Most Unusual

Any time I can sit on an open tractor and cut grass, bulrushes, willows, etc. on the last day of November without freezing, it qualifies as an unusual day. The weather has been amazingly warm and what little snow we had is gradually disappearing. I figured it was a good chance to cut those pesky willows that are trying to re-establish themselves.
The ground was frozen solid to support the weight of the tractor, most of the time, and I never got stuck. Although it was a bit surprising when once in a while the tractor  wheel would suddenly drop as it hit a patch where the ground was  little less frozen.

And that is ice in the background. The sloughs are frozen with a thick enough layer of ice to support "light traffic". Fun place to do some sliding around on the trike. Kids, wear your helmets if you try this! Check the thickness of the ice too.

Baling and Blowing Things Up

What an unproductive day. I decided to get the Massey baler out to bale up the little bit of hay lying in the yard. It was actually about a half a round bale that had begun heating after sitting several days inside the baler and I unrolled yesterday to dry. Ok, I baled it way too damp on the weekend . With thunderstorms in the forecast I figured bale it up into a few small squares which I can always use. First off the only available in my fleet of tractors was the Cockshutt 40. I had to first remove the bale spear and three point hitch which took a little time and effort. Then hitching up to the baler the hitch jack did not want to fold. I soon found out the baler was sitting low due to a completely flat tire. Rather than work on it back behind the shed in the long mosquito infested grass and heat I risked slowly driving it to the shed doors. It took some effort but finally got the tubeless tire to seat and take air.
That hay was still plenty tough and it pushed the limits of the flywheel shear pin, right up to the breaking point. Now I get to spend some time inside the baler pickup unplugging the tough damp hay.
Eventually I got the hay put through with a grand total of 7 square bales. Not much to show for a day's work. Cleaning up the baler to put it back in it's parking place I noticed the stacker had low tires so I started filling them up with the air hose. Tire number two had a little surprise in store and went off, almost in my face with a big bang. The rusty little rim had split allowing all the air inside the tube to exit like a small stick of dynamite. Lucky the wheel was contained in a double fork assembly which prevented it from becoming flying shrapnel or I might not be here .

Rain Delay

Yes, 10 mm or just under a half inch rain this morning has given me a break from tractor driving. The past week has been kind of a blur of activity with a lot of seeding progress. Trees turning greener by the hour. Grass shooting up out of the ground like magic. Things change quickly this time of year.
Canola all planted and hopefully germinating as I type. The last of the wheat went in last night. Just a day past the traditional 24th of May target we used to go by to finish planting wheat. Not bad considering the late start. Cold days turned hot with a couple of 30C days that had me complaining about the unusual heat.
According to the file info I took this picture on May 22 while filling the air seeder tank. Water levels being higher than ever this year on that particular farm meant I could not drive far off the highway with the loaded truck. Makes for extra driving back and forth to fill the air seeder but better than getting stuck.

Just have to brag a little about Case-IH batteries. The "Magna-start" batteries in that Magnum tractor just turned 16 years old on May 16 recently. I would not believe it if I did not have the service record and date in my own hand writing. That is about double the normal life of a battery in farm equipment. 

Interstate makes a good battery too. The "Workaholics" in my CIH 1660 combine will be 15 years old later this summer and were still working fine last harvest. 

Seems like no particular brand can claim to be the best though. I've had some poor service from Co-op batteries but I also have some old six volt Co-ops that are setting records for longevity too. The one on the Cockshutt 40 I installed in 99. Still going strong all year round. The pair in the 730 Case I don't know for sure as my uncle installed them. Considering he died in 2002 I know the batteries are at least 12 years old, maybe more. 

Now I will probably go out tomorrow, turn the key and find the batteries have suddenly died. :-(

Late Night, Deep Snow

Well at least it wasn't cold. Snow had been drifting pretty bad all afternoon with the strong north wind so I knew it could be difficult getting through my driveway. Speed carried me through the worst of it without hitting the ditch. But about half a minute after the camera fell off it's mount I came to a spinning stop. Once the snow got up to the bumper even four spinning winter tires could not carry me any further. Another hundred feet or so of deep snow and I would have been through the worst. Rather than burn up the transmission rocking back and forth a few inches at a time I decided to walk in to the yard and get a tractor. Even at a mild 15 degrees (F) I don't think any of my diesels would start easily so I fired up the sixty year old Cockshutt 40. The gas engine will start easily even at cold temperatures although it complains a little and the carburetor ices up.
Plenty of fresh air and good exercise plus justification for owning a gas guzzling four wheel drive SUV.

Playing In The Snow Again

Well my driveway had degenerated to the extent that even 4 wheel drive and winter tires were barely getting me through. I had left tracks that would be representative of the Chinese year of the snake, and they were very hard to follow.
So yesterday it was time to fire up the sixty year old tractor and put the 40 year old snow blower to work. It was a nice day, not so warm that the snow was wet, but not so cold that I couldn't take my mitts off to set up the camera and take this interesting series of videos. The 8 foot aluminum conduit pipe mount is a little springy when mounted horizontal. It makes it look as if the tractor is bouncing up and down violently when in fact it is a smooth ride. At one point the camera tilted 90 degrees and gave a whole different view that I wasn't expecting.
It is turning into a long winter. Concerns are already being expressed that we may have flooding problems when the spring melt occurs. Only days ago I read an article indicating that there was very little moisture content in this snow. So what has changed?

Walk Around The Cockshutt 40

How many people even recognize the name "Cockshutt" anymore? Its a real piece of Canadian history, one of the oldest and biggest manufacturers of farm equipment until they were swallowed up by a bigger (White) company in 1962. The tractors have been part of my life for the past fifty years or so. I can remember riding home from town with my dad on this 40 back about 1967. Over the years it has done a lot of work, and had a lot of work done to it. Not a lot of it is original anymore. Engine, sheet metal, fuel tank, rear wheels and axles, one fender, seat, probably a few other items I have forgotten. But as long as it stays on this farm it will always be known as "the old 40".

Now Is It Winter?

You wouldn't think it to look at the bare ground but temperatures are more winter like than usual for November 1. It rarely gets above freezing by day time and I am thinking I may not do any more field work, even rock picking or gravel hauling.
Cattle and cats are acting really hungry. The cattle can still eat some of the grass they turned up their noses at back in the summer but the cats seem to have exhausted the supply of mice on the farm and are relying on cat chow and baked potatoes twice a day.
I'm still trying to emulate the " Lazy Farmer" and sit and sleep by the fire. But I have no fire and feel a little too lazy if I sit around for long.
So today I worked at clearing up dead wood in the maple hedge. Also tightening the wheel spline on the old Cockshutt 40 tractor. The transmission and final drives of these tractors are legendary in tractor puller fame but they do occasionally need a little maintenance. The photo shows it takes a fair bit of leverage .

An Afternoon With The Cockshutt 40

As winter is approaching, one of the things I like to (need to) do before the snow flies is cut the grass and willows that grow along my half mile driveway. It helps to keep the snow blowing across rather than settling in drifts on the driveway.
The old Cockshutt 40 was the most likely tractor for the job as it is the smallest and allows the mower to cut right up against the fence pickets.
Old tractors need regular exercise to prevent the problems that arise from storage too long.
It performed well although I stalled it once hitting a piece of steel culvert that some careless person (could that be me?) left in the long grass.
As I turned back into the yard some new clunks and rattles caught my attention. Looking back at the mower for the source I was even more surprised when I felt the front end of the tractor drop and watched the wheel fall over on it's side. Figured it was a wheel bearing but turned out that the same careless person that left that culvert in the grass must have forgotten to tighten the wheel studs when he put that nicely painted front wheel back on the tractor last spring. All the studs had fallen  out and I could not find even one. Lucky I had a few spares in the shed, borrowed a couple more off a parts tractor in the bush and was rolling again in no time.
As breakdowns go it was not too serious. Wish they were all that easy.

Cockshutt 40 and Haybine.

Got a little break from the heat the past couple of days. Those 80+ degree temps were a bit much at times. Than an inch of rain brought us back down to the high 60s today which is easier on the crop and me.
Wouldn't you know I would be loading grain on the hottest days of the year. One of the hottest places to work is inside a steel bin on a hot summer day. I'd likely never have survived shovelling those few thousand bushels but the grain vac sure saves some labour.
Of course canola price dropped the day I sold mine but has since increased. No big surprise there. Oats at $3 a bushel looked pretty good a couple of weeks ago when I locked the price in but this drought in the U.S. corn belt is really starting to push grain prices up.
Haying going well and the 35 year old haybine is doing a good job. Should be even better when I add the few hundred dollars of new iron parts to the cutterbar.
The old Cockshutt 40 works well on the haybine but for any serious amount of cutting I will go with the comfort of the air conditioned cab of the 2090 Case and stay out of the grass pollen that causes a lot of optical and nasal distress.
The inch of rain this week will do some good. I was lucky to get my hay baled without a drop of rain on it though.
Our living skies were filled with the sounds of spray planes recently as insecticide and fungicide rained down on the fields. Others sprayed with high clearance sprayers in hopes of maximizing their profits by eliminating every insect and fungus that might be present in the field. I'll take my chances and sacrifice a little yield in exchange for one less carcinogenic chemical to handle.
Heres another local farm blog some might find of interest.

A Week of Progress and a lucky accident

Its been a pretty progressive week. The CIH magnum tractor is back in service thanks to my sister in law driving for parts and my brother's help assembling them. I sprayed the oats which is a nice looking crop and not bad for weeds. Also got my flax sprayed yesterday in near perfect conditions. Not too hot or windy and everything worked, even the A.C. The canola is showing first blossoms, guess it won't get the second application of glyphosate now. Really it is not bad for weeds so should be fine.
Got the rest of the summerfallow worked and looking good (for now).
Just for a test I hitched the old Cockshutt 40 onto the new (to me) haybine and cut some of the grass around the yard and driveway. It is old and faded but cuts grass like crazy and will be a big improvement over the old sickle mower (or wearing out my swather trying to cut hay with it).

I shot this video Tuesday evening during a severe thunderstorm. Lucky we missed the tornados that were spotted in a few areas that day.
We had a day of hurricane  force winds on Wednesday, Shingles were lifting and sheet metal on a shed roof was threatening to lift. Probably not smart but I got up on the aluminum ladder and put few screws in to hold the sheets down, although I was in danger of becoming a human kite at times.

The lucky accident? No, not falling off a roof but nearly crashing my air seeder into a grain auger and hopper bin. I had just moved the air seeder into the centre of the yard so I could cut the grass where it had been parked. Slight downhill slope but seemed fine when I unhitched it. About five minutes later I came out of the quonset to find the air seeder parked up against the side of the hopper bin and nearly on top of a grain auger. Within inches of crashing into the legs of the hopper bin or running over (and crushing) the grain auger tube. That could have been a multiple disaster that would have ruined my good day.

Seeding Delay

I'd say its hard to believe that there is snow falling in Sask. tonight but of course I know that Sask. weather is capable of anything. Temp is freezing and will probably freeze off the few potatoes that are up in the garden (except the ones I covered hopefully. Also hope no canola has emerged or it will be frozen pretty badly.  3 inches of rain is the total for this week so far and they say it is not over yet. Water in the fields so it will be a few days (or more) before seeding resumes. By then the weeds will be pretty big and harder to kill. Pre-working might be a good option to kill the weeds and also dry the wet ground. I really don't want to seed flax late but we are only a week away from June. Hoping for a long growing season.
Heres a shot of an interesting old piece of iron I literally dug up today. Doing some clearing up around the walls of an old log building I hope (maybe dreaming) to repair this year, and this nose piece from a Cockshutt tractor turned up. These things sell for big money so it is nice to have a spare. Needs a little straightening but not bad considering.

March 12 Snow Blowing

The calendar says March but yesterday's strong winds blew my driveway full of snow again worse than January. At least I had a nice sunny morning to work at clearing it. Maybe for the last time this winter?

Weather turns nice, things get busy

Well finally the weather gives us a break. Temperature soared to +20F today so I was able to do a bit of catching up on jobs that were not too attractive at below zero temps. Pumping summer diesel out of tractors , adding thinner and pumping it back in. Installing snow blower and spending hours blowing snow off my yard and driveway.
My old reliable Massey Super 90 has developed a major water pump leak so I can't use it to put hay bales out until I fix it. That looks like a difficult job so I removed the front end loader to at least improve the accessibility to the engine. Now I'll have to find an alternative to handle the big bales til the Massey is back on the job. The first option I think will be to install the bale spear on the 3 point hitch of an even older tractor. The 1953 Cockshutt 40 currently has the snowblower on it so I'll have to make that switch. Hopefully we will not get a major blizzard while I have the snowblower off. Just in case we do get snowed in I think I will install the dozer blade on the "new" tractor, my 1980 model 2090 Case. It will push snow clear into next winter and all in the comfort of a heated cab so I guess things will be under control for the time being.
I cheated a bit with this picture, its not from today, or even yesterday. In fact it was taken in 1990. Same yard and tractor (and driver) though.