No parades or BBQ's for us this year.
It may be a holiday but I'd bet most farmers are workin' hard today.
All the rains this spring have made it very difficult to get corn or soybeans planted or hay baled.
This Memorial Day weekend has found our family in the fields from sunup til sunset.
We call her Big Red.
Note The Farmers proud creation of a double rake.
He welded it out of an I-beam and two smaller hay rakes.
My hubby hates to waste time. ;-P
He took this pic of ME on Big Blue with the round baler.
Note I'm fryin' up in the dust n sun while he rides in comfort in a cab with a.c. n stereo!
This was my first time with the old fussy round baler.
Usually I operate the square baler but we are rushed to get lots of hay made in little time.
I tried to learn and remember the sequence;
Note I'm fryin' up in the dust n sun while he rides in comfort in a cab with a.c. n stereo!
This was my first time with the old fussy round baler.
Usually I operate the square baler but we are rushed to get lots of hay made in little time.
I tried to learn and remember the sequence;
- Watch for the indicator to get to the (almost) full line
- Stop n take Big Blue outta gear, leave rpms up
- Play with toggle switch to move baling twine along round bale just right
- Disengage PTO
- Don't forget to make sure that toggle is really off and twine was cut!
- Back up and open baler door.
- Drive forward and close door.
- Make super sure it locked itself or next bale will fall out too early. grrr
- Slowly engage PTO and drive off watching that new bale starts to form correctly.
Still, much as I fuss n complain (I'm a terrible farmer), I truly love it.
This is Blue's View!
As the sun sets the dreaded event happens... Equipment breaks.
Bad words are said. Tools are flung.
You see it's a race to get all the hay we've carefully fluffed, raked n dried up off the field before dew sets in at sunset. Then it's all for naught and we must fluff n rake it out again tomorrow. Hay must be very dry before it's baled. We didn't make it this time. The Farmer drove the baler back to the shop and fixed a chain. Ready for more work as soon as the dew dries in the morning. Now we're a big behind.
But you can bet that at the end of the day we'll stop and drink a toast to all those who've fought to keep this beautiful land free for us.
My Grandpa. We visited Arlington last year.
Thanks to ALL who serve!!!
Enjoy the holiday everyone!
5 comments:
We are building a hoop barn for hay today. Beans are up , corn is ok after the 2 big hail storms... now it needs to dry so we can bale hay. Have a great holiday friend!
I have never operated a baler so that sequence was new to me. But I'm well used to equipment breaking at the most inopportune times so I've witnessed the Bad-Words-Said-Tools-Flung sequence many times. I have learned to be vewy, vewy quiet during those times ...lest frustration accidentally spew in my direction. LOL
Happy Memorial Day to you and your, Leslie. Many veterans on both sides in this family, including Yeoldfurt himself.
Wow, I don't think I could remember all those things! I worked in the yard/flower beds today while the kids mowed the yard. My garden is too wet, and the hoof prints from the cows who ran through it through the last storm are too huge. Makes me mad. Bad words were said at my house too. And the cows weren't even ours! The farmers around us have stuff planted, but fields are flooded from all our rain.
We've got water standing in many of the fields around here. I know that come July we'll be wishing for rain... but I've seen enough to last me a few weeks.
I love this post. I like knowing just what it is farmers have to go through to put food on all our tables. And that's a beautiful shot of Granddad's headstone. Hope you got the rest of the hay in without too much fuss!
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