2011-10-31
Harvest 2011 is now finished. I don't have many pictures because the last pass was made 30 minutes before sunrise. I spent the rest of the day cleaning both corn heads and combines. We try to remove every kernel of grain we can find so that mice don't stick around. If mice get in the machines, they tend to eat wires in addition to the corn. We mainly use high pressure air, but sometimes a screwdriver is needed for the dirt that is really stuck down.
2011-10-29
I removed a few trees from a fence line today, while the other guys loaded the trucks and put them in line at ADM. Stalk chopper and chisel plow are both running.
2011-10-28
As of this afternoon there is just one field left, and it all goes to town. We unhooked the MX275 from big grain cart and put it on the stalk chopper, since the MX230 is just a bit short on power for that task.
2011-10-27
| Video Time lapse from the Grain Cart 5 |
2011-10-26
2011-10-25
2011-10-24
The weather has been nice with daytime highs around 70 degrees. Most of the corn is dry enough to put right in the bin, so we're making good progress.
2011-10-23
2011-10-22
2011-10-21
2011-10-20
It is possible to get a semi truck stuck on a dry road when the trailer is at a funny angle and you bring the drive tires off the ground.
2011-10-19
We've been making good progress on the corn harvest. The weather has been cold and windy for the last few days, but no rain to slow us down.
| Video How to de-slug a rotor |
2011-10-18
2011-10-17
2011-10-16
2011-10-15
2011-10-14
2011-10-13
The ground was soaked up enough from yesterday's rain that we decided not to harvest today.
2011-10-12
Rain day.
2011-10-11
Our local ADM plant dumped approximately 900 semi trucks today.
2011-10-10
| Video Time lapse from the Grain Cart 4 |
2011-10-09
Maintenance day. Oil change on one combine, hooked up the second grain cart, changed both machines over to corn settings, and moved some wagons out to a corn field.
2011-10-08
Soybeans are now done.
2011-10-07
Visibility was an issue today. The dust can be so thick that you can barely see the reel in front of you, which makes it impossible to see where you're going. Glass cabs with filtered air and climate control are a wonderful thing. Also, I think the most over-played song on the radio this season is Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night'.
2011-10-06
It's so dry, the 93M11s don't have green stems, it's early October, and we haven't had a freeze yet. Corn probably lost one point of moisture today. Nice warm weather.
2011-10-05
Another day with the clipper ships, sailing the soybean fields of Iowa. 7120 started complaining about the oil sensor again, which throws a nag message on the display every 1 minute. That got old. The 2588 decided to blow out another reverser cylinder. This has been a chronic problem that started with the hydraulic reverser on the 2388s. The cylinder is under pressure all the time and eventually a weld fails. Based on the replacement, it looks like somebody finally redesigned the cylinder to not have a weld in the middle.
2011-10-04
It was an interesting day. I'm not sure what the deal is with all the trash stuck above the rotor cage. Sticky limit switch on the unload auger on the 2588, blew a rotor belt on the 2588, and the 7120 had an oil sensor malfunction that eventually decided to remedy itself. The field we ended the day at is down a narrow dirt road. You can see the clay marks on the sidewalls of the cart and tractor tires. It is literally a narrow road.
| Video Time lapse from the Grain Cart 3 |
2011-10-03
| Video Time lapse from the Combine 1 |
2011-10-02
2011-10-01
