Monday afternoon, September 30,2024

It is overcast, but a warm 76ºF (24ºC) and no rain.  The remnants of Hurricane Helene have moved on.  We have received about 2.5″ (64 mm) of rain across Friday, Saturday, and yesterday.  The forecast for the next couple weeks does not have rain in it…so we are hopeful that we can return to harvesting corn and soybeans.  It will be good to make a major push over the upcoming fair weather days.  Included in that busyness will be the start of wheat planting for the 2025 crop.  We need about a day-and-a-half to get the soybeans cut off the remaining acres needed for wheat.   Sometime in this next window of opportunity, that should happen.

The guys worked diligently this morning to remove a broken-off bolt from a corn head gearbox.  Their temporary “fix” held well, but it was important to fix it properly.   It took some doing for sure, but they drilled and drilled into it and finally got that broken end of the bolt extracted.  The new bolt and attaching bar were put into place.  Then, they serviced (lubricated) both combines and the grain cart, and topped off the fuel and DEF tanks.

Pat and I used the backhoe and a chainsaw to clean up a fallen crabapple tree from our front yard.  It succumbed to the big wind last Friday.  Afterwards, our bones were a bit sore, but it looks better now all cleared away.

John went to the top of the newer grain leg and opened up the distributor.  He cleared away the ‘bees wings” (that pink fuzz that comes from where the corn seeds attach to the cob) and other debris that had collected inside.  He said it wasn’t as bad as he expected, but it took a while to scrape all that stuff out of the way.  The inner workings will move more freely now.

John is in there… among all the dusty debris.

The guys are now road-testing the Volvo truck to see if their work on it last Friday was successful to remove the vibration in the driveline.  Hope that did the trick.

My guess is that we won’t be able to return to harvest the corn fields until at least Wednesday, and for the soybeans that are now ready… Friday.  Some sunny days will make a big difference.

So much destruction from Helene in the Southeast US.  The pictures and video are  heart-breaking.  Pray for those affected.

Tomorrow, October arrives!  Another calendar page quickly turns…

Have a great week