fix it either. We finished the big field and moved over to the last 30 acres for this farmer. He wanted it split in half and the straw dropped for baling on one side...good thing there was lots of straw and the humidity was up in the evening...there would actually be something to bale.
We finished just as it was getting dark and while Al hauled the last load into the elevator, Marilyn got fuel in the slip tank for tomorrow's day of combining. This crop averaged around 35 bu/ac, some places it was as high as 55 bu/ac, not bad for a crop the frost had kicked earlier in the spring. Test weights have been down, though. Al took a picture at the elevator of the current price of wheat. 
Things must have slowed down a lot because Marilyn saw Al back in the field in a 1/2 hour and figured they must have put the run on him because he was back so quick. Lots of cutting got done yesterday.
Tomorrow we do the opposite of what we normally do...we are going to head south. We have some work to do around Carmen, about 20 miles straight south.
And we accomplished our 100+ acre goal...feels pretty good...
View of the day-It isn't all brand spankin' new machines...
We had a visit from a local friend first thing in the morning...apparently he doesn't know the 8am rule. We went for breakfast to Miss Dotties, then went out to start the task of unloading everything...in some hot and humid temps...with no wind to speak of...not very pleasant.
We unhooked the combine trailer then drove 15 miles up to Burlington to use the ramp to unload the shop trailer out of the back of the General. Once we got back to the lot, we unloaded the cart then serviced everything and while Al got the combine fueled up, Marilyn hooked up the header and went out to the field to wait for Al and the combine. We got the header attached and Al proceeded to cut a sample...it was looking pretty good and since there were combines making dust everywhere you looked, we were quite sure that it was plenty dry. Having the temps in the mid 90's didn't hurt either...we are a couple of beets today.
Marilyn started combining and had an alarm go off...it was for a "non-critical" error. After searching throught the 1.5 inch manual to find out what it meant, we discovered it was something to do with the engine...fairly vague. We changed out the fuel filters thinking that would make it stop, but fat chance that would work...funny how a small extremely hot engine compartment can take the fun out of things. It wouldn't have been so bad if there was an alarm silencer like there is for the tailings/rotor/header stuff...no, this thing just kept beeping, and not with any regularity...sometimes long, sometimes short and plenty...just plain irritating.
We called ProHarvest and Ray told us he would try to make it out to hook up his computer to find out what the code meant. What is a normal farmer supposed to do? Like Al says, "It wasn't like that in the old days"...an alarm meant business, not "maybe you want to have a look". Marilyn found some paper towel and duct tape and silenced...sort of...the infernal beeping and continued on.
We finished the first small patch and moved over to start on the second field. So much for the joy of the new scale at the elevator...we are combining one mile from the elevator and it took over an hour to get weighed and unloaded...never mind the waiting in line.
Ray showed up with his computer only to find out that since we had moved to the next field, the alarm had quit going off...he claimed his program would be able to tell what had gone wrong...except that it wouldn't recognize the combine. He will come back tomorrow with something new and improved and get to the bottom of things.
And now it's time to drive for the internet...
View of the day-We finally have everything parked on the street in Cherokee, Oklahoma...what a day!
We started out early from Great Bend after having a quick breakfast and fueling up the trucks. The forecast was for strong storms in the afternoon, but we thought we would beat them, or miss them altogether.
There were still harvesters moving south along the highway, but there wasn't anything cut at all and only one field we saw had been sampled, which seemed strange for this time of year. We made Cherokee just at noon and after having lunch with our farmer, we headed back to Timken, KS to get the Freight/Tractor/Cart and header that we had left there a week before...exactly a week. It seems strange that we have driven down twice, back once, and spent two days packing all in just over a week...6000km.
After getting the cart trailer hooked back up to the truck and hooking the header to the pickup, we started back to Cherokee. It was getting dark in the SW and the weather forecast was getting worse...tornado warnings, high winds, heavy rain and hail. We just hoped we could miss it...and it was looking pretty good until we got a good dumping of rain 40 miles south of Great Bend. We couldn't see the clouds behind us, but judging from the vehicles that were parked on the side of the road watching and taking pictures, we knew it had to be bad. There were reports on the radio of tornados that had touched down in a few places...all behind us by this time...and the strong winds that were blowing, there was even a report that a storm spotter had his windshield shattered because of the hail. 
We entertained thoughts of stopping somewhere until the storm had lessened, but opted to keep going. As we got closer to Cherokee, we could see a few fields that had been tested since we last were by them and there were even a couple of combines making dust. By the time we got parked in Cherokee and made our way bakc to the camper, we had to weave in and out of the lineups of trucks at the elevator. Al claims the reason for the lineup is because they are only dumping in one place...the amazing thing is that they have put in a second scale so they can weigh the empty trucks separately to speed things up...and they are still lined up.
It feels good to finally be here and hopefully we will get to do some cutting tomorrow. No dish, no internet, no Blogger...
How are we to know what is going on in the outside world,,,
View of the day-Pit stop for a stretch at Springview, Nebraska...a small part of another long day.
We were up early again and it was AIS by 8:30 as we left Gettysburg. It was uneventful as we fought the SE wind most of the way...mileage was way down, but what can you expect? At least it isn't $4/gal like last year...oh, yay, the brainwashing has worked and $2.50/gal seems like a treat.
We stopped about five times along the way, wondering when we would run into some bad weather. The sky looked very strange most of the day, even when the sun was shining, it seemed the trouble making clouds were trying to work their way into our path. We cleared SD, NE, got into Kansas and decided to try and make Great Bend before calling it a day. As we turned to make the last 30 miles it started to sprinkle and did so all the way into town.
Al got the General parked on the south side of the city and we headed over to the campground to get set up. We called the landlord and he told us we should get parked pronto because there was nasty weather on the way...high winds, tornado warnings...great...we park in the mobile home park...
Once we got unhooked, we went to Arby's for a change in menu...lots of construction going on in town so its a good thing we know the back roads. Arby's is on the same parking lot as the Walmart 24hr Supercenter...Al made Marilyn sit with her back to the window. No worries there. Unless there is a chance to go on an "every aisle" 3-hour browse...for the exercise of course...she won't be going in.
Back at the camper, we weren't lucky enough to have a wireless friendly neighbor, so it's off to the Internet cafe to send the blog into cyberspace.
We covered 550 miles and have 130 miles to go to our destination...very manageable...of course, we have to do it three times...down, back and down again. We didn't see another harvester on the way down this time...everyone must be in place.
Life in the fast lane...
View of the day-Our layover spot in Gettysburg, South Dakota. The four tenters that were setting up next to us better hope we don't get rain.
We had an early morning, by our standards at least. After having coffee with the landlords, Marilyn's sister, Marg and her husband Kim, we went to the Skyline to have breakfast while we waited for the truck air to up. It was another short stop at the border, we had everything in order and filled out in duplicate, so after checking the serial numbers on everything, we were on our way. We stopped in Kenmare to get a new tire for the camper and to fuel up. Al was having trouble with a pin that kept creeping out of the bracket that holds the hydraulic lift on the combine trailer. After stopping to pound it back a couple or three times we were able to make it to Wilton to pick up a couple of hose clamps to keep it in place. Other than that it was a rather uneventful day in the breakdown department.We got to Gettysburg around 7:30pm and while Al got the General fueled up, Marilyn took the camper to the town park and finally got the holding tank filled with water so she could purge the winter antifreeze from the lines...something that usually gets done at home right after the camper is pulled from it's parking spot. After getting it parked, she went to pick up Al and it was over to the Gas N Goodies for supper.Tomorrow will be a marathon day as we try to get through Nebraska and a good chunk of Kansas...maybe in the rain...Marilyn just realized on the last trip down, she did not set one foot in a Walmart...
View of the day-It's official, we're gone. Al is getting ready to leave, while Marilyn gets a few last minute items looked after.
After a late night and early morning, we finally got the rest of the packing done...sort of. As usual, once it gets close to the "AIS" (a$$ in seat) time, we toss stuff into tubs, find a spot on the floor in the camper and leave it until we get to Carlyle for the night. 
Al left first while Marilyn had a few last minute errands to look after...getting the new brake controller working was one of them. We took the new one for a test and discovered it didn't do a thing...not good for a camper of that size, so Marilyn took it back to where it had been installed and was informed that it was a problem in the trailer wiring. No biggie...the engine brake would do until we could find time to chase down the problem.Al was already in Carlyle when Marilyn called on the radio to let him know that there was a bit of a problem with one of the tires on the camper...it was smoking and it had pretty much shredded to pieces. Quite a lovely flower... Orders were to try and limp it to the casino and wait.Al had been having lunch, so once he was done, he came up with a few tools and in no time at all had the tire changed. Back in Carlyle it had rained a bit so we decided to leave the combine at the motel and just take the camper out to the yard. Once we had gotten there and got parked, Marilyn finished putting things away while Al watched the final hockey game of the season...his Penn's won.Tomorrow we cross the border...we hope...
