25 Jul Slingin’ mud

Hemingford, Nebraska—Remember the other day when I mentioned that all the crews around here have been “playing” in the mud? Well, turns out I get to add a stuck story to the existing archives sooner than I thought!

Brandon was opening up our first field here in Hemingford while Dad rode along to see how the wheat looked. Brandon had to kick on the four-wheel drive and rear-wheel assist within minutes of starting the field but made it all the way around smoothly (only a 20-acre piece). Dad hopped out when Brandon made it all the way around, thinking that he was in the clear. Moments later, Dad and I watched in silence as Brandon struck a wet spot and sank, right to the frame.

It didn’t seem to be stuck too terribly bad, so we called Farmer Steve (who was working ground just east of us) and he brought his tractor over for us. We hooked ropes up and Dad gave her some good tugs but our big yellow baby wouldn’t budge. It was time to call in reinforcements—the wrecker trucks. They showed up with two, and both Mom and I laughed a little thinking, “Psh, we will only need one of those!” Boy, were we wrong. They hooked up the one wrecker truck and our big yellow baby STILL wouldn’t move an inch! So in came the second wrecker.

Dad hopped in the combine to help the wrecker guys out a little by putting the combine in reverse while the wreckers tugged. However, that only caused the combine to spin in its place. Dad then threw it into neutral and slowly but surely, our big yellow baby was freed. To the guys from Baas Towing, we truly appreciate your help and it was great to meet you! We spent a couple hours cleaning off the mud from the tires, rims and frame of the combine but then decided to just call it a day, considering it was already 9 p.m. at this point.

A little trucker anecdote: As I was waiting in line, I had a truck driver hop out of his truck as he was leaving the elevator to come and apologize to me for cutting me off on the highway heading into town. My awareness when driving is on high alert for things like that so honestly, I didn’t blink an eye when it happened. I simply reacted. However, times like these help me regain faith in humanity and it was nice of him to take the time to talk to me. And he was an avid All Aboard follower so you can’t beat that!

Quote of the Day—“Having a mud slingin’ good time!”

Stuff Harvesters Like—A good tow rope.

The tractor wasn’t quite enough to get us out.

Waiting for the wreckers to arrive!

Mama Bear 🙂

Going to assess the situation.

Attempting to free up the wheels a bit.

Yup, it took TWO wreckers to get us out!

Brandon sure seems proud of his ruts!

Photo opp with the wrecker guys!

“GP” stands for ground pit, y’all.

Can’t ever get used to this beauty.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. You can contact Steph at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.