Wednesday Morning

It is supposed to be 90 today...

Was looking at our clover field last night. I plowed and planted that field a month ago. Nothing but pigweed growing. I packed the field pretty well and then used my Great Plains drill to plant. The press wheels were pushing about an inch into the ground. I was planting the clover pretty shallow. In some cases you could see seeds pushed into the moist ground where the press wheel left a track. But-then the harrow covered it say 1/2" deep or was it 1" with loose soil? Then we packed it with a roller.

So.... Did I plant too deep? Did I plant into moisture and then get a sprout-then loose the moisture and kill the sprout? There was fairly good moisture. I planted after a 2" rainstorm.

My teff was done the same way. The field I rolled looks worse than the field I lifted up the harrow on the drill and didn't roll. I wonder if the narrow press wheels on the drill push the seed too deep into the loose soil. Then when you roll it you bury it. I'm about ready to round up the clover field and replant. If I had not ran off the Gopher Valley with the drill tractor I'd try to talk my brother into this program. I would really like to have something grow correctly the first time around. We kind of need the money.

A note on the disk problem from yesterday.

I sent my trusty employee down to check the wheel bearings on the drill and change the tire on the harrow. He comes back and tells me the tires have air and the wheel bearings are fine on the disk. He pulls the harrow tire and takes it to get it repaired.

We go to move the harrow and he neglects to tell me he brought back the tire-so I drug it round in a planted field to get it away from the cultipacker. He says, "well we didn't have the aircompressor. I don't know what you wanted to do. You were on the phone." 

Yup...

The disk. "Oh I thought those tires were ok. How could you tell the wheel bearing was out, the disk was locked up in the air? It was fine when I run it."

So, the bearing cage was sticking out through the grease seal on one hub... The valve stem had partially gone inside the rim on the tire..

Then there was the FORTY (40) foot 8" mainline pipe that was 10 feet out in the ryegrass hay field. I don't know whose fault it was. The guy who left it there or the person who cut the hay. I just know it is a real shame to drive down 20 foot of a 40ft pipe when we don't have that many good ones left.

Then there is the fact that two harrows have been run into and partially through my Hesston 1340 disk mower. If you know there is a possiblity of crap out in the field you could at least wash the !@#$%^&*ing tractor windows...

I do not want to work today.

I woke up a 5:30 and stared at the ceiling for an hour and a half.

What stupid thing will go wrong today?