Harvest Time!!!!

[Choice2U]

Grew up in west central Sk. Remember swathing flax in the late 70's (high school) in October with a versatile 400/4400 with no cab. Froze going against the wind and sweat with bugs biting your head going with the wind. Sister 2 years younger drove the 1960 chev with wooden box with role tarp under the unload auger of our 750 Massey. Told her she was too close so she backed up and ripped off the metal role tarp cover. I still haven't told her to this day that I should really be blamed for that one. Started "farming" 6 years ago by myself (now 53) and finally got a friend/neighbour to help the past year as doing it completely by yourself is not alot of fun when you have to fix stuff or move equipment. Sept 1, 2014 at 6 PM will be 30 years after my dad was killed in a farm accident. I have fantastic and awful memories of harvest. Please play safe out there.

[hobbyfrmr]

Everybody had a mf 750! Or a 760. We had a 1953 2 ton and a 1956 2 ton. I retired them around 1992.
Similar thoughts as others. Growing up around it was pretty exciting. Trouble is i didnt know about the industry. After 13 years and a few management classes behind me, I could clearly see the industry motives. I really got disgusted with all of it. I made the shift to organic an no regrets. Its a "kinder" market. Not encumbered anymore. Balance sheet is tipping towards me.
I cant recall the specific year 2005? I had seeded 1800 acres, I was combining milling oats at $1.85 . It was a respectable 110.bu/acre. I was still counting trucks to see my living profit. The last 2-5000 bushel bins before taxes were mine to live on.
Not my exact words at the time, but, when I get nostalgic I think, "**** all that"

[Hopperbin]

What do you mean **** all that?

[hobbyfrmr]

Piles of grain, building bin yards input creits maxed workng old machines over more acres chasing economies of scale in a low price environment , no financial backing and no assets. Then the elevator shmo looks at the samples like he just put his hand in a pail of battety acid! All for 1000.00/month take home.
Followimg AV suggests the industry has not changed. I do understand large scale operations and it looks like its working well around here.
Farming can be fun, but its a hard way to make an 'easy" living.
Basically Im lazy.

[mbdog]

choice2u...my point was not to diminish safety or farm accidents, cause they happen. Won't try and explain myself further, but I will echo your words "play safe out there".

[fjlip]

It's fun if it's NOT your skin in the game. Retired BIL works for a BTO, 9am to 9pm, does no setting, fixing or servicing. Do as your told on 2 way radio. Huge new equipment. Says it is fun and NO stress.
12 hrs and get paid rain or shine, frost or heat in cab all day, just bring lunches/drinks.
It's the wheeling dealing buying and selling that always f*ck up my fun times farming.
Like hobby says, most days getting tired of this merry go round, abused by all sides plus Mother F*cking Nature. But... a profitable harvest and we all want to try another year! Slow learner...

[mbdog]

fjlip...sounds like your in same boat as me. Had to chuckle. Harder to find help these days that knows how a grease gun works, let alone use it. Or fix anything...or even try. "You're asking me to do what? With a what? When? If your an old farmer, or grew up on a farm...you just did, tried and used your noggin. I'm sure a lot of farmers out there will agree with me...help is out there...good help hard to find...help without a "basic" skill set... is only getting larger. Not criticizing, just pointing out this sad fact in todays world. My point about tough people coming off the farm "back then" still stands. Whether a person continued with the farm or not, you were just stronger than most.
Good help makes the job funner and I fully appreciate them. Babysitting premadonnas....not so much fun. Having these people in a hazardous ituations....that's stress.
Sad sign of the times.....
But on a lighter note and keeping more in line with the thread....Had this tough old bugger helping us out one time...I was driving, he was shot gun. Doing oats...dad overfilled the box with oats...no shovel. This old bugger got in those oats and "wallowed" out the pile so we could go dump. Still remember the hair on his barrel chest was unreal thick and grey, and there he is swimming in oats. Unreal....I nearly puked. Anyway, got told to take to town...old bugger got in the passenger seat...I looked at him and he looked at me, and off we went. I was 12 or 13. He was a great old bugger.

[tizhot]

Family farm that sometimes used to be done by my birthday in early Sept. I remember having Bday cake in the field and watching those "big" 914 combines crawling through the low spots. Dad clutching the tractor to get throuigh. You watch the round thing that spins. See the red mark that tells you everything is working fine!! Ha how i remember the first time I got to drive and how I was more concerned with how loud the radio would go instead of listening to the song the 914 was playing. Now teaching that to my kids. Dont have the stereo too loud you have to "listen" Proud day yesterday when I was able to leave the boy on his own cutting hailed out peas with a 40' head. He did well not perfect but well. Told him he did great and I was proud! Long ways to go we just started due to having things pushed back with major hail but even with that I was excited to get going. Harvest on boys! Good luck.

[AllisWD45]

Lots of memories of harvests past.At 10 years old Allis WD45 and hopper box hauling wheat from Cockshutt 428. Kind of a runt of a kid so Mom had to help me start the 6inch Versatile auger.
At 15 we had an IHC 403 big machine chewing 16 ft swaths.Dad hauled with the 61 Chev 3 ton. No cab on combine a real late cold fall damn near froze to death a few times. Did a quarter of flax custom for neighbour Dad was giving me some of the money for running combine. Told him to take it and buy a cab. He did what a change with the new Fibro cab.
Today i am retired and help a young neighbour with way too much work on a good sized mixed farm. Help with haying and harvest. Run a new JD baler with net wrap.It still amazes me how its so easy. Haul the bales in with a hay hiker and at harvest do the swathing and bale straw. Not involved with combining too much pressure doing that. Lots of fun with no stress and it does two things i like. Keeps me in the loop with farming as it was hard to relate to farming neighbours without being involved. Did i mention how good it feels to be sincerely appreciated.
Anyone out feeling lost after your farming days have ended look around there are lot of farms that would give their left nut for a good experienced helper especially during the busy season.

[hobbyfrmr]

That's excellent. You have a good farmer boss. The cattleman around here ask farmers to drop straw, then they bale the nearest quarter. The remainder sometimes gets baled, then left in the neighbours field. The neighbour then has to badger the cattleman in the spring to get the bales off so they can work their own land. This leads to big ruts and mashed out approaches. The other farmers have to try try and heavy harrow the straw windrows they dropped for the cattleman in the fall. Usually the just burn it in frustration.
Another pattern is the the hayfields where the cattleman don't pay too much rent for, those bales tend to get grouped then stay out all winter. I always thought the bales were necessary for the upcoming winter, it must be some kind of inventory strategy.