Back to the Hay Field

Today we were pretty productive.

I got chores done around seven and we all met up at the shed. Jeff was taking the road grader out to work on some trails by Hisle for the harvesters that are in the area now! Trouble is the wheat needs about a week yet so we hope they stay busy for a while!

Jeff actually graded the driveway just a day or two ago and has been cutting hay with Ross ever since, so it was good to get this trail done. Merle and I drove out there and left a pickup for him in case of a breakdown and headed back home. We managed to spend what was left of the morning servicing our tractors and working on getting the net wrap that balls up off of the the baler with the hot iron. It works pretty slick but took while a bit of time. During all this Jeff showed back up. He had trouble with the road grader and had to go to town for parts, so Merle told him to go to Gordon and get a load of corn while he was at it. Meanwhile, we got our equipment ready to go, ate dinner, and headed out to the road ditches. It's slow, steep, and kinda nerve racking, but I'm glad we got it done. Although it was pretty frustrating because we had trouble with my dumb shuttle shift again. I stopped for to get a pop from Merle and couldn't get the dumb thing to go again. So, we tried to shut it down and start back up again and sure enough it pulled the same crap and wouldn't even turn over. Then, the fight was on. We messed around with a corroded battery post, the ground cable, the fuses, and a few other things. We were both on the phone with some pretty mechanical people and finally decided the problem was probably the alternator. We got to thinking that since the tacometer hasnt' been working for quite some time, and the way it just loses power with no charge backed up, and that corroded post- it might make sense. Ross happened to drive by when we were having problems so I hopped in with him and went and got Merle's pickup so we could jump start it. We got it going and let it charge. I unhooked and headed for home to get the hydraswing tractor but all of a sudden the tac started working then, so I turned around and headed back to the rake. We just kept on going then but I still had a lot of trouble getting it in gear- so who really knows right now. We'll see tomorrow. I just basically spent the rest of the day moving non stop, because we were afraid if I did stop I wouldn't get going again. By the time we finished the ditches I had a chance to run home and do chores while Merle baled up the last of some weeds around the yard. Then, we spent the remainder of daylight gathering pickups that were stung all over.

Jeff had one out at Hisle Dam yet and we had one in the road ditch. Ross spent the day farming, but drove his own pickup so that helped. By that time it was time to come in and eat, watch the news, and head to bed. We have quite a few things on the list tomorrow and are a little short handed but we'll figure it out. Tina has not been to work since Monday, so I am assuming she quit over an issue. I guess that's how life goes- so needless to say we have to fill in the holes here and there, we'll get it done somehow. Anyway, I need sleep!