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harvest Tag

27 Jun

Posted at 16:30h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Dodge City, Kansas - There are two cup holders in the combine. I jumped in for a few rounds and put my lemonade-flavored Monster Rehab next to John's filled-to-the-brim Yeti coffee cup. Combining along, I hit a plethora of bumpy spots in the field, a typical occupational hazard. I go to take a sip of my drink and got a sip of half coffee/half lemonade Monster. I don't recommend the combination. Here's to you, bumpy Kansas wheat fields.

DISCLAIMER: It will never be just "a few rounds." That's the trick phrase a harvester will use to get you to switch places for whatever reason.

Before that story was given the opportunity to occur, we did incur some rainy days that were filled with wrenches and combine rehab. That's the thing about harvest -- time is of the essence.

26 Jun

Posted at 07:15h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew by
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Claude, Texas - Thoughts of how I was going to write this blog post have been swirling in my head for several days.

Harvest 2017 is still very young. Most of the custom harvesters were on the road and in the fields by the end of May – just barely a month ago. However, before we even left home, we began to see a glimpse of what we might be up against. The three major variables that I am thinking about are low wheat acres (smallest on record since 1919), low commodity prices and the weather.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"]Z Crew: Because it's what harvesters do! To me, there's nothing prettier than a cut wheat field.[/caption]

23 Jun

Posted at 16:30h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Dodge City, Kansas - Would you believe I have been a part of the AAWH family for six years now, and I have never even been to the homeland of High Plains Journal? Unreal, but that is no longer the case. I drove into town on Wyatt Earp Boulevard and took a quick look around and knew right away I would get along just fine around here. I could live here. We will be harvesting here for the indecipherable future as it decided to rain on our harvest parade last night (06/21), so I'm hoping to rub elbows with some of the HPJ staff. I also plan on doing quite the exposé on the town in an upcoming post as it is a definite harvest classic. We did get into the wheat a bit, and it's beautiful -- 50-60 bushels per acre with a 58 pound test weight. There's nothing like wheat harvest in Kansas.

I wish I had an internal trip meter. I should have pushed this spring to keep track of the miles I put on myself. Scratch that -- should have started it last winter, because then it would include my international travels. The more I think about it, the further my curiosity for this goes. Just imagine 26 years of Midwestern travels via the harvest run plus all the trucker adventures, various road trips with friends and international travels. My trip meter would probably be broken by now.

19 Jun

Posted at 11:00h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, HPH, John Deere, Laura, Photos, wheat by
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Ellis and Rush County, Kansas - A few days ago I gave you an update for half the crew. Today I'll give you the other half.

This part of the crew had similar issues as the one further south. We fought several days of rain and/or humidity. The wheat never completely dried down and stayed in the 12-13 percent moisture range, so it was something to be watched the entire time they were cutting. This area had some hail and disease, and we had to abandon a couple fields because there just wasn't anything there. We saw yields anywhere from 0-55 bushels per acre.  

The elevator we hauled into was nice to work with and had great service. Let me explain. When I was out at the field, the first night they were really able to cut into the evening. I asked the question, "How late is the elevator staying open?" See, you don't harvest until the elevator closes. You take your trucks in to dump as late as they'll take you. Then you bring them back to the field and fill everything back up, so they're ready to unload first thing in the morning. And this allows you a bit more precious cutting time.

16 Jun

Posted at 16:35h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, harvest, High Plains Journal, New Holland, Photos, Videos, wheat, Z Crew by
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Claude, Texas - Good grief! We go from not sure what to do next to full speed ahead! We just completed our sixth consecutive day of being in the field (06/15). 

Last night, I had a few things to catch up on - one being bills that needed to be paid. I had to look at my phone to see what the date was. My brain did this weird little thing when I saw it was the 14th. I felt like I had completely lost a day (or two). It was the strangest feeling. You see, when we're out here doing what we do, it's just day after day after day. No reason to really know what the date is until you have to step back in the "normal" world once in a while... like to pay bills. 

13 Jun

Posted at 16:41h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Apache, Oklahoma - Have I mentioned how much I love small town America? Because I really do. For today's small town love demonstration, I will tell you that the bank had an area setup at the elevator and was cooking burgers for all the harvest crews. As I was un-tarping, one of the ladies asked me how many were in my crew. Upon hearing my response of, "There's just 3 of us," she replied, "Okay, we will make you 10 burgers then." I mean, who I am to turn down free food?

I thought about not posting about this next incident but, it might be exactly what someone out there needs to read to feel better about their own mishap. I'm just gonna go for it. So the other day, I hauled to a new elevator. When you drive truck for a harvest crew, this can be a daily occurrence. Elevators come in all shapes and sizes as well as the scales and pits that go with them. Short, tall, skinny, fat, fast, slow - they make them all sorts of ways. Today's featured scale is skinny. When the scale workers didn't recognize my truck with my first load, they automatically came out to spot me.

11 Jun

Posted at 12:00h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew by
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Claude, Texas - We've made two test cuts within the past couple of days (6/8 and 6/9). The first result was 20 percent and the second (which was just Thursday) was 17.2 percent. It was 60 degrees this morning. Needless to say, I grabbed the sweatshirt as I headed down the steps to make our morning coffee. Great conditions for humans living in a trailer house but not good wheat cutting weather! 

Jim's been tinkering on trucks and the Yellow Beast - mostly just to stay busy (I think), but I know there were some things he put off at home hoping he'd have some time before we got started down here. After taking the first test cut, he realized he had a minor issue with the air conditioning in the combine, so it meant a trip to the New Holland Harvest Support trailer. And... a good excuse to hit the Amarillo Walmart. 

09 Jun

Posted at 16:15h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew by
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Claude, Texas - We made it!

It's always a good feeling after you've worked so hard to get to the point of driving out of the yard and pointing the trucks south. The transition of "home, home" and harvest has been solidified, and there's no going back. The feeling of arriving at your destination, however, is even better! This is especially true if you made it there with little to no issues. We had no issues. Oh...wait...I'm wrong. There was one wheel seal on the Pete that started leaking. Jim noticed it on Monday morning just as we were getting ready to leave Hays, Kansas.

06 Jun

Posted at 08:05h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Apache, Oklahoma - There's something about finishing up harvest at a stop and just as the back wheels of the combine touch the combine trailer, a light drizzle of rain starts across the area. It's almost like Mother Nature saying, "Hey, here's to a job well done." It's the perfect ending and an even more perfect sendoff, because traveling in the rain is easy on the tires. 

We have now moved to our next stop on the harvest trail -- Apache, Oklahoma. John has had a couple guys from this area work for him before, so it's nice to have some locals to help us out. For example, the first night we got to town, it was later in the day. The campground was seemingly empty and dark with no signs of phone numbers to change that status. Well, it may have appeared that way to a passerby; but when you know a local, he can phone the owner because he's obviously a friend of his. Everyone knows everyone in small towns, and it's a beautiful thing.

05 Jun

Posted at 11:51h in 2017, aawh, High Plains Journal, Z Crew by
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Manley, Nebraska - I have sort of a surreal feeling this morning. It's the last full day of being "home, home." Home, home...wondering where that phrase came from? It's something the girls started years ago. When they talked about "home," it was the trailer house. When they talked about "home, home," it was Manley. It's stuck. And what's even more interesting...I hear other harvesters refer to their homes in the same way. That's weird, but it works. Now you know.

I was laying in bed this morning trying to take in all the noise that Callie was creating. She was up early this morning getting ready to go to work - her "normal" routine. Normal is good. Even the most normal of activities should be appreciated and loved. You never know when that "normal" is going to change. And isn't life all about change? Anyways...I wanted to just lay there and soak it all in because I know once we leave, it won't be the same when we return. She'll be back to school and the house will, once again, be quiet. I've enjoyed having her home so much. So much!