Swathing flax in this photo today. The old Massey 35 pull type has its work
cut out in this wiry crop. I can travel 3 mph in the heat of the day but
as soon as the sun gets near the horizon the straw seems to get tougher
to cut and the knife will plug frequently until I give up for the day.
I worked for a while with the old IH self propelled which handles it
better but not quite so comfortable for the operator sitting out in the
mosquitos and heat and dust.
Not that I'm complaining about the heat because we sure need it to finish
this harvest. Its not unheard of but this past week and a half of summer-like
heat has been amazing. I've needed to use the air conditioning on the combine
most days. Aeration fans actually dry grain in the bins, rare for October.
Its more likely to be cold and windy this time of the year and I'd be more
accustomed to dressing up in insulated coveralls and winter hat to ride the
open swather instead of a sun hat.
Combining went well and I've gone about as far as I can go til I swath the
flax and its dry enough to harvest. About 50 acres of wheat is unaccessible
due to wet ground, as is another 25 acres of canola. The water on this field
is unbelievable. As bad as it was when I swathed the canola, its far worse
now. There are swaths under the water in this photo. I'm not about to try
driving through this in the combine as I'd likely end up walking back
out of it without my boots.
I'm glad to hear that you're finally able to get at some of your crop. I'll pray the weather holds for you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a year!
ReplyDeleteThere was a push to grow flax here ten years ago. It didn't work.
This year people grew soybeans and grain corn. I don't think it is going to work.
I like to see your different type of farming.
Why do you use the old combines for flax. Just because they are already set up for doing it?
It is also interesting to see pull-type combines. You never see that here.
Thanks Gorges, its working so far as I have had a pretty good run compared to some of the stories I've heard of other farmers stuck combines and trucks.
ReplyDeleteBudde, flax is a long time favourite crop here in Sask. and it usually does well. I'm not really using an old combine , its an old swather. The IH 4000 swather has a pickup (finger) reel which clears the cutterbar better and allows me to keep rolling right along at 3 mph in good conditions.
Swathing is necessary now since I bought the pull type JD combine and it has a pickup header.