Bad Luck,

or no luck at all. That expression kept running through my head these past few days. The flax field disaster just won't end. I've given up on trying to get it through the combine without burning the machine or field down. Now trying to dispose of the crop swaths is a mammoth task. The flax rake won't work at all. The harrows are working but slowly as some of the old swaths from last fall are almost glued to the ground. It all helped influence my decision to never try growing flax again. Weeds growing like crazy in the global warming heat we have endured for a couple of days. I should be seeding, or anhydrousing, both actually. But I can't til this straw is out of the way. I did get a small start on anhydrousing a small field of canola stubble yesterday. It had some surprisingly wet spots where I was lucky not to get stuck.

Dry fertilizer delivered to the yard Friday so that part is ready to go, if I ever actually get into the field with the air seeder.
Flax straw harrowing went well but slow today. Right up until a front tire went flat on the tractor. A 3/4 mile walk across the hundred acre woods to the only available transportation (the John Deere swather). Slow but it beats walking. No spares so that tractor is down til tomorrow. I made use of the wasted afternoon by cleaning up and putting the swather and combine away in the shed til next harvest.
Little spits of rain all over the radar map tonight  that likely won't amount to much. Not that we need any.

The Best Laid Plans

Of mice and men, gang aft agley. Old quotation by Robert Burns. I don't often have well laid plans. Ideas and hopes maybe but I know how often things go wrong so don't have my plans carved in stone.
This turned out to be a seven day week as I wanted to finish the summerfallow I did not quite finish last night due to time and low fuel. That went so well and quick that I figured why not try the hay too. Although the weather tried to hold me back by threatening clouds and the odd spot of rain, I threw caution to the wind and headed down the road on the open Massey and wheel rake to turn and double up the hay swaths at the hundred acre woods. A lot of the hay looked ready to bale while some was still damp and green underneath. I decided to try and bale at least the driest of it so headed back with the 2090 and baler.

It went well until I was about half way done and I noticed oil spray on the baler hitch which naturally indicates a leaking hydraulic hose. These things only happen when I'm five miles away from home. Never when I'm working near the yard. It was the hose that controls the twine wrapping arm so it only leaked when I had to wrap a bale. But it was quite a leak and I soon realized I would lose a lot of oil if I continued. About the same time I noticed a broken pipe on the cross chain of the baler. Not uncommon on this baler and I even carry a spare. Unfortunately I did not carry a spare bolt to replace the one I accidentally dropped into the baler while trying to bolt the new pipe in place.
Ok, I can work with one pipe missing. But can I manually run the twine wrap as the bale is turning? Probably, but I could also get caught and wrapped up in a bale. Not worth the risk so I headed home in the dark to take off the damaged hoses for repair tomorrow. Looking across the field at my last canola I'm thinking I need to be swathing that pretty quick. With rain forecast for tomorrow night I guess I will have to sacrifice those last few swaths of hay and try and get the canola in the swath tomorrow. It will be an all day job, maybe more, depending on how heavy and difficult it is to swath.

Down But Not Out

Yes, my swather was down in the mud again today. Eventually I got out with the help of a tractor pulling. It is a real challenge trying to decide where it is safe to drive. I have not missed too much crop yet  but eventually had to give up on this little patch.
I really miss the days when we never had to worry about getting stuck in the mud at harvest time.

Stuck In The Muck

I should have taken a picture, but it was dark. Maybe I could have entered it  at stuck in the muck As it was I was more intent on just getting the swather out of the mud holes I had dug with the wheels and back onto (mostly) solid ground.
Just another chapter in this season that has been plagued by too much rain, muddy ground and drowned out crops. Maybe if it had not been dark I might have noticed how muddy it was getting as I worked my way farther up the hill side. Those big fat "turf tires" have excellent floatation but at some point they run out of traction and turn to smooth , tractionless doughnuts.
Lucky for me my "support crew" had just showed up to drive me home for the day. Instead they got to help me move a tractor down from the next quarter and pull the swather out of the mud.
Its only an 80 acre field but could take quite a while to swath if I have more of these incidents. Some of those drowned out patches are 90% foxtail and not worth cutting, but the good patches are fairly decent. Too bad the frost hit early and damaged some of the seed . I think it is going to take a long time to fill the combine hopper this year.

Canola Swathing 2012

Canola Swathing 2012




Yes, thats me swathing canola just so you know I do actually work a little sometimes. As usual it looked a little on the green side once I got into the crop but hopefully it will turn out ok. According to the calendar I am right but of course weather is always a wild card.
Not expecting a great crop as there is a lot of disease like sclerotinia and alternaria, not to mention aster yellows which is a new one to me this year.
It is a big improvement to be working "indoors" compared to the old open station swather. At the mercy of sun, wind, rain, dust, insects and whatever else the weather threw at me I now appreciate the protection the cab offers. That little diesel engine runs on about half the fuel that my old swather used. As reliable as the old AMC gas engine was, it liked its gas.
Now what? Swath more of the cereals or leave them to mature and direct cut with the combine? Flax? Well it will definitely be swathed but not quite ready yet.

More Trail Rides

For the second weekend in a row I have been out with family and friends on the quads, bikes, trike, touring the area looking at crops and other items of interest. We don't go very fast but we go pretty far, to quote an old song. Great weather and scenery and good company and before we know it we have made 60 km or more.

Crops are variable with some great looking wheat that might be disappointment if it has as much disease as some are saying. Canola is so uneven on some fields with flowering patches amongst far more advanced plants. It will be a challenge to know when to swath . There was one field in the process of being swathed.
I got my swather out of the back of the shed on the weekend in preparation for the soon to be swathing season. Great to have indoor storage but having to move 3 trucks, a tractor and a pull type combine to get at the swather takes a bit of time and effort. Sharing one battery between the trucks and tractor, one truck with no spark, then a flooding carburetor, all help keep the mechanical skills honed.

Watched late at night for the Perseid meteor showers, saw nothing. Shot some interesting video of some little Merlin hawks near the house. Don't often get to see them being fed by the adults.
Merlins