Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[XJSuperman]

Wow I missed a lot. Been swamped with harvest at work. Anyhow: That mangled clevis is amazing. Don't see much of that.

The elongated clevis you were holding the cable ends on the combine with......is that an original JohnDeere plow clevis????? Those are very hard to find and rather expensive. We need them for using the factory trip mechanisms on plows from the 40s and 50s.

Glad the combine is an improvement other than the work youve had to do. First year of ownership, thats the way things go. I have a local guy running a 2188 with a superhopper bin extension and a set of Camco rubber tracks. Seems like a lot to add to such a small and aging machine, but its probably paid for.

 

[jblnut]

JBL: yep as I was posting i was hearing about you getting stuck and looking at pictures of BOB loading on the round bales.

sure you sold the skidder tracks for more than you paid for them.

that said i've sold a few things i wish I didn't cause some things just need to be around when they are needed.

we are getting dry weather for another week so hopefully you are too.

cheers and have a great week playing on the farm!!

BTW: i'm doing my best to SPEAK FARM LANGUAGE HERE ON YOUR THREAD cause it's been almost 50 years since i worked a bit on one.

There are always things I sell because I haven't needed it in years and needed it the next week. Just how it goes I guess.

It's been dry here for a while too so we've been going like crazy in the fields !!

You're doing fine with your farmer lingo, just trying to keep up myself

Ahhh yes. the big big bin. of course.

for us its the "east east south bin" which means the group of bins in the east yard. east row. southern most. A global numbering scheme would work just fine IMO since there are now 5 yards with bins in them. Instead I gotta check the sun and break out how grandpa woulda called it.

As soon as you rename them everyone will be confused. Best not to fix a broken system if it's not too broken.

The farmer near us I think had an oh-sh*t moment looking at the upcoming weather. On friday he cut some (alfalfa?), and by saturday morning it was gone. I don't think he let it dry at all! Then on Saturday and sunday he combined the corn. The kiddos and I enjoyed watching from our middle son's bedroom window.

Then early this morning just before 6am I hear a racket. And sure enough, he's out there chopping corn stalks probably getting ready to be able to bale it before the snow comes!

View from my son's bedroom:

That guy was moving right along for sure !! Even though I get to watch combines and tractors all day I'd still have sat there watching that guy until he was done. It's fun. I bet he'd have given you a combine ride if you'd ask. Most farmers are pretty nice guys and enjoy showing what we do. I know I do at least !!

Wow I missed a lot. Been swamped with harvest at work. Anyhow: That mangled clevis is amazing. Don't see much of that.

Glad the combine is an improvement other than the work you've had to do. First year of ownership, that's the way things go. I have a local guy running a 2188 with a super hopper bin extension and a set of Camco rubber tracks. Seems like a lot to add to such a small and aging machine, but it's probably paid for.

The mangled clevis is a good reminder of how badly things can go in a hurry if one isn't careful. Luckily no one got hurt.

Even with all the fixing we've been doing to it we are still getting more done on average per day than with the old one so it's a win-lose-win-win deal. I think what we have is almost too much. It'll hold 265bu when it's plump full. That's just shy of 15,000lbs of corn in that hopper. Seems like a lot of added stress to everything but it sure is nice to have up there !! I'd love to have a set of tracks but it's freezing up here now so the mud should not be an issue shortly. Tracks in frozen mud is worse than getting stuck with tires 13 times. Much worse ....

The elongated clevis you were holding the cable ends on the combine with......is that an original John Deere plow clevis????? Those are very hard to find and rather expensive. We need them for using the factory trip mechanisms on plows from the 40s and 50s.

The center one ?? It's not an old old cast iron one but yes, I believe it is. Iff'in you want it I can send it your way. It's just another clevis as far as I'm concerned

 

[XJSuperman]

Done! Ill send you a new clevis of your choice just to call it square! PM me please

 

[teal95]

Finally got it all read. I grew up on a 160 acre hobby farm, hobby in that Dad had a day job. One of his brothers did the same thing and for many years his youngest brother farmed full time with Grandpa (his Dad). So I've been around it a long time. Dad quit farming it and has been renting it out for 20+ years now. He still has to go help pretty much whoever will let him. Anyways that just means I know enough to be dangerous. Our land was low, swamp ground so only about 100 acres was tillable and even that could be a battle some years so I can appreciate getting stuck. The one field was so bad we only ever had hay on it. One year we had the neighbor spread lime on it (being muck it was always tending towards being too acidic), watching him pulling the spreader I could see a wake behind him as he went across the field, and this was in the middle of August when it's dryest. It didn't end well as he hit a soft hole that sucked it down until the low side of the 10' tall spreader wagon was only about 2' above the ground. We ended up having to hand shovel about 5 tons out of the wagon to be able to pull it out.

Dad had a 1990 Cherokee 2 door, manual trans 4x4 also. He gave it to Mom's black sheep of the family brother who then could only complain about what a POS it was. It seemed to be find when Dad had it...

steve

 

[jblnut]

Done! I'll send you a new clevis of your choice just to call it square! PM me please

Deal. I sent you a PM about sending PM's.

Here's a link to the shackle that I think would be a fair trade. I need something to hang from the bumper of my truck like all the kiddos do these days. If you think it's too wild or do not qualify for their financing I guess I could settle for the next size down.

https://www.westechrigging.com/shackle-bolt-type-crosby-g-2140-7.html

Finally got it all read. I grew up on a 160 acre hobby farm, hobby in that Dad had a day job. One of his brothers did the same thing and for many years his youngest brother farmed full time with Grandpa (his Dad). So I've been around it a long time. Dad quit farming it and has been renting it out for 20+ years now. He still has to go help pretty much whoever will let him. Anyways that just means I know enough to be dangerous. Our land was low, swamp ground so only about 100 acres was tillable and even that could be a battle some years so I can appreciate getting stuck. The one field was so bad we only ever had hay on it. One year we had the neighbor spread lime on it (being muck it was always tending towards being too acidic), watching him pulling the spreader I could see a wake behind him as he went across the field, and this was in the middle of August when it's dryest. It didn't end well as he hit a soft hole that sucked it down until the low side of the 10' tall spreader wagon was only about 2' above the ground. We ended up having to hand shovel about 5 tons out of the wagon to be able to pull it out.

Dad had a 1990 Cherokee 2 door, manual trans 4x4 also. He gave it to Mom's black sheep of the family brother who then could only complain about what a POS it was. It seemed to be find when Dad had it...

steve

Thanks for pounding through the whole mess of a thread this has turned into !!!

I can picture that lime spreader in the muck and can only imagine the fun you had digging it out

All these people coming out of the woodwork with their 2dr, manual 4x4 Cherokees makes me want to look a lot harder for one. I'd love to have one to keep my "mildly" modded Niner company in the shed

 

[davo727]

Lol .....

 

[jblnut]

Lol .....

He did not specify what type or size clevis so I thought we may as well make it count

 

[XJSuperman]

Yeah, thats a whopper for sure. Not exactly going for the $1/lb rate that tractor weights go for. Certified rigging/lifting equipment is no joke.

 

[jblnut]

The chickens left the roost Tuesday afternoon and Dad and I started cleaning the barn out Wednesday morning.


After I got him going with the backpack blower I got the housekeeper hooked up to the Deere 5510 and noticed it was marking it's territory from somewhere.


Yikes that'll need new seals ASAP when I'm done in the barn


All hooked up and working great !!!


Until I saw a trail of oil on the ground .... Yowser !!


Looks like the O-Rings in these two lines are causing the issues.


This picture makes them look brand new and they're both pretty flat and shot.


It's always good to have a nice selection of O-Rings on hand


All back together and seemingly leaking less. Until it warmed back up and continued to run out the front of the valve block. It's gonna be an add oil and finish day as I do not have the time or parts to tear it apart right now !!


Around 3pm I started chopping some more corn stalks to get baled in the next few days.


Boy oh Boy I do like the lighting package on the 7630 !! These pictures do not even come close to showing how bright it is !!


It's like looking at the surface of the sun


It's suppose to be 5-10F in the morning so the block heater needs to be plugged in. I always try to wrap the cord somewhere through the door so I do not forget to unplug it before driving away.


Since it wasn't that late yet I decided to go into my little shop of horrors and see how messy it was. It gets pretty bad over summer as I do not spend much time in here other than grabbing tools and throwing them back in when I'm done. I'm rather ashamed at how messy it is but I trust you won't tell anyone


The woodstove rotted out so it is no longer in there. Once the other shop is built next summer I don't intend to heat this one any longer so I figured burning propane for one winter would be cheaper than a new stove to only use for one winter.


At the end of the day I decided to make some popcorn. Old school oil and corn cooker into a big SS bowl. Nothing beats it for a late night snack

 

[jblnut]

Yeah, that's a whopper for sure. Not exactly going for the $1/lb rate that tractor weights go for. Certified rigging/lifting equipment is no joke.

A few years back we worked on a dairy barn project that was housed inside a MASSIVE metal structure and they had some HUGE rigging stuff along. They had a few shackles on their rigging semi that looked like that one. There were a pair of cranes rated at 900 tons on site lifting all the beams in place. I asked one of the operators why such huge stuff for the relatively small beams and he said it was cheaper to be able to have a much larger machine onsite to reach everything from only a few spots than it was to move and setup smaller cranes multiple times a day. Made sense I guess and it was fun to watch them work. Someone would hook up the load and two other people would come inspect it before it left the ground. It was pretty legit stuff for sure.

 

[Bob Heine]

First off, that extension through the door handle is brilliant. My method of just driving away and buying a new plug is a bit more time and money consuming. Second, your shop looks just fine to me. As long as there is open floor to walk on, I'm good.

 

[cvairwerks]

You know you're working a heavy lift when they bring in a 100 ton crane to set the main crane up....

 

[driftpin]

There are 'auto-eject' shore power plugs for vehicles, but I'm sure they aren't inexpensive. The loop to the door handle does the same thing. Multiple times, I recall making radio contact with a fire-rescue vehicle, to stop and remove the extension cord trailing behind the vehicle, as I followed the first vehicle out of the station, before the auto-eject systems were installed.

 

[jeepxj]

Do you plug in all the time in the winter for the daily use tractor? setup an ebay alert for an auto eject. kicks the cord out when you hit the starter solenoid. new they are pricey but i see them on ebay used for well under 50 buck from time to time. https://kussmaul.com/wp-auto-ejects/091-18WP-120

 

[jeepxj]

There are 'auto-eject' shore power plugs for vehicles, but I'm sure they aren't inexpensive.

lol stealing my thunder


ebay has one there now for 35 bucks. you'd just need to find that end for the cord.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kussmaul-S...735960?hash=item287b71a018:g:L-QAAOSwQ0RcrvYc

https://kussmaul.com/091-159-CON-4P-250

 

[Farmall450]

He did not specify what type or size clevis so I thought we may as well make it count

$20 grand and no free shipping...

 

[JbTech]

All these people coming out of the woodwork with their 2dr, manual 4x4 Cherokees makes me want to look a lot harder for one. I'd love to have one to keep my "mildly" modded Niner company in the shed

Add me to the list!
I've got an '87 2dr Manual 4x4 my dad bought new!

 

[jblnut]

First off, that extension through the door handle is brilliant. My method of just driving away and buying a new plug is a bit more time and money consuming. Second, your shop looks just fine to me. As long as there is open floor to walk on, I'm good.

Brilliance around here happens out of necessity. I know myself all too well and know I'd drive away from it unless I literally have to trip over the cord. I am excited for a larger shop but and scared because it means there will be room for more messes

You know you're working a heavy lift when they bring in a 100 ton crane to set the main crane up....

Lol. They had the cranes setup when we arrived onsite but yes, there was a smaller crane helping as well and I'd imagine they used it to setup the big ones.

There are 'auto-eject' shore power plugs for vehicles, but I'm sure they aren't inexpensive. The loop to the door handle does the same thing. Multiple times, I recall making radio contact with a fire-rescue vehicle, to stop and remove the extension cord trailing behind the vehicle, as I followed the first vehicle out of the station, before the auto-eject systems were installed.

This is the first year in a long time I remember harvesting late enough in the year where we need to plug thing in. The cord through the door handle works okay for now

Do you plug in all the time in the winter for the daily use tractor? setup an ebay alert for an auto eject. kicks the cord out when you hit the starter solenoid. new they are pricey but i see them on ebay used for well under 50 buck from time to time. https://kussmaul.com/wp-auto-ejects/091-18WP-120

The daily use tractor over winter gets put in Dad's shop to keep it warm. It also has #2 fuel in it and hasn't ever caused a problem. When the fuel starts out warm there usually aren't issues and it stays warm enough for the few hours a day it's outside in the cold.

lol stealing my thunder

ebay has one there now for 35 bucks. you'd just need to find that end for the cord.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kussmaul-S...735960?hash=item287b71a018:g:L-QAAOSwQ0RcrvYc

https://kussmaul.com/091-159-CON-4P-250

That is a pretty cool looking deal. I bet it saves WAY more than it costs in the long run for certain industries.

$20 grand and no free shipping...

I thought the same thing until I read farther down that it weighs 1,200lbs !!!

Add me to the list!
I've got an '87 2dr Manual 4x4 my dad bought new!

I want to be on the list. Seems like a good place to be !!!

 

[jblnut]

It's 8F and the well is still overflowing. The ditch Mom made to direct it all out of the yard was a really smart idea as the ground is frozen now and it'd be making a huge mess without it !!


WAAAAAY back on Wednesday evening Dad decided the ground was frozen enough to finish the soybeans that were in the mud.


Munching through them and driving right over the mud !!


While he was doing that I started raking more corn stalks to get baled.


See !!! Ethan is back to bale more. We intend to sell the bales in this field so if you need some hit me up, I've got 150 to sell


While he was baling I started fueling tractors up for the day. Between 3-4 tractors and the combine we'll burn through 225gal of diesel a day. Plus the dryer uses in the neighborhood of 40gal/hr of propane which the gas man keeps full for us.


We parked the combine at a neighbors place overnight so we could plug it in and he's got a scale from the old Avon Feed Mill. We weighed the little green wagon to get a tare weight so we could calibrate the yield monitor on the combine.


It's a really cool old setup !!


Simple and never needs a software update


There was a 3' square metal cover in the floor so I had to lift it up and investigate. I've never been below a scale before and it was pretty neat.


Dad combined some corn and I weighed it and we found out the combine yield monitor was reading 8.8% low. Now we know.


When we haul from this farm we put another smaller wagon behind so we can bring home 800ish bushels at a time to save trips and to be able to stay ahead of the combine.


It's cold and we're alternating green, red, green, red. You'd think we're getting ready for Christmas


The front wagon had a bit of a tilt to it and we looked into it ....


There is a large washer/bushing that is worn out. It prevents the steering deal from wearing into the frame. Parts are ordered and will be here on Monday but until then we'll grease it up often and use it. It'll be fine.


The 886 has a German engine in it so dripping a little oil is normal. If it doesn't slobber a little something is wrong


First load of corn home with the newly repaired wagon. Seems to be holding up great !!


This is what nice looking clean undamaged corn looks like.


This is what hail damaged corn looks like. We left the rest of this and will finish it last and use it for cattle feed as it's not saleable like this. There are too many black kernels and we don't want to take the chance of mixing it in and having a load rejected.


"Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay
And the engine ran like the angels sing
We're harvesting, ay oh ay oh ay oh ay
And we combined on into the night
Ay oh ay oh, ay oh ay oh
And we combined on into the night"


Water is A LOT easier to deal with when it's frozen. We'd be getting stuck all over in this field if the ground wasn't frozen .....


Wow this was an amazing sunset !! Stupid camera doesn't do it justice.


We talked all summer about how it'd be nice to have some lights on the bins to use while unloading and guess what ??? Never followed through for some reason. Argh.


Top bearing is out on the hot auger so we add heavy weight oil and some corn head grease to keep it going for a few more days.

 

[Sifan]

The software update on the scales was between your ears Ran scale for my Dad when he managed the local elevator, two real tricks, squeezing the ticket printer hard enough that it would print through on the fifth copy and watching that drivers stayed on the scale for the tare weight. Good way to pick up a quick 4 bushels and the 5'5" 115# 13 y/o kid running the scale won't know the difference … Third load/argument I had with one farmer, I decided I was done with him, fourth time I was ready for him … I pulled his tickets from the previous day and showed him the tare weights and also showed him the 3' pipe I was going to lay upside his head if he didn't stop. Problem solved with him and word got around to others Later on I found out he was a decorated Army Ranger LOL he could have killed me LOL

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: nice stuff as per usual. just curious is gas and propane and electric bills your big expense on the farm?

Well I was wishing your ground would dry up so you could finish, but the big guy said why not just freeze it so those hard working farmers don't have to wait. looks like you are getting r done.

when you show me your shop and say it's messy I have to laugh because that's been normal for me and I have a smaller space. also when you show me under the scale what I see is storage space and barely saw the scale mechanism.

i've loved buttered popcorn and a movie on a cold night for years and looks like our rain is bringing out both for us tonight. if you can find a Oriville Reddenbacher air popper for your popcorn you might like it even better.

hope you are having a good weekend.

Sifan: great story of your youth and way to stand up for what was right. you wouldn't have died I'd imagine cause i think before we are 30 aren't we IMMORTAL?

 

[jblnut]

The software update on the scales was between your ears Ran scale for my Dad when he managed the local elevator, two real tricks, squeezing the ticket printer hard enough that it would print through on the fifth copy and watching that drivers stayed on the scale for the tare weight. Good way to pick up a quick 4 bushels and the 5'5" 115# 13 y/o kid running the scale won't know the difference … Third load/argument I had with one farmer, I decided I was done with him, fourth time I was ready for him … I pulled his tickets from the previous day and showed him the tare weights and also showed him the 3' pipe I was going to lay upside his head if he didn't stop. Problem solved with him and word got around to others Later on I found out he was a decorated Army Ranger LOL he could have killed me LOL

You Sir never ever disappoint with your stories. If you're ever near here we need to meet up and swap a few in person !!

JBL: Nice stuff as per usual. Just curious is gas and propane and electric bills your big expense on the farm?

Well I was wishing your ground would dry up so you could finish, but the Big Guy said why not just freeze it so those hard working farmers don't have to wait. Looks like you are getting r done.

When you show me your shop and say it's messy I have to laugh because that's been normal for me and I have a smaller space. Also when you show me under the scale what I see is storage space and barely saw the scale mechanism.

I've loved buttered popcorn and a movie on a cold night for years and looks like our rain is bringing out both for us tonight. If you can find a Orville Redenbacher air popper for your popcorn you might like it even better.

Hope you are having a good weekend.

Sifan: Great story of your youth and way to stand up for what was right. you wouldn't have died I'd imagine cause I think before we are 30 aren't we IMMORTAL?

Gas, Propane and electric are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of seed and fertilizer.

We are okay with the freeze up. For the most part we got the tillage done that has to be done in the fall but not an acre more. We'll get it next spring.

Although it is dry under the scale now it gets wet when moisture falls from the sky as there are gaps around scale and it's foundation. Not easy way to get down there either. I had to jump down into the 6' deep pit and wiggle myself out when I was done.

As much as I like things neat and organized keeping this little shop neat and organized over summer does not happen. I am in and out so many times that things get so jumbled up and messy. Over winter I spend more time in there and get it all back right again. Small space or HUGE space, it's sure nice to work in a clean and organized space. Hopefully in a few weeks when we're done in the fields I'll have time to spend in there getting it right again. Now that the woodstove is gone I think I can get the kiddos to hang out safely in there with me as well

Hard pass on air popped popcorn. Although it is not bad, I MUCH prefer the good ol' oil cooked stuff. Nothing like it as far as I'm concerned.

We're taking tomorrow off because of the first weather delay in weeks so the rest of the weekend will be spent hanging out with the family and winterizing the house a bit. Plastic on windows, rolling up garden hoses, putting away the lawnmowers, watching a movie and eating popcorn, and hopefully grilling some steaks for supper !!

 

[jblnut]

Deer hunting opener up here and these are two of over a dozen deer I saw on the neighbors land right out in the open grassy field this morning. All the hunters are in the woods and the deer are all out here


The baler twine holding up the combine mud cables has finally begun to fray ....


Dad started bending some old wire around them to hold them up. It works pretty good but I doubt it's up to code. I should post it up in the electrical section on here and ask if it is up to code for its use case


While checking the level of the big bin I got a glance of the corn stalk bales Ethan made the other day. Lots of bales out there. He said 150ish so I guess we have to count them when we bring them home.


After we had everything ready for the day I helped get Dad going combining again. He was finishing up the last little bits in a few fields that were too muddy last week. It's a wonder what a few inches of frozen ground does !!


Once he was going good in the combine I went home to begin pressure washering the fans and other "dirty" stuff in the chicken barn. Someone put diesel in a not diesel can and it found its way into the pressure washer tank. I guess it was destined to be dust control as it's all over the ground now. It ran a little rough for a few minutes after it was drained and filled with fresh gas but all is well now.


Honda Tech #1 - Hey Frank !! What can we do to make our engines better ??
Honda Tech #2 (Frank) - Gee Bob, I bet we could make sure the oil change caused the customer to make a HUGE mess !!
Honda Tech #1 (Bob) - Frank, that. Is. A. Great. Idea !!!
Frank - As BIG a mess as we can create for them. That's be funny right !!
Bob - Naw, it it's on a pressure washer they can just wash it off right ??
Frank - Now that's using your noggin !! We'll tell them to do it in their neighbors yard so their grass doesn't get killed !!
Bob - It'll be fine Frank ..... oil comes out of the ground so it can go back in no problem.
Frank - Gee we make a great team !!

Also, there's a wee bit of gas getting in the oil somehow so there will be a couple oil changes today to get through the day until I can tear into it and get it fixed.


The grass outside the fans is all covered in chicken "dust". Ick.


Those tasty morsels sure do make things messy.



I mixed a load of steer feed today and was just that far to far away. I'd say about 1/4 scoop shovel to far away. This seemed easier than moving the tractor and mixer


On the way home it started to November rain. That is, a little rain, a little sleet, a little snow and a whole lot of miserable because it's 32F and it can't make up it's mind !!


The feed room loading auger is working out VERY well !!


The grain dryer gets cranky when it's running in the rain but we can't really shut it down because if we did all the corn in it would get wet and nasty sitting in there waiting for it to stop raining !!


By 3pm or so it turned to snow. Boy am I ever glad we got all the soybeans combined

 

[Sifan]

Went to central Illinois on tues, wed and thurs to help inlaws finish up harvest and help with fall tillage. Last load I hauled to town, rolled by as state was setting up portable scales, good thing, was about $400.00 heavy Had my first experience with autosteer … worked fine for 3-4 passes and then started getting a lot of wheel slippage and tractor would shift side to side and shut autosteer off. Shut off autosteer and went old farmer and drove it myself Kept pulling hard and still wheel slip, dropped down a gear and made a couple of passes and they called for dinner. Ate and quit for the night. Next morning in the daylight figured out the disk was set okay but the hydraulic stop on the ripper had somehow reset itself and was running 20'' deep rather than the 14" that they wanted. No wonder the 495hp cummins was grunting and slipping LOL I stopped three times to check things over and make sure nothing was tore up, but each time I raised the unit to look it over

 

[jblnut]

Went to central Illinois on tues, wed and thurs to help inlaws finish up harvest and help with fall tillage. Last load I hauled to town, rolled by as state was setting up portable scales, good thing, was about $400.00 heavy Had my first experience with autosteer … worked fine for 3-4 passes and then started getting a lot of wheel slippage and tractor would shift side to side and shut autosteer off. Shut off autosteer and went old farmer and drove it myself Kept pulling hard and still wheel slip, dropped down a gear and made a couple of passes and they called for dinner. Ate and quit for the night. Next morning in the daylight figured out the disk was set okay but the hydraulic stop on the ripper had somehow reset itself and was running 20'' deep rather than the 14" that they wanted. No wonder the 495hp cummins was grunting and slipping LOL I stopped three times to check things over and make sure nothing was tore up, but each time I raised the unit to look it over

20" deep

I ran over the ground with a ripper after the dirtwork guys packed down and used as a haul road when building the chicken barn. I only had 5 shanks in the ground going downhill and it stopped our STX325 dead in it's tracks. I didn't have enough time to lift up or put the clutch in. Just killed it right now !! It took a dozen passes going a tiny bit deeper each time before I could get down the 14-16" I wanted !!

 

[jblnut]

Snow and corn harvest do not mix well. The big bin is full so we moved the hot auger to a smaller bin yesterday. We have a little corn to dry for a neighbor and we'll be back into our stuff again. We've only got a little over 50 acres left of our own and under 100 for the neighbors. Seems like it's taking forever !!

Off to pick up more bales today !! BTW I sold 154 4x5-1/2' bales yesterday so that'll help pay for the baler guy bill at least a little

 

[Sifan]

20" deep I told him, come spring, he'd be planting ground that he'd never seen before LOL

 

[Farmall450]

Ever consider a shelter for the dryer, especially if it gets funny with moisture?

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Any chance you could drill a hole located below the oil plug if you pulled the motor off the pressure washer?

 

[woodfor1]

Drill a hole then take a piece of pipe and an elbow and have it run to the bottom under the sprayer or straight out by the wheels.They build it thinking no one will change the oil in it.Thank you for all your post I enjoy reading them.

 

[jblnut]

20" deep I told him, come spring, he'd be planting ground that he'd never seen before LOL

Ever consider a shelter for the dryer, especially if it gets funny with moisture?

Although not a horrible idea I do not know how we'd get it to breath enough and still have it open enough to still vent itself. There is an amazing amount of moisture coming out of that thing .....

Any chance you could drill a hole located below the oil plug if you pulled the motor off the pressure washer?

So far drain and wash off in the yard is working but that is not a bad idea. A little dust control isn't a bad thing. We lose more oil when a hose breaks on something than the few ounces coming out of this thing. I'd like to drop zero oil on the ground though ....

Drill a hole then take a piece of pipe and an elbow and have it run to the bottom under the sprayer or straight out by the wheels.They build it thinking no one will change the oil in it.Thank you for all your post I enjoy reading them.

Along with this idea ... I could drill a hole in the frame and put a 90 down through it so I could drain it into a pan at least. We've changed oil in it a few times already but there is gas getting into it somehow now so the oil changes will be every running hour or so until I'm done in the barn with it.

Thank you for reading all the posts, I enjoy posting them

 

[JRDUCKS]

Jealous! I help a buddy of mine every year with harvest I work my 8-5 and then off to my home town 50 minutes away. I either am in the grain cart or the combine by this time of harvest he is sick and tired of it and wants to get out if and haul a few loads in the semi or run the cart. Jealous of the bins...they have three or four but we don't use them not sure why...everything we do goes straight to the elevator or feed lots so we get shut down early since they close at 8:00.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: I see on the news that a snow blast is hitting the midwest so hopefully you have all the harvesting done and the bales picked up out of the field.

I know weather is always an issue with your farming and this year with wet spring and fall probably didn't help, but you and your dad still kick **** so well done!!!

stay warm!!

 

[jblnut]

Jealous! I help a buddy of mine every year with harvest I work my 8-5 and then off to my home town 50 minutes away. I either am in the grain cart or the combine by this time of harvest he is sick and tired of it and wants to get out if and haul a few loads in the semi or run the cart. Jealous of the bins...they have three or four but we don't use them not sure why...everything we do goes straight to the elevator or feed lots so we get shut down early since they close at 8:00.

Oh man I love running the combine. When we're rolling right along with no issues we should be able to have the wet bin full in 8ih hours so there are no crazy long combine days unless we have break downs like we've been having.

By having on site storage we figure we can grab an easy $0.50-$1.00/bushel advantage by drying it ourselves and marketing it better. I can see it all going to feedlots and getting ground or rolled and packed away but selling to the local elevator in the fall is the worst way to market corn in my mind. Everyone has their own strategy and that may just be what works for them though.

JBL: I see on the news that a snow blast is hitting the midwest so hopefully you have all the harvesting done and the bales picked up out of the field.

I know weather is always an issue with your farming and this year with wet spring and fall probably didn't help, but you and your dad still kick **** so well done!!!

stay warm!!

Huh. It's not snowing here !! I think tomorrow it's suppose to do something but not yet today.

We're down below 50 acres of corn of our own and about the same custom work left so the end is in sight !! I still have 150ish bales to bring home. 700 home so far though so we're almost there with the bales as well.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: I just saw last night while watching our Seahawks beat the 49er's that Green Bay Packers are having a great season so far so maybe their hot streak is keep the snow away for a few more days.

stay warm and hope you get it all in before it starts to snow too much.

cheers

 

[jblnut]

JBL: I just saw last night while watching our Seahawks beat the 49er's that Green Bay Packers are having a great season so far so maybe their hot streak is keep the snow away for a few more days.

stay warm and hope you get it all in before it starts to snow too much.

cheers

Packers on a hot streak.

 

[jblnut]

Monday began with picking up some more corn straw bales. In the snow. Gross.




I did my math wrong and ended up with 5 bales left in the field. Oh well it's a light last load !!


Next to haul home was the soybean straw. Two easy trips, one with 22 and one with 18 made easy work of that field.


Monday afternoon we combined a neighbor's corn. He helped haul with his Magnum. Same one I pulled out of the mud while he was chopping silage.


Nice looking corn !!


Harvest in the snow cold sort of stinks but we're almost done !!


The grain dryer sure gets steamy when it's only 8F outside.


Quite steamy and the steam is gathering on the fan intake. Not great but not something we can easily prevent.


I've got the heat cranked up to 200F inside the dryer to keep things flowing through. I don't like to go over 185F so we'll see what happens ....


So this morning it was -1F and this is what happens when you dry corn when it's that damn cold. The ice buildup was so thick it just about covered the entire intake of the fan. The dryer got pissy and shutdown with a low heat alarm as I'm sure the fan couldn't push enough heat into the dryer to keep it happy because of the plugged intake.


Lots of ice built up on the intake that got knocked off.


The gas lines are all frosty !!


It's back up and running again !! It has warmed up to a balmy 11F and things are working better .... for now ....


The well is still flowing and starting to make a mess. It's freezing before it hits the ditch now. Not much we can do about that.


We started in a special field today. This field was planted with Golden Harvest corn with the Alpha-amylase trait bred into it. This enzyme helps make the corn more digestible so the cattle should be able to gain more weight while eating less corn. Win Win for all of us


There are purple kernels in the corn to make it easy to identify that it has the enzyme in it.


The corn we were drying for the neighbor is dry and it's time for him to haul it out. Most was out and all that was left was the bottom stuff that had to be taken out with the bin sweep. It's a fair bit of work but the easiest way to get the last little bits out.


Once the bin was empty we set to fixing the gravity box that had a bum bushing.


We decided to do the whole works while we were in there. Two brass bushings and one upper bushing. Turns out the top bushing is actually a bearing. Neat.


The spindle or whatever you want to call it had some damage to it ...


I ground it down and ended up having to built it back up a fair bit so I could grind it down flat again.


Back in place and all is well so far !!

 

[buzzboy]

I hope the heat works well in your tractors. Could you send that snow my way? I just made it across the country to my winter job in Tahoe and we're looking high and dry! It's okay, the ski resort opens on Friday... somehow. I drove through the cold snap that hit you around Amarillo.

 

[realvc]

Well, I just finished reading your thread. What a great read. I've enjoyed all the questions and the answers. Your explainations really help a non farmer like myself sorta understand what happens down on the farm.

Your wife and chidren are a huge part of what I like about your thread too.
Seeing you work with your dad and mom is really refreshing.

I grew up in town hanging out at a wrecking yard and used car lot so I've never been around cattle, farm equipment, chickens, planting, tilling and harvesting.

My wife and I live in woods by a man made lake so I see a lot of wild life these days.

I do know what well/drill pipe is because it is used to secure our floating boat dock.

Tell the family I said hello. You and all of them are my heros.

I've got a question too. "What happens to the corn cobs?" I see the corn and the stalks but not the cobs.

Take care, stay warm
Vince

 

[jblnut]

I hope the heat works well in your tractors. Could you send that snow my way? I just made it across the country to my winter job in Tahoe and we're looking high and dry! It's okay, the ski resort opens on Friday... somehow. I drove through the cold snap that hit you around Amarillo.

Seems to be working okay so far. If I could turn on a big fan and send the snow your way I gladly would !!!!

Well, I just finished reading your thread. What a great read. I've enjoyed all the questions and the answers. Your explanations really help a non farmer like myself sorta understand what happens down on the farm.

Your wife and children are a huge part of what I like about your thread too.
Seeing you work with your dad and mom is really refreshing.

I grew up in town hanging out at a wrecking yard and used car lot so I've never been around cattle, farm equipment, chickens, planting, tilling and harvesting.

My wife and I live in woods by a man made lake so I see a lot of wildlife these days.

I do know what well/drill pipe is because it is used to secure our floating boat dock.

Tell the family I said hello. You and all of them are my heros.

I've got a question too. "What happens to the corn cobs?" I see the corn and the stalks but not the cobs.

Take care, stay warm
Vince

Thank you for reading through it all !! I am happy I have been able to show you around our world a bit

I also like my wife and children being part of my thread. They're a huge part of my world and I try to involve them as much as I can. I enjoy it and so do they

I'll tell them hello from AR from you

The corn cobs run through the combine along with some other parts of the stalks and end up back on the ground with the rest of the stalk, minus the corn kernels of course. When we make bedding some end up in the bedding bales and some remain on the ground. They decompose and turn back into soil over time.

EDIT Added a picture of the "empty" cobs on the ground.



Post #3,000