We are gearing up for harvest in this week’s farm pictures. We are still maybe two weeks away from harvest, but we have a lot of prepping to do between now and then. One thing we will need before harvest is a combine and a head to cut soybeans with. You might recall we traded for a newer combine and bought a brand new head as well. Both of those items are still at the dealer, but I’m confident they’ll be ready when we are.
Soybean Senescence
This is the first field of soybeans we planted in the spring. Nearly all the leaves have turned not just yellow but brown already. It should be noted this particular field is one to show signs of being dry earlier than most. Remember the very wet spring we had? Well summer decided to close out with the driest August since 1960! So even though we planted a little late the hot and dry end to August speed up the maturity process. A good August rain is just what soybeans need to push yield. I’m not sure they’re hurt very bad, but more bushels is always nice. Don’t worry though because we are certainly much better off than the drought of 2012.
Here we have the last soybeans we planted. These are our double crops that we planted right behind wheat harvest. You can still see the wheat straw on the ground in this picture. Our double crop was planted almost two months after our regular soybean crop. A risky venture planting so late, but if it works these could be our most profitable 2013 acres. These soybeans will benefit from the decent rain we had earlier in the week.
Brand new John Deere!
Say hi to the newest member of the team our 8360R! This is actually the first brand new tractor we’ve bought in quite a while. All the others you’ve seen me post so far we bought used. Maybe only slightly used, but not brand new. This is also our first R series and so far I’m impressed. The quiet and comfort of the cab lives up to the hype from what I’ve seen. The active steering feature is nice too. The steering wheel turns nice and easy at low speeds in the barn lot or in a field, but when you are going fast down the road the steering tightens up so you don’t have to correct it very much. The IVT transmission allows me to run full speed at 26mph at only 1400RPM. The 7920 we traded had a similar trans. Our 8420 on the other hand would be running over 2000RPM at full throttle to run full road speed. Low RPM means less fuel used on the road! Like our 8420 this tractor has independent front suspension and dual wheels front and rear. This tractor will get hooked up to our vertical tillage tool for fall. With 360hp it has the power to do some tillage for sure. If we like it enough for that there’s a chance we’ll trade our other two tractors for a twin to this one. We’ll see. It has the same horsepower at our 9320, but not quite the overall weight and traction. We aren’t ready to part with the big 4WD just yet. Time will tell!
The 8360R (pronounced eight three sixty R) meeting its new friends.
Think our son likes the new wheels?
Truckin’
We went to the local sign shop and branded the new (to us) Freightliner as our own. We are keeping but retiring our old ’70s model IH 4070. We didn’t use it often except to keep the combine moving during popcorn harvest when we are hauling grain two hours from the farm.
In other truck news, my truck got an oil change at 265,000 miles. FYI it flawlessly pulled a 27′ camper trailer to Kansas City and back over 1300 miles last weekend. Not too shabby.
Keep it Clean
At least all the chrome and stainless steel on all the trucks is polished. Excuse my dirty fingernails if we meet over the next few days. We were out of latex gloves.
Harvest pictures are coming! I promise it will get here soon enough!
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I think the first John Deere tractors to get an IVT was the 7710/7810 in 2002.The 8530 in 2005 I think was the first big John Deere to get the IVT as standard equipment.We call it the 8360R.Was looking at one @ Tri Grren Tractor in Flora yesterday.Its got 15 less engine then the 9320.Mayb e 9330 or 9430 is in your future.You took a big leap up from the 7920 up to the current 8360R
What we really did was double up on row crops. We didn’t really count the 7920 as that because it never really did field work. Loader work mostly and mowing. But we got a more reliable backhoe and a 4630 for mowing so the 7920 was running out of jobs. It doesn’t have enough power to even keep the grain cart on pace with the combine. Another option is the 8420 could become an 8285R or 335.