Here is some video of the harvest so far. Picking up wheat swath with the Case IH 1660 combine and flax swath with the John Deere 7721 on some of the few days when the weather and crop were both ready. Up til this year I could usually straight cut all the wheat and leave the flax stand til ready and then swath right ahead of the combine. This year the crops just did not ripen or dry off as normal. Climate change? Global cooling? Whatever, in hindsight I should have swathed everything at least a couple of weeks earlier than I did. The straight cut header never came out of the shed for the first time since I bought it.
Showing posts with label John Deere 7721. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Deere 7721. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
It Ain't Over
...til its over. To quote the legendary baseball player, Yogi Berra . Although I think it might be over for me as far as harvest 2015 goes. Even though the sun shone well today it was not enough to melt the layer of snow we had last night. The next few days forecast to be warm and sunny will melt that snow and actually make the swaths wetter. Freeze drying overnight will help a little if we get enough days. It is unlikely there will be enough drying days though.
Here is some video of the harvest so far. Picking up wheat swath with the Case IH 1660 combine and flax swath with the John Deere 7721 on some of the few days when the weather and crop were both ready. Up til this year I could usually straight cut all the wheat and leave the flax stand til ready and then swath right ahead of the combine. This year the crops just did not ripen or dry off as normal. Climate change? Global cooling? Whatever, in hindsight I should have swathed everything at least a couple of weeks earlier than I did. The straight cut header never came out of the shed for the first time since I bought it.
Here is some video of the harvest so far. Picking up wheat swath with the Case IH 1660 combine and flax swath with the John Deere 7721 on some of the few days when the weather and crop were both ready. Up til this year I could usually straight cut all the wheat and leave the flax stand til ready and then swath right ahead of the combine. This year the crops just did not ripen or dry off as normal. Climate change? Global cooling? Whatever, in hindsight I should have swathed everything at least a couple of weeks earlier than I did. The straight cut header never came out of the shed for the first time since I bought it.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Almost A Replay of 1952
I harvested the last few acres of last year's flax crop today. It took most of the day getting machinery ready, swathing, driving home to fix a sickle that broke when I hit a rock. Combining went well with no problems in the mud, although a little spongy and soft out there. The getting ready and cleaning up afterwards took longer than the actual combining but at least it is done and I can now pile and burn the straw getting the field ready to plant.
I wonder how long it took my dad and uncle Sandy to harvest the field of wheat in April of 1952 with the little Case model A combine? Those wheat swaths laid out through the winter of 51-52 but survived fairly well. The wheat was very dry, a little light in bushel weight too. Getting stuck in the mud was a problem at times. Sandy's LA Case tractor pulling the combine and Dad's model D John Deere waiting ready to hitch up and pull when the Case got stuck in mud.
I wonder how long it took my dad and uncle Sandy to harvest the field of wheat in April of 1952 with the little Case model A combine? Those wheat swaths laid out through the winter of 51-52 but survived fairly well. The wheat was very dry, a little light in bushel weight too. Getting stuck in the mud was a problem at times. Sandy's LA Case tractor pulling the combine and Dad's model D John Deere waiting ready to hitch up and pull when the Case got stuck in mud.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Continuing Harvest
Yes, harvest continues. It seems a long time ago since I started, almost a month. Statistics likely say that harvest is 99 percent complete in this province. As usual I am slightly out of step with the norm. Numerous breakdowns and unco-operative weather are what I blame it on. The few that are still harvesting have called in help and work with fleets of equipment that make my one man/one combine operation look small and inefficient. Well not just one man. I am at risk of offending my ever reliable truck driver who puts up with driving my 42 year old International truck to haul the grain.
I am actually on the last field and it is flax. Standing flax that could be direct cut if my International combine could actually put it through. That is impossible though and has been discussed at length in previous blog postings here. The John Deere pull type handles it well but having only a pickup header, I have to swath the flax before picking it up. Single 21 foot swaths of course. I have found out to my great displeasure that trying to put double swaths through the combine is more trouble than it is worth. After spending too many hours inside the combine with various saws and hooks laying on straw walkers as comfortable as a bed of nails, I came to that conclusion. My nephew finally brought his "sawzall" which eventually cut through the tightly wrapped straw in the beater.
The deer and possibly the moose have been making their trails through the flax. And the bush rabbits that run ahead of the swather are showing disturbing signs of turning white, a sign of winter approaching. As does the chill in the air when I step out of the cab. The flax seed flows almost like water as it pours out of the unloading auger of the combine into the truck box. Good and dry today. Tomorrow, who knows?
In the meantime, read a few interesting comments by the lazy farmer about why we blog.
I am actually on the last field and it is flax. Standing flax that could be direct cut if my International combine could actually put it through. That is impossible though and has been discussed at length in previous blog postings here. The John Deere pull type handles it well but having only a pickup header, I have to swath the flax before picking it up. Single 21 foot swaths of course. I have found out to my great displeasure that trying to put double swaths through the combine is more trouble than it is worth. After spending too many hours inside the combine with various saws and hooks laying on straw walkers as comfortable as a bed of nails, I came to that conclusion. My nephew finally brought his "sawzall" which eventually cut through the tightly wrapped straw in the beater.
The deer and possibly the moose have been making their trails through the flax. And the bush rabbits that run ahead of the swather are showing disturbing signs of turning white, a sign of winter approaching. As does the chill in the air when I step out of the cab. The flax seed flows almost like water as it pours out of the unloading auger of the combine into the truck box. Good and dry today. Tomorrow, who knows?
In the meantime, read a few interesting comments by the lazy farmer about why we blog.
A day or two ago in another flax field when the sun was shining, unlike today.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Harvest 2012 First Day
September 2, Sunday, first day on the combine. As an old friend used to say, "the better the day, the better the deed". There was a time nobody harvested on Sunday but those days are gone.
It was a slow start having to move numerous other vehicles and machinery (one that would'nt start) to get the pull type combine out of the shed. I finally got out to the field by about 2:00. After going a couple of hundred feet with the cleanout doors open and dumping all the oats on the ground, I finally realized why nothing was appearing in the grain hopper. The mice and birds will feed well.
Strong winds blew the 40 foot swath around as it came out the back of the Titan II. Not sure what I was thinking laying a double swath of such a heavy crop but thank goodness I had only swathed maybe ten acres and then switched back to single. That heavy double swath had me right down to first gear and standing still at times. One place where the swather canvas had stopped and dumped a pile of straw was more than the combine could handle. The Magnum dropped from 2100 to 0 rpm in about a second, stalled dead by a heavy wad of green straw that hit the cylinder a little too fast. At least the strong west wind carried the dust away as I worked away underneath the combine pulling out a few straws at a time. That green straw was strong as rope and I finally went to the yard for my hook to help pull out the last of it.
The moisture test was an unbelievable 11% which is well into the dry range. I figured having only laid in the swath four days the oats would not be dry. Guess the heat and wind speeded things up.
Worked til 8:30 in the dark and called it a day. Not a bad afternoon's work.
It was a slow start having to move numerous other vehicles and machinery (one that would'nt start) to get the pull type combine out of the shed. I finally got out to the field by about 2:00. After going a couple of hundred feet with the cleanout doors open and dumping all the oats on the ground, I finally realized why nothing was appearing in the grain hopper. The mice and birds will feed well.
Strong winds blew the 40 foot swath around as it came out the back of the Titan II. Not sure what I was thinking laying a double swath of such a heavy crop but thank goodness I had only swathed maybe ten acres and then switched back to single. That heavy double swath had me right down to first gear and standing still at times. One place where the swather canvas had stopped and dumped a pile of straw was more than the combine could handle. The Magnum dropped from 2100 to 0 rpm in about a second, stalled dead by a heavy wad of green straw that hit the cylinder a little too fast. At least the strong west wind carried the dust away as I worked away underneath the combine pulling out a few straws at a time. That green straw was strong as rope and I finally went to the yard for my hook to help pull out the last of it.
The moisture test was an unbelievable 11% which is well into the dry range. I figured having only laid in the swath four days the oats would not be dry. Guess the heat and wind speeded things up.
Worked til 8:30 in the dark and called it a day. Not a bad afternoon's work.
Monday, September 26, 2011
7721 Preview
Its late. After a long day of harvest and all the assorted other jobs that go with it, I am only going to post a short preview of what I eventually will put up on youtube . Call this one a "trailer".
Harvest is going well although I seem to be slightly behind the average in spite of my best efforts. Weather has been phenomenal with above average temperature drying out the grain. 86 degrees on the weekend. Air conditioning by day, heater by night. Northern lights shining bright when I quit tonight. Good sign? Bad? I don't know but I need another week or so of good weather to get done. The field of flax looks great but proved almost impossible to cut with the swather on the weekend so I put another $600 worth of iron into the cutter bar and hopefully that will make it cut the wiry stuff.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Test Run
Today I finally took a test run with the new (to me) JD 7721 pull type combine that I bought to combine flax with. After fighting for ten years with the Case IH axial flow combine I finally admitted defeat when it came to combining flax . Pull type combines sell cheap now and I figured its rare to find one in this good condition.
I hadn't planned to try it today but after an inauspicious start with the Massey swather involving plugged cutterbars and much wasted time and energy I decided to give the combine a try just to see how it worked on the flax swaths. Smooth and steady are the words that come to mind. The big fluffy swaths just rolled in the feeder and right through the machine without a complaint or hesitation. At one point the big wheels did sink a bit in a muddy spot but the 7130 Magnum up front just kept on pulling steady at 2.8 mph with no hesitation. Just as I suspected, the green weeds in the sample were causing the moisture to test just a point higher than I liked. So I went back to the old IH self propelled swather and swathed a bit more flax before the sun dropped below the horizon and shut me down for the day. Flax is hard to cut at the best of times and when it gets a little dampness from the evening air, its time to quit before expensive parts start breaking.
I'm actually more concerned about wind than rain now. Those big fluffy swaths could start to move if the wind gets wild. 30% chance of showers for Monday. Maybe I should thresh some tomorrow and put it into aeration bins just in case the weather changes?
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