Tire Jinx!

        Friday was a mild summer like day in October with only gentle wind. "Perfect" I thought to spray some thistles. Perennial plants draw up nutrients as winter approaches. This makes them vulnerable to herbicides. There is a sizeable thistle patch in the CRP field that was burned this spring. In late June, I mowed it to keep it from going to seed. Now it's healthy and eagerly anticipating vigorous growth in the spring. Eager to take advantage of its hunt for nutrition I sprayed it. Ever since June I've been procrastinating removing the sprayer from the tractor and now I know why I waited. 

    Spraying complete I removed the sprayer and left the tractor in its spot in the garage. Saturday, when I entered the garage, something didn't look right with the tractor. Closer inspection revealed that one of the large, rear tires was flat. Suspecting a deer antler may have punctured it I did a close inspection but found none. 

   A call to my tire repair shop of choice ended with a repairman scheduled for today. This afternoon he called to say he couldn't make it today but will come at 8:30 tomorrow. This is the tractor which had multiple flat tires two years ago resulting in new tires.

Takk for alt,

Al

Previous tire repair, same tractor.

Old Learning!

        After my first-year college, the summer of 1957, I took a job as a farm hand for a farmer. After all, what else did I know? His farm was a bit distant from my home, so I stayed with his family during the week. Breakfast was at 5:30 and dinner at 9:30 so commuting wasn't practical.

    My Dad's tractors were Farmalls, made by International Harvester. Farmalls had foot clutches and I had spent countless hours using them. My new employer used John Deere tractors which, in those days, had hand clutches. After a few awkward moments I became adept at driving tractors with hand clutches. Adjusting these clutches is relatively simple and I soon learned the technique.

    When I drove my newly purchased John Deere, with a hand clutch, onto the trailer yesterday I quickly recognized that the clutch needed adjustment. Today I adjusted the clutch. There's a certain satisfaction in remembering, and using, a skill learned 69 years ago, one that I may not have used since. 

Takk for alt,

Al

Most of our, almost 200-mile trip yesterday was in fog like this.

Things Happen!

        When yesterday's blog mentioned that there'd be an adventure today, I didn't anticipate an opportunity to invoke my mantra "Things happen." But things do happen, and happen it did. 

     A tractor (see picture below) followed me home from near Milbank, S.D. That location is important for the story that follows. Leaving Sinai at 8:00 am we got to the tractor about ten. That was the intended adventure. It's not every day that a tractor follows me home, though it used to be more common in my tractor collecting days.

   This tractor followed me because it's not a car. Bret, who accompanied me on this adventure, recently bought a Corvette. That made me think it would be fun to have an Austin Heally like the one I bought after my Marine Corps discharge. After doing some research about used ones for sale I realized the price was prohibitive. Then, too, my lifestyle isn't appropriate for a sports car with rural summers and urban winters.

    Then I came across an ad for a tractor I've always wanted.... way cheaper than a sports car. So that's how one happened to follow me home. Now for "things happen."

    Driving down Interstate 29, towing a trailer carrying said tractor, a trailer tire blew out. Fortunately, the trailer is a tandem, meaning it has two axles and thus 4 tires. Also, fortunately we were less than 4 miles from Brookings and a tire repair shop. The good tire carried the bad one high enough that the tire rim was not damaged on the road.

    Waiting for only a few minutes, the men in the shop went to work on the trailer. With a new tire in stock, it was quickly mounted on the rim. However, as things happen, there was a complication. When the tire blew out the tread wrapped around the axle. The repairmen worked for almost an hour to remove that old tire.  But they only charged me the cost of the tire. So, now the tractor is reposing in shop. 

    What about Odie you ask? He slept peacefully on the seat between us. Such, a good dog!

Takk for alt,

Al

The tractor that followed me home.

The remains of the tire.

Adventure on the horizon!

      While adventure lurks on the horizon this day was very placid. Odie and I hang out. He's always keen to play. I chased the guinea hens out of the yard before letting him out or he'd chase them, Today was a beautiful summer day, though daylight is noticeably shorter. It will be interesting to hear reports of the moisture in corn after these warm (hot?) days. 

    This is brief but wanted to reassure you both that we're okay.

Takk for alt,

Al

Odie with his favorite squirrel toy.

Summer in October!

       Local temperature reached 86 degrees today. That was accompanied by wind gusts of 42mph. Fires in combines during harvest are not uncommon. A bearing might get hot and ignite accumulated dust. Were such a fire to ignite a field during a high wind it would be almost impossible to stop. Such high heat with strong winds will quickly dry crops. Corn will likely be dry enough to store in bins. This will save farmers the expense of having to artificially dry corn for storage.

Takk for alt,

Al

 

Harvest Report!

         After a rainy September this dry October is a farmer's dream. Most farmers are concentrating on Soybeans. Despite the dry July and August bean yields are very good. Reports suggest that soybean yields are averaging about 60 bushels per acre. That's good for this area. The beans are 9% moisture, which also is good. The Soybean Plant at nearby Volga, is paying about $12.25, per bushel. That's up a bit.

     Some corn is also being harvested. Not enough to determine yields. A load of corn came to the local elevator this and it tested at 14% moisture. That's in the safe zone for storage. With moisture that low farmers will harvest corn as soon as bean harvest is done. Local corn prices are about $4.50 per bushel, up slightly. 

Takk for alt,

Al

Barber Time!

       Odie had a bit of a hair trim. His wavy fur lies so close to his body that, in consultation with the groomer, we decided to trim the longer fur on his legs and feet. The beautiful wavy fur on his back was left undisturbed. He sheds less than Kaia did. Because he's only been with me for slightly over two months there hasn't been sufficient time to fully understand his grooming needs.

    With his grooming done we took Al to the groomer. Sorely in need of a beard trim and haircut that was accomplished. The barber is the granddaughter of a farmer for whom I worked in the summer of 1957. Said farm was distant enough from my home that I boarded there during the week. The farmer died many years ago, but his widow is now 98.

Takk for alt,

Al