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View of the day-Part of the new team we are working with...a Massey 9790 and a CaseIH 2588.
We drove back up to Canora to get the Shop trailer and the combine. Al drove the combine down...about 40 miles, so he had lots of time to check out the scenery.
The Massey had a bit of an issue yesterday...a racoon had decided the engine compartment would be a nice warm place to spend the night. The farmers alway check the compartment before starting the engine in the morning, but this racoon must have been a teenager...asleep in some far corner. When they started it up, the racoon hit the fan and removed a few of the fins before there was time to stop.
This was not problem enough. They were told the part was in Regina, so they drove in to get it, only to find out that it was the wrong one. When they did another search with the right part number this time, the only replacement fan was in Chicago. Fortunately they discovered that a fan from a Gleaner would fit just as well. It did and they were back in business.
Marilyn took the shop trailer home and found a parking spot for it...no easy task with all the equipment in the yard...then started to clean out the camper. She threw some lunch together for Al, then went back out to the field for the rest of the night. There was supposed to be some drone pictures, but just as she was firing it up...the battery in the tablet was dead, and so was the phone, so there would be no flight this day.
We finished the field around 10pm...it was getting tough, so it was just in time.
Al went out early today, but they weren't able to get started very early. The 2588 was down due to a bum alternator. That was a bit easier to remedy, since they are a common part. They had moved over to a new field and got rolling around 11am. The rest of the day went without incident.
This field was finished by 8:30pm and the combines moved back to the farmyard to park for the night. The truckers were kept hopping all day.
These farmers are the ones who rent our quarter of land, so tomorrow...for the first time since we purchased it seven years ago...we will actually combine our own field.
The life of a harvester...
View of the day-All lined up for the last day of service.
Yesterday, was a good day for combining...even with a couple of rogue showers. The canola finally got finished at 10:30 pm.
Today was oats day, but there wouldn't be an early start, due to the dew. It was also DEF fluid day and because the farmer doesn't have any machines that require diesel exhaust fluid, there is no need for a tank and pump. This means we have to fill by the jug...a lot slower than the pump.
With everything serviced up, we had lunch in the camper and waited for the call. Once it came Al headed out to the field with the rest of the crew. While they were out slugging through the oats, there was another crew in the yard putting up a new building...that looked like fun.
Marilyn's job for the day was to get the camper all ready to move back home. She had help from her "mouse traps" who were doing a great job...not one rodent this season. There were several around, most not real sociable...although they did show up when the scraps came out.
There was one that was quite friendly and it appeared it wanted to tag along.
Once the camper was ready to go, Marilyn went out to the field to check out how things were going and to get the drone up to see some field bagging. The field was getting swathed ahead of the combines and there were concerns that the combines might catch up to it and be held up. That never happened because the straw was so green and tough that there were no land speed records set. It was one of those times where, if you were watching from the road, you would have to line up the combine with a post just to make sure they were moving. Well, maybe not that bad.
Marilyn went back to the camper, hooked up and headed south. Now that is a new one...heading south to get home. She got the camper back to the home without incident and lined it up on the lawn for unloading.
Al finally got the oats finished, moved back to the yard, then came back home. The farmer is done for the season.
But are we...
View of the day-This moose was just strolling along the road on the way into town.
Friday, it was "where's the memory card"? Even with extra sets of eyes, it was still evading being found. Marilyn moved the truck well out of the way and even figured maybe the big tool magnet might pick it up. It did not.
The next plan was to download a "metal detector" app on her phone. It actually worked pretty well, but not to find the memory card. Finally she got a rake and started combing through the grass in hopes it would bring it to the top. It didn't get to the top, but it got flipped over so the shiny brass pins caught the light and the card was found. Yay! And it still worked. Double yay!
There was combining going on during the search, but after the card was found, Marilyn's work was done for the day. The combines only ran for a couple hours, but the straw was really tough, so Al had the rest of the day off. Since it was Marilyn's weekend to work at Staples and there was a Terrier hockey game in Yorkton, we both went back home.
It was cold and cloudy on Saturday, while Marilyn worked at Staples, Al went back to the camper after lunch, but there was no combining.
Sunday, Marilyn worked again and since there was still no combining, Al met her in Canora for Chinese buffet.
Today, the combines actually got rolling for half a day, enough to get down to the last field of canola which they will start tomorrow.
We even saw the sun for a short stint today...
View of the day-Finally back at it...late in the day.
Yesterday was a super-do-nothing day, even though the sun was shining and the wind was blowing. There was a lot of drying to get done, so we waited...mostly in the camper. We did get some fresh air when we went into Canora to fill one of the propane tanks and have coffee with our combine hauler, who we ran into at the fuel tanks.
Today, we had to wait for the sun to come out and do its job before we could start. Marilyn thought she better charge up the drone batteries and empty the memory card, so she grabbed them out of the backseat of the truck to bring them into the camper. Only problem was the finger nail size micro SD card, with all the video and pictures from the drone had slipped out from under the batteries and fallen in the tall grass.
Al finally got to go combining around 3pm and it was right by the yard, so while they were busy making dust, Marilyn was on her hands and knees with a pair of scissors cutting the grass around where she thought the SD card had fallen. There were a few cats to keep her company while she searched, but they didn't help out at all. It remains missing.
Marilyn took Al out some sandwiches and rode around for a while. With no grain cart, the tandem came out to unload on the go...perfectly.
Maybe in the morning light the SD card will be visible...
View of the day-Almost all day...the view out the camper door...rain, rain and more rain.
Al went out early to blow the rads out on the combine. It had sprinkled during the night, but was merely overcast in the morning. Al got the rads almost done when it started raining, so he had to call it quits.
We went into Canora to check out the Chinese buffet, then came back home to do nothing, except look out the window at the rain...and one of us checked his eyelids for cracks.
Last on the list for the day was to go up to Rawhides for supper again. This time we were joined by Al's toy buddy, Roger and his wife Linda from Lipton...and we got to celebrate his birthday. Won't say what number birthday, though.
Warm and windy forecast for tomorrow...
View of the day-We found the antifreeze leak problem in this one inch diameter hose. The combination of the large leak blowing into the fan made for a sticky mess in the engine compartment...and everywhere else down the side of the combine.
Al went into town early to get antifreeze to replace all that had blown out. He was able to get it right away, since the Tempo opened at 7am. On the other hand, when he went to the local parts store, he had quite the wait, since they didn't open until 9am and by then, there was a lineup of vehicles on the street waiting to get in. Even when he got in, they had to wait for all the phone calls to get answered.
He finally got out with the hose and clamps that he went in for and by the time he got out to the field, the tall skinny farmer had gone into the engine compartment and gotten the old one off. He volunteered to go back in and put the new one on, which was a relief to both Al and Marilyn. Al dumped what was left on the combine from last night, then started combining.
The farmer was right about one thing...three strikes yesterday, meant smooth sailing today.
Al combined all day while Marilyn made a run into Yorkton for a theatre meeting. She brought a late lunch out for Al and rode around for the rest of the night. There was a threat of rain and it sprinkled for the last hour that they combined...although not heavy enough to run off the header and cause the crew to quit.
The last hour in the rain was necessary to get the field done. It slowed down productivity, but by 1am the combines headed back for the yard.
Tippy-taps on the roof mean we might get to sleep in tomorrow...
View of the day-Service call for the combine...one of two for the day.
So much for no rain. It sprinkled through the night, then when Al got up this morning to meet Colin, the mechanic, it started raining again. The combines were about 10 miles NW of the yard and it hadn't rained as much up there...but it was still too wet to start very early.
The guys got the thermostat installed, but when they went to start the combine to see if it worked, the combine wouldn't start. Upon further inspection, the lift pump for the fuel had a broken wire and the other one had rubbed through from one of the shields on the side. We needed a new pump.
Of course, it's Sunday and nothing is open...although you can call parts departments for a $50 fee. We needed the pump, so Al called Rocky Mtn Equip...they were no help...couldn't even look to see if there was another one in the area. Al then called down to Windthorst...different story there. They found one in the parts depot in Regina and had it put in the "will call" box for us. We were off to Regina 252 km one way from our new work spot.
We took the north way into the city, grabbed the part then drove right back to the farm. On the way in, we got a text from the farmer saying it had rained again and there was no rush to get back, however, on the way back, he texted to tell us they had started combining because...you know the line..."it only rained a tenth at the field".
We got out to the combine and started taking off the old pump while we waited for the mechanic to come back. He showed up with all the right tools and before you knew it, the combine had started and was running like a top.
Al went out to the field to start combining while Marilyn went back to the camper to do a bit of plumbing. We figured we better fill the fresh water tank in the camper, since it was supposed to get down to freezing overnight.
Marilyn went back out to the field to ride around with Al. He noticed the cab wasn't very warm and the heater was cranked up fairly high. We thought perhaps when the thermostat went in, the heater valve got turned off...or perhaps it was never on. We stopped to see if we could turn it on...but first we had to find it.
The old engines had them nice and handy on the back where you could find them right when you got to the top of the ladder. Not the new one. They have the valve on the front side of the engine, down so low that someone has to hold you by the ankles as you go head first down the narrow passage that is the engine compartment. Al had a long reach and was able to get to it without getting stuck. We hoped that would fix the issue.
We cranked up again and got halfway down the swath, when the over heating alarm came on. We stopped right away to inspect, only to find the hose that the heater valve was on had sprung a leak and there was antifreeze blown all over the engine compartment from the fan. We had a 10 litre jug of antifreeze in the pickup across the field, but we couldn't take any chances driving across with the alarm going off. The farmer was down by the pickup and came over with it...10 litres didn't even show in the top tank. With no more antifreeze to be found this late at night. We were done for the day.
The farmer says that bad luck comes in three, so there will be smooth sailing tomorrow. We can only hope...
