30 May Sage: The Three T’s of Trucking…

This summer, as I have alluded to, I am a truck driver on the crew.  We have a policy at Sammons Adventures that all truck drivers double check the three T’s: Tarp, Tires and Traps.  The tarp to make sure it is in the right position for whatever you need, like open for a grain cart dump or closed for going down the road. Tires to see if they are inflated and that there is no risk of a possible blowout going down the road.  And finally the Traps to make sure they are completely closed when they get to the field.  If they aren’t, grain can spill out and create a mess.  The three T’s can be taken for granted and sometimes steps are skipped when people get into a hurry or over confident.

Yesterday morning I relearned the importance of the three T’s, especially checking the traps.  Shoveling grain isn’t the best way to start your day, or anyone else’s on the crew who has to help you with your mistake.  It all worked out and everyone pitched in which made the clean-up go much quicker, but it was a very humbling experience and a reminder that details are key when on harvest.  If you’re wondering, our combine operators also have a policy too; keep the header in the wheat and butt in the seat (that is unless you have to change a section or a guard.)

Other than that the day went off without a hitch.  We had a great day cutting as we were able to cut more than 450 acres, and that was including a couple moves.  That is pretty remarkable when the guys that are running the machines basically just started learning this week.  Our three Case I-H 7120’s were able to keep the four trucks and our grain cart busy all day long.  I know I wrote that we have four combines, but we are just waiting on our last one to get the finishing touches put on it before we get it, hopefully on Friday.

As for the crop itself, it looks really good.  It has a really good stand and in most spots has had a very good yield, I would guess the average for the area is around 40 bushels per acre.  This is much needed since most of the area last year was subject to a huge frost storm that took out much of the wheat.  Our farmer had a total loss and we didn’t even cut here last season.  The moisture has been very low, averaging around 11.5 percent most of yesterday.  As I can tell from the road, this is very similar for everyone in the Vernon/Wichita Falls area of Texas.

It was also good to see other combines moving in the fields on the way to the elevator.  That did make for a longer wait times per trip, but the combines didn’t fall behind because of our short moves.

Throughout next week we are hoping for hot temperatures so the moisture stays low, but there is a chance for rain on Monday.  Hopefully we can dodge the storm and keep cutting.

As for me I intend to keep blogging and keep sending information about our area.  I also want to introduce our crew a little bit.  So that’s what you have to look forward to in the next upcoming blogs.  Talk to y’all soon, (I’m starting to fit in down here in Texas.)

Sage Sammons can be reached at sage@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard 2010 Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.