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View of the day-The turtle has its shell on and it on the way home.
We went back to the field to get the combine fueled up and hook up the straight header...which we didn't need after all. Al got settled up with the farmer and then we headed back to the camper.
We got the camper closed and hooked up, then Al hooked up the shop trailer and we headed for Yorkton. We took a lunch break at Whitewood, before dropping the hammer...and we had the wind at our backs, to boot.
We got the camper back on its unloading spot on the lawn, then Al parked the shop trailer and that was it for the day. Except for the unloading of the trailer...which didn't start until the dish was aimed, first thing, for the Blue Jays baseball game, which was postponed due to rain. At least we have TV.
Unloading the camper is a lot less stressful when it isn't loaded for five months of living. We still haven't got to the place where we can leave a set of everything in it permanently. Maybe when Marilyn gets her big heated shop and storage shed to keep it in, we won't even have to winterize it...ahh...dreams.
We keep buying lottery tickets and it might happen...
View of the day-The farmers combine trying to get the last swath of canola into his hopper before the sun goes down. Fortunately, Marilyn had enough room left to help out.
We were making dust before 10am and it was going through the combine "like butter". We made pretty good time and had another combine come into the field mid-afternoon to help finish off the last quarter on this section.
There was another encounter with a skunk today, but this time it made itself seen by running along the canola swath ahead of the combine. Even the hawks wouldn't take advantage of this delectable snack. It ran into the swath and Marilyn had thought of just moving over to the next swath to avoid it, but, the lord hates a coward, so she continued to the end. Didn't take the "stink cat" in and never saw...or smelled...it again.
We finished the field just at sunset and Al had a half a truck load to dump in the bin. Unfortunately, the bin would only hold a quarter of a load, so they had to change the auger to a new bin.
We are going to need the furnace tonight...
View of the day-Not one of our pictures, but one taken with a drone way back August 21 near Kennedy. We are the lower left combine.
Another early morning and a productive day. Still in the canola, but we are over on the hilly side of the field. Even with half a hopper it's quite a chug to get up over the ridge. Here is a shot of Al from the top of the hill...the picture doesn't do it justice.
We had one issue with parts today. When Marilyn got to the end of one of the swaths, she turned around and discovered a large part laying in the swath where she had just come from. This part came from the inside of the combine, just behind the auger bed under the rotor...it is the full width of the combine and the wire fingers on it are at least 18 inches. Since Marilyn didn't have time to take a picture, this parts one will help to illustrate.
The odd thing about this part, is that it actually came out the back of the combine with only one bent wire. How it managed to fit between the spreaders and shaker pan at the back is a complete mystery...and the spreaders show no sign of injury. At least it wasn't important enough to hold up combining production. The part went in the back of the pickup and Marilyn continued on.
At one point, there was the raw aroma from a skunk...a strong, rank smell. Out in the canola stubble you think it would be easy to spot...they don't really move that fast and in the wide open spaces it would really stand out. Not so. There was no sign of it, other than the tell tale smell...and it didn't go through the combine.
There must have been one visiting back at the camper, too...
View of the day-The old way-an old wooden bin in the bush, and the new way-massive bins in the background.
We got rockin' early today with a strong wind helping us out. There were a few rogue drops on the window, but the wind was so brisk, the clouds didn't stick around long and it was back to business as usual.
Al had an easier day as the other two combines left to do some standing oats, so Marilyn was the only combine in the field. This made for a more relaxing day and the bins were just across the road...as you could see in the picture...so he just took a couple hoppers at a time and was back in the field lickety-split.
We just carried on the whole day, the only breakdown was before we started and technically it happened last night...the feeder chain jumped a cog...but it only took 15 minutes to set right and we were making dust.
Al sat on the top of the hill waiting at sunset and Marilyn finally got back into a 100+ acre day...a sweet change, but we lost the wind early, so it was an 8pm shut down.
We'll sleep well tonight...
View of the day-Everything is all shiny and back in order in the engine compartment...much better than before.
Al had to sit on his hands to keep from dialing the repair shop to find out when the combine would be ready. He finally got the call around 11am to let us know the combine would be finished around 1pm.
We went into Kipling to have an early lunch, then filled a couple of water jugs before heading over to Windthorst to get the combine. We checked it over, got settled up and started out for the field of canola that we were to combine. Once out there, we got everything running and set, then Al started to combine the outside round...just to make sure it was working fine...when an alarm went off.
We couldn't see any lights on the post to indicate what the problem was, so Al went out to watch as Marilyn started it up again. He could see one of the spreaders wasn't turning...the gears were all worn and weren't meshing. Back to Windthorst for parts.
We had taken the old gears off the shafts and just had to replace them with the new ones, but Al kept saying he didn't like it...it was too easy. Nothing was rusted on, the clips and shafts came out with no problem. Way too easy. We got back, put it together in about 20 minutes and were back in business. It really was that easy.
It was still really warm and the wind was blowing hard, so we kept going until 10pm, when Al shut down the trucking end of things. He was hauling from three combines and we were getting further and further away from the bins, making it tough to get back in time...and he was the only trucker on the scene. Even though we didn't get rolling hard until after 3pm, we still managed to get in 60 acres.
If the wind keeps up, we will get an early start tomorrow...
View of the day-Al back in the harvest hauling seat for a few miles.
We were checking the UPS sight all night and into the morning to see when the part might show up at Northgate. The last time Marilyn looked, it had been scanned out at Sioux Falls, SD at 6am...things were looking good. When Al got online to check after 8am, he saw that the package had been delayed for a day due to weather. What!? Unacceptable.
He got on the phone to find out what weather, since it wasn't showing anything other than light rain. He had to talk to an agent somewhere in the Asian Pacific and he got nowhere, but mad, trying to find out what weather and where it was in transit. She eventually hung up on him, so he called back in again and made a point of asking for someone in North America...of course, they tell him they can't do that, so he keeps telling them to hang up so he can take the "service quality" survey that was mentioned at the beginning of the call...he had a few things to tell them.
He eventually got to talk to someone in Tampa and he was able to tell Al that the weather that held it up was fog at Minot. By this time, it was showing the part had been scanned in at Minot, but now the delivery trucks had already left the depot before it arrived, so it wouldn't go out until tomorrow. Unacceptable. He called his toy buddy, Pete the partsman, at Gooseneck Implements in Kenmare to see if he had a direct number for the depot and hallelujah, he did!
Al called to see if we could just go to Minot and pick it up at the depot and the lady that answered was so helpful and said anytime would work, because they were there 24 hours. We were on the road, finally.
We needed to get the parts to Windthorst after we picked them up and had the two bearings that we had gotten in Yorkton yesterday that also needed to get dropped off. However, we didn't want to take them across the border with us, so we dropped them at Kim and Marg's at Carlyle, then hit the road.
We had just left their farm when we got a call from one of our American harvester friends that had been combining in Canada...they had been pulled over by the DOT and were having a few issues getting their rigs to the border. They were only 20 miles from it when they got stopped.
The following is a watered down version of what happened, otherwise it might get a little long winded and raw...the DOT has that effect on harvesters.
With the oil business slowed down to a crawl, they had to get funds somewhere and must have popped the champagne when they saw the four semis loaded with combines, tractor and grain cart. By the time we got there, they had already unloaded the tractor and grain cart and the driver was well on his way roading it to the border...issue with the trailer it was on. Without going into too much detail, Al offered to drive their semi-loads, one at a time with the driver in the cab with him, while Marilyn followed in the pickup. About 4 miles from the border, he let the driver take over and we went back for another rig. They were able to get the rest of the rigs across on their own.
After that setback, we carried on to Minot, stopping near Bowbells to check in with the guys parked there waiting for the rest of the crew to show up before they continued on.
We got to the UPS store, picked up our parts...and some that Pete needed...stopped for a Sonic shake, then started back home. After dropping Pete's parts off at Kemare, we swung by Kim's to get the bearings we had left there...and stopped to watch a quarter of NFL football...then headed for Windthorst to drop off our parts in the will-call box, before going back to the camper.
What a joy ride...
View of the day-One of the fields getting combined on our road trip today. This was a couple of New Holland combines in the Qu'Appelle Valley.
We started the day full of hope as the part we needed was supposed to be delivered to the dealer at Windthorst shortly after lunch. We waited patiently, then decided to take a quick trip to Grayson to do some banking and visit the meat market to stock up.
Al called to find out how they were making out and they told him they had run into an issue with the parts. They had gotten everything but the two bearings that they needed, which were supposed to be coming from Regina. It turns out Regina had to back order them and so the brakes were on and we wouldn't see the combine today.
We were in Grayson at the time and Al found out we could get the bearings in Yorkon, so we made a mad dash up there to get them. While we were there, we got another phone call telling us that there was another issue with a warped shaft and the new sheave that we had sent up from Missouri would not fit on the old one due to the heat from the break.
They informed us that this part would not show up until Monday, which didn't make Al very happy, so he asked the guys at Yorkton to see where in North America he could find one. Lo and behold they had one at Straub International in Great Bend, KS, which just happened to be the dealer that we would get our new combines delivered to back in the old days when we were going south.
Al talked to the parts manager and found out they did indeed have the part and could he overnight it for us up to the little bar at the Northgate port of entry. He got the package put together and got it over to the UPS and on the road before closing time. What excellent service...which only goes to prove Al's favorite saying "it's not what you know, but, who you know".
Road trip to the border tomorrow...
