It has been a busy week. I have a 200 acre planting job and I need to chop corn silage. Suddenly the corn got ready... Instead of mid-week start we started Tuesday.
I got off to a good start.
The first day I turned too short and busted the tongue on the chopper. Now, you understand the chopper is a couple years old. It is a 890 New Holland that we bought at a farm auction for $125 and it turned out to be better than the 892 we were using.
Then the smooth roll kind of destructed which I should have seen coming but I only have 30 acres to chop and we just put new bearings in it, um, well a couple years ago... Like five years ago and we did not pull the header at the end of last season.
That took a day...
But, I got to plant. I did 60 acres of very loose dirt. The no-till drill doesn't work so well in loose dirt. It tends to plant a little on the deep side unless you lower the gauge wheels on the drill quite a bit.
The farmer wanted me to plant 140lbs of wheat per acre. It seems a touch hight to me. He asked me what I had the drill set at. I said 135 as I figured that is what he wanted to hear. He asked me if I could bump it up to 140. I said "sure." When you are running 140lbs of wheat per acre through your drill 5lbs is not much of a difference. I have found that the seed rate can vary 10lbs per acre from morning to evening with the temperature changes. I have my planter alarm set to go off when seed level gets to the point where I have two or three acres left to plant at 100lbs of wheat per acre. (it is not adjustable) At 140lbs I don't have time to get back to the truck when the alarm goes off!
But, I did it...
My brother and Bill got the chopper going and chopped four loads Wednesday.
Thursday I went back to chopping.
Then the reverser quit on the header. The A/C fan failed on the trusty 2-135, a bolt came loose in the blower on the chopper... (The one bolt that didn't get loc-tite on it!)
The field I'm chopping is for our neighbor who doesn't have a chopper. He didn't leave wide enough headlands to turn around so we have to back up a lot.
I move to the field by his house.
He is a really good farmer and he works really hard so I have to do a better job working for him.
The hose going to the hydraulic oil cooler blows pumping five gallons of hydraulic oil out the grill of the tractor.
He got a little off on the strip tilling/planting line up and the four rows through a 3 row header thing is not working so well.
More, no headland/short rows.
No A/C and the sun is out...
Then, I'm trying to open the last gun alley and my truck can't find me.
I was sitting there watching the electronic tach and I noticed the numbers...
I got off to a good start.
The first day I turned too short and busted the tongue on the chopper. Now, you understand the chopper is a couple years old. It is a 890 New Holland that we bought at a farm auction for $125 and it turned out to be better than the 892 we were using.
Then the smooth roll kind of destructed which I should have seen coming but I only have 30 acres to chop and we just put new bearings in it, um, well a couple years ago... Like five years ago and we did not pull the header at the end of last season.
That took a day...
But, I got to plant. I did 60 acres of very loose dirt. The no-till drill doesn't work so well in loose dirt. It tends to plant a little on the deep side unless you lower the gauge wheels on the drill quite a bit.
The farmer wanted me to plant 140lbs of wheat per acre. It seems a touch hight to me. He asked me what I had the drill set at. I said 135 as I figured that is what he wanted to hear. He asked me if I could bump it up to 140. I said "sure." When you are running 140lbs of wheat per acre through your drill 5lbs is not much of a difference. I have found that the seed rate can vary 10lbs per acre from morning to evening with the temperature changes. I have my planter alarm set to go off when seed level gets to the point where I have two or three acres left to plant at 100lbs of wheat per acre. (it is not adjustable) At 140lbs I don't have time to get back to the truck when the alarm goes off!
But, I did it...
My brother and Bill got the chopper going and chopped four loads Wednesday.
Thursday I went back to chopping.
Then the reverser quit on the header. The A/C fan failed on the trusty 2-135, a bolt came loose in the blower on the chopper... (The one bolt that didn't get loc-tite on it!)
The field I'm chopping is for our neighbor who doesn't have a chopper. He didn't leave wide enough headlands to turn around so we have to back up a lot.
I move to the field by his house.
He is a really good farmer and he works really hard so I have to do a better job working for him.
The hose going to the hydraulic oil cooler blows pumping five gallons of hydraulic oil out the grill of the tractor.
He got a little off on the strip tilling/planting line up and the four rows through a 3 row header thing is not working so well.
More, no headland/short rows.
No A/C and the sun is out...
Then, I'm trying to open the last gun alley and my truck can't find me.
I was sitting there watching the electronic tach and I noticed the numbers...
It is a little late for me to start now but perhaps it does have some medicinal value?
Here we are nearing the end of that row. I really didn't think we would make it to the end. Right here we still have 100 feet to go..
And here is the load. I could have got a little more in the right rear corner!
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I know the farmers are busy, 'cause ALL their blogs are down a lot! Good luck!
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