tough year to get my beans

ricb · Jan 13, 2014

As I was combining some more beans today(yes today jan 13) I was thinking about what a tough year it has been to get my beans in. I think I started to combine on october 17 and I'm not done yet. Still have about 90 acres to get. Some were flooded and washedout bad in the summer. the ones i did on Christmas day were still 50 bushel beans. As the days get marked off the calender they are yielding much less. About 20 bushel today. I have learned a few things about a late harvest. 1st. something that takes a day in the fall takes two weeks now. have been working on the same 50 acres since Crhistmas. (just 2 days but still.....)2nd. knife guards break easier on frozen ground than on rocks. 3rd. even the simplest breakdown becomes super complicated when your fingers freeze instantly. Ect.ect.
The pics are from one of the first day of combining and about sums it up.

retired farmer · Jan 13, 2014

If you walk out in the field first, you can tell whether it is to muddy to drive out in.

rmf1066 · Jan 13, 2014

I can't read the numbers on your combine what size is it.

ricb · Jan 13, 2014

it is a 9550 sidehill machine. This happened after dark and I could tell I was on barrowed time but tried to make that one last pass... Just the way the year has gone.

el6147 · Jan 13, 2014

sighn of the times , equipment gets bigger so we can harvest more acres in less time so we can make more money to pay for bigger equipment to harvest more .....

fixerupper · Jan 13, 2014

We have those who will tell you that you should have done this or that but sometimes the mud just swallows you with no warning. You have been through he!! trying to save a dwindling crop and you are at the point where you have to take chances. I hope you can salvage what"s left. Good luck to you. Jim

tomturkey · Jan 13, 2014

always seems to be that one spot that you did not walk on. It looked just like the rest of the field, but once you "IN' its too late. BTDT like most of us gobble

gtractorfan · Jan 13, 2014

wouldn't it be possible to rent a set of floater tires from a dealer or neighbor?

dbNga · Jan 13, 2014

I've never been in that situation so I am curious: Just how much stress can the combine take being pulled like that? Can the steering axle ever been damaged? Can the 8 wheel tractor damage the 6 wheel if the 6 wheel tractor is in the middle like that?
Growing up we dug our tractor by hand shovel, we had to look down at a Super Dexta once. Thx.

504 · Jan 13, 2014

Advice you did not ask for, run a cable from the front axle to the back on so you have some place to pull. Just tie it up and leave it there. I have seen several rear axles and frames torn out doing what you are doing. BTDT

JD Seller · Jan 13, 2014

504:
On the Newer JD combine they have a tow eye mounted right on the back of the main frame that goes through the rear axle pivot. Where he is hooked is attached directly to the main frame of the combine. So there is no need for any cables or anything like on the older machines.

JD Seller · Jan 13, 2014

This would be a year that rear wheel drive would have paid for itself. Not many of the guys around here will pay for it either but I have had it on every machine I have owned since the mid 1980s. There are many times I can stay on the side hills when the others have to quit or hunt more level ground. Many times I can run in a soft field without a mark where a machine without rear wheel drive cuts ruts.

I under stand the frustration of a hard/long harvest year. I have had some years in the past where you think your never going to get done.

ih_bug · Jan 13, 2014

yes the middle tractor could be pulled in two if he hooked on the front and back. i expect he is pulling right from the combine under the middle tractor to the front one with a second chain. hope that makes sense? same idea as running the cable to the front axle of the combine.

samn40 · Jan 14, 2014

The man that never got stuck driving a tractor or combine did not do much driving!....Or else he farmed on a rock!
I hope you get your crop salvaged.......Sam

Haley · Jan 14, 2014

I feel for you.Cutting in those conditions can be brutal on your nerves.Any time I am cutting on boggy ground I stay super stressed out and cant wait for the day to end so I can go home and relax.You never know what will happen in conditions like that.

keh · Jan 14, 2014

Tough luck. BTDT on a much smaller scale. There can be a "wet weather spring" situation that comes up in just one spot unexpectably. I notice you have the lugs on the rear wheels reversed, presumably to help in those situations. One local guy reversed the tread on his combine tires(no4wd) on the theory that he would spin out before getting deep into a wet spot and since the tread was reversed, he would have more traction to back out.

KEH

PJH · Jan 14, 2014

I've walked some places that I "thought" I could get through, and found out I was wrong.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 14, 2014

that really does work , we always pull from drive axles ,, unlees combine engineering has chanfed dramatically ,, that deer guy is gonnaphuk up some green stuff hookin to the rear axle ..

Anonymous-0 · Jan 14, 2014

I still have 28 ac of beans out. try to get them sat,3 nites of 18 for a low will help. wont take long if I can get the combine in the field.

ricb · Jan 14, 2014

There is a tow hook on the top of the axle, just for these situations. Straight from the manufacturer. This combine does not have 4x4 part of the reason I got in so deep.

ricb · Jan 14, 2014

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement guys! The reason for the two tractors was the closest one couldn't get enough traction to pull er free. It didn't come out all that hard once we got traction. I've been stuck worse but not with a combine. I want to put 4wd unit under it but the side hill option was more important with the hills we farm. Sometimes you have to weigh your options when you can't afford new. I'll chalk it up to another frustrating adventure!!!

nybadlybent · Jan 14, 2014

I see you have a lot of comments on your sticky situation. I had a lot of fun getting my corn off this year because of the mud. My combine has a mud hog and I was still having problems getting stuck. We do what we have to do and no one should be faulted for trying.
Your combine is newer that mine so I know it has a place to hook on the rear to help get unstuck.

I will give you some advice about combining in the mud.

First go as fast as you can and still harvest your crop even if this means not taking in a full width cut. When the machine begins to lose traction stop right then. Do not try to get out without help. Spinning the wheels and digging yourself in will just make it tougher to get out. When the pulling tractor is ready to pull you out put your combine in the same gear that you would be using while combining but of course in reverse. Slow down the engine RPMs if you can and time the combines attempt to get out with the pulling tractor. In other word start together.
Be sure you have someone watch and guide you so that you don't back into the pulling tractor.
Cross your fingers and pray...

ANYONE CAN GET STUCK..

tough year to get my beans

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