The Fescue is coming up, Timothy is coming up, Annual Ryegrass is up, Orchard grass is not, rows are crooked and I am lazy.

Global warming, or is it climate change, or is it man-made global cooling, or is it just the crazy cycles of nature, has resulted in a warm wet two weeks. 

The Great Plains 1500 is a really nice drill. It has liquid fertilizer, row monitors, and 15 foot is a good size. But... It is a constant battle to not bury the seed three inches deep when planting into worked ground. I think I am going to buy a new set of down pressure springs and then cut an inch or two off of the old springs and use the shorter springs for worked ground. It is kind of a pain to change the springs but I very rarely do the sort of no-till where you are drilling Wheat seed into ground that is as hard as concrete. (Which is what I used to do every fall)  I have thought about mounting air shocks on the openers so I could easily change the pressure but that would be a lot of work. I think it could be done with mounting brackets from Great Plains. Of course there would be buying 24 air shocks and mounting an air compressor....

My grass seed plantings are coming up. Checking them every day makes them come up faster. There was zero difference in the side of the drill that had the fancy seed inoculant. (See Realgrowers, Recharge inoculant) 

I am really disappointed that I cannot tell which side of the drill had the special treatment. It all seemed like a great idea. The seed is putting down roots really well but I can't see that one side of the drill has better roots than the other. I guess I should have planted an isolated test strip and flagged it off.

I am also disappointed in my driving. I cannot seem to drive straight with this Great Plains CPH-15 hitch.  The PFH-15 that I had on my original Great Plains 1500 was a much better design. It had a rock shaft for lifting the drill and the lift wheels stayed in alignment much better. There was also a better lock system for locking the center pivot when doing long straight rows in loose soil. 

This CPH-15 hitch has always wandered and every twitch of the steering wheel transmits back though the drill. I do wish I could afford auto-steer.

Or better yet, a new drill, a White 195 Workhorse, and Autosteer. 

I was talking about needed farm equipment with my nephew yesterday. He is pretty frustrated with the lack of a loader tractor grapple set up for loading hay. I was trying to get him to have his brother look for White 2-105 or 2-85 or 2-110 tractors where he is teaching school in Colorado. I see those on Tractorhouse with front end loaders fairly ofter for under $10,000. 

The Nephew is determined to put proper beds on three trucks. He has one almost done and is ready to start on the second. 

I was noting the list of tractors to repair this winter... Hesston 4690 baler with a bad engine, White 2-135 with a major water leak under the turbo and three speed issues, Minneapolis-Moline G-1355 with three speed issues, White 2-150 with injector pump issues, Minneapolis-Moline G-706 with engine swap and transmission issues, IH 656 hydro with PTO out and hydraulics issues, MM M-670 super with engine problems, Mercury-Pettibone Hay Squeeze engine swap, Mercury-Pittibone Hay Squeeze with bad mast lift cylinder and bent clamp, and an 806 IH that needs an engine rebuild....

Plus, his uncle is lazy...