June 14, 2013

View of the day-An obstacle to work around in the canola.

Al was up early to get his load of canola hauled in to Alva.  John picked him up at 8:30am to give him a ride to the General in town so Marilyn would have the Dodge to go out to the field.

After getting lunches made, Marilyn went out to the field, got the combine fueled and greased and was ready to start right on schedule...one minute early, actually...10:30am.  The stalks were a bit chewy to start with, but with the sun beating down and the healthy wind blowing, that didn't last too long.

Al was kept hopping, he would just get back from Alva and Marilyn would have a load for the truck.  He had a 60 mile round trip for each load, so he was doing pretty good...and it helped that he didn't have to deal with line ups at the elevator.

He did notice a lot of combines in the fields along the highway and figured that about 30% of the fields that he could see along the way had been cut.  He saw a lot of familiar faces but had no time to stop if he didn't want Marilyn waiting.

To start with, he was able to run the tractor to pick up "on the go" from the combine...something that was made a lot easier this year with the power shift on the new tractor.  As the day wore on, however, Marilyn would end up topping off the General with the combine to get him on his way.

Marilyn stayed in the combine going up and down the field and did have a couple of visitors ride along, which broke up the day. It was a bit of a task stopping for "rest breaks" with all that tall canola stubble...really hard on the legs, and stuff...looks like it might be a jeans day tomorrow, even if it is a sweltering day.

We kept going until the field was finished, leaving Al with a full truck and grain cart to dump in the morning.  After fueling the combine with the remains in the slip tank, it was in to town to the elevator to park the General again for the night and fill the slip tank for the morning.

A big 140 acre day today...

June 13, 2013

View of the day-It’s official…the 2013 harvest season has started for us.

Al’s plan was to be out at the field with the combine to take a test at 2pm, so after getting a quick lunch together, we were right on schedule.  Marilyn followed in the pickup as Al drove the combine out to the field and started combining a sample.  Kevin came out and took the sample in to the elevator at Alva to get tested, and while we waited for the results, we went back to the farm to get the General.

We got the word that we were good to go, so Marilyn started combining, then Al jumped in to take over for a few rounds until the cart was full.  Once we got a load on the General, Al started on his 30 mile drive over to the elevator in Alva.  Marilyn continued combining and timed it right as Al returned just in time to take another load into Alva…the canola was running better than expected.

Marilyn kept combining until Al got back with the General, then we filled the truck again, but this time the load was only going to Cherokee to get parked at the elevator…it would go into Alva in the morning.  We got the slip tank filled for the morning fill, then went back to the camper.

The end of a good 75 acre day...

June 12, 2013

View of the day-This canola has not even been down a week and Al is pretty sure it will go tomorrow…we shall see.

We had another hot day…you know it’s going to be bad when the weather app daily forecast says “scorching sun”…and it was scorching, topping out around 103ºF. 

Al was happy to be camping out at the farm instead of by the corner at the elevator in town, this way he didn’t have to watch as the grain trucks would be driving by with loads and we weren’t combining.  Today, he got to see one of the farmers just to the north of us, doing just that…driving by the farm on his way to town with a load.  Harvest has officially started in the area, although there is still a lot of green wheat.

We worked on the tractor and cart, Marilyn finished tying the cables out of the way for the camera, then got the new plug in for the lights changed over so we would have working lights on the cart.

We had taken off the rear flasher lights on the tractor last night to find out why they weren’t working.  Once the lens was off we could see the bulbs were broken and rusted in the sockets.  Al had quite a task getting the remains of the old bulbs out…they were almost welded in with rust…that, and a little issue with the ladder.

We don’t have duals on this tractor, so it is making it tough to work on the top of the tractor…the ladder doesn’t fit in behind, or beside the back tire, so it is pretty much useless. The tire doesn’t stick out far enough to stand on, at least not enough to have any balance and the lugs on the tires aren’t quite aggressive enough to use as a ladder.  With a bit of shifting, then realizing the sockets could be unplugged from under the air filters, Al was able to get the bulb base out.  And with new bulbs, we had working lights.

Marilyn moved over to the combine to get the power running for the XM and Sirius radios.  We had finally retired the XM radio that we had been using for the past 7 years and now Marilyn had to use one of the other radios…and of course, the power cord to the base was the wrong size.  After trying to splice in the right end…unsuccessfully…she found the original 12V cord for the radio and with a couple of extensions, had enough to get to the power socket.  There could be a new radio in future if this doesn’t hold up.

Next on the list was to get the bungee cord measured out and tied on to the grain cart tarp.  This cord helps pull the tarp closed and also stretches when the tarp is opened to help keep the roll tight and uniform.  We had to find some shade because the heat was really taking its toll on us…we were going through a lot of water and had to take several breaks to go into the camper and cool off.  We got parked under a tree…we didn’t have complete shade, but with the wind it was better than being in full sun…and with Marilyn using the roof of the truck as a ladder we had that job done in no time at all.  The tarp was better that new.

Now it was break time, for sure.  We took a drive out to the field to see where we could park things when we got out there.  We found a good enough spot, then came back to the farm to get the tractor and cart to move it out to the field.  After Al got it parked, right along that red dirt road, then we came back to town and went to Pizza Hut for supper…no, we did not sit under the air vent.  After picking up a few groceries to make lunches, we came back to the camper.  After all, the Stanley Cup starts tonight.

While Al watched the hockey game, Marilyn took advantage of the cooler evening…relatively speaking…it was down to 90ºF, to finish cleaning up the shop trailer.  The wind had died down and the flies were hungry, so there was incentive to get done quickly…and then it got dark.

It’s official…tomorrow we do a test…

June 11, 2013

View of the day-A cooker of a day, and all Al could talk about was seeing the weather app showing that it was only 64ºF at home in Yorkton.

Another day of to-do's.  We had a late breakfast at the Sale Barn Cafe then went to see if the cart was ready...it had moved from the lot into the shop, so that was promising.  We went to pick up the filter for the Freight that we had ordered at Bumper to Bumper, then went back out to the farm to do some house cleaning...little house.

The shop trailer was in need of an update, the shelving unit that we had put in had not fared to well.  Marilyn had gotten a wire rack that Staples was throwing out and it served us well, but with the load and rough roads we had travelled on, it was time to change it up before it collapsed.  Marilyn had picked up a heavy duty rack from Lowes when we were in Enid, so it was time to put it together and do some rearranging.

It was a bit cooler in the shop trailer, which helped with the big job of going though all the tubs that were used to organize everything.  Al got the job of cleaning out the "spill tub"...that's where all the nuts, bolts, washers and other stuff ends up after a particularly rough trip. Anything that jumps out of the bolt bins and ends up on the floor gets picked up with the magnetic wand and is put in this tub.  Al was kept pretty busy and he was in a "chucking" mood, so there was lots of garbage.  Marilyn hopes we don't need some of the chucks at a later date.

We took a break to go get the tractor and cart, which was now finished. Wow. What a great job R.L.'s guys did of replacing the bows...there is no way we have to worry about the snow this winter with all the extra bracing they put in.  We had to pick up some rubber cording for the tarp, to help pull it closed, but with the heat of the day, Marilyn was not going to climb over that hot metal to get inside to tie it off.

We took the tractor and cart back to the farm, then Al wanted to take a road trip to Alva to see where he would be hauling the canola.  He had hauled there before, but just wanted a refresher on which corners to turn at.  Once he had it figured out, we went to McDonald's for supper...first time for McD's this trip...then stopped at Sonic for dessert before going back to Cherokee.

It had cooled off quite a bit, so Marilyn decided to get the cameras mounted on the grain cart.  After getting the monitor and control box mounted in the cab and hiding all the cabling, it was up and down the ladder a few dozen times getting the cameras and cables zip-tied to the cart.  Once it got too dark to see and the bugs started to bite, it was time to call it a day.

Still can't believe how beefy those cart hoops are...

June 10, 2013

 View of the day-The troupes are moving in. A couple of crews parked out by our trailers at the welding shop.

Today we were going to get a lot done. We went over to the welding shop to see how the cart hoops were coming…not so good.  They had an emergency repair come in and it had to be done before the afternoon.  It was a dry van that looked like someone had taken a very large can opener to the top and peeled it open.  We decided to take the tractor back to the farm and work on it.

It broke 100ºF today, so we really didn’t want to be working in the direct sun, although there really was no getting away from the heat…unless we went into the air conditioned comfort of the camper.  Al was driving the tractor back to the yard and when he pulled in the drive way and tried to downshift, the shift lever felt like something had let loose and just flipped back and forth with no effort.

We started to inspect what could have been wrong…Al was sure we were going to have to pull the transmission or split the tractor…Marilyn was sure it was something reasonably simple. We got digging around and found the ball and socket on the end of the cable had worn and popped apart, so we just needed a new one.  Thankfully, the repair didn’t require a whole new cable…that would have been a nightmare.

We got out the parts CD, found the number, then called down to Fairview to see if they had what we needed.  They did and it was only $9…how often does that happen?  So we were on the road for parts. Although Fairview is only 40 miles away, it seems like 80.  We are sure some of those signs have got to be wrong.  Anyway, we got to see a lot of wheat fields along the way, but no one is combining yet…the talk in the parts store is not until the middle of next week.  Of course, this hot weather could bring it around.

We got the parts, then stopped at Sonic for a milkshake before going back to the farm.  Back at the farm, we got the part put back on and Al took the tractor for a spin to make sure the cable was functioning properly. It was, so now it was Marilyn’s turn to get down to work and get the 2-way radio mounted in the cab and wired up. Since we had it somewhat gutted from looking for the shift cable issue, it made wiring it in a lot easier.

Once we got everything put back together, Al drove the tractor back to the welding shop so R.L. could take a look at the hoops in the morning.  We took a tour around the lot behind the shop where we parked our trailers and discovered a couple more crews had moved in…one of them with Gleaners!

We went back to the camper and were happy to hit the shower after the hot sticky day of grubbing around.  Al is going through withdrawal…no hockey until Wednesday, so he waits patiently.

As does the combine…

June 9, 2013

View of the day-Wheat along the road to Enid.

Another day of banker’s hours.  Al got the slip tank emptied into the combine…it still needs more, but we don’t want to get carried away…we need to have something to do tomorrow.

Next on the list was a trip into Enid, about 55 miles…even when you take the scenic route.

We got into Enid and stopped at the Golden Corral for lunch…along with pretty much everybody else from the area.  Then Al dropped Marilyn off for a quick stop at Walmart…she only needed a few things that they didn’t have in Alva, while she was there, Al went to a couple of auto parts stores looking for some things that we needed for fixing.  He came back empty handed, but we had high hopes we would find what we were looking for at Atwoods.  Well, we found some of the things we needed.

We checked out a couple more places, then started back for Cherokee.  It was amazing the different stages the wheat was in, from grass green to a few days off.  There were quite a few fields of canola that we passed, as well…some still standing.

Of course, most of that will change with the high temps that are forecast for the next few days.  We are not looking forward to them, but it will really bring the canola around and we can always hide in the air conditioned comfort of the camper.

We made it back to the camper and after putting our goods away, took the rest of the evening off.

Clear skies and no wind...until tomorrow...

June 8, 2013

View of the day-Canola getting swathed east of Cherokee.  We hope to be picking it up next week.

Banker's hours today, got to sleep in.  We had a powerful wind blowing and the forecast was for storms later on this evening.  Still, it was a nice day with temps only in the low 80's again.

Al decided the first thing on his to-do list was to get the Freight running and put some new fuel filters in.  He got the cab jacked up and took down the numbers he needed, then figured he should see about the small filter in the air compressor.  

He had tried to change it a few years ago, but no one had any, so he gave it a good cleaning with varsol, dried it out and has been running with it ever since. Time to find a new one.  You know what they say "Clean air, clean oil, clean fuel and your rig will run forever"...or something like that.

Marilyn was going to start work on the tractor, but needed a few things to get the job done.  We had to go into town to see about the filters, so Marilyn got some of what she needed, then decided to get a few groceries.  We figured we might as well see how the canola was coming along, so we took a road trip to check on some fields.

When we got back to town, we stopped in to pick up some mail at John's house and had a gab with him and Peggy.  We finally got to meet their grandson Bodey, who was turning two years old today.  Marilyn has seen him grow up on facebook, since his mother, Michelle loves her camera and he is such a photogenic little guy

We also figured we should stop to see R.L. and check if he could do something with the tarp hoops on the grain cart.  He always has something up his sleeve, or a brilliant plan, so we went back to the farm to take one of the hoops off and bring it to his shop.

We were missing a ladder that would reach the top of the cart and it was too windy to open the tarps on the big trucks to use them to reach, so we came up with plan B.  We were only two miles from town, so Al drove the tractor over to his shop, but he was in the middle of a couple of jobs and wouldn't be able to get to it until Monday, so we left it there.

With the tractor in town, Marilyn had no work to do except make supper.  Al got his filters changed and called it a day, as well.  After getting cleaned up, we had a visit from Jay, who was just letting us know how the swathing was coming along.

The skies were getting darker and the weather warnings were out, so by the time Jay left to go home, it was just starting to sprinkle...then it really came down.  We watched out the windows as the trees in the distance slowly got swallowed up by the rain, but aside from the lightning and wind, we didn't have anything really bad.  It looked like the worst was just to the north of us.

Al got to watch his hockey game...on local TV, if you could imagine...over the air in HD!  Oh, how we wish we had digital locals at home. We had another shot of rain go through, but since we had only gotten .25" from the first blast, we aren't expecting too much.

We won't be combining tomorrow, anyway...