May 31, 2008

View of the day-Taw, a passenger, is enthralled by the unloading grain.

We got started before 10am and went hard all day. We finished the field we were on and moved a couple miles east to a new 80 acre patch. This field was averaging over 65 bu/ac with spikes as high as 106bu/ac!

Marilyn had a rider with her for a while, five year old Taw rode for a few rounds, mesmerized by the reels going around and the grain coming into the hopper.

Al spent most of the day in line at the elevator as things backed up with more machines running and some of the other elevators in the area filled up and waiting for rail cars or trucks to make more room. Having a tire blow out on the General didn't help matters much, but the tire guy came out and put a new one on and it was go time again.

Marilyn had the Freightliner, grain cart and combine heaped to the max and could do no more until the cavalry showed up with an empty truck. Al decided to send her home early(at 9:30pm) and went back to the field and combined until the truck was filled. He wanted to catch the Stanley Cup playoffs on the XM radio anyway.

Storms to the north, but we will be hot and dry for a few more days.

We hope...

May 30, 2008

View of the day-The yield and moisture monitor in the combine. Notice the third number down on the left side...that's 91 bushels per acre! This, from a field the agricultural "professionals" told the farmer this spring-"should get zeroed out from the fly damage".

We got going before noon today and while we worked into the night, didn't manage to get 100 acres in...it's tough when the field is averaging over 70 bu/ac. Between the slower speed...that's a lot of stuff to send through the combine...the lineups at the elevator and having to cut low to catch all the broken heads, productivity was down quite a bit. But what a yield!

Combines are going everywhere around us, more of the same tomorrow...

May 29, 2008

View of the day- It's official-the season has started!

We got up extra early again today to go for another round of biscuits and gravy at the second day of the kickoff breakfast. Marilyn did win a door prize this time...a toy gas pump...how bizarre. After the meeting we went back to Davidson to get the shop trailer and head out to the farm to get the header ready to do a test.

Once we got the header tuned up and hooked up to the combine, we went out to do our first test of the season. It was testing 14.6 so they figured we could cut a load and it would dry down in the heat and wind. We carried on until 10pm and managed to get 52 acres done...a great first day. The combine worked without a hitch...it better...and the wheat is yielding about 40+ bushels per acre.

The weather is to be in the high nineties and over 100 for the next week so we should be able to get a lot done, and a lot will be done in the area with all the crews that are around.

We're online now with phone service, so no more skulking around for wireless, although the lady at the town office told us we could just park outside her house and use her service...did that last night.

But now we have...dial-up...

May 28, 2008

View of the day-Biscuits 'n Gravy at the ProHarvest 2008 Kickoff Breakfast.

We were up early and in Frederick by 6:45am to take advantage of the biscuits and gravy courtesy of the FFA, CaseIH, and local Frederick businesses. It was a overflowing house as they had to set up tables in the hall to accommodate all the harvesters that had shown up. Three things bring a good crowd to these things...rain, free food and free hats! There was over 200 for the breakfast and presentation, we didn't win any door prizes, but we did get our annual ProHarvest hats and Al got his belt buckle for his collection.

After breakfast, the proharvest "red shirts" were introduced...they are the ones from the various factories that show up for the breakfast then scamper back to their jobs. Then we met the men who work on the front lines with the harvesters all along the harvest run. The guys who bring parts and expertise out to the field and make sure you are up and running...at no charge!! Well, not for their labor...the parts you pay for...but still...

Cam and Ed are two of the vets that have been on the run since it started and always have a story and some good advice to keep everyone rolling. They aren't afraid of technology...ahem, you know who I'm talking to...that's right...

After a couple of videos, one of which was the usual gruesome and sobering safety video, we were sent out to get a lesson on setting the 8010...didn't affect us, and the MacDon guys were there talking about their draper header...again, didn't affect us since we own neither. Marilyn was looking for the usual session on the Advanced Farming System, dealing with the yield and moisture and GPS mapping system and software. Well...thank you very much for coming out...they didn't have anything this year, and Marilyn has a brand new system to learn about before we start combining for real. While these sessions were going on, we caught up with a lot of the harvesters we have come to call our friends and got updated on their past season. A shocking discovery was that of all the harvesters at the breakfast...we were the only Canadians!

Al was mentioning to one of the older harvesters we know, that this was going to be his 20th harvest. Our friend informed us that this was his 67th! He started going on harvest with his dad and started in this very county, riding in the hopper of the pull type Gleaner-Baldwin, leveling out the grain as they combined so they could get the full 40 bushels that the hopper would hold...a far cry 300+ bushels today's combines hold.

After the gab session, we headed over to the laundromat...as did a lot of other harvesters. All the machines were busy, so we went to see the Rad King to see about getting a new rad ordered. Once we were able to shoehorn ourselves into a few machines at the laundromat, we sat around outside and had another gab session with the crews doing laundry. It was getting sunny, hot and humid and although it was cooler inside the laundromat, there were also four children about 3-4 years old, practicing their fighting and screaming...ouch.

We went back to Davidson and finished up the combine, then Al fueled it up...double ouch...and Marilyn drove it the 10 miles out to the farmers yard. The rain will set things back a bit, but the wheat is a day or two off anyway, so we can do some more fixing...

Yay...

May 27,2008

View of the day-The Chopper that Clay won at the Texas Hold'em Tournament...pretty nice set of wheels.

It was a hot and humid day, one of those days where you just know something is going to happen with the weather...and it did.

We started out with the intention of getting the combine ready...putting in the radios, mounting the fire extinguishers, extra lights, etc. Marilyn needed to get the phone hooked up so we thought we would run into Frederick to get that done and to see if we could find something out about the overheating in the pickup (among other things). We found a very friendly mechanic who hooked the truck up to his computer and he found a few things we knew about and gave us some suggestions (and prices...) on what we could do to rectify the problems. We knew the radiator was probably a big part of the overheating and he confirmed it and pointed us in the direction of the "Radiator King" in town...he was out for lunch.

We got back to Davidson, started in on the combine and managed to get partway done when the skies opened up and it just poured. We sat it out in the camper, then decided to go over to the local "Hop & Sack", or as we call all convenience stores down here...well, actually any convenience store...the "Zippy Mart" for a pop. There were 5 locals sitting at the tables having an ice tea, and the first thing they said when they saw us was "funny how this rain showed up the same time you did...you musta brought it with ya". We seem to get a lot of that over the course of the season...we also get blamed when its cold...ah, the life of the scapegoat.

After the ice tea break, we decided to go to Vernon to do laundry and get a few groceries, but while we were getting ready the power went out. We waited for an hour for it to come back on and then left anyway without the laundry...time was ticking. Marilyn went into Walmart to get 'a few things', and Al waited in the truck. This turned out to be a good thing because while Marilyn was inside, all hell was breaking loose outside as another round of rain and wind hit the town. Al was waiting at the door for Marilyn so no umbrella was needed...not that one would have withstood the wind. We got back to the camper in one piece to find the power back on, thank god for A/C.

Not a real productive day...

May 26, 2008

View of the day-Unloaded in Davidson, Oklahoma.

We made it through the night with no catastrophes...and no internet, hence the fact that the blog is ending up a day late.

We had to unload the shop trailer from the grain truck so we went to Burlington, where we knew there was a ramp. Unfortunately with the rain from the night before it was a bit sticky getting the pickup backed up the ramp...then getting it back down with a loaded shop trailer. We got it done and didn't need a tow strap.

Once we got back to Cherokee, we got the combine hooked back up to the General, the shop trailer hooked behind the camper, had a lunch with our farmer, then left town fighting the SW wind all the way to Davidson.

And fight it we did. We did see a couple of other crews moving south and actually one moving north...can't figure that one out. It was't until we were 25 miles from our destination that we actually saw combines in the field making dust. It was only one field though, it seems everyone else is waiting for it to dry down a bit.

When we finally got to Davidson, the campground was already filled, except for our reserved spot under the only tree. After getting the camper set up and the A/C running...after all it was 94 degrees...we went to unload the combine.

The lot where we usually park was filled with all kinds of trailers, trucks, carts and combines, so finding a spot wasn't easy. After getting it unloaded and parked, we went by the elevator to see if any samples had been brought in. The guy manning the scale said there was still mostly testing going on and it was only east a ways that they were going full scale. This was good news, since we had a few things to install on the combine, not to mention getting the yield and moisture stuff set up.

Back at the camper, while Marilyn was getting the dish set up, a young lady and her four month old baby from the next camper came over to inquire about aiming the dish. She had been trying for the past three days with no luck...a new camper with "satellite ready" hook-ups. Marilyn went over to help out, and after aiming the dish and running a cable though the slide had it up and running in no time at all.

What a relief to finally be at our destination...

May 25, 2008

View of the day-The new combine finally loaded in Great Bend, Kansas.

WOW, what a day! We woke up to a beautiful sunny day, with just a hint of a breeze...coming from the NW no less. We started rolling and things were looking pretty good...til around noon. We could see skiffs of clouds started to congregate and then the wind switched out of the SW, then picked up some more and we were back to the old way of travelling.

We made Great Bend and stopped at the dealership where the combine was getting it's final prep before hitting the fields. While we were loading up we could see the sky getting darker in the north...where we had just come through... and the clouds were starting to look ominous. Once we got the combine strapped down we left town hoping to get to Cherokee, OK before dark.

We listened to the radio all the way down, fighting the wind and looking in the rear view mirror as the reports of tornados on the ground in the places we had driven through on the way down. We managed to stay ahead of the storms until we reached Cherokee. We unhooked the combine trailer from the General and headed over to the loading dock to unload the shop trailer.

We reached the dock but it had no trespassing signs on it, so unloading the shop trailer was out for the evening. We had parked the camper in our usual spot in town and our "landlord" informed us of a ramp in Burlington, about 20 miles north of town...so that's where we head in the morning.

The only place open for grub in town was Pizza Hut, so off we went to Al's favorite eatin' spot. While there we watched as the bad weather started moving closer and closer...we were in a severe weather warning. By the time we got back to the camper, lightning was flashing, the wind had picked up quite a bit and it started to rain...make that POUR. It came down hard for about a half an hour, hailing a bit every now and again, then finally move on. After a short break, it started raining again and continued into the night...minus the lightning and thunder.

Tomorrow we make our destination...