My brother is swathing annual ryegrass this morning. The fields have not ripened evenly. The field that was hardest to see was the one which ripened first.
Sunday we discovered that the swathers were not really ready to go.
Getting the swathers ready has been the in between job. The thing you work on when other jobs are finished. Apparently I was not supervising this closely enough and while it appears the fluids were changed the sickles and sickle drives and those sorts of things were not checked. I guess I should have realized that our little helper "does not do that."
"I don't know how that stuff works, that is what you guys do," will be the response when I ask him this morning. So, even though he has been here ten years he has picked up no knowledge about swathers? Something we use every year?
The one swather that I was sure was ready had a stuck throttle cable. Mice had built a nest right over where the cable goes through the floor. It is one of those shielded Morse cables and the mouse pee ran down into the cable and totally jammed it up. Someone had taken the cover off the controls as the bolts were in a corner of the cab and one loose bolt was holding the cover on. I suspect that I will hear that he told me and I didn't do anything about it.
I think more and more about those robot tractors...
Perhaps I should go to work early today.
Posts
Acme sells a dandy robot helper...
ReplyDeleteEverybody knows what a swather is.......Except me.
ReplyDeleteJT: It is a machine that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow. That is, when it is not being repaired or behind, or when enough accumulates, in front of the barn, rusting with many other large junk machines too sentimental to scrap.
ReplyDeleteA picture (or video) is worth a thousand words. Although this crop was canola it would work the same in the Lazy Farmer's hay crop.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtA7bi-SMFw
And if you should place an order for robot helper make sure you're in ag supply and not condiments.
ReplyDeleteRalph, we used to knock down oats with the ancestor of the swather, known here as a windrower. Did the same thing, same Dutch windmill/sicklebar feed but had a wonderful endless wide canvas belt with oak slats that fed the grain off to the side. I really enjoyed running that. AC WD with hand clutch that ran in oil so you could ease into the worst lodging and get it all.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I commented on your last post at 2 AM! We cut our fescue and crimson clover last night...now for a solid week of cutting annual ryegrass on the night shift......
ReplyDeleteLooks like a stretch of dry weather this week!
ReplyDelete