Here it is, already Friday, over a week from my last post and also since I did laundry last.....both are overdue! It has been just crazy busy. I have taken a ton of pictures in the last week again so I will get right to it. Thankfully I am getting really good internet connection at this laundromat, some places it is s-l-o-w.
Andy's birthday cake, it was so good we ate the whole thing that night.
Where we were staying there is a decent shop that the guys can work in at night if they have to fix something, it has been so handy. Here they are taking a broken wobble box apart. (this is the part at one end of a combine head that makes the sickle bar go back and forth)
Charlie with the torch, can't you just hear him? "Ooooo"
These are the 2 projects that the Antique Thresher and Tractor Association have going in the shop right now. I think it is really neat, there are several retired guys who come here almost everyday to work on restoration projects for fun. It keeps them busy and mentally sharp while doing something great at the same time.
There are 3 little striped gophers by the side shop and our camper, it is fun watching them. This one likes the grease that has dripped down from the grill.
Can you find the camper? It is hiding between the shop and the trucks! There hade been chances of storms the first several nights that we were here. Clouds would build around us but we didn't get any rain till Friday I believe. It was really windy at times.
We got up to Bird City on Monday evening. We started combining on Tuesday and it went well through Friday night, that is when this storm was building. There were some fields that were a bit wet, but it dried down quickly. The wheat was really good in this area. Fields we combined were averaging 45-80 bushels per acre. There were a lot in the 50-60 range. The test weights were coming in really good as well, the farmers were very happy to have such a good yielding crop.
The shutter gets stuck a lot of times when I turn on my camera, I have to flick it open the rest of the way with my finger, but it makes some neat pictures too if I leave it only half open.
Jacob and Caleb trying to get pictures of the lightning, a difficult thing to do!
We got back to the camper before it started to rain, the field we had been cutting at was at least 15 miles from the camper on some dirt roads, so we wanted to get out of there....before we couldn't.
This was an eerie feeling as this storm hovered over us. The wind got really strong and it rained pretty hard, it ended up being about an inch. The ground really needed the moisture around here too. The next day was too wet to combine but driving around we saw that there was very little damage to the wheat crop, no hail, only minimal downed wheat from the strong winds and rain. So on Saturday I washed all the towels while the guys did some minor things and helped with what they could around the antique thrashing grounds. On Sunday(Father's Day) we went to church then were able to cut wheat in the afternoon. We grilled pork chops for supper, with scalloped potatoes and had a marble cake for dessert. It got very hot that day, over 100 degrees. Monday proved to be even hotter getting to 105 degrees at least. Holly had to drive the grain cart all day on Monday since Kyle wasn't back yet. We had been down to 3 combines for several days until we got a new wobble box for the brokend head, but on Monday we were back up to 4 combines so that's why I had to drive the tractor. We got burger baskets at the cafe in town for lunch that day and had cold meat sandwiches for supper. It was a really late night in the field that Monday, getting in around 11:30 or so that night.
All 4 combines up and going, black and white style.
Dan snazzed up his truck a little, I like the look of it.
Our guys have gotten to go right in and bypass the lines at this elevator since we have dump boxes and not hopper bottom semis. There were 3 pits at this elevator I think and they would wave our guys over to dump in 1 that the semis couldn't. This aggravated some of the semi drivers, enough so that they would swear at our guys. The people that worked at the elevator noticed this (as they were the same people that would swear at the them too) and would tell the farmers where that crew was harvesting at. We have picked up work at times simply because a farmer doesn't want another crew back because they swore too much and were so disrespectful. That is partly why we stress so much that our guys get out of the habit of swearing. We don't want to hear it and we don't want them to be a bad representation of us in the towns. Our guys have been really good and the elevators often say that they like our drivers best.
Some beautiful wheat, I love seeing the wind ripple through the fields like waves on water. We have had 2 guys quit and go home in the last few weeks, we started with 1 extra person but with 2 gone I have had to be in the tractor and grain cart now everyday since last Monday. It puts us in more of a pinch, but we understand that not everybody can or wants to handle this type of situation even though its only for the summer, not all year. We work some very long days, but its a lot of sitting. It gets tough when everyone is around each other so much, working AND living together. Personalities clash at times and stressful situations don't always bring out the best in people. Its too bad they left, but we will deal with it, we have just eaten a lot more sandwiches than usual, and the laundry gets to overflowing. We will have someone join us in South Dakota though, so we just have to get through Colorado. Speaking of Colorado....we finished up in Bird City on Tuesday morning. Jon and 2 guys took 2 combines to CO, only 2.5 hours from Bird. They got back in the evening and we grilled 1 pound ribeye steaks for everyone, it was delicious!! Early Wednesday morning of this week we took everything else up to Colorado, it was very cool and felt so nice after several days above 100! We got started in combining right away when we got there. I made sandwiches for lunch.
The farmer we cut for has a semi he helps haul with, the drive to the elevator is a 50 mile round trip from some of his fields, some are closer though. The trucks can't keep up with a long haul like that.
I drove grain cart all afternoon then went to town to get Subway for supper.
Moving machinery to the next field, it sometimes is an hour drive or more (in the combines) to the next field. This just looked like a pretty picture to me. There is a lot of pivot irrigation around here and there was in NW Kansas as well.
Even though we didn't get started combining till noon on Wednesday we worked until around midnight since the wind was still going and there was no dew. We got 350 acres combined that day! It was a short night of sleep, then Thursday was about the same, a long but really good day in the field. I got pizzas for a late supper from a town about 20 minutes from the field.
If you need someone to find a needle in a haystack ask Caleb, he found this rusty pliers in a mile long field! It was stuck in the tire, but it didn't go far enough in to puncture it.
All 4 trucks are full from the night before and ready to go in to the elevator.
Fueling up the combines and tractor in the morning.
We saw this coyote in the field yesterday afternoon, Kyle and Caleb saw some of her pups coming out of the hole in the ground as well. She was pretty to watch.
The car was full of laundry this morning, the trunk had 3 garbage bags full too.
I was lucky when I got in here I was the only one here, but shortly after 3 other people came in, its a busy place. Now the laundry is done, I have to get some groceries and get a late lunch out to the field. This morning the guys just had to haul the wheat to the farmers bin which is right next to the field we are working on. But it sounds like this afternoon they will have to haul to the elevator again so I may have to be in the tractor. Then after that the next field's wheat will go to his bin again. So depending on what time we get there will determine what supper is, sandwiches if its late or tater tot hotdish if I can get back to the camper in the afternoon to make it. Gotta be flexible!
Andy's birthday cake, it was so good we ate the whole thing that night.
Where we were staying there is a decent shop that the guys can work in at night if they have to fix something, it has been so handy. Here they are taking a broken wobble box apart. (this is the part at one end of a combine head that makes the sickle bar go back and forth)
Charlie with the torch, can't you just hear him? "Ooooo"
These are the 2 projects that the Antique Thresher and Tractor Association have going in the shop right now. I think it is really neat, there are several retired guys who come here almost everyday to work on restoration projects for fun. It keeps them busy and mentally sharp while doing something great at the same time.
There are 3 little striped gophers by the side shop and our camper, it is fun watching them. This one likes the grease that has dripped down from the grill.
Can you find the camper? It is hiding between the shop and the trucks! There hade been chances of storms the first several nights that we were here. Clouds would build around us but we didn't get any rain till Friday I believe. It was really windy at times.
We got up to Bird City on Monday evening. We started combining on Tuesday and it went well through Friday night, that is when this storm was building. There were some fields that were a bit wet, but it dried down quickly. The wheat was really good in this area. Fields we combined were averaging 45-80 bushels per acre. There were a lot in the 50-60 range. The test weights were coming in really good as well, the farmers were very happy to have such a good yielding crop.
The shutter gets stuck a lot of times when I turn on my camera, I have to flick it open the rest of the way with my finger, but it makes some neat pictures too if I leave it only half open.
Jacob and Caleb trying to get pictures of the lightning, a difficult thing to do!
We got back to the camper before it started to rain, the field we had been cutting at was at least 15 miles from the camper on some dirt roads, so we wanted to get out of there....before we couldn't.
This was an eerie feeling as this storm hovered over us. The wind got really strong and it rained pretty hard, it ended up being about an inch. The ground really needed the moisture around here too. The next day was too wet to combine but driving around we saw that there was very little damage to the wheat crop, no hail, only minimal downed wheat from the strong winds and rain. So on Saturday I washed all the towels while the guys did some minor things and helped with what they could around the antique thrashing grounds. On Sunday(Father's Day) we went to church then were able to cut wheat in the afternoon. We grilled pork chops for supper, with scalloped potatoes and had a marble cake for dessert. It got very hot that day, over 100 degrees. Monday proved to be even hotter getting to 105 degrees at least. Holly had to drive the grain cart all day on Monday since Kyle wasn't back yet. We had been down to 3 combines for several days until we got a new wobble box for the brokend head, but on Monday we were back up to 4 combines so that's why I had to drive the tractor. We got burger baskets at the cafe in town for lunch that day and had cold meat sandwiches for supper. It was a really late night in the field that Monday, getting in around 11:30 or so that night.
All 4 combines up and going, black and white style.
Dan snazzed up his truck a little, I like the look of it.
Our guys have gotten to go right in and bypass the lines at this elevator since we have dump boxes and not hopper bottom semis. There were 3 pits at this elevator I think and they would wave our guys over to dump in 1 that the semis couldn't. This aggravated some of the semi drivers, enough so that they would swear at our guys. The people that worked at the elevator noticed this (as they were the same people that would swear at the them too) and would tell the farmers where that crew was harvesting at. We have picked up work at times simply because a farmer doesn't want another crew back because they swore too much and were so disrespectful. That is partly why we stress so much that our guys get out of the habit of swearing. We don't want to hear it and we don't want them to be a bad representation of us in the towns. Our guys have been really good and the elevators often say that they like our drivers best.
Some beautiful wheat, I love seeing the wind ripple through the fields like waves on water. We have had 2 guys quit and go home in the last few weeks, we started with 1 extra person but with 2 gone I have had to be in the tractor and grain cart now everyday since last Monday. It puts us in more of a pinch, but we understand that not everybody can or wants to handle this type of situation even though its only for the summer, not all year. We work some very long days, but its a lot of sitting. It gets tough when everyone is around each other so much, working AND living together. Personalities clash at times and stressful situations don't always bring out the best in people. Its too bad they left, but we will deal with it, we have just eaten a lot more sandwiches than usual, and the laundry gets to overflowing. We will have someone join us in South Dakota though, so we just have to get through Colorado. Speaking of Colorado....we finished up in Bird City on Tuesday morning. Jon and 2 guys took 2 combines to CO, only 2.5 hours from Bird. They got back in the evening and we grilled 1 pound ribeye steaks for everyone, it was delicious!! Early Wednesday morning of this week we took everything else up to Colorado, it was very cool and felt so nice after several days above 100! We got started in combining right away when we got there. I made sandwiches for lunch.
The farmer we cut for has a semi he helps haul with, the drive to the elevator is a 50 mile round trip from some of his fields, some are closer though. The trucks can't keep up with a long haul like that.
I drove grain cart all afternoon then went to town to get Subway for supper.
Moving machinery to the next field, it sometimes is an hour drive or more (in the combines) to the next field. This just looked like a pretty picture to me. There is a lot of pivot irrigation around here and there was in NW Kansas as well.
Even though we didn't get started combining till noon on Wednesday we worked until around midnight since the wind was still going and there was no dew. We got 350 acres combined that day! It was a short night of sleep, then Thursday was about the same, a long but really good day in the field. I got pizzas for a late supper from a town about 20 minutes from the field.
If you need someone to find a needle in a haystack ask Caleb, he found this rusty pliers in a mile long field! It was stuck in the tire, but it didn't go far enough in to puncture it.
All 4 trucks are full from the night before and ready to go in to the elevator.
Fueling up the combines and tractor in the morning.
We saw this coyote in the field yesterday afternoon, Kyle and Caleb saw some of her pups coming out of the hole in the ground as well. She was pretty to watch.
The car was full of laundry this morning, the trunk had 3 garbage bags full too.
I was lucky when I got in here I was the only one here, but shortly after 3 other people came in, its a busy place. Now the laundry is done, I have to get some groceries and get a late lunch out to the field. This morning the guys just had to haul the wheat to the farmers bin which is right next to the field we are working on. But it sounds like this afternoon they will have to haul to the elevator again so I may have to be in the tractor. Then after that the next field's wheat will go to his bin again. So depending on what time we get there will determine what supper is, sandwiches if its late or tater tot hotdish if I can get back to the camper in the afternoon to make it. Gotta be flexible!
