March has arrived which means April is just around the corner. April means planting. Probably. We still have plenty of jobs to keep us occupied in the meantime, but good weather will arrive soon I hope. I can’t wait to see what our cover crops do once the temperature rises and the sun comes out!
Refueling
The fuel man stopped by this week with a delivery. We take two types of diesel. One for the trucks and one for the tractors. Truck fuel has road taxes, tractor fuel does not.
Filter It
The 7920 tractor is washed, waxed, and pretty well cleaned up. This week it was time to change the fuel filters. Two filters are on this system. They are the black cylinders. This tractor is the most “fun” to do because the frame for the the loader bucket is right in front of the filters. Not to mention the tire and fender. The only thing missing from this picture is me and some tools squeezed in there trying to remove them without making a big diesel mess.
Snow!
We finally got some decent snow. Maybe around six inches. I love snow and driving in snow. The stuff only stuck around a few days, but it’s probably the best snowfall we’ve had in two years.
Snow Bank
I grabbed this shot while climbing down the embankment to get something out of the ditch. Looks like the wind favored placing most of the snow on the West side!
Gone Shopping
And this is why I climbed down into the ditch. I noticed one wheel of this cart sticking out of the water a few months ago right where our new drain tile line dumps into the ditch. It probably wasn’t bothering much, but I think it’s better off heading to town with a load of scrap. Or maybe we could make use of it in the shop! One odd thing. As I wrapped a chain around the frame of the cart I put my bare hand completely under water. It didn’t feel cold at all. Cool but not freezing cold. I wonder if the water coming through the drain line is a little warmer for some reason. Hmmmmm.
Hot Buns
Previous “Farm Week” posts showed the burned out heating elements in the seat of my truck. I replaced both of them this week and have a warm backside again. A good thing for a leather-seated truck that sleeps outdoors.
Road Trip!
A 300 mile round trip down South to Seymour, Indiana netted us a new piece of equipment.
New Toy
This is what we retrieved from Seymour. A John Deere 275 disc mower. We’ll see how we like mowing roadsides with this attached to the 4630. The comparatively huge 7920 with front heavy loader causing a bumpy ride and wide dual wheels along with our batwing mower can make mowing along the road quite a chore at times. With the offset disc mower and the much smaller 4630 with single rear tires we ought to be able to stay to the right side of the road. The motorcycles belong to my brother-in-law and the cabinets are from the house we are tearing down. Our hired man is going to make use of them in his garage.
What did you do this week?
Did you about about taking the duals off of the 170hp 7920?
Nah. Not worth the hassle I guess. If this new mowing deal works out, and we buy a newer, nicer backhoe than the one we have now the 7920 may run out of jobs to do. It doesn’t do any fieldwork to speak of, and it’s now powerful enough to keep up with the combine pulling the grain cart. Won’t even have a chance this fall going to a 12 row head from an 8 row. The 7920 and 8420 may turn into one R series by the end of the year.
A) Sure seems like somebody went to a lot of trouble to where a shopping cart ends up in your ditch…
B) Can the fuel guy deliver both dyed (tractor diesel) and un-dyed (truck diesel) fuel with one trip? And, have you ever seen the revenue guys testing the fuel in people’s trucks at any sort of ag event?
A) Some people think of wide open areas as their garbage can. I pulled a microwave out on the other side of the road last week.
B) Yes and no. We keep it honest though.
Makes you mad when all the crap gets dumped on your road side i often check it for some form of identifaction see if I could deliever it back to the offender