Friday, February 24, 2023

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from our salesman at Hutson, Inc.  He reported that the air cart for the new soybean planter (air drill) had arrived at the dealership.  This completes the machine so that we will be able to use the new planter for soybeans this spring!   One caveat:   there is a special flip-over conveyor that comes from KSI, a short-line supplier, that will enable us the load the planter from our hopper trailer.  That special conveyor will not arrive for 8 more weeks.   Therefore, Hutson will remove this attachment from our trade-in, and install it on the new air cart… and then replace it with the new conveyor when it does show up.

This is the just-arrived 430-bushel, model 1910 air cart on the lot at Hutson’s in Ireland, Indiana. There is some set-up to do plus the connection to the drill.

The no-till drill came a couple weeks ago, and it is fully set-up and ready to connect to the air cart.    The new air cart has larger capacity than our trade-in and is equipped with larger tires.  It looks and feels ‘taller’ than the old one… we may have to rearrange our storage locations in order to get it under roof for the off season.  But we will figure that out this summer, when the planting season is behind us.

Here is the new N550 no-till drill being set up at the Hutson shop in Ireland.

This new drill is very similar to the trade-in, but is simpler to maintain with fewer grease fittings needing less frequent lubrication.  That will be helpful.

Another step on the road to #plant23.  This new machine is a key factor.

Bill and Brandon are delivering corn to market today.  Down to ADM at Newburgh they go, with a few loads over to GPC sprinkled in.

Boilermaker fans like us are looking forward to the rematch with the Hoosiers tomorrow at Mackey Arena.  We lost a tough one at Assembly Hall in Bloomington three weeks ago, but we are hopeful for a happier outcome Saturday.  We have had a few years when the Hoosiers were not nearly as competitive as in the past, but now they are improving with Coach Woodson.  The rivalry is even sweeter when both teams are doing well.

Have a good weekend.