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View of the day-Getting ready to hook up the camper and move north again. It's always kind of sad to be packing up to move, but this time it was more so, since we were leaving family. It was nice to be close for a couple of weeks.
Today was load two moving day. We got the camper closed up and started moving north with the Freightliner and its tractor and cart load, including the pickup head hooked behind.
Another uneventful trip, except that the rough road shook the header trailer so bad, that the magnetic flashing light fell off...we have no idea where, except that it is somewhere north of Whitewood. Weather wise, it was great for moving...nice and cool, although there was a NW wind which didn't help us out at all.
We made it to Abernethy and drove both rigs out to the pasture where we had unloaded the combine. We decided to get the tractor and cart unloaded before getting the camper parked back at the yard. Once we had unloaded and parked them, we went to the yard and found a spot to park the camper.
Once again we had the plug in lottery. We had parked here before and were sure we had an adapter to plug in to the bin power and after rooting around all the boxes of farm toys under the camper, Marilyn finally came up with a winner and we were powered up. We changed all our water filters and hooked up the hoses, then we were set to go try some combining. We passed a couple of fields of canola, right across the road from each other that were so far apart in maturity...the crops out here are all over the map.
We did a test and there was a lot of green...the moisture monitor was showing 22% moisture in some places, so we moved four miles to the next field, hoping it was dry enough for the elevator. We had to make four trips to get everything moved, but once it was all there, Marilyn started combining. This was much drier, so Al was finally going to get a load in the General to take into the elevator...with some of the real wet wheat "blended" in. Al warned them that there was some wet "test" wheat in there...it was 16.8% moisture, but they took it anyway. That's one point for them...but it's still early.
Bob has a semi for us to use, so while Al was at the elevator, Marilyn filled the cart, then combined enough to fill the semi, then we shut down for the night.
Early road trip to get the other Dodge from home mobile so we can each have our own set of wheels...
View of the day-Noooo...it's too soon for the leaves to start turning.
We were up early and on the road by 8am. It was misting off and on during our move north, but just enough to make a mess with the wipers...you know, too much to see through but not enough to do a good job of washing them off. Still, it was a nice move, even though we did have a NW wind to work against.
We made one stop along the way to check the chains, then dropped the hammer the rest of the way...only pulling over for a couple of wide loads...Marilyn's next camper, perhaps.
Marilyn had to make a pit stop to get rid of some coffee at Melville, but she caught up to Al as he was parked just south of Abernethy. After he got directions to the field, we pulled in and started unloading.
We got the header on, did some adjusting, then Al went out to take a test. Marilyn was concerned because she had neglected to take the USB drive for the combine out of the laptop after making the maps for Kim and Bob. After Al hit the "Ignore" button on the screen a few times, he was able to continue with the test. It showed 16.9% moisture on the combine and slightly less on the portable moisture tester...no truckload for Al as he had hoped. We grabbed a sample from the combine in a Folgers can, then left it on the combine trailer for Bob...a new Bob...to take to the elevator when he passed by the field.
After dumping the sample in the General and getting it tarped up, we started back for Carlyle, trusting the GPS to take us back a different route, through Sintaluta. No surprises this trip, we almost thought about coming back with the Freightliner and camper, since it was shorter...but after we hit the winding two track trail valley hill, we re-thought our plan. The Dodge was almost too wide.
We got back to Carlyle, got the pickup header trailer hooked on behind the cart trailer, then called it a day. Marilyn got a visit from Teresa again, this time she brought a keg of Tim Horton's coffee and some donuts...that hit the spot after a day of driving.
Now we pack up our turtle shell and get ready for the last load to go north. The old shop trailer is still parked out back down here, but we don't really need it now...although there was a phone call from someone who is interested in using it as their shop trailer.
And the jackets had to come out of the closet...
View of the day-Line up at the elevator...one truck driver went dirt biking today...city folk...
We got going on the barley around 11am, this time Al drove our combine and Kim drove his own. Marilyn had errands to do in town and lunch to get ready, then she took over in the combine and Al switched out with Kim in his machine, so Kim could go back to trucking. Dudey went dirt biking, but did show up later in the afternoon to help with the trucking.
Today was also the day that Al had to go on the radio to ask the question for this weeks Smartest Saskatchewan Radio Listener. He had a week to revel in the glory before passing the torch to the next winner. The question he had to ask was "Tom and Jack did it in 52. What was it?" It took a long time and lots of hints for the right answer, but it was...drive across Canada in 52 days. That was in 1912!
We got the barley finished mid afternoon, then took the combine back to the yard to get the header loaded on the high speed transport trailer. Marilyn blew off the combine, then it was time to load up...we were officially done in Carlyle. Kim still had one more field of standing wheat to do, but he was going to do that on his own, so he moved north to get started.
We got the shop trailer hooked up to the combine trailer, loaded and chained down the combine, then hooked it up to the General. One job done. We had to go over to Bob's to get the grain cart, since that's the last place we had it...it had a pretty easy stop at Carlyle. Once we got back to Kim's farm, we got the tractor and cart loaded, chained down and hooked up to the Freightliner, so it would be ready to go on the second trip.
Al got the General's load lined up and ready to pull out in the morning, then blew the straight header off before quitting for the day. We got cleaned up, bought pizza for supper...which we had in the house, so Al could watch the NFL opener on the big screen.
Might need the furnace tonight...
View of the day-Following Al who is driving Kim's combine cutting barley. This is the best vantage point, considering how itchy you get from the dust.
Al went out to start combining in the canola that was left from yesterday. With two combines going, it didn't take long to lap up the 30 acres. Then it was time to move over to the barley...not Al's favorite to work with.
Marilyn had hooked up the pickup head trailer and moved it over to the barley field, then when Al came over with the combine from the canola, we got it strapped down...it's work here was done.
After getting the straight header on and setting the combine for barley, Marilyn waited for Al to get his rig...which was Kim's combine...set up, then we were off to the races.
The barley had broken down quite a bit, so we really had to mow the crop to get everything. Along with that issue was the strong wind coming in from the west, which meant we had to cut pieces out going north/south, then only cut on the east side. When the straw and chaff would get blown against the standing grain, it would bunch up on the knife and leave strips...so we worked with the wind.
Kim and Dudey kept up with the hauling...a job no one envies, especially when the wind swirls around in the yard by the bins, making it almost impossible to stay out of the dust. We worked until just after dark, then parked for the night.
Marilyn is pretty sure one of the jackets will have to make an appearance...dang it was nippy out...
View of the day-The old farm yard is still smouldering from yesterday's fire.
We were up early to go over to Kisbey and get the General. We stopped on the way to see what the fire had done to the countryside...fortunately the fields had already been combined.
While Al settled up with Grant, Marilyn got back to the yard and serviced the combine. Al dropped the General off at the field, then came back to the yard to take the combine out to get started. Marilyn went to get lunch in town, then came back to the field to take over combining the canola from Al.
With three combines in the field, the truckers were kept busy and around 6pm, Precision Ag was out again to give us supper in the field. Kim had some test plots on this field for them and they were out there to see how the yield was, so the figured we deserved supper.
After supper it was back to work, Bob quit just at sunset, the dark and the dust hanging in the air were too much for him to see in. Kim and Marilyn kept going until both tandems were filled...and an extra dump for the semi for dessert.
Could see the last of the canola here tomorrow...
View of the day-Big smoke to the east this afternoon and it burned for quite a while. Not started by any implements...so we heard.
We were out at the field picking up the oats swaths by 10:30am...there was no stopping us today. Al kept busy hauling to the bins...the oats was going a lot better than the wheat, so he was getting back just in time as the combine was filling up.
We finished the first field of oats, which took some doing. In order for the farmer to combine with his pull type combine, it had to be swathed round and round. With the sloughs, this meant a lot of corners on every round and as the rounds got smaller, the corner angles got smaller and it was either pull out and turn around on every corner, or back up to make the corner...Marilyn was mighty dizzy by the time that field was done.
We moved over to the last 55 acres of oats and it was on this field that we saw the big smoke. Since there were no machines in the field, it appeared it must have gotten started from a cigarette or spark...complete speculation from the bystanders...maybe tomorrow we will have the rest of the story.
We got finished and while Al dumped the last load, Marilyn got the combine fueled up in the yard. You can see the pull type combine on the right in the picture. Once we were done with that, Al hooked up the straight header to the Dodge and we started on the road back to Carlyle.
Al is not looking forward to hauling barley tomorrow...
View of the day-The water has gone down on this combine and header, but it has a way to go before it moves again. The ducks, however, are happy with it just where it sits.
We were on our way to the farm at Kisbey by 9:30am. There were acres to catch up for from yesterday and we wanted to get an early start. We hadn't used a lot of fuel yesterday, so all we had to do was grease and start combining.
Marilyn got the straight combining done in the last field, then went over to where the pickup head was sitting to swap out headers. After getting the straight head into transport, it was time to get back into the field with the pickup head and take care of all those outside rounds that had been swathed. This meant jumping around to three different fields, but since they were close together, it didn't take long.
Once that was looked after, we moved the combine four miles west to the next field. This field had the outside round swathed as well, so after getting that picked up, we switched back to the straight header to start cutting.
While Al got to do the combining, Marilyn took the Dodge back to the bins to bring out the General. There had been a lot of water in the past and the roads had been rebuilt in several places. With the heavy oil traffic, the roads were pounded out and really rough, so that meant travelling slow...and the wind had died down, so the dust was just hanging.
Marilyn got the General from the bins and started back to the field, when Al called her to turn around and go back...the wheat was way too wet to continue. Grant, the farmer, brought his truck out so Al could dump the wet wheat on it, which meant the General wouldn't be tied up with a short load.
Marilyn got back to the bins, then took the Dodge over to the next field to wait for Al to return with the combine. Al had to swap headers out again, putting the straight head into transport and hooking on the pickup head before moving on to the oats field. After he got the combine set for oats, he made a round to make sure everything was in order, then went back with the Dodge to get the General. He had to clean the wheat out of the corners of the box, since we were changing over to oats.
By the time he got to the field with Big Jen, Marilyn had a hopper full. We decided to combine a truck load before calling it a night. Several others in the area had the same idea...there were combines going all around us. Across from the oats field, a JD combine was picking up wheat swaths right behind the swather.
We shut down around 9pm, then took the highway back so we could stop in at the cardlock in Arcola to fuel up the Dodge. Once again, the diesel pumps were giving us fits...someone before us had run the wrong pin to many times and locked out the pump. Marilyn did say a few things to the surveillance camera at the pumps, but it didn't seem to help.
Back in the oats, tomorrow...
