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View of the day-Al had a short haul to the bins from the canola field today.
Sun shining and wind blowing. A day full of promise. Kim went out and did a test just after lunch and it was 11.5% moisture, so the plan was to try it around 2pm.
We killed some time in the camper, then Al and Kim went on a road trip to check out the wheat fields up north of Carlyle. Marilyn went out and did the 2pm test...moisture still too high, but Kim figured we would just go and do a semi load at 3:30.
We were eager to try out the new seed savers, and both of them did what they were supposed to. The JD wasn't out with us, so we couldn't compare colors, and we were really dealing with two different styles of combines, so the "comparing" wasn't really applicable.
Kim's combine has a different feederhouse hookup and there is an inch gap where the header mounts. This allows some of the pods and seeds to get back onto the feederhouse with the backdraft created from the crop saver he has mounted on his header. We figured out a way to stop some of the weak spots on the shield...or at least we hope it will work.
Marilyn's shield worked as expected. With the rubber strips that seal it to the header, there were not a lot of seeds that reached the feederhouse. The dust did collect on the top, but it didn't seem to block the view of the auger too badly. The feederhouse plugged a couple of times, due to wet stems, but the shield didn't affect the unplugging, it actually seemed to help by moving the wads out to the sides of the header instead of up and onto the belts. The sun reflecting was a bit of an issue to start with, but once there was a layer of dust on it, it wasn't a problem.
We got the tandem filled a couple times, then filled the semi and by then, it was getting tough, so we quit for the night.
Looked like we were the only ones running...
View of the day-Kit Kat gets a hoof trim as the dogs watch on.
We had lots to do today and we had the weather to do it. It was still really wet out, but we had a strong north wind and the sun was shining. It actually got hot later in the day.
First thing on the list was to get the Houston Seed Saver mounted on the pickup head. We got it mounted on the first bracket, then lined up the other two, drilled holes for the bolts and got it braced down. After getting the chains hooked up with even tension, we took the safety film off and admired our work. One down, one to go.
Bob and Kim had put the main unit together for the JD combine, but since the combine was over at Bob's, we couldn't put it on right away. Bob had an appointment, so the plan was to bring the combine over around 2pm. That was fine, we had a leak to find on the tractor.
Al knew it was one of the steering hoses that was leaking, so between the three of us, we were able to figure out where it was. We got the hose unhooked and managed to thread it out through the frame of the tractor...Al kept saying "this is way to easy". We took the hose to town and got a new one made up, then brought it back and put it back on the tractor. Again, Al couldn't believe we didn't have to work under the cab in tight...or impossible to reach...spaces. After testing it out and parking it back where it belonged. Job #2 was done.
Bob came over with his combine and after finding the middle of the header, we mounted the first bracket. We got the main frame hooked into the bracket then drilled holes and attached the left and right brackets with bolts and hooked up the frame to them.
After tweaking it a bit, we got the front level and removed the protective film. Job #3 was done.
Bob took his combine back home, then Al and Kim went out with the tractor to pull the combine trailer close to the shop so the tools would be handy to change out one of the tires that looked kind of weak. While the guys worked on the tire, Marilyn got the combine cab cleaned out and did the windows inside and out on the combine and tractor. Once the guys got the tire off, Al went into town to get a new one.
Once Al made it back with the new tire, he got it mounted back on the trailer and they parked it back where it belonged, then went out to check on the canola swaths. Not as wet as they had thought they would be.
Perhaps it will go tomorrow and we can review the new bling on the combines...
View of the day-Rain on the camper window reflecting the combine sitting by the shop waiting for the rain to quit.
We woke up to rain early this morning and it rained off and on right through to the afternoon, getting us about an inch of rain and putting the brakes on doing anything.
We met Gerry and Chris from Prevost Harvesting at the A&W for lunch, then Al went with them back down, north of Bismarck, ND to help them move north. This time he only had to bring a pickup truck back, so it was easy sailing...except that he has to go through Portal, the 24 hr port of entry.
Marilyn spent her day cleaning the camper and getting ready to work on the books. Marg dragged her out to the Dairy Queen for a dessert break, then it was back to work in the camper.
Tomorrow should be Seed Saver day...
View of the day-Al getting the combine feeder cleaned off for the last time...we hope.
Marilyn was up extra early to meet her friends at Whitewood for brunch. They met Raymond on the way down from Yorkton, to pick up the mail that he had been collecting for us all summer. Once we met at the restaurant, we went in to discover, contrary to all the signage on the front of the building, that it didn't open until 11am and when it did open, there wasn't any buffet. We left and went across the road to the CanAm restaurant.
After a couple hours of catching up, we went our separate ways. Marilyn gave a call to Bill Houston, the man behind the Houston Seed Saver, to let him know she was on her way to Indian Head to meet him for the transfer of goods. He was coming down from Southey with a couple of the seed savers for our machine and Bob's JD combine.
Marilyn got there early and spent the time opening all the mail...only one check this year...to see if there was anything interesting. There were some deals...all of them expired. That's the price you pay for leaving the country for so long.
Once Bill showed and got the boxes loaded onto the pickup, we headed back to our respective homes. Because it had rained last night and we didn't see the sun all day, Marilyn wasn't surprised to find there weren't a lot of combines running. In fact, the only place she had seen any, were right around Indian Head, which was about 120 miles NW of Carlyle.
Back at the farm, Marilyn managed to get Al pulled away from the TV and all the football he had been watching. The Roughriders stunk the joint out at the "Banjo Bowl" in Winnipeg. We moved the combine up to the shop, cracked open the box, then started the task of mounting the seed saver.
We measured twice and drilled once, getting the main bracket mounted on the header, then started putting the main frame together. Until the mosquitoes got so unbearable that we had to quit for the night, but it shouldn't take long to get the rest of it mounted tomorrow. Should be even less time to get Bob's on now that we have practiced.
And so far we have only broken 4 bolts...
View of the day-All rigs running on Bob's canola, hoping it doesn't rain.
We knew we wouldn't be able to start real early, since the sky looked like it could let loose anytime. Fortunately, it was still a ways off to the west, so Kim went out and did a test then brought the sample back to the yard. It was close...10.8%.
He went back out to test in a different spot and this time it was right at 10%. Marilyn thought the next sample should have come from the bin, then it would have been plenty dry.
Once Kim and Bob were rolling, Al started out combining until Marilyn made it out with the lunch. We finished Bob's field around 1:30pm, then went into his yard to fuel up the combine, since we were done for him...for now.
We drove back over to Kim's, and he did a test on his canola and found it was good enough to start picking up. By now, the weather had moved in and by the time we were all at the field, ready to go, it started to sprinkle. But it never started running off the header.
We combined a couple of hoppers, as the sprinkles got heavier and by the time we made it back around to the yard, there was no dust at all. So that, was that, for that.
Marilyn went into town to pick up a few things, while the guys got the truck dumped and Marg worked on digging potatoes out of the garden for supper...which were fabulous done on the BBQ.
We got a shot of rain but it looks like the worst of the rain went south, but tomorrow we are looking at 60% all day. Al has some work to do on the combine, then an important date with some Sunday NFL football. Marilyn is going on a road trip to meet her friends at Whitewood for brunch.
The wait should help the wheat...
View of the day-Keeping a watchful eye to the sky as the clouds get darker...and noisier.
We were out to the field by 10am to get started on the canola. The forecast was for temps in the high 80's, so we had anticipated getting a lot done. So where did the clouds come from?
Al took the broken part off the combine and got Kim to fabricate a new one...and a fine job of it, he did...then we went to town to get a new chain for the auger on the pickup head. Kim and Bob got rolling early, while we finished putting the header together, then Marilyn was ready to make dust, too.
We managed to get the first piece done and tried to get going on the long swaths, but it started to sprinkle and there was a lot of lightning and thunder, which was getting closer all the time.
Once the dust stopped coming out of the back of the combine, we knew it was time to quit...even if it wasn't running off the header. We could see that it soon would be. We waited under the shield of the combine, out of the rain, until Kim showed up with our ride.
We left the combines out in the field and came back to the camper...then the rain came. We had enough to stop us for the rest of the day and when Kim and Al went north to see if the wheat was any better, they could see that a lot more rain had fallen up there.
We killed time in the camper for the rest of the afternoon, then when Marg came home from work, we went into Carlyle for supper. Back at the farm it was CFL football night, so we watched the game in the house, then went back to the camper for the night.
Not sure what tomorrow holds in store...
View of the day-Al fueling up the combine after we finished the barley. Here in Canada, the farmer supplies the fuel, so we make sure we are full when we arrive and they fill us when we leave for the next field...and we were moving on to Kim's dad's field next.
It was a much earlier start...just as we had hoped...to finish the last of the barley, which the truckers were ecstatic about. Once we got done, we went back to the yard to fuel and clean off the barley straw and chaff that was on the combines.
Marilyn went across the road to Bob's canola to run a test, then we brought it back to Kim's where he checked it out for moisture and green count. With the canola, 100 seeds are laid out on a piece of masking tape and rolled out flat. If there are more than 2 green seeds in the 100, it won't be a #1. We waited for Bob to show up to see if he thought we should go, but since the test Marilyn had combined was from the outside round, he suggested going back and taking one from about three rounds in.
With the new test and once we figured out the correct way to read the chart, we discovered that it was plenty dry and we were good to go. Al picked Marilyn up with his ride...Kim's Pete...then we were off to the field.
The birds nest was in the side of the barn where the testing station was...they find the darnedest places to build.
Bob had a lot of issues with his 9600 JD, it kept quitting on him and even though the service man had been out the last 3 days and some spendy computer parts had been ordered, he couldn't seem to get anymore than a couple of rounds before it quit.
Marilyn had a header issue later on in the day. It had started making a noise, so she called Al over and we figured there was a part of one of the disappearing fingers on the auger jammed up somewhere. We tried to get the inspection holes on the auger opened up, but wouldn't you know it, two of the clips that held the bolts on were stripped and we had a hell of a time getting them off. Then we discovered it was the auger that was the problem and it had to be adjusted. There also was a bolt that had broken, but we managed to use one of the locking nuts to hold it together until we can get a new one.
Once we got that remedied, we were making dust once again and the fix-it job held until we got Bob's field of canola done, then parked for the night.
After all, it is the NFL season opener...
