July 2, 2011

View of the day-Working to beat the weather.

Al was away early to his auction sale…lots of little crap and an auctioneer that was dragging everything out wayyy to long. He was sure we could have combined all day and still made the end of the sale. He did manage to come home with 5 new toys…well, new to him.

Marilyn got to drive the General out to the field, and since she had done the servicing last night, was able to jump in the combine and get right back to work. After getting Kevin’s semi filled, she started working on filling the General and after a couple of dumps, could see the last 8 acres of the field coming together…until the cutter bar stopped.

Al was just getting back to the field, so he drove down to where the combine had stopped and it wasn’t good news. The spline on the knife drive had sheared off. We had never had this happen on any of the CaseIH wobble boxes, so we were shocked to see how it had snapped off and split down the middle…and of course, the warranty had run out in May. We called the MacDon support trailer and they did have a new wobble box…200 miles away in Goodland, fortunately they were able to get one of the guys to meet us half way with it. We were happy to see that it was the same gentleman that had helped us set the header up at Davidson, OK last year.

The clouds had been building all day and although it was only in the 90’s, without the wind, it felt worse than the 106º days. We raced back to the field to try and get everything put back together before the weather got nasty…hoping we could get it assembled so that the timing was correct and we wouldn’t have to re-do it.

We got everything back together just as it got dark and Marilyn took off to get the last of the field lapped up…and it worked like a charm. We got the General almost full with what was left on the field and now it will have to sit until Tuesday because everything is closed up for the long weekend.

We have one more field to do, but the move is probably 20 miles, so that will take some time to get things moved. The good news is it will be that much closer to our move north when we are done. The bad news is there won’t be any place to dump the grain with everything closed, so it will not be a big acre day…we will have to bring the Freightliner out of the mothballs for extra room.

Once we got finished and back to the camper, we watched the weather channel as the storms started popping up. Nothing here at the camper, but it looked like we might have gotten some out at the combine, which is okay now that the field is done.

And they really could use the rain…

July 1, 2011 - Happy Canada Day!

View of the day-Al had his work cut out for him first thing in the morning…the tractor had a sore foot, and it was 90º at 10am.

We got out to the field, did some servicing, then Marilyn started combining. Al had to take a load into the elevator, then he went for the shop trailer so he could take the flat front tire off the tractor to get it fixed in Rush Center.

Marilyn finished the field, got the header ready for transport just as Kevin showed up to take it to the next field. Al showed up with the repaired tire just as they were leaving the field and once he got the tire back on, started to move the tractor and cart to the new field.

Kevin helped Al get the pickup and General moved over, then hauled another load into the elevator. Once again, the elevator manager opened up for Al’s last load of the day…apparently we are one of a couple of people still harvesting in the area. After Al dumped the last load, he went back to Great Bend with the General and parked at the campground…he was done for the day.

Kevin brought his semi up to the field and rode around with Marilyn in the combine until she got it filled with seed wheat, then he took it home to dump. Marilyn combined another hopper full, then shut it down for the night. She decided to grease while the combine was fueling up, but didn’t even get down the ladder before the slip tank was empty, so she finished greasing, then headed for Great Bend.

There is an estate auction sale tomorrow at 9am and there are over 50 farm toys, most of them in their original boxes. Al will be attending, hence the reason the General came back to the camper…he will take the pickup and Marilyn will take Big Gen to the field to start combining. Because of this, the pickup with the slip tank will be at the auction and no telling when those toys will sell and Marilyn does not want to run out of fuel. As she passed Otis on the way home, she saw the 24hr fuel pumps and decided to grab some fuel and go back to the field to top off the combine.

A late night, 125 acres combined and Kevin will bring his semi out in the morning so she has lots to fill before Al makes it out.

And with the servicing all done, she can sleep in a bit…

June 30, 2011

View of the day-Al gets a shot while trying to stay out of the dust and the 108º heat.

It was supposed to be another day off as we waited for the moisture to go down, but Kevin called us up in the morning and figured we should give it a try. We got organized then headed out to give it a try…the moisture had gone from 17.2% on Tuesday to 8.3% today! Yeah, that’s good to go.

We finished a couple of patches then moved over to finish off about 50 acres that the other crew had left that was right next to where we had just finished. They had moved a few miles north and were going strong, so there was no sense in them moving back for that little bit.

While Marilyn was finishing off that patch, Al and Kevin moved the tractor and pick-up over to the next field so she would be able to start right in while Al took the truck into the elevator. They had already closed for the day, but the manager was good enough to go over and dump him so we could keep going. Kevin got to drive the combine for a while, cutting the first ‘flat’ part of the field, then Marilyn took over on the terraced side of the waterway.

Al was having alternator issues with the tractor, so just before calling it quits, he took it off so we could get it checked out tomorrow in Great Bend. Once Marilyn got the truck full, we called it a day…and it was a good one, over 130 acres.

Not bad for a day off…

June 29, 2011

View of the day-Gerry lures Al into the green one for a test drive.

We had intentions of being on the road bright and early, but we didn’t have anywhere to be, so we ended up leaving around 11am. We went to the bin site and hooked up the pick-up head, then started out for Phillipsburg.

We stopped in Hayes for lunch then carried on in the blistering heat…103ºF on the pickup read out. There were combines running all over the place, most of the fields had been combined but as we got closer to Phillipsburg, it looked like they were just starting out. We stopped at the CaseIH dealer in Phillipsburg for a visit and to pick up some oil…they were good enough to let us leave the header there until we can move it further north.

After we got it backed into a spot that would make it easy to hook up behind the cart trailer, we headed west to do some visiting and to get Marilyn’s laptop. Gerry & Lynn owners of Prevost Harvesting had picked it up from Staples on their way through Yorkton.

We took one of the secondary roads where there was little or no traffic…in 70 miles we might have seen 10 vehicles. Along this road, there were fewer combines running and the ones that were making dust were just the local farmers. As we got closer to Colby, we could see the crops were not as far along and even though there were cutters out in the fields, they were just sampling to see how the moisture was.

We pulled into Brewster just as a semi was pulling out of the elevator and was waiting to weigh out empty. Looking at the licence, we could see it was from Saskatchewan and was the very harvester we had been looking for. We had a quick chat with him, then followed him out to the field where they were combining. We got there just as they had finished combining the irrigation pivot corners, which were plenty dry…but the crop under the pivot was a whole other story…still pretty green. They were done for the day.

We followed them back to Colby so Marilyn could get her laptop and got invited to stay for supper...honest, we don’t do this on purpose. We had another great home cooked meal and lots of visiting before starting back to Great Bend…160 miles, but thankfully interstate highway except for the last 30 miles.

There are custom cutters parked EVERYWHERE…

June 28, 2011

View of the day-Al gets probed at the elevator and we have fingers crossed that the moisture isn’t too high.

We went out to the field at the usual time and after servicing and fuelling the combine, Marilyn prepared to finish the last 5 acres on the field…the last five ‘green’ acres. We hoped there was enough dry wheat on the truck to get it low enough to unload at the elevator.

Marilyn notice the front end was making a lot of noise when she turned on the feeder house and after giving it a quick inspection, discovered that the reverser chain that Al had just finished tightening was pretty much stretched. Al gave Kevin a call and got him to pick up some new chain on his way back from checking the moisture at the next field.

After lapping up the last of the field, Marilyn took a ride into the elevator with Al and we were releaved to find that the moisture was 15.1%...not good, but a far cry from some of the other stuff that was showing on the monitor. We got the truck dumped then went back to the field to do some more servicing.

Al blew the rads and filters out, while Marilyn gave the windows on the combine and General a good cleaning and a coat of RainEx…a miracle product that makes dusting them off a dream. Once Kevin got back with the chain, Al went over to the yard to measure and break the chain to the right length and to cut some new threads in the blower wand that he broke when he threw it off the combine.

Once everything was in tip-top shape and we were given the next couple of days off, due to the fact that the moisture on the next field was 17%, we headed back to town. Marilyn went shopping at the truck parts store for some new clearance lights for the General…Al is loving the brightness of the LED lights and they are sorely in need of replacement. The gentleman there was quite helpful and she left with a few new warning flags and a couple of new oversize signs…great prices. The lights got ordered and they should be in Wednesday.

We had been invited out for supper by Taff & Wendy Hughes, the other harvester that is cutting for the same farmer. We had a great visit with their family and crew and got a tour of the ‘estate’. What a gorgeous evening for a BBQ, the bugs stayed away, the temperature was perfect and the steaks…well, just the best! The yard had been landscaped by a professional photographer and with the waterfall, pathways and cozy spots nestled in the little valleys of the tree canopied hideaway…it was just so relaxing and beautiful. No pictures...they would not have done it justice.

Marilyn said if she had something like this at home, she would quit harvesting…

June 27, 2011

View of the day-A couple of friendly dogs suck up some shade under the General.

We got out to the field early…relatively speaking…and took the header off to move to the next field. After getting it hooked back up at the next field, Marilyn cut a patch out to park everything, then Kevin picked us up and took us back for the General and cart. Marilyn took the pickup back, then started combining, while Kevin had the honor of driving the tractor and cart.

The moisture was still up on this field…a lot of the wheat had come up in the spring and was still green. It was a far cry from the 9% moisture of the last few fields, coming up as high as 14.1%...but Marilyn was able to blend it off.

We covered 140 acres again today and got to combine next to the JD crew…apparently Marilyn didn’t get the text that supper was coming out to the field, or else red and green don’t go together…except at Christmas.

Al had some time to wait at the end of the day and while Marilyn was cleaning up one of the terraces, took the MiFi out on the top of the hill and did a bit of surfing out in the field. Two thumbs up for the high speed connection in the middle of nowhere.

It’s going to make for some scenic Skype calls…

June 26, 2011

View of the day-…is it hot enough for you???

A good day to stay out of the heat, as you can see. We hit the omelette bar again before heading back to the camper to do some bookwork. We had let that get a little behind, so we figured now was a good time to catch up.

Marilyn got a WalMart fix in, doing a couple of laps of the store for exersize. Once she got home and was unloading the 6 packs of pop out of the pickup a couple of them escaped from the plastic hoops, hit the pavement and created quite a sticky geyser. After finally getting them into the camper and most of them into the fridge, one more insisted on jumping ship and spraying inside the camper…oh well, the floor needed to get washed anyway.

Al talked to Kevin and it looks pretty promising for making dust tomorrow…