November 11, 2014

View of the week-A little taste of the toy show at Agritrade in Red Deer.

Technically we are done harvest for the season, but stay tuned for the rest of the story...

October 27, 2014

View of the day-First of the season and it only got worse as the day went on.

Al took a road trip over to get the General unloaded...apparently it was a nightmare getting down the roads. He had to give Danny a call to come over and help him get the auger tractor running so they could dump the truck.

Marilyn spent the day cleaning out the camper and hauling stuff into the house. When Al got back, he claimed to have seen a mouse running across the floor of the garage, so he set up his trapline.

Marilyn was working on emptying some of the tubs that she brought in, when she saw a mouse dart out from under the stove...in the house. Just great.

After setting a trap with peanut butter near the stove, we watched as the little bastard came out, ate the peanut butter, but sidn't spring the trap! Marilyn had set a different style of trap down the hallway and the rodent crawled all over it, but it didn't spring either.

Apparently, we need to put some weight on the pest...

October 26, 2014

View of the day-The skinny road to the bin yard that looks like it will wash away in a strong wind.

It was cold, cloudy and WINDY! We went out to the field early so we could get the combine unloaded, since rain was threatening.

While Al got the General unloaded, Marilyn got the combine fueled and in position to dump. It was already sprinkling pretty good, so we knew we wouldn't get going right away. The hope was that it was just a passing shower.

We got everything unloaded and the auger moved to the new bin, then decided we might as well go back home for a while to wait it out.

We had lunch, then Al did a little maintenance on the compressor, which was now riding in the box of the truck instead of the shop trailer. Around 2pm, we headed back out to the field to give it a whirl. Fortunately, it hadn't rained, so it was a go.

We combined until after dark...which falls at 5:30pm these days...or so it seems. Again, we were concerned about the sloughs in the dark and with the wind blowing the dust and chaff around, it was near impossible to see very far. We still managed to add another 40 acres to the total, which was pretty good considering the rain that was falling all around the area, was missing us.

Unfortunately, here at home tonight, it is pouring...

October 25, 2014

View of the day-A perfect start to the day...beautiful weather and great cutting.

We had to stop in town before we came out to the field, to get four new hydraulic hoses made for the grain cart. It didn't take long to get them made and we were out at the field, putting them back on the cart. All systems go.

Marilyn got cutting right around 10am, while Al went to the bin site to get the truck unloaded. There were bearing problems on the auger, but he was managing to limp it along until Dale could get out with a replacement. Unfortunately, Dale was having issues with one of his combines...the back axle broke on his 2188...something we have dealt with on a couple of occasions.

Dale did show up with the bearing later on in the afternoon, so he and Al started the rebuild while Marilyn kept on combining. By the time they had finished the fix, it was already dark and Marilyn had filled the General, grain cart and the combine hopper. Everything will get unloaded in the morning.

It has been a long time since we have left a full hopper in the combine overnight...

October 24, 2014

View of the day-Finally in the wheat.

Another early morning with the end of the canola in site. It went pretty fast and we were finally finished at 2pm.

We got the combine set for wheat, hooked up the straight header and moved across the road to start in the four quarters of wheat that is left to do. A nice change, with a beautiful stand and the option to cut whatever way Marilyn feel like.

We were all set to leave the field for town, when Al discovered one of the hydraulic hoses on the grain cart was leaking profusely. We got it taken off so we could get it fixed in the morning, then it was home time.

Terriers game for Al, theatre rehearsal for Marilyn...

October 23, 2014

View of the day-Rock picking with the wrong implement, as you can see by the large rock on the bottom left. One of the disappearing fingers had a dirty hook to it, but didn't break as it was manufactured to.

We were out at the field and rolling before 10am again, until Marilyn picked up a rock as she was going around a slough. The disappearing finger is made so that if it gets broken, it snaps off inside the auger in the holder and the rest of it drops or goes through the combine. The pin that was holding this one had broken, but the finger stayed in and try as we might, we couldn't get it out of the holder. Al got the big rotor wrench out of the engine compartment and used it as a pry bar to try and straighten the finger, since it refused to budge. It worked.

Al watched as Marilyn started the combine to see how it was going to work when the feeder started. He heard something at the back of the combine and when he inspected, it was what was left of another finger that had run through the combine and shot out the back, just missing the tractor. But the bent one stayed in the auger.

We had another good day with just over 80 acres, which has been the norm for the last few days. It was warm, windy and cloudy...but there was a small break in the clouds to see the height of the solar eclipse that happened in the afternoon, just after we moved to the last quarter section of canola. 

We combined without issue until Al got another bin filled just after dark. We shut down, fueled the combine and called it a night.

Tomorrow, we finish the canola...

October 22, 2014

View of the day-This is a google map view of the section we are working on. There are a lot more sloughs on them now, thanks to the wet weather. North is up on the map and we have finished the NE & SE quarter sections and are working on the SW. This will be one of those fields that we will be glad to have behind us.

We were at it early again, getting the servicing done and picking up swaths before 10am. There was a chance of rain, but it never materialized where we were working, which was great.

We almost got finished the second quarter section...there was still a small patch that we couldn't get to from the main field. Hopefully we will find a "back door" in to get it as we work further into the SW quarter. Al is having to haul all the way out to the road on the east side of the field, so the tractor and cart are indispensable...can't imagine working without one.

We worked until dark again, still not taking any chances of getting stuck...