[AT] Combing soybeans in Iowa

Mon Oct 11 11:46:03 PDT 2021

If you go to his youtube page there are a couple more harvest videos, including last year’s harvest of the crop twisted up by the derecho in central Iowa.  If you wonder why I’m following the combine but not catching, that field has ¾ mile rows and the combine hopper has just enough capacity for 1 way.  So I need to catch shortly after he starts back and again at the other end to make sure he’s empty before he turns and the auger is on the wrong side to catch.

The crop was so twisted the combine operator couldn’t see to keep on the rows.  We combined the whole crop 7 rows at a time so he could watch the empty row over what had been harvested to stay on course.

Yes, that’s me pulling the grain cart.  We have radio communication between combine, cart, 2 semis so that helps a lot.  Combine operator tells me what speed he’s running today, it varies from field to field, corn variety, weather… and my tractor has both wheel speed and gps.  Slippage increases as the cart gets loaded and as field conditions change, so I go by gps most of the time.

Another amazing thing (to my vintage mind…) is the digitally governed engine.  No slop in worn linkage, no waiting for the governor weights to detect change in speed.  I set that sucker about 1900 rpm and it stays right on no matter what.

There’s a clutch but the last couple of years I didn’t use it at all.  It’s a planetary transmission, actually I think 3 transmissions in series.  In and out of gear and shifting is all on a toggle switch.

Top speed on the road is about 26 mph.  Those big tires aren’t as round as you think, and there’s a resonance at about 20 mph that I need to stay below or above or it hops all over the place.

My previous life took me up to a Deere 70 with 227 mounted picker.  I’m sure that’ll resonate with more than a few list friends.

B²
Confusion is a higher state of knowledge than ignorance.

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Spencer Yost
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 1:05 PM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Combing soybeans in Iowa

All have been great videos, thanks for sending them in.  And Bill: Your grandson does a nice job with the drone.  Good choices with angles and height and I enjoyed the video.  If that’s you driving the  tractor pulling the cart  I’d say you have forgotten nothing.

Spencer
Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 11, 2021, at 12:20 PM, Bill Brueck <bill at apluscomputer.com<mailto:bill at apluscomputer.com>> wrote:

I still have trouble comprehending the magnitude of farming and the rate of harvest.  I left the farm for college in 1967 and was gone for about 45 years when I started helping Linda’s brothers with the harvest.  My job was to run the grain cart.  Wasn’t sure how I would handle the big equipment but instincts were still intact and I knew where the load was behind me, knew how far to swing out to pull up to the semi or to catch the combine.

One thing I never got used to was estimating how much of a field was left.  I would look over at the remaining rows of corn and think about doing them with a mounted 2 row picker.  A couple passes with the 8 row head travelling at 5 mph and it was gone.  And 8 rows is modest equipment these days.

I miss the harvest this year but one thing I don’t miss is moving between the 2 farm sites, about 13 miles apart and some of that on heavily traveled paving as we had a river to cross.  Folks would pass when they shouldn’t, and making a left hand turn was especially harrowing as once in a while someone would pass just as you were turning…

Here’s a video of us in action, compliments of my grandson.  I would have chosen different music, LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfx_d8NTd0k

B²
Confusion is a higher state of knowledge than ignorance.

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com>> On Behalf Of kgwaugh0943 at gmail.com<mailto:kgwaugh0943 at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 10:34 AM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
Subject: Re: [AT] Combing soybeans in Iowa

I simply cannot get my head around the magnitude of farming today. I spent a great deal of time on relatives’ general farms in NE Indiana until I graduated HS in 61, and then I was gone! The only wagons we had for hauling grain when I was still around were the old (still had wood spoke car wheels on them) flat wagons (same ones we used for hay baling, without the sideboards) with about 1 foot sideboards---IIRC, we could haul 100 – 110 bushels of grain. As I and the cousins left, I think my grandfather and uncle (who farmed together) did buy a gravity feed wagon, that was modern back then!

Gene
Kenneth Gene Waugh

From: Bill Brueck<mailto:bill at apluscomputer.com>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 10:24 AM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Combing soybeans in Iowa

Thanks for sharing, good videos.

The guy knows how to load a grain cart.  Made me cringe, we can’t run ‘em that full, too many slopes and rough ground, we’d spill over the edge getting it back to the semi or the grain bin.  Or maybe he drives a semi under the cart so never has to move it loaded…

This is my first year for a while not engaged in harvest.  Family members have retired, land rented out now.

B²
Bill Brueck
   Pine Island, MN USA

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com>> On Behalf Of Jim Thomson
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 8:32 AM
To: Antique <at at lists.antique-tractor.com<mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
Subject: [AT] Combing soybeans in Iowa

My neighbor called yesterday and asked if I would like to see how soybeans are harvested. It is a lot of work especially when done alone. I took a couple of short videos to share. According to my neighbor, this is a good year for soybeans even with the dry conditions.

https://youtu.be/hSjSamX-DAo

https://youtu.be/hSjSamX-DAo

Jim Thomson
Blairsburg, Iowa

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