2011 Summer Tour Wrap-Up

I don't even know where to start this ending. I haven't gotten updates on here in so long and I apologize. The last couple weeks in SD the 2 younger college boys had to leave on the 13th and 17th so I had to be in the grain cart or combine everyday and didn't get any chances to get groceries much less internet update time! But then we headed home the 19th and I thought I would get pictures on the computer right away, but it has been so busy with cleaning out the camper, my parents dairy farm, then getting back in the swing of things with my side jobs, plus canning salsa and apples, a friends' wedding and here we are. I just decided to get this updated and be late to chores.....

For several weeks in S. Dakota the weather was so comfortable. But it isn't ideal for the dew to dry off quickly from the fields.

We were able to make it to church every Sunday while we were there. It was a small church but a lively congregation, we really enjoyed going there. 1 of the farmers and his family we cut for came into church 1 Sunday at the end of the 1st song and everyone was standing. After the song he said, "A standing ovation for me?" it was funny and would not fly at most churches! We really bonded with the people at that church and even helped a family pack up and get ready to move to MN! They are teachers and will be in the Brainard, MN area and asked for help after church. Of course it had just rained so there wasn't any reason we couldn't help.


The team is in a huddle.
There were several days that rained enough we couldn't combine for a day or at least until the next afternoon. So Chad's harvest crew challenged our crew to a football game.


Chad's team in a huddle.


It was good exercise for the guys and they were complaining how sore they were for days afterward. I'm sure whoever ran into the dumpster and our truck were especially sore. They had a lot of fun, it was good for all of them.




Water Break!
Due to rain we also had time to make it to 2 local rodeos in the area while Marg was out here. They were both really good, this is rodeo country out here with lots of locals that do very well. It was a fun time. We sure enjoyed Marg coming to visit and I sure enjoyed all of the help with cooking and dishes!!


2011 Melchert Harvesting Crew

When Dan, Charlie & I were cutting for a different farmer than the other guys were, I guess we were known as "Holly's Crew" to the farmer Jon was cutting for. I liked the sound of that!


Dan, Jon, Holly, Andy


waiting for the wheat to dry down....
The winter wheat was better with 30-45 bu/acre in this area. The spring wheat fields looked good, but when you got out in the fields you could see the actual heads of wheat were very small and the fields only averaged 25-35 bu/acre with lower test weights and protein levels than usual.








Gary works for the farmer and usually drives the JD combine. Well one night he combined a skunk right up, it stunk to high heaven. That combine still has a bad odor when you get near it!


We had to drive through some tribal land that was full of prairie dogs to get to 1 field.


this is what some of the roads looked like to get to the fields we were cutting. the semis had to drive down many miles of these roads! We have had 3 chips in windshields and 1 windshield really cracked up this summer, last summer we didn't have any!


When it rains you have to get off of these roads quickly or they turn to slime and you can't steer. The guys got caught in a storm and were trying to get back to the camper but the trucks were going sideways like on ice. Then there were a couple of the fire stations grass rigs heading towards them, apparantly lightning had struck and there was a fire somewhere. But they could hardly drive out to it. It was a MESS. Mud was a main issue for us in SD. It was hardly a day when someone or something wasn't stuck or almost stuck.


The clothesline! The couple that owns the lot where the RV hookups are let us use their clothesline, it was wonderful and saved us money from the laundromat dryers.






We were cutting the field right by the farmers bin site. He likes everything to go through his grain cart since it has a scale and ours doesn't.


Jon & Chris discussing plans


Dan sure looks happy! Is it being in the wheat fields or the Mello Yello? I think both.




This field is all done, where do we go next?


Back to our field offices after a pow-wow about which field to go to next.








I couldn't leave SD without snapping a picture of the sunflowers! I love seeing those fields.


On Friday, August 19th, we were up before 5am getting the camper together to leave. After checking chains, switching a radio, and some more fuel we were on the road by 7 something headed for home!! It was going well until our blue pick-up started to overheat on me, I was pulling the double header trailer. I stopped for a bit to let it cool down and then we took it a little easier until we got to Watertown and stopped in at the Titan dealer. Jon used their pressure washer to blow out all of the straw and grasshoppers that were stuck in the front of the truck, no wonder it was overheating....we then discovered that 1 of the vent covers on the camper had blown off along the way....but after that it was smooth sailing, well until the bridge in Granite Falls anyways. The combine on Andy's trailer scraped the end of the auger and broke the wire for the light going under the bridge, so the rest of us took a detour around that bridge. We made it home around 7:30 that night. Millie had come out to the farm with pizzas that she picked up for us all, it was so nice of her! It was WONDERFUL to get home!!


All clean and lined up nicely. These combines harvested a little over 11,000 acres of wheat this summer, and it was only the 3 until S. Dakota. They did very well and we are looking at selling at least 1 of them, so stop by the lot and check it out, these deals won't last long!

Jon & I want to thank everyone again for their support. We have been shocked at the interest people have in this endeavor of ours! It was a good summer, better than last year and we have a lot to be thankful for. Now that we are home and gearing up for fall harvest we look forward to seeing everyone and reconnecting with our family and friends.

Life in South Dakota

Here comes the combine that no one likes around here.....that's right, the Great White Combine. There has been destructive hail twice since we have been here, both times north of town. It took out about 700 acres that we were supposed to cut unfortunately. In the almost 2 weeks we have been here it has rained some everyday except for 3 or 4 days. If it rains just a little to make us stop for the evening we are able to combine the next day no problem. But there have been several 1/2 inch to 2 inch rains that have held us up for a day or 2.

Since it has been so long since my last update this may not "flow" very well, but I will just type what I can remember for the last couple weeks.

- Jon got a 4th 2388 combine since we have a considerable amount of work in this area. The combine was delivered here but Jon & I had to drive to Watertown to pick up the head. It makes more sense for us to buy another one(that we could always sell later if need be) rather than lease one which is very expensive and you have nothing to show for it in the end. So with the added combine I have to drive combine or cart a lot more. Anyone back home that wants to drive combine for a day or a few, you are welcome to come out we could set you up!
- Some friends of ours are staying at the same campsite as us, it has been so nice to visit with them. He didn't have much work in this area and we do, so we had him help us out here with some acres and he has a lot in North Dakota, so hopefully we will be able to help him there. They are from Northern MN and started harvesting last year like us. Only they are about 10 yrs older than us and have 4 kids. So Lisa and the kids just come visit for a couple weeks in the summer as she works part-time in MN, they aren't with the crew all summer. Luckily they were visiting while in the same town as us so I got to hang out with her some which I really enjoyed.
- Several dinosaur bones were found years ago in the next county over and even an almost whole T-Rex "Sue" there is a little museum in a nearby town that I stopped in at with Lisa, an 8 yr old boy found a T-Rex scull in rock on his parents land, and named it Bucky. It is in the museum.
- There are once again a lot of grasshoppers here again. I saw 2 white caterpillers and a scorpian of some sort while I was out running/walking this morning.
- This is the poorest county in the U.S.
- We have had 3 flat tires(the big ones too) on 2 of the combines in the last week. That was frusterating, but they are fixed and going again.



We only had all 4 of our combines together for a couple days and I didn't get any pictures of that yet. The last 4 days Dan, Charlie, and myself have been working for 1 farmer while the rest of the crew is working with another farmer in the area. We are 5-10 miles apart in the fields, by road anyways.


So all in all things are going fine, just slower than we would like from rain so often. We are thankful our machinery hasn't been damaged by the storms and not a lot of wheat was downed from hail. We are getting to a point in summer where people kind of know the routines better, but everyone has been living together for a couple months and sometimes there are tensions and frusterations. But we still have a good time together overall.


Charlie & Winston (the high school graduates) riding on the back of the truck to check a field. I keep telling them they are pretty lucky, getting paid to be on vacation all summer, food included (and believe me they can eat a LOT of food if it is available!!!) They are both very polite and always thank me for the meals. They both usually drive grain truck and semi, but fill in driving cart or combine when needed.


You can't escape the camera Chris!! Chris has been driving the farmers grain cart and has been having a rough time of it with all this mud. He has gotten stuck several times. It is a 1000 bushel grain cart with a JD 9300 tractor on it (I think) with balding tires, the tractor doesn't have enough oomph for that big of a loaded cart to begin with.


Here's our nieghbor, Jim, a reliable combine driver and card player :)


Charlie & Chris "undercover" investigating the farmer's John Deere combine! he-he

Jon's Mom, Marg got out here today (Saturday) before 1pm (2pm home time). She said the drive was great with no hold-ups. She is going to stay here(in a hotel, we wouldn't make her suffer in a camper with 8 other adults!!) for several days to visit. It is great to have her come out here, we sure enjoy new company. It is only 8 hours from home :)

We Just Keep Movin On Up!

Well we had 4 really good days of combining in CO. Tuesday through Friday were all long, busy, good days. We got over 1100 acres combined.


We found a quite a few we spots in the fields we were combining in CO. There were a few times we had to get the chains out to pull somebody out. You can see an area where the wheat looks different and there is probably some mud, and you are going fine with dry ground until all of a sudden it is quickly deep mud!




Good going once again.


Friday night the guys got the machines blown off so Saturday morning all that had to be done was load everything up, get the camper ready to go, and settle up to the farmers. We were up before 5 and leaving town by 8:30 I think it was.


This bridge was 14'1", we had to crawl up to it....


because we didn't know if the combines would fit under it. Jon had to push the bin extensions in farther so it would fit under.


We all made it under but it was too close for comfort.

We all got up to our stop in NW South Dakota around 4:30 I think it was on Saturday afternoon. Andy unhooked the trailer and headed for home, MN! He will be bringing the tractor, grain cart, and our trusty grain cart driver Chris along back with him Monday morning. Winston will bring along Danny's semi and grain trailer as well. We unloaded what machinery we had to, got the camper to our hookups, then went to the wonderful cafe in town for supper. Everyone was super hungry. Then Jon, Dan, & I took off around 8:30 that night for round 2. We had to drive the yellow straight truck and combine trailer as well as the pickup and header trailer back to CO to get the 3rd combine and head. We took turns driving and got to CO around 4 Sunday morning. We slept in the pickup till 6am then loaded up the last combine and head and set off back to SD. No problems with any of the trips, it went well. But when we got back to the camper we found out a big problem. The RV hookup owner asked Jim and Charlie to move the camper to another spot which was fine. They did so and then the owner was plugging in our camper for us, but he did not use the adaptor for 220 or 50 amp or whatever it was and blew a lot of stuff out in the camper.....So when us 3 got back feeling rather exhausted to find that the only electrical component in the camper that worked was the fridge, it did not go over well. The microwave is fried. The air and lights only work if we constantly have a battery charger hooked up. We have to get someone out to fix a bunch of stuff now. Not sure when that will be and I don't think it will be pretty.


Here comes Ozzie! The 3lb Chihuahua/Doxen mix neighbors dog. He is 10 yrs old! Hard to believe, he seems like a puppy. He is a sweet dog until he sees another dog then he growls and barks to let them know how ferocious he is.


Ozzie comes over to say hi and see if he can get any attention. Sometimes he brings his chew toy, this kitten! It is a funny sight.

Monday morning Jon was checking fields with farmers, the guys were getting the combines ready to go, and Andy, Chris and Winston pulled in sometime after 4. We were able to start combining shortly after that. But by 8 or 9 that night it was pouring. After the worst of the storm was over I grilled burgers and then we watched a movie. So now we are up to 8 people living in this camper, it is going well so far, lets hope it continues....

We have NO internet connection in the town we stay in and very slim cell service. So I will catch up and update when I can on here but I have to take the computer to another town. I had to go to the hardware store and get groceries in a town 25 miles away and I get interenet connection here, yeay!! So if we don't respond to emails or calls quickly this is why, leave a message - sometimes that goes through even if that call doesn't. It is clouding up to the west again so I better get those groceries and get back.

HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY to my Mom & Dad today!!!!! Love you both so much!!!!

So Long Kansas, Hello Colorado!

On Tuesday we left Kansas early in the morning and got to our North Eastern Colorado destination by 9:30am I think it was. We are in the Mountain Time zone now, which is 1 hour behind home time. We have much better internet connection here so I should be able to upload some more pictures and recap last week. We'll go back to KS pictures first:


A beautiful sunset with a storm coming up behind us from the East.


Intimidating looking clouds...it missed us just barely.




What a beautiful and scary cloud all in one. I could see lightning inside this big puffy cloud, it didn't come down to the ground, just stayed within the cloud, it was really neat.


One of the entrances to the Threshing Grounds, it is like a small fairgrounds. It was neat to "live" here for a week.


A country church, sod house, and country school on the grounds.


I thought the sod house was pretty neat, though they said that ground squirrels were starting to get in...




These 2 old Minneapolis Moline tractors were literally right outside the door of the camper, they are next winters project I guess, the local guys are going to make 1 restored tractor out of these 2. They made me think of my Uncle Dave all the time as he collects M.Molines. He would LOVE the Threshing Days they have here in a couple weeks, big machine sheds FULL of antique tractors....


A nice old pickup in the grounds where we parked the camper.


Ready to work.


Riding with Jon for a bit before I go start supper. Right now the guys were split up working for 2 different farmers. They were about 15 minutes apart, which isn't a lot but it always takes considerably more time when you have to take food to more than 1 group of people, unload food, wait for them to eat, load up....next stop.


There was some fantastic wheat in this area. Several of the fields we combined averaged 74-79 bushels/acre! It was so thick. In some areas the wheat was laying down though which slowed us up a bit.






This is a 2000 head dairy cow operation a few miles from where we were in KS. I guess they are in the process of upgrading to 3000 dairy cows. They had a setup somewhere else in KS and basically got chased out as people were complaining too much. This area welcomed them as it brought more business and jobs to this area.



We finished up combining Sunday night. So the machines got cleaned up on Monday, then loaded up onto the trailers. Everything was ready for take-off Tuesday morning. We could easily have made it to our next stop on Monday but the trucks overheat so easily when it is 100+ degrees so our plan was to drive in the morning when it is a little cooler. We went to the cafe in town for supper that night. There was a growing cloud of smoke to the west of us so we drove that way to see what it was. A farmer's combine had started on fire, and from there the fields lit up. No one was hurt but the combine is done for. The wind was pushing it towards a field that we had just cut 2 days before and the straw and stubble was ablaze and moving fast towards a neighbors house just across the road. There was 1 farmer pulling a disc in the straw just on the other side of the house and that was what saved it from starting on fire, the disced ground slows up the fire. The fire dept. was there but they couldn't do anything for the combine or field fire, they were just there in case the house started on fire, 80 or so acres burned. It was quite a sight to see. I didn't have my camera, but Andy got some great pictures. Hopefully I can get some of those on here sometime.


This is what most of the area looks like where we are in CO right now. A lot of hilly pasture. Once you get up out of the hills there are pockets of cropland. A surprising amount of corn is grown in this area as well, irrigated and dry-land.


As soon as we got here on Tuesday morning we unloaded everything and got to combining right away. I got fuel 4 times in the tank in the back of the pickup. It was a crazy busy day but we got a lot done. Laundry was getting overdue, so last night at 8:00 I load it all up and head to the laundromat in town. I was hoping it would be cooler in there in the evening, well it wasn't. It was a furnace in there, so I propped both doors open, well then the skeeters came in. It turns out the evening is a busy time in the laundromat. There were a couple local people and 3 other harvesters that stopped in. Well I had the entire row of 10 washers full and still had 2 more loads to go. So they went to the bar which is across the driveway to wait until some were open. I got back to the camper around 10:30 that night with the laundry. There were dishes waiting for me too.


Jon fell asleep waiting for his turn in the shower, some nights we aren't done until midnight or later and then everyone has to get through the shower so you have to sleep when you can!

Today, Wednesday, we have had a few breakdowns already. A bearing on Dan's combine and a shaft on Jon's combine. Both are up and running again. But Jon just called and said there is a line at the elevator that he'll have to drive truck and I need to get out there and drive combine, gotta go!