Started off at the east place with more than 500 bu. in one remaining grain cart. Got a call from the elevator asking if I was ready for a truck. Knowing of course I didn't have a full load I made the mistake of being noble.
"Naw, I'll bring it in with my straight truck. Send that semi where it could do some good." Big mistake. Pumped off 315 bu. onto the truck, drove two miles to the elevator and then I waited in line for two hours to dump the load. Whereupon I went back, pumped the last of the load off onto the truck and waited another two hours in line.
So, by the time I got the truck over to the west place, I had lost a good half-day and still didn't have the last grain cart & tractor over at the west place. By the time I did, the elevator for the west place had closed for the day.
Okay, so I opened up a field, filled the carts and now I'm ready for my first truck from the elevator for the west place at approximately 7:30AM tomorrow. After that I came home and worked ground here till after 9:00PM tonight.
One thing I've noticed (while waiting in line for several hours) is everyone is getting tired and irritable. It's almost like the entire two county area has been struck with a Grumpy flu, instead of H1N1 (and I include myself, most definitely, in this group of afflicted individuals). The conversation at coffee was unpleasant and my attitude while waiting in line and visiting with others certainly didn't improve.
Yet, everyone is going hard. If I can't get corn to the elevator, then I'm working ground to prepare for next year. Too much to do, too little time to do it and no one is sure about how long this 'good' weather will hold.
The last thing we need right now is a gully-washer of a rainstorm. In conversations I've had with others it would appear many in the area will be finishing with their corn harvest by this weekend. Me? I figure I've got at least another week or more if the elevators aren't open more than they have been. However, I'm only a couple of afternoons away from starting my fall ammonia application if this pattern continues so in one respect I'm staying up with the game.
Another 15 hour day in the books for now and a short night of 'sleeping fast' ahead...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
SAME SONG, SECOND VERSE...
Same as yesterday.....Just Running Hard.... Did finish the last of the corn at the east place and got half the machinery moved to the west place. Will have to use the straight truck in the morning to haul the last of the grain to town out of the remaining grain cart in the shed at the east place, then they both will be moved west.
Worked some ground tonight here at the house as it was sprinkling lightly and I wanted the field around the house done before it possibly rained harder. Don't think it will. Outlook on the weather front remains positive, so I expect to continue running hard for the rest of the week.
As it stands now; over half-done on corn harvest and have exactly half the bean stubble ground worked in preparation for fall ammonia application.
Tootttles...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Worked some ground tonight here at the house as it was sprinkling lightly and I wanted the field around the house done before it possibly rained harder. Don't think it will. Outlook on the weather front remains positive, so I expect to continue running hard for the rest of the week.
As it stands now; over half-done on corn harvest and have exactly half the bean stubble ground worked in preparation for fall ammonia application.
Tootttles...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Monday, November 9, 2009
RUNNING HARD...
Too tired to write or blog. Good weather. Hope it continues. Running hard, Just Running Hard.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Sunday, November 8, 2009
EXPECTATIONS ARE MORE THAN REALITY...
I guess you could say with a 'mild' understatement that yesterday was a disappointment. The elevator opened at 7:30AM and they had a semi-truck dispatched straight to me. Hoo-Boy I thought this is going to work and things are back to normal. I should get at least six or seven loads in today.
Guess again. They were OPEN for only two hours! I loaded three semi-trucks and took a straight truck to town and that was IT! So friends arrived to scout out deer hunting positions and were ever so grateful for the chance. (Obviously I had plenty of time to show them around.) They offered to share the results of their future endeavors which I promptly turned down. I don't want the meat. I just want the deer dead; as in as many as possible. Kill a bunch and make me Happy. :)
After putting everything away at the east place, I went over to the west place and started working bean stubble ground with the small disc and the "135". Finished there and moved to this place today. (Yeah, I'm a sinner. I skipped church.) Only to be rewarded with a blown hydraulic valve on the "135" tractor. At least that's how I diagnose a problem where it leaks over two gallons of hydraulic fluid out the right rear in less than three hours.
So tomorrow if the elevator closes early once again, I've got my tasks already lined out. I have to put the small disc away for the season, then move the "135" to the repair shop with the ATV in tow. Only to drive the ATV back here from the repair shop once the tractor is delivered. Then I have to unhook the big tractor from its grain cart at the east place. Go back to the west place and pull the big disc out of the shed and start discing with it and the big tractor to finish what I've started here with the other set-up.
Gawd, I hope the elevator doesn't close early tomorrow.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Guess again. They were OPEN for only two hours! I loaded three semi-trucks and took a straight truck to town and that was IT! So friends arrived to scout out deer hunting positions and were ever so grateful for the chance. (Obviously I had plenty of time to show them around.) They offered to share the results of their future endeavors which I promptly turned down. I don't want the meat. I just want the deer dead; as in as many as possible. Kill a bunch and make me Happy. :)
After putting everything away at the east place, I went over to the west place and started working bean stubble ground with the small disc and the "135". Finished there and moved to this place today. (Yeah, I'm a sinner. I skipped church.) Only to be rewarded with a blown hydraulic valve on the "135" tractor. At least that's how I diagnose a problem where it leaks over two gallons of hydraulic fluid out the right rear in less than three hours.
So tomorrow if the elevator closes early once again, I've got my tasks already lined out. I have to put the small disc away for the season, then move the "135" to the repair shop with the ATV in tow. Only to drive the ATV back here from the repair shop once the tractor is delivered. Then I have to unhook the big tractor from its grain cart at the east place. Go back to the west place and pull the big disc out of the shed and start discing with it and the big tractor to finish what I've started here with the other set-up.
Gawd, I hope the elevator doesn't close early tomorrow.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Friday, November 6, 2009
DID IT THE OLD WAY TODAY...
Every one of the local elevators (with the possible exception of the Farmers Cooperative in Wolcott) was closed today or closed soon after opening due to...................wet corn. There was one exception and that was the independent elevator, but they even changed their policy because they had a dryer 'leg' go down. (Things always break when you use them and need them the most.) So, they only accepted corn that was 23% or drier. Everything higher was forbidden, at least for today.
For the non-ag people an elevator 'leg' is that tall skinny piece of square tubing that towers over all those farm set grain bins you see when you drive down the interstate. Essentially the 'leg' is a continuous belt with buckets every few inches and they scoop the grain out of a dump and 'lift' it to the highest point necessary to dump it in a selected down-spout when uses gravity to fill a particular bin. The real fun starts when each of the upward moving buckets is full to absolute capacity and, then, the belt breaks.
I think the technical term among elevator employees is it's a "...Son Of A Bitch..."
My corn was running between 19% and 20% and the ladies at the independent operation encouraged me to keep coming back. So I spent the day running the combine for just over an hour which resulted in about 1,200 bu. and then I spent the next three hours hauling it five miles to their elevator. All of which reminded me of when I was younger and I drove grain trucks for my Dad. Yeah, it was a trip down memory lane, even if by comparison I didn't get all that much accomplished when compared to what I regularly do.
But in retrospect I've hauled off over 5,000 bu. on two days when my usual elevator has been completely shut down due to 'wet' corn. (If you're tired of hearing about it, you can't believe how tired everyone around here is with 'wet' corn.)
Of course the great irony in all this is the weather is good, but now the elevators are closed because they have so much wet corn. Someone, somewhere has a real sense of humor.
Tomorrow Co-Alliance at Reynolds is back in business and I already have a semi-truck scheduled for pick-up at 8:00AM. So it's off to the shower and nite, nite for me....
All The Best,
Frank W. James
For the non-ag people an elevator 'leg' is that tall skinny piece of square tubing that towers over all those farm set grain bins you see when you drive down the interstate. Essentially the 'leg' is a continuous belt with buckets every few inches and they scoop the grain out of a dump and 'lift' it to the highest point necessary to dump it in a selected down-spout when uses gravity to fill a particular bin. The real fun starts when each of the upward moving buckets is full to absolute capacity and, then, the belt breaks.
I think the technical term among elevator employees is it's a "...Son Of A Bitch..."
My corn was running between 19% and 20% and the ladies at the independent operation encouraged me to keep coming back. So I spent the day running the combine for just over an hour which resulted in about 1,200 bu. and then I spent the next three hours hauling it five miles to their elevator. All of which reminded me of when I was younger and I drove grain trucks for my Dad. Yeah, it was a trip down memory lane, even if by comparison I didn't get all that much accomplished when compared to what I regularly do.
But in retrospect I've hauled off over 5,000 bu. on two days when my usual elevator has been completely shut down due to 'wet' corn. (If you're tired of hearing about it, you can't believe how tired everyone around here is with 'wet' corn.)
Of course the great irony in all this is the weather is good, but now the elevators are closed because they have so much wet corn. Someone, somewhere has a real sense of humor.
Tomorrow Co-Alliance at Reynolds is back in business and I already have a semi-truck scheduled for pick-up at 8:00AM. So it's off to the shower and nite, nite for me....
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Thursday, November 5, 2009
ELEVATOR SHOPPING...
It took all morning to get the combine, the straight truck, the 'work' van, two tractors and grain carts and an ATV moved eight miles to the east place by myself. Then when I was 'in place' and started I called the elevator only to learn they were CLOSED due to wet corn. Say WHAT????
At this point I'm going to take a minute and explain a few things for the non-farm types. In order to be stored for long periods of time dent-corn must be kept at 15% moisture or less. Any wetter and it spoils and when it does you can't miss it. It stinks with a bad sour smell. Corn in the fields this fall around here is running anywhere from 19% (mine was yesterday) to well above 30%. 30% corn does NOT move well. It has the consistency of wet cement and something of a similar bonding action when dropped in pits, only to subsequently plug up augers.
Most elevators use a 1.4% shrink factor. That means for every point of moisture removed, the total amount is shrank 1.4% in volume; PLUS you have to PAY for that drying. I was told a month ago if my corn was 28% moisture it would cost me 52 cents/bu. to dry it to 15%. 200 bu/a corn would cost $100/acre.
Yet because ALL modern agriculture is based upon 'economy of scale' many who operate large acreages feel they MUST harvest wet corn just to stay on schedule for their internal harvest clock. All of this has fostered more than a few 'urban' (perhaps I should say 'rural') legends. One story told in the community this past week has it that elevator not that far from here had a customer drop a big load of 32% corn and it plugged all the transfer augers so bad they had to shut down for three solid days. Pissed a lot of farmers off big time because they needed to use that elevator. When the facility did reopen this same operator pulled into line and when he wasn't looking someone mysteriously cut the value stems on his big truck. He didn't get much done the rest of the day. True story? I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.
I spent a major part of the day 'elevator shopping'. Here's the reason why. Co-Alliance at Reynolds is closed today and tomorrow, but will be open for business on Saturday. (No word yet if they will open Sunday.) Co-Alliance at Remington (my elevator for this place and the west place) was open for wet corn from 7:00AM to 1:00PM. Hanenkrat Grain dealers (an independent five miles from the east place) took wet corn today from 7:00AM to 5:00PM, and the Farmers Cooperative in Wolcott, yesterday, took wet corn till 6:00PM last evening. (I don't know what they did today.)
Remington will be closed all weekend to wet corn, but they supply a birdseed company two miles from the east place so I called and asked if they had trucks dropping loads there today? They did and I snagged two semi-loads on the 'back' haul when nothing was available anywhere.........I mean ANYWHERE.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES...
Homer asked in the previous post about the capacity of various things I discuss and he wanted to know what is a 'straight' truck? A 'straight' truck for farmers is a truck that is 'straight'. It doesn't have a 'fifth' wheel and it doesn't pull a trailer. Neither is it a 'tandem'. It is just a plain farm truck with a single pair of dual wheels on each side. Most straight trucks around here will hold anywhere from 275 to 350 bu. of corn. Mine usually holds between 285 bu. and 300 bu. I can put more on it, but when I do the tires look funny.
Most semi-truck grain trailers hold between 1,000 bu. and 1,200 bu. of corn, but they are governed by the D.O.T. laws and as such they are limited to 80,000 lbs when hauling loads 'off' the farm. Less from the elevator or any other licensed site. Grain carts can hold anywhere from 400 bu. to close to 2,000 bu. for the really big new ones. The combined total from my two grain carts is running right at 1,075 bu. I have a scale ticket here that says the load was 1,078.93 bu. and it had a gross weight of 86,360 pounds. (Sorry, Mr. PoliceMan we ran a little heavy getting this stuff off the James farm. [Big Grin]) It's been my experience that some of the new long 'Wilson' grain trailers will easily hold 1,200 bu., but they also scale over 92,000 lbs. when loaded to that capacity!!!
My two grain carts are rated at 480 bu. and 620 bu. respectively. I believe they could hold that much corn, but I doubt if you would be able to move them because 20 or more bu. would spill off. Practically speaking, the little one holds about 460 and the big one between 600 and 610, or somewhere in that neighborhood.
Combines today are classified according to a 'Category'. Each category is established primarily by the size of the grain bin and the engine horsepower. My machine which is 11 years old is a Category "5" machine and as such it is supposed to have a 245 bu. grain bin and a 220 horsepower motor. It may have the 220 hp, but again if it has 245 bu. in the grain bin you can't move it without grain spilling off on all four sides! Case International is the only manufacturer still making a Cat "5" combine. Neither Deere & Co., nor Agco make one that small anymore. Their smallest is a Category "6". A couple of manufacturers make a Category "9" and don't ask me what their specifications are because I don't know. Other than the fact they all cost way more than what you can buy an Illinois Governor for.
The biggest problem with these really big combines (besides their hideous cost) is the fact that it takes so much to haul the grain away from them! Some of these machines can process over 4,000 to 5,000 bu/hour! In plain language that means at least 4 or 5 semi-trucks per hour. Okay you got 4 per hour going out, how do you unload them fast enough to keep up? Usually whatever you can load in an hour takes twice as much just to keep things moving smoothly, so if you're loading four an hour it takes eight trucks total just to keep things moving. And that's not counting the grain carts moving from the machine across the fields to the trucks just to get the grain away from the machine. As you can see this scenario takes a minimum of eleven operators for such a humongous machine. This is efficiency??? Well, yeah it is if you have to do hundreds upon hundreds of acres per day.
Fortunately that's not my problem.
I'm just trying to find 4 or 5 trucks a day so I can get done sometime this year.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
At this point I'm going to take a minute and explain a few things for the non-farm types. In order to be stored for long periods of time dent-corn must be kept at 15% moisture or less. Any wetter and it spoils and when it does you can't miss it. It stinks with a bad sour smell. Corn in the fields this fall around here is running anywhere from 19% (mine was yesterday) to well above 30%. 30% corn does NOT move well. It has the consistency of wet cement and something of a similar bonding action when dropped in pits, only to subsequently plug up augers.
Most elevators use a 1.4% shrink factor. That means for every point of moisture removed, the total amount is shrank 1.4% in volume; PLUS you have to PAY for that drying. I was told a month ago if my corn was 28% moisture it would cost me 52 cents/bu. to dry it to 15%. 200 bu/a corn would cost $100/acre.
Yet because ALL modern agriculture is based upon 'economy of scale' many who operate large acreages feel they MUST harvest wet corn just to stay on schedule for their internal harvest clock. All of this has fostered more than a few 'urban' (perhaps I should say 'rural') legends. One story told in the community this past week has it that elevator not that far from here had a customer drop a big load of 32% corn and it plugged all the transfer augers so bad they had to shut down for three solid days. Pissed a lot of farmers off big time because they needed to use that elevator. When the facility did reopen this same operator pulled into line and when he wasn't looking someone mysteriously cut the value stems on his big truck. He didn't get much done the rest of the day. True story? I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.
I spent a major part of the day 'elevator shopping'. Here's the reason why. Co-Alliance at Reynolds is closed today and tomorrow, but will be open for business on Saturday. (No word yet if they will open Sunday.) Co-Alliance at Remington (my elevator for this place and the west place) was open for wet corn from 7:00AM to 1:00PM. Hanenkrat Grain dealers (an independent five miles from the east place) took wet corn today from 7:00AM to 5:00PM, and the Farmers Cooperative in Wolcott, yesterday, took wet corn till 6:00PM last evening. (I don't know what they did today.)
Remington will be closed all weekend to wet corn, but they supply a birdseed company two miles from the east place so I called and asked if they had trucks dropping loads there today? They did and I snagged two semi-loads on the 'back' haul when nothing was available anywhere.........I mean ANYWHERE.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES...
Homer asked in the previous post about the capacity of various things I discuss and he wanted to know what is a 'straight' truck? A 'straight' truck for farmers is a truck that is 'straight'. It doesn't have a 'fifth' wheel and it doesn't pull a trailer. Neither is it a 'tandem'. It is just a plain farm truck with a single pair of dual wheels on each side. Most straight trucks around here will hold anywhere from 275 to 350 bu. of corn. Mine usually holds between 285 bu. and 300 bu. I can put more on it, but when I do the tires look funny.
Most semi-truck grain trailers hold between 1,000 bu. and 1,200 bu. of corn, but they are governed by the D.O.T. laws and as such they are limited to 80,000 lbs when hauling loads 'off' the farm. Less from the elevator or any other licensed site. Grain carts can hold anywhere from 400 bu. to close to 2,000 bu. for the really big new ones. The combined total from my two grain carts is running right at 1,075 bu. I have a scale ticket here that says the load was 1,078.93 bu. and it had a gross weight of 86,360 pounds. (Sorry, Mr. PoliceMan we ran a little heavy getting this stuff off the James farm. [Big Grin]) It's been my experience that some of the new long 'Wilson' grain trailers will easily hold 1,200 bu., but they also scale over 92,000 lbs. when loaded to that capacity!!!
My two grain carts are rated at 480 bu. and 620 bu. respectively. I believe they could hold that much corn, but I doubt if you would be able to move them because 20 or more bu. would spill off. Practically speaking, the little one holds about 460 and the big one between 600 and 610, or somewhere in that neighborhood.
Combines today are classified according to a 'Category'. Each category is established primarily by the size of the grain bin and the engine horsepower. My machine which is 11 years old is a Category "5" machine and as such it is supposed to have a 245 bu. grain bin and a 220 horsepower motor. It may have the 220 hp, but again if it has 245 bu. in the grain bin you can't move it without grain spilling off on all four sides! Case International is the only manufacturer still making a Cat "5" combine. Neither Deere & Co., nor Agco make one that small anymore. Their smallest is a Category "6". A couple of manufacturers make a Category "9" and don't ask me what their specifications are because I don't know. Other than the fact they all cost way more than what you can buy an Illinois Governor for.
The biggest problem with these really big combines (besides their hideous cost) is the fact that it takes so much to haul the grain away from them! Some of these machines can process over 4,000 to 5,000 bu/hour! In plain language that means at least 4 or 5 semi-trucks per hour. Okay you got 4 per hour going out, how do you unload them fast enough to keep up? Usually whatever you can load in an hour takes twice as much just to keep things moving smoothly, so if you're loading four an hour it takes eight trucks total just to keep things moving. And that's not counting the grain carts moving from the machine across the fields to the trucks just to get the grain away from the machine. As you can see this scenario takes a minimum of eleven operators for such a humongous machine. This is efficiency??? Well, yeah it is if you have to do hundreds upon hundreds of acres per day.
Fortunately that's not my problem.
I'm just trying to find 4 or 5 trucks a day so I can get done sometime this year.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
DON'T QUIT...
Okay, I'm back in the 'saddle', so to speak, as at the start of the day I had about 24 acres of corn to go here at the homestead. About 10:30AM I call my designated elevator to request a 2nd semi-truck only to learn they were 'closing' for 'wet' corn at 1:00PM. Ouch! That means I wouldn't get done like I planned. Bummer.
So I go hard as hell and fill everything I can only to get two semi-loads to that elevator. Both grain carts are full, the combine's full afterwards when I park it so I get the straight truck out and start filling it off the grain carts. I figure "...What the Hell at least I'll get one straight truck load to town before the day's end..." Only I'm not taking it to the elevator I've contracted with I take it to the one I used to use. It's closer.
I call ahead of time and ask Jack if it's okay? "Yeah, bring it in. Not sure when we will shut corn off, but it's not very busy right now." So, I do and he's right. Drive right onto the scales. Seems everyone is running like the dickens to get their beans in. That means there aren't that many bringing in 'wet' corn and that's a good deal for you-know-who.
I figured when I started this deal I would be lucky to get one straight truck to town, but long story short I was able to get four straight truck loads in and in the process I emptied the two grains carts when meant after it got dark and the elevator shut everyone off on 'wet' corn I was able to finish the field.
Moral of this story: Don't ever, I mean E'VAR, GIVE UP. ALWAYS FIGHT AND NEVER QUIT.
Tomorrow morning I'm moving to the east place because I'm done with corn at this place and that's something I wouldn't have bet on at Noon today.
Stay In The Fight. You never know when things will change in your favor or work for you as opposed against you.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
So I go hard as hell and fill everything I can only to get two semi-loads to that elevator. Both grain carts are full, the combine's full afterwards when I park it so I get the straight truck out and start filling it off the grain carts. I figure "...What the Hell at least I'll get one straight truck load to town before the day's end..." Only I'm not taking it to the elevator I've contracted with I take it to the one I used to use. It's closer.
I call ahead of time and ask Jack if it's okay? "Yeah, bring it in. Not sure when we will shut corn off, but it's not very busy right now." So, I do and he's right. Drive right onto the scales. Seems everyone is running like the dickens to get their beans in. That means there aren't that many bringing in 'wet' corn and that's a good deal for you-know-who.
I figured when I started this deal I would be lucky to get one straight truck to town, but long story short I was able to get four straight truck loads in and in the process I emptied the two grains carts when meant after it got dark and the elevator shut everyone off on 'wet' corn I was able to finish the field.
Moral of this story: Don't ever, I mean E'VAR, GIVE UP. ALWAYS FIGHT AND NEVER QUIT.
Tomorrow morning I'm moving to the east place because I'm done with corn at this place and that's something I wouldn't have bet on at Noon today.
Stay In The Fight. You never know when things will change in your favor or work for you as opposed against you.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
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