2018 Harvest

[85_Ranger4x4]

Its been a long dragged out harvest, finally got to my patch. Really wet but we knocked out about 3/4 of it tonight. Supposed to rain/snow for a week... whatever.

Anyway, cockpit view of dad's combine, 1978 John Deere 6600.



Still pretty tacky out:



First casualty, sickle driver bolts:



They drive the sickle that cuts the crop, kinda important. Easy fix though.



Can't go uphill:



Later got to a point we couldn't go across it either which is why we didn't knock it all out tonight. The back end slides out from under the combine so you end up kind of crab crawling along, it isn't really meant to work that way and it is hard on things.

First dump:



Second dump:



Now it gets good, the epic sunset that just wouldn't quit. I love a good sunset.











The last dump:









The soybeans are not looking real great, dry all year until September and then just keeps raining. They are dry so the pods shatter when the combine even gets close to them and dump beans out. Storms have blown them down in places so it is hard to get them with the combine. Stupid muddy everywhere for the combine to even get thru. And prices are craptacular to boot.

Oh well, fun to play with big boy toys on my little 7 acre patch. Knocking on wood mechanical issues have been minor, sickle driver bolts and for whatever reason my tractor isn't charging so I couldn't haul in tonight.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

The wobble boxes are always problematic on these old machines.



GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The wobble boxes are always problematic on these old machines.



GB

Yeah, they do a lot and are on the leading edge so they catch everything too. I sell a lot of parts related to them. It doesn't help this platform was worked hard and put away wet either.

 

[adsm08]

That JD steering wheel would look good in your Ranger.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

That JD steering wheel would look good in your Ranger.

So would the 404

She's a little cold blooded but dang does it sound good.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Tried it again last Friday:

This is a video, gotta click on it to see it:



You can see how much dad is working it trying to keep it going where it needs to go. Brakes, steering and header height, governor on the engine is right there pitching in as needed (I don't think I caught it on video though)

Another video, not a whole lot of beans for the effort:



'tis a little tacky



It is unnerving when a 15k+ combine is sliding sideways down a hill.





Didn't mess with the tractor, hauled in our 16.6bu bounty with the pickup. We are done until the ground freezes.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Great photos