2023 crop pics

[poor farmer/logger]

I just hope this isn’t a prequel to winter for us and the snow makes it’s way north again. Just not yet though lol.  Brother in law sent me a snap last night and his yard was all white too. He’s only 50 miles south as the crow flies. Last winter the snow seemed to be stuck in a belt south of us. 
 

Was debating going out with the v fit yet yet but the ground might be freezing up already now.  Have some dirt work to do with the cat too but haven’t been overly excited about starting on it lol. Kind of chilly on there now too. Got the last of that brush pile cleaned up so that’s done at least. Didn’t have to burry anything thankfully was just a nice little pile of ash left. 

[U-C]

We still got a lot of corn to combine, the seed sales guy said some folks that have started combining early got around 200 bushels per acres. I think ours might be close to that but it's still on the wet side 30% maybe less now. Yesterday did some discing with the Salford 5100 and the 875 versatile

[db1486]

Started snowing here yesterday about 2 maybe. It was just a nice light snow and didn't amount to much, but below 0 and not melting much yet. Got maybe an inch or 2 on the ground. Sounds like further south got more, and they're supposed to get tonight again. North of here hardly got anything. I think we got a nice spell coming yet. Lots of crop around here to come off yet. Still doing field work no problem too

[poor farmer/logger]

4 hours ago, U-C said:

We still got a lot of corn to combine, the seed sales guy said some folks that have started combining early got around 200 bushels per acres. I think ours might be close to that but it's still on the wet side 30% maybe less now. Yesterday did some discing with the Salford 5100 and the 875 versatile

Looks like it’s working up nice. How’s the versatile handle the salford? How fast are you running it?  There’s times I’d like to have some form of vertical tillage tool here as well but we are somewhat limited in the hp department so naturally limited in size.  Good to see another versatile earning its keep yet though. The view out the window looks very familiar lol.  Hopefully the weather cooperates so you can get the corn off. 

[poor farmer/logger]

2 hours ago, db1486 said:

Started snowing here yesterday about 2 maybe. It was just a nice light snow and didn't amount to much, but below 0 and not melting much yet. Got maybe an inch or 2 on the ground. Sounds like further south got more, and they're supposed to get tonight again. North of here hardly got anything. I think we got a nice spell coming yet. Lots of crop around here to come off yet. Still doing field work bo problem too

How dare you turn that beautiful white pow into dirt 😂🤣 Still nothing here for snow. A lot colder today though. No sun at all and there was the odd flake floating around all day. 

[U-C]

2 hours ago, db1486 said:

Started snowing here yesterday about 2 maybe. It was just a nice light snow and didn't amount to much, but below 0 and not melting much yet. Got maybe an inch or 2 on the ground. Sounds like further south got more, and they're supposed to get tonight again. North of here hardly got anything. I think we got a nice spell coming yet. Lots of crop around here to come off yet. Still doing field work bo problem too

Tilling in the nitrogen fertilizer eh

[U-C]

56 minutes ago, poor farmer/logger said:

Looks like it’s working up nice. How’s the versatile handle the salford? How fast are you running it?  There’s times I’d like to have some form of vertical tillage tool here as well but we are somewhat limited in the hp department so naturally limited in size.  Good to see another versatile earning its keep yet though. The view out the window looks very familiar lol.  Hopefully the weather cooperates so you can get the corn off. 

He handles it very nicely, I had him in range 1 and 3rd gear but the versatile can handle the Salford in range 4 and second gear good to same with the JD 4850. I reckon if the weather plays nice again it would be off in November or then in Spring. The Versatile needs an engine overhaul soon we are the second owner for almost 10 years now. They are tough tractors not sure about the new ones though.

[poor farmer/logger]

27 minutes ago, U-C said:

Tilling in the nitrogen fertilizer eh

I’ve always heard people talk about that and wondered if there was any truth to it. Must admit I’ve always been a little skeptical lol. 

22 minutes ago, U-C said:

He handles it very nicely, I had him in range 1 and 3rd gear but the versatile can handle the Salford in range 4 and second gear good to same with the JD 4850. I reckon if the weather plays nice again it would be off in November or then in Spring. The Versatile needs an engine overhaul soon we are the second owner for almost 10 years now. They are tough tractors not sure about the new ones though.

Good to know.
 

They’re a solid work horse that’s for sure. Dad bought ours nearly new back in 1984.  Think it had 3-400 hours on it then. It’s had regular maintenance but that’s just about it. Few things here and there but nothing serious. It’s worked harder the last 10 years then all the years prior so it’s not exactly in it’s easy life now either lol.  We should probably do a bearing roll on it before long but the motor is still solid. 6500-7000 hours on it now I believe.  Need to take the rad off before spring and get it repaired pretty sure there’s a pin hole at the top of it. Not sure what happened there.  The surge tank where it mounts has cracked too. 

[db1486]

51 minutes ago, U-C said:

Tilling in the nitrogen fertilizer eh

 

18 minutes ago, poor farmer/logger said:

I’ve always heard people talk about that and wondered if there was any truth to it. Must admit I’ve always been a little skeptical lol. 

The natural version, yep. Lol. Seems like we always end up doing some field work with snow on the ground. Can't say I see much difference between fields though. If anything it does seem to freeze out the green stuff good and kill the roots that are kicked up. I wouldn't wait till snow to work fields by choice though 😂

[midnightman]

Got finished up on the evening of October 14. Last hour and a half was some rather wet canola swaths on North side of bush line that probably weren’t going to dry this year.  For what they looked like, I was surprised how well they went through.

Pretty sure the outside temperature isn’t accurate on the tandem. It was below freezing, but not that cold. We’ll save those temps for January when I have the winter gear out.

Took the combine and truck North 15 miles to help dad get finished.

Had two of my nephews helping me truck grain for the evening.

All done and headed back to the yard October 20.

And a week later it looks like this.

[db1486]

4 hours ago, midnightman said:

Got finished up on the evening of October 14. Last hour and a half was some rather wet canola swaths on North side of bush line that probably weren’t going to dry this year.  For what they looked like, I was surprised how well they went through.

Pretty sure the outside temperature isn’t accurate on the tandem. It was below freezing, but not that cold. We’ll save those temps for January when I have the winter gear out.

Took the combine and truck North 15 miles to help dad get finished.

Had two of my nephews helping me truck grain for the evening.

All done and headed back to the yard October 20.

And a week later it looks like this.

Finally some decent combining days around then. 2 weeks ago was nice but just wouldn't dry for us. Have a truckload of grain from taking samples all that week that was no where near dry. Last week finally made progress but still wasn't really dry. Did you guys get hit hard with snow yesterday? We got maybe a inch or 2 and 15 miles north nothing. Off and on all day today making the ground wet now

[dale560]

On 10/25/2023 at 9:27 PM, poor farmer/logger said:

I’ve always heard people talk about that and wondered if there was any truth to it. Must admit I’ve always been a little skeptical lol. 

Good to know.
 

They’re a solid work horse that’s for sure. Dad bought ours nearly new back in 1984.  Think it had 3-400 hours on it then. It’s had regular maintenance but that’s just about it. Few things here and there but nothing serious. It’s worked harder the last 10 years then all the years prior so it’s not exactly in it’s easy life now either lol.  We should probably do a bearing roll on it before long but the motor is still solid. 6500-7000 hours on it now I believe.  Need to take the rad off before spring and get it repaired pretty sure there’s a pin hole at the top of it. Not sure what happened there.  The surge tank where it mounts has cracked too. 

Man if it hasn’t had bearings yet do it and it will last forever. The hardcore versatile guys used to do them every 2000 hours in the way back time.

[poor farmer/logger]

14 minutes ago, dale560 said:

Man if it hasn’t had bearings yet do it and it will last forever. The hardcore versatile guys used to do them every 2000 hours in the way back time.

No motor is original yet. I was always told around here guys were doing them at the 6-7,000 hr range. Still has excellent oil pressure but I know it should be done pretty soon regardless.  Dad made the mistake once on a 1850 cab over that he bought. Dealer told him to do a bearing roll on it right away but he needed it for harvest so it got put off.  Think he got through harvest but shortly after a bearing went out. 10,000 dollars later it had a rebuilt motor😢.  Our semi with the 3406 got done a couple days after we got it. Had 600,000 or so kms on it. Dad wasn’t going to chance it lol. Versatile only sees about 80 hours a year now so the hours don’t rack up as quick as they used to. 

[dale560]

10 minutes ago, poor farmer/logger said:

No motor is original yet. I was always told around here guys were doing them at the 6-7,000 hr range. Still has excellent oil pressure but I know it should be done pretty soon regardless.  Dad made the mistake once on a 1850 cab over that he bought. Dealer told him to do a bearing roll on it right away but he needed it for harvest so it got put off.  Think he got through harvest but shortly after a bearing went out. 10,000 dollars later it had a rebuilt motor😢.  Our semi with the 3406 got done a couple days after we got it. Had 600,000 or so kms on it. Dad wasn’t going to chance it lol. Versatile only sees about 80 hours a year now so the hours don’t rack up as quick as they used to. 

It’s a big cam engine right? Some of the small cams were known to wear cam bearings also. I want to buy a 835,75 or 95 again next year.

[poor farmer/logger]

3 hours ago, dale560 said:

It’s a big cam engine right? Some of the small cams were known to wear cam bearings also. I want to buy a 835,75 or 95 again next year.

Yup that’s right.  They’re pretty cheap horsepower compared to a lot of the others out there that’s for sure.  

[midnightman]

14 hours ago, db1486 said:

Finally some decent combining days around then. 2 weeks ago was nice but just wouldn't dry for us. Have a truckload of grain from taking samples all that week that was no where near dry. Last week finally made progress but still wasn't really dry. Did you guys get hit hard with snow yesterday? We got maybe an inch or 2 and 15 miles north nothing. Off and on all day today making the ground wet now

Snowed on and off all day. Probably about an inch and a half accumulated that didn’t melt. I think it will just be white here for a few months now 

[Loadstar]

Looks like maybe our early snow is here to stay. It will be a week tomorrow since it arrived and we have not been above freezing since then. Saw the sun for the first time in a week yesterday so I took the opportunity to take off the header and do a little cleaning up on the 1660 before it's long winter rest and repairs. 

https://youtu.be/GKl75qvpfy8 

[poor farmer/logger]

43 minutes ago, Loadstar said:

Looks like maybe our early snow is here to stay. It will be a week tomorrow since it arrived and we have not been above freezing since then. Saw the sun for the first time in a week yesterday so I took the opportunity to take off the header and do a little cleaning up on the 1660 before it's long winter rest and repairs. 

https://youtu.be/GKl75qvpfy8 

We had issues 2 years ago with our front drum after I had gone through the feeder house on it the year before. One of the locking collars let loose and allowed the drum to skid over into the arm. Ended up going through it and putting new arms on it new bearings again and some bushings and hardware. Been good ever since again. 

Trace of snow here but nothing to get excited about yet. Been hauling firewood home now. Have 4 loads home so far. Need another 8 or so more yet though.  Light snow in the air now as I type again. Wont amount to much though. 
 

Got a bunch of parts on order for the old sled so I can get the chaincase back together again and then decide what to fix next on it. Likely going to have to change out the starter and that’s a real pain. Dang near have to remove the motor to get to it. 

[db1486]

Well I think harvest in this area might have to get finished next spring now. Forecast is sunny and melting next week but we got hit hard with freezing rain Sunday morning then snow the last 2 days. Probably about 8" now of heavy wet stuff sitting on top of all that ice. It's gonna take a bit to melt it out and dry it off now. We were fortunate enough to get the standing wheat off and piles of grain covered before the rain hit, but was just starting to bale straw and it got wet fast. Just got a little bit of oats swaths left out now so sitting pretty decent compared to others in the area. The snow from 2 weeks ago never really did melt away but our wheat was standing good and it dried up enough it went through the combine so it came off. Now time to fire up the dryer lol

Time for hibernation I think now lol

[acem]

Don't look like good hay baling weather there...

[poor farmer/logger]

1 hour ago, db1486 said:

Well I think harvest in this area might have to get finished next spring now. Forecast is sunny and melting next week but we got hit hard with freezing rain Sunday morning then snow the last 2 days. Probably about 8" now of heavy wet stuff sitting on top of all that ice. It's gonna take a bit to melt it out and dry it off now. We were fortunate enough to get the standing wheat off and piles of grain covered before the rain hit, but was just starting to bale straw and it got wet fast. Just got a little bit of oats swaths left out now so sitting pretty decent compared to others in the area. The snow from 2 weeks ago never really did melt away but our wheat was standing good and it dried up enough it went through the combine so it came off. Now time to fire up the dryer lol

Time for hibernation I think now lol

Happy to hear you guys got done what you did.  Good feeling to have it in the bin. Sucks you couldn’t quite get it all but sounds like you’re better off then most there.  Hopefully you won’t be short on straw. 
 

You got a lot more snow then us. We’ve had a mix of rain and snow the last 3 days now. First snow we had pretty much vanished. We’ve got around 3 inches now again. Took the sled out 2 days ago and brought it down to the house to wash it off. Made one lap around the yard and put it back in to polish it up lol. Going to be a few weeks yet by the looks of the forecast. If what they’re saying comes true we might have a sloppy muddy mess around here again. Talking +5 for Sunday I think.  Everything is really slippery around here now. I hauled water for the house 2 days ago and actually spun out coming up the hill from the well in the bush. Had to back in a 1/4 mile or so and take another run at it. Sketchy part was sliding backwards down the hill lol. It’s not super steep but the truck wouldn’t hold it. Curve as you come down the hill so it’s a little bit hard to get speed up plus it’s a blind corner so you can see if anyone’s coming. 

Spent the afternoon in the bush today again clearing trails. Have my one loop opened up so I can get through now again. Been busy hauling firewood out of there so I had the worst part almost done. 3/4 km or so we cut 8 loads of firewood. Half on the road and half out of the bush just along the road. It was a real mess. 

[wheatking]

still nothin here been foggy and wet for the past bit, snow melted, calling for plus 8 on weekend and no snow for at least 2 weeks getting kind of boring around here, not much for grain sold either

 

went to the snowmobile show in saskatoon, was alright but man are sleds and gear getting expensive, the little kid sled was about $8000, i guess i'll be sticking with mine for the next while i started it the other day but havent checked it over yet to see if any nest or broken stuff hiding 

 

poorfarmer do all the logs actually make it home off the truck, seems like a pyramid like that would slide off before i get outta the bush 

[poor farmer/logger]

37 minutes ago, wheatking said:

still nothin here been foggy and wet for the past bit, snow melted, calling for plus 8 on weekend and no snow for at least 2 weeks getting kind of boring around here, not much for grain sold either

 

went to the snowmobile show in saskatoon, was alright but man are sleds and gear getting expensive, the little kid sled was about $8000, i guess i'll be sticking with mine for the next while i started it the other day but havent checked it over yet to see if any nest or broken stuff hiding 

 

poorfarmer do all the logs actually make it home off the truck, seems like a pyramid like that would slide off before i get outta the bush 

Out of 8 loads we’ve only stoped once to pick up a few blocks. There’s little tricks to stacking them like finding limbs or knots to help lock them into the load. I wouldn’t take off on a 100 mile trip with a load like that but the short distance we have to go they hang in there good. Have to climb up out of the one ditch onto the road too. Always get out to check after getting back on level ground just to make sure. They pulled out all the approaches into the bush when the built the road up 30 years ago so there’s a fairly steep ditch. 
 

Still snowing a bit here but it’s slow going. I need to go into pa to pick up some parts for my old sled but the highways are so wet and salty I’m not sure I really want to go.  I considered going into the sled show too but decided not to. My brother went in Friday afternoon. He was sending me pics of a sled there he thought was my old one. Mpd motorsports had a twin to my old viper. I couldn’t tell from the pics of it was mine or not for sure. Sure looked like it but there was a couple subtle differences.  Yea prices are insane. Shouldn’t have to fork out 30,000 bucks for a new 4 stroke.  I’ve been looking at new trucks too and that’s even worse 110,000-120,000 dollars is criminal. Found a barely used 2024 ram 3500 that is calling my name. Just not sure I want to part with the money lol. It sure is tempting though. 

[poor farmer/logger]

Load number 9 now. Possibly the biggest one we’ve had so far this year. Hoping to get a couple more loads yet but weMll see I guess. It’s real wet in the bush now. Snow is sticky and wet so you come home soaking. 

[db1486]

17 hours ago, acem said:

Don't look like good hay baling weather there...

Definitely is not lol. I baled some 2nd cut alfalfa before it rained and snowed again and I still had to leave some. We raked the swaths twice when it was cold to shake the snow off the swaths, but there was still enough stuck to it I was having trouble. What I did bale will have to be fed out shortly. The rest that I couldn't the cows will swath graze it