[AT] OT Sowing wheat and Aircraft Tires for trailer

[pga2 at BasicISP.net]

Man, Cecil, you're busier than a 1 legged man in a butt kickin' contest! :o)

Phil

--- crbearden at copper.net wrote:

From: Cecil R Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] OT Sowing wheat and Aircraft Tires for trailer
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:09:22 -0500

List:
I realize now that my post subject line could be misunderstood. Much 
like the city slicker that planted the baby chicks and had a crop 
failure!!!!   I had worked 4 days on my No-till drill to get it ready 
for planting.  I di not know that is was in such bad shape.  I had lost 
2 coulters off the front last year and had found both of them I think, 
however I could not find one of the ones I had found.  My 2-105 White 
that I use for the heavy work around here has a problem with the PTO.  
It is really a turbo'ed 1850 Oliver with a hydraulic clutch PTO.  The 
old Oliver had a lever with a button on it to engage the PTO.  They 
never had a problem with that design.  Later when the White management 
decided that it was too much trouble to push a  lever, they made a hyd 
PTO with a little lever at the back of the lift levers where you have a 
hell of a time getting to it if you have Arthritis.  There were 5 
upgrades (redesigns) of the sealing rings on that HYD clutch. The 
sealing rings were about $125, but it is a 2 day job for me to install 
them.  So, I have had to use my TS110 New Holland for everything.  The 
Belarus has a bad top radiator tank so ti gets hot if I load it.  The 
other Belarus has a flat front tire, and I have the new one, but again, 
it is a job for me to get the new tire installed.  I must note here that 
due to a nerve constriction in my back, I have limited use of my right 
foot and my left knee has begun to fail due to the stress of 
compensating for the right leg.  If I am on my feet longer than 5 
minutes, I have a terrible burning in both legs from my hips down.   
There fore, I have to take care of the most important things and let the 
others go.  My New Holland was having problems with the fuel pump I 
thought.  It turned out to be a plugged fuel line.  It plugs from the 
plastic shards that break off of the seams of the plastic fuel tank.  I 
woke up the Caterpillar parts guy Labor day morning and put a Cat pump 
on it because the New Holland dealer could not be bothered to stay a 
couple of hours late on Saturday...  I will soon be using another New 
Holland dealer.    After making a 60 mile round trip to the dealer who 
sold me the Hesston 1340 I had so much trouble with, I got some of the 
parts for the drill.  I substituted a plow coulter for one of the lost 
coulters, and then took a complete opener assembly off of a Great Plains 
drill to fix another lost disc opener.  I used to pull this drill with 
my old 930 Case.  In fact it was still hooked up to the Case and had not 
been moved in 9 months.  The Case started on the first try.  However, 
the steering will only turn left.  I found this problem at the end of 
sowing last year.   I went to get seed Sat morning with a large shipping 
container sack inside a carboy cage.  This would hold about 50 bushels.  
The outlet of the grain bin was too high for the sack to work.  I 
returned home and hooked up to the Grain wagon, checked the tires, and 
got the seed loaded.  A half mile from the grainery, I noticed  the 
grain wagon was tilted.  I had to drive another 1/4 mile to find a place 
to get off the road. Now you understand why I was so mad at the GENSCO 
Tire Company when I found another tire without the sealant I had paid 
for. After I got home, with my wife's help, I filled the drill 2 times 
with the grain wagon and then Sunday morning, the bottom auger bearing 
failed on the grain wagon and the auger tried to come out of the bin.  
We filled the drill with a 5 gallon bucket.  You can imagine how fun 
that is with the sloping sides of that grain wagon.  I tried to find 
another grain auger and the one I found had a bad start capacitor in the 
1/2 hp motor.  I could not find another motor in the dozens I have 
collected that did not have frozen bearings.   We finished the sowing by 
filling the drill with a bucket.  When we used to get grain in the truck 
with a dump bed, I would drive the loader and Dad would operate the 
grain door on the truck and we filled the drill with the loader 
bucket...   I bought this grain wagon to make things easier, and it only 
got worse.

The land I was sowing had a thick stand of tickle grass in it. (oldfield 
three awn) that choked out the crabgrass and the ryegrass I had 
before.   I did not know what this grass was until too late to spray 
Roundup.  Hopefully the frost will get it.   My wife drove the New 
Holland with the Bat Wing mower while I worked on the drill.  She also 
learned to sow wheat while I tried to find an auger to fill the drill.
The trouble with grain wagons is they must be under a shed or have  a 
cover on them to keep water out.  There is no door on the bottom to 
drain water or grain out.  You can never get all of the grain out either.
During all this, I had to load 3 semi trucks with hay, and after that, 
the next morning the New Holland had a flat on the front tire.

So, that is the way my last 3 weeks have gone, I was not looking at the 
post as it appeared.  I have found a company in Baldwin City KS, that 
has aircraft tires and also has a decent price on wheels.  My wife wants 
to go to a specialty Spice place in Kansas City, so I need to get the 
old van ready for a trip.

I hope whatever you guys try to do, you do not have the problems I have 
had.  It is starting all over when the weather clears this week, as I 
have another hay cutting and about 160 acres to cut with the Bat wing, 
and then another farm 60 miles away to bush hog in order to keep the 
fire hazard down.

Cecil in OKla