Frustrating times during harvest

[Suey73]

We seem to having lots of breakdowns and  you know what happening around here.

 3 Months ago we ordered new floor augers for our  30'  corn dryer bin.    For the past 3 weeks the manufacturer has been promising to get them closer to us than 3 hours one way.   Finally on  Tuesday they admitted they couldn't.   So part time employee drove a pickup 3 hours one way and longer on the way home.   Yesterday DH gets ready to install.   Both augers should be  "hard surfaced"  After numerous e-mails and phone calls,  "yes,  one is not hard surfaced"   Go ahead and install and we'll warranty the augers at the end of harvest if need be.   Go to install....  they are 3 and 3/8" too long.    Return e-mail  the augers have been this long since 1976!  Bin is around 1980!   Put old ones back in to combine corn.    Combine is loosing power.  

We measure our 30" diameter bin to find out it is only 29'6".   Our newer 30" bin is 29'9".    We truely believe that the salesman that sold us the older bin found a sucker to buy this non standard bin... didn't tell us... had redid the floor augers without telling us.   We heard that this salesman was fired from the company many years ago for constantly lying to make or keep a sale. 

Combine is probably the fuel filter.   Yes,  they have in stock,  just be sure and bring serial number of combine to be sure we give  you the right one.    In the middle of changing Tom finds out they gave him the WRONG  fuel filter.  It is noon,  the combine is setting outside, no fuel filter and we might get hit with the tail end of a shower!    He is in route smelling of diesel fuel  to get the right one.  I wouldn't want to be the parts guy that got this wrong right now.  

So I'm sitting here on pins and needles and wondering what I could do to make it better.    What we need is  good rain for rain timeout.    Some serious rain is just 5 - 8 miles north of us.   In fact he'll drive through some on way to get the correct fuel filter. 

[Kay/NC]

My vote for making things better would be to make a good, but potentially easily pirtable supper. People tend to react better if they aren't hungry on top of being cranky.

The non-standard bin is a bite. Hoping the comine is fixed with something as a fuel filter. Parts guys must not be what they used yo be...then again, some of them never were but so good, even way back when.

My crowd got done with getting hay up last week. Just loading-hauling to buyers, and that can be paced out over time, generally. The flock has been reduced to just enough head to keep the guardian dogs occupied, so o more hauling them to sale barn.

Mike has the lagoons in good shape, which is great with tropical storms forming. He says he wants to see what reseeds itself in spits on the soeayfields, before committing to very many sacks of seed for fall planting...as long as the ground is green, we are good to go.

We both have so e hours of permit documents to finalize. I have sworn mine will be done thos weekend. Good waste of some glorious weather...do, maybe early in the week, when rain is firecast everywhere.

All I could do last few weeks, while they were doing the normal fall cutting and then the acres usually left gor the sheep to graze, too, was keep Winn as happy as possible, and make sure they all ate, had clean clothes, and I didn't ask for any help anywhere. Sometimes, it's what you don't do that actually helps them the most.

[Ruby Lou]

I feel for you Suey.  Don't know what to say or do.  I guess if it were me, I would stay on the quiet side!!!! I have tried to suggest things only to get shot down.   It is no fun running up and down the road for parts.  I think DH went 45 miles one way, twice in one day and two or three times once a day that week trying to get the right parts for combine/corn hear/bean platform.  Hope things go well for us.  we put a bit of money in the combine to update it and got a differant platform and new corn head (cringe). Thank goodness we don't have to do like the people that farm the field right next to us and come at 10 p.m. at night and make a gate hole bigger so their new 40ft heads will fit through it.  We thought they were coming to combine since that is what time they usually come in.  We have some bin floors that need redone and or put in.  still have a few cement floors to contend with.  Hmm, I wonder what size the auger is that we took out of a bin that we bought and tore down...

[Suey73]

Life is looking somewhat better.  He is out checking the grain dryer right now.  Plus,  will get up and check at least once more tonight.   Got the combine running again at about 2 PM.  Decided he needed more corn to keep the dryer running so at 6PM  we left to go open up another field 2 miles away.   Real thankful that the neighbor's field was already done.   When you have nice field neighbors they don't go bonkers if you turn a couple  times in their field  when opening up.    Of course they should be nice.   Their 80 acres had serious  rootworm damage  so does our corn closest to them.    Tom says that the yield gets better further over in the field. 

No need to go to Friday night football.  It was Homecoming but we think it will be a blowout... with our team the loser. 

[wt51015]

It almost pays to have extra parts on hand "just in case" something happens during the busy season. Sorry to hear that you got the bad end of a deal from this salesman. Hopefully he changed his ways, however I have my doubts. 

[Kay/NC]

The stock of repair panels for the hog operation is probably close to worth everything we have furnishing this home. With several different generations of computer controllers in a dozen constantly-working buildings, and necessary components of each, that one small but crucial element alone costs a small fortune.

The haying equipment presents some special challenges...no dealers in the area. It is a three -hour drive one way to our NH dealer. mike tends to keep good stock on that stuff. The kids use our account there, and I think the parts to let them limp through this year were a mere $250! They do need to rebuild the baler's knotting assembly this winter, though.

Mike broke three belts on the big baler this year...one of them got set off in the barn with a bale, so there had to be a hunt for it.

Fun and games..what is it Suey says? If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.