Wednesday, August 29, 2012
This morning, Montgomery Welding’s Jake Gingerich with his helpers Ben and Brad have arrived and are hanging the downspouts to the new fill conveyor on bins 10 and 10A. They brought in with them a crane from DC Metal, Cannelburg, Indiana and its operator. This work is one of the finishing touches on the fill conveyor project. Sure, there are tiny tasks remaining, such as painting some of the bare metal parts that support the skyway. But, once these two pipes are installed –connecting each elevator to the new conveyor– the system will be fully functional.
Here, Jake at the top of the elevator and Ben on top of the conveyor measure to determine the length of 10″ pipe needed to connect the two points.
The pipe is swung into place by the crane operator. Jake and Ben are in position to begin the connection.
At the bottom end of the downspout, Ben trimmed off the excess length of the pipe, then welded it into place on the new conveyor. Here you see the trimmed-off section being lowered to the ground by the crane operator.
This is just in time for harvest… and I mean just in time. It’s a good thing we started this project last fall, and encouraged the contractors to get going on it.
We are considering going to the corn field tomorrow; we have a corn hybrid that the reps tell us is more prone to lodging ( falling down ) if battered by wind. Hurricane Isaac’s remnants are predicted to be passing through this area on the weekend, and it may bring 2-6 inches of rain and higher winds. Philip remarked this morning how ironic this situation may be: to have essentially no rain all summer, and now that it’s time to bring in the dimished harvest, we may be working in the mud! It may be muddy next week, but not today.
Another ‘finishing touch’ for Carnahan & Sons is to keep the grassy waterways and roadsides neatly mowed. A few days ago, Philip did some mowing with the bush-hog. The main waterway on the home farm was groomed to look and function better.
Philip carefully drives along the border between the waterway and the soybeans.
Our John Deere 7130 tractor is a perfect size for this task and many others around the farm.
The wider view shows the improved appearance of the waterway. One thing that strikes me is the beauty of this southern Indiana rural scene. How fortunate we are to live and work in this particular place.
