The tail end of January has mostly consisted of moving sold grain off the farm and to some of the different places we market our crops. Corn and soybean prices recovered some so we sold some of our stored crop and have been spending our days getting it delivered.
One of the seed companies we grow soybeans for wanted us to haul in all the remaining seed we had in storage for them so that bin was emptied. It took a little extra effort because the grain leg at our second storage site had an electric motor go bad. Weather didn’t permit climbing the leg to replace the motor so we used a belt auger from the seed company to unload the bin. A slower process to be sure, but we managed to get all their seed in to the plant.
I made two new videos this week to showcase our grain hauling. The first one shows how we load trucks before they hit the road.
Dad and Grandpa checked tires on our auger before we hauled it several miles to our other grain storage site. We sold some soybeans after the seed bin was emptied, and with the leg still down for the count we had to move this auger over there. It normally stays at the home grain bins, but this day it had to make a road trip.
Every load of grain we haul is inspected upon arrival at its destination. Just about every grain terminal has a hydraulic grain probe like the one seen here. A sample is pulled from both the front and rear hoppers. The grain is tested and screened for moisture, damage, bugs, foreign material, and other factors that affect the final sale price.
In the video below you can ride along with me via my GoPro mounted on the truck as I drive from home to one of our delivery points and back home again.
One of our trucks developed a leaking heater hose. Upon inspection we found two hoses that were not in great shape so we replaced them with some hose we had on hand. A greasy job, but a fairly simple repair.
One day I had a clean truck. Then I drove down a thawed gravel road that felt more like driving through snow drifts. Gravel road can get soft spots that blow out under the weight of a vehicle. So I went from nice and white to a lovely two tone look. Keeping a farm truck clean for very long isn’t easy.
I also like to keep my white pickup clean, but our lane is a half mile out to the blacktop. Frozen winter days are easier than squishy thawed ones, don’t you think?
Yeah. It’s fun driving along thinking the road is frozen and then suddenly it just goes to mush.
It’s the difference between country trucks and city trucks
Solid.
Thanks, lady.
I like the video camera attached to the truck. That was a great video. Well done!
Thanks, Matt. I’m always looking for new places to mount the GoPro.