Friday, August 28, 2015

During this week, the preparations for harvest continued.  As of today, the combines and trucks are fully serviced and ready to head to the field!  Inspections of the trucks identified some service work that had to be performed:  new shocks on the Pete, new brakes on the trailer pulled by “Vanna”.

Brandon installs replacement shock absorbers on our Peterbilt truck.

We call our white Mack truck, “Vanna” for obvious reasons.

The combines came out of storage for a wash and inspection and maintenance.  The initial settings for corn harvest were programmed into the systems.

The JD S680 combine looks really shiny, and it is ready to go to the harvest fields…

John had a special assistant on his preparation work yesterday.

Ella helped her daddy wash up the Demco 1350 grain cart.

The grain system was inspected also.  The hopper-bottom load-out bins were swept clean, and the grain legs and dryer were lubricated.  The conveyors were adjusted for proper tension on the drag chains.  The grain system is ready to receive new-crop corn and soybeans!

Of course, there may be a few small surprises of unforeseen glitches when we actually begin.  But all preventative measures have been performed.  The weather was also very cooperative this week, making this mechanical and service work easier…. the temperatures were in the 70s, not the 90s!  It’s so much better to work outside in those conditions!

And, John tells me… the yucky job of cleaning the spoiled grain from the old pit is behind us, too.