June 7, 2011

View of the day-Another blaze just north of Cherokee.

We started off with good intentions, Marilyn took Al up to the combine and af

ter servicing the combine, left him there to start picking up canola again. It didn’t take long before her phone was ringing…it was Al and the header had given up the ghost. It was the same issue that we had worked on last fall in Carlyle…apparently the jerry-rig didn’t last too long. Perhaps the steep terraces had something to do with it.

We started looking for the part that we needed on the roller shaft…first online, then through our network of dealers that were close by. We figured it wasn’t going to be easy…and we were right…not a lot of call for pick-up heads down here. Straub’s out of Great Bend were able to order us one from Kansas City and it will be in Pratt, KS first thing tomorrow morning, so we have a road trip scheduled.

Al brought the combine in to the local welding shop to see if there was something he could do. The slot that the keyway went into on the roller shaft that drives the draper belt was all busted out from the sheave slopping around. We certainly didn’t want to have to put a whole new roller in, so Dr. Butler put his mind to the situation and fabricated a fabulous piece of work by cutting of the bad part of the shaft and building a coupler. Absolutely amazing…if it works.

While we were at the welding shop the fire sirens went off in town and after looking to the northwest we saw huge plumes of smoke…not a good day for a fire…the wind was blowing at about 30 MPH out of the southwest and, yes, the temperature was warm it was around 104 degrees.

We have a 150 mile round trip in the AM, then we’ll get the combine back together and start back in the canola…at least, that is the plan.

We could have done without this day off…

June 6, 2011

View of the day-Al working the terraces on the outside round of the canola.

Another killer day…106ºF and not a cloud in the sky…there was still a wind, but it helped to stir the heat…at least that is what we are telling ourselves.

John picked up Al first thing in the morning to give him ride to get the tractor and header from Carmen. Marilyn met him out at the combine and after servicing and moving across the road to the canola, we got started with the pickup work. We had some issues getting things set right and Marilyn is convince the yield monitor is still now quite right, but…shut up and drive.

With 21ft swaths, Marilyn was able to clip right along…except for the terraces. The swatherman had gone north and south on the field and on the far north end, the terraces were doozies which slowed down productivity. Al picked up the headlands and after Marilyn ran into town to pick up some groceries for lunch, it was time for her to take over.

The canola wasn’t running all that good, even though the swaths looked like they might be holding a lot. The moisture was down around 5% and at the high point of the afternoon the grain temp on the monitor was 129º! Marilyn thought the surprizing thing was that even though the heat had been brutal, there was no shattering in the swaths, no seeds sitting on the feeder house like usual with canola, and the pods that had collected on the header bracket had not been broken open either…someone sure has been working on adaptability. At one point, there was a dust devil that passed across the field and it picked up clumps of canola almost 100ft in the air. If you look close at the picture, you can see a couple of them…Marilyn didn’t get to the camera quick enough to catch the big one.

Al was hauling the canola to Alva, about 25 miles west of Cherokee. They were putting it into a concrete silo where it will sit until it gets trucked out to Oklahoma City to get crushed. He had an easy day of hauling with just two loads, but the heat didn’t make him very happy…he did get to take a break to watch a bit of the hockey game while he waited for Marilyn to get a load for him.

It was 120 acre day, even with the small swaths…

June 5, 2011

View of the day-Al waits by the barn for a load of wheat.

It was moving day and we were heading south…to do some combining, at least. We got things unhooked and ready to move, Marilyn took the combine, John pulled the header and Al brought the pickup.

Once we got to the field and got the header hooked up, Marilyn started combining while Al, John and Ron went back to get the rest of the stuff. Al had to dump the General and then go back out to dump the cart before he could come back to Carmen. Ron had the honors of moving the tractor and grain cart out to the field and even though he left before Al had gone to dump the truck in Cherokee, he was the last to get to the field.

It was another hot and windy day…broken record, but it’s true…over 100ºF again, which is perfect harvesting weather. The farmer wanted a load of seed wheat, so Marilyn started in the best looking part of the field and got 300 bushels squeezed into their grain truck, then it was full speed ahead.

With no major setbacks, other than a couple of trips out to dig the dirt out of the header, the field went faster that it had in past years, even though it was so short in places the header was travelling on the ground…hence the dirt digging. One good thing about mowing is that the stubble is so short that the bathroom breaks aren’t so painful…all that will change tomorrow when we start in on the canola.

We finished up around 8pm and after getting the header unhooked, Marilyn started the drive back to Cherokee…well, a few miles south of Cherokee…to the canola field. Al brought the General over once he had gotten it dumped and then Ron met us and took us back to the pickup. Tomorrow we go back for the cart, then get set to do the canola.

Could be interesting…

June 4, 2011

View of the day-Al starts the day with a full hopper on the combine with the wind blowing hard again and the temp hitting 102º on the Napa sign in Cherokee.

Another hot windy day Al unloaded the truck from last night then went out to start combining while Marilyn got things organized back at the camper.

We finished the field we were on around 4:00 then we had a 8 mile move to the last field for John, it was a 70 acre patch Marilyn got going by 5:00 and Al took a load into to the elevator at 7:30, unloaded, then he stayed in to watch the hockey game…Vancouver won 3-2 in overtime.

Marilyn meanwhile had the cart and combine to fill…or finish the field whichever came first. She got the field done and after filling the slip tank with fuel at the Coop, got back to the camper by 10:00 PM. A 130 acre day and with a move…not too bad.

The elevator won’t open until 11:00 AM because it is Sunday, so we might move the combine, header and cart to Carmen first then unload after that, where we have one more field of wheat to go. The weather is more of the same…hot, hot, hot and windy…so we may get done with the wheat by tomorrow night, then we move to the canola.

It is now midnite and it’s still almost 80º… glad the AC in the camper keeps it cool…

June 3, 2011

View of the day-Another good day of cutting by pretty much everyone in the area. Everywhere you looked there were plumes of dust flying…now this is action!

We scheduled AIS for 10:30am and with the wind blowing the way it was and the 88º temps at 9:30am meant we could be have been going even earlier. We knew we would be putting in a long day without starting at the crack of dawn, and it was going to be another hot windy one.

Marilyn got the combine fuelled up, then went back to get snacks for the day and Al got the rigs moved closer to the next part of the field, then started combining. Once Marilyn made it back, it was round and round until the field was done. This one didn’t yield as good as the first one, only around 20, but the test weight was still up at 62lbs.

We took the header off, then moved a few miles over to the next field, put it back on and started right in making dust again. Marilyn combined until the truck was almost full, got the combine fuelled, then Al took over while she went into town to make sure she got her order of the Friday catfish special from Miss Dotties…awesome stuff.

After picking up the fish, then getting the slip tank filled with fuel again, it was back to the camper for Marilyn. Al made another hopper full, then came in with a load on the General to dump in the morning.

No rain in the forecast, so we forge on…

June 2, 2011

View of the day-According to the prediction of one of the locals…”she’s gonna break loose today”…and it certainly did, the dust was flying everywhere around us.

Al had a feeling it would be dry enough to give it a try around 2pm…which means he wants to try it at 12:30-1pm, so we had an early lunch and headed out to the field. Al cut a sample, then we took it in to the elevator…12.3% moisture…good to go!

We started in along the waterway and the combine was showing way higher than the test sample, so we cut over to the road side and were able to blend everything quite nicely since it was down to 10% moisture on that side. Marilyn took over combining while Al got the farmer’s truck out so we could fill it with seed wheat, which didn’t take as long as everyone thought it would. I averaged around 40bu/ac and the test weight was 62lb.

We got the first patch finished, then moved 10 miles over to the next field and started right in on that one. It turned out to be an amazing day…got to hear the hopper full alarm and got to use the lights, which meant no wet ground and we got to combine into the night…at least until the elevator closed.

The weather looks like it will be hot and windy for the weekend, so we should be able to get the rest of the wheat lapped up.

Hopefully the canola will be ready by then…

June 1, 2011

View of the day-On the road to Fairview, the Cimarron River is looking pretty low.

Al was up early and on the road to Carmen to check out the field we have to do down there…it would be at least a couple of days, so we didn’t have to worry about getting everything moved down right away. It was another hot muggy day and the south wind had returned after taking a day off.

Marilyn continued with her cable wrestling and conquered most of it…it is now bundle and label time. Al wanted to give Sasktel its daily rag about our phones not working. After another 40 minutes on the line, we finally had success…sort of. The phones work, but there is no messaging or data…not that we use data, but text messaging…seriously? At least Al has his right arm back, he was mighty cranky that his phone wasn’t working, as anyone at Sasktel will vouch for.

We went on a road trip to Fairview to visit with the ProHarvest guys…Al needed to get his ProHarvest belt buckles…and on the way we did see a couple of fields getting cut, but nothing major yet. The trucks are still rolling by the camper headed for the elevator, which also makes Al anxious to get going.

We rushed back from Fairview to talk to Ray from ProHarvest, who was at the combine out at the farm, trying to find out about the error message Marilyn had gotten when she moved the combine out yesterday. He was still there when we got back and he informed us that there was a bulb burned out…imagine that, it actually tells you there is a bulb out…what next? After a good visit with Ray, we went back to the camper for supper and to get prepared for the big event tonight…the puck drops for game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That ought to keep Al’s mind off the grain trucks going by…