The icy covering on the secondary roads and the sidewalks make getting around a little uneasy right now.  Hopefully, that thin ice coating will be gone by morning.

Last Thursday was a busy day here.  Our 9770 combine was in our shop getting a “PIP”.   That stands for a ‘product improvement package’ installed by our John Deere dealer.  The mechanics Sarel and Philip removed a major portion of the cleaning system, and replaced a support beam for the SLS chaffer.  On other machines they had found some of these support beams to be cracked, but on our combine, this particular part was not.  Even so, they replaced this support with a new part that has more secure weldments.   Sarel and Philip are a good team, and they worked diligently through the day to finish the upgrade.  It’s good for us that John Deere was footing the bill for that!

Here you are viewing the rear of the 9770 combine, with the chaffer frame pulled out. A stronger support beam was installed on the front edge of the chaffer frame.

Also, late in day, Gene Williams, the Wright-Stemle delivery specialist, brought our new 2510H ammonia application machine.  It is now complete with the Capstan NJect metering and delivery system installed.  I am happy that Gene was able to deliver it on a sunny, dry day.  That way, it arrives very clean.    We hooked it up to a tractor that evening to test the folding mechanisms.  It has 7 sections that allow the 60-foot working width to narrow down to 18 feet wide and 13 feet high for transport.  John and Philip used Friday to move it to the Huey farm for storage until use season.    It is good to have it now in place on the farm and have it under roof.

Here delivery man Gene Williams prepares to unhook the new 2510H applicator from his delivery truck.

Later, we have the new machine unfolded to its working width of 60 feet.