Harvest Memories....

[fjlip]

Anyone on here remember seeing or helping with the stooking and threshing machine days?

Now that is going back a long way.

Oats was done on this farm in late 50's. I can remember the outfit, the binder, Mom and Dad stooking, too young to help.

[sofa.king]

Love hearing these old stories thought a lot about them yesterday on the combine. It was 35 degrees yesterday and I couldn't imagine shovelling in an old dusty bin or combining without a cab. Farmers back then we're cut from a different cloth. My father says back then they thought they had it made compared to the guys from the thrashing machine days.

[farmaholic]

Anyone on here remember seeing or helping with the stooking and threshing machine days?

Now that is going back a long way.

[helmsdale]

Sitting on a 750 massey with no heater in October in a skidoo suit, toque, and winter boots...

Or how grandpa could have his afternoon naps sitting in the stubble with his back against the duals of the 3ton. Dad drove by with the combine and the wind had changed leaving him with a lap full of straw and chaff.

Was in high school and it was mid October with about 200 acres of heavy swaths to chew. Heavy snow forecast for two days out. Dad and I both did the mental math after hearing the weather report and figured if we ran the old girl around the clock and managed to stay free of breakdowns we could probably wind it through. Started the first day mid morning, shifted off through the first night, ran all day the next day on adrenaline, but that 2nd straight night was tough. Whoever was trucking could catch a few winks over the steering wheel between dumps. Both of us remember things going completely quiet for a few moments in the combine... Rolled full trucks, home to the yard with snowflakes falling the size of our hand. 54 straight hours. God help me I hope we never repeat that

[Westcentralsk]

I remember one harvest a few years back, had to shut down for the day as we lost autosteer due to large solar flares...yeah, could've old schooled it but who wants crooked lines going down the field?
Then there was the day one combine lost the ac compressor...talk about a sauna...at least you old guys without a cab had a breeze blowing threw you.

But all seriousness, I remember the days of riding with mom in the grain truck or falling asleep in the combine with dad, banging my head on the window as I would nod off. Then when I was 10, dad was in the hospital but we had canola that was ready. Had a JD 7720 with I believe it was called posi...had to jump partially off the seat to push the clutch in. Got myself worked into a corner by a slough and had to reverse it...jump on the clutch and twist that stupid gear shift. I was careful after that not to work myself into a corner again. Mom said the bin was full so jumped in the grain truck with her and moved the swing away auger into another hopper bin. When dad got back out he was surprised about the combining but couldn't get over how the auger got moved.

The good ole days of no stress.

[sumdumguy]

What a great thread Farmaholic. Harvest, in one way is like a Christmas, except here we open the field instead of ripping off the wrapping paper. Some years we get big yields, beautiful red plump wheat kernels, huge Laird Lentil- - pearls, malting barley, hundreds of heavy green bales but sometimes the Grinch flips us Fusarium, Ergot, skinny oats and moldy alfalfa. Whatever life throws at us, we will scribe it on our calendars and argue about this year for as long as we can remember, "don't give me that crap, you couldn't have not had but one rain from April until October - Impossible!"

Have another G****fruit Radler after turning off the last light.

[farmaholic]

.........too many unsung heroes without recognition.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

[parsley]

Tenth of September at five in the afternoon, came out of the hospital with new baby. Made 8:00 supper for thresher and his two truckers; plus neighbour swathing nearby but not on our field, because he was hungry; a Neighbour Couple; two bachelor neighbours; and the swather.
And a hungry baby.
DIdnt finish cleaning up until almost midnight. TIred! Pars

[makar]

Froze on cabless 4000 to, counting on the next life being better, they cut brush in hell, i hope not.

[farmaholic]

My worst swather experiences aren't as bad as some of yours. Our poorest SP swather was a cab-less IH 4000. At least it had a steering wheel...not lever steering. It actually wasnt a bad swather. That left me with one hand free to swat at bugs because the reel and table height controls were foot pedals....but oh the dust, heat, cold and bugs. We mounted an implement umbrella on it so I wasn't sitting in direct sunlight. One time I was swathing ripe yellow mustard on a cold drizzly day. ...covered myself with a canvas tarp to stay warm and dry.

Where's all the "young bucks"...on Facebook?