Saturday September 20th - Left at daybreak for Hydro Oklahoma. One of Duane's trucks had trouble so it was just 3 house trailers and one semi, so we made good time. Arrived at about 6 pm, total miles from Hamer Idaho was 1300. It was fun coming back through alot of the towns we spent time working in.

Sunday September 21st - Daune's guys wanted to wait till he got back, so we didn't leave for Nebraska till about 830 that night. Kurk drove all night up to Seward NE which was about 500 miles. The other two of us slept so we could drive in the morning.

Monday September 22nd - Left Seward NE at daybreak and ran hard all day to some town, that I can't remember how to spell, just east of Chicago IL. I was driving the 53 ft with the tractor and grain cart. the only other truck left to go home was one with a combine. They were both 12 ft wide. It was interesting coming through Chicago with a wide load.

Tuesday September 23rd - Left at daybreak again. Hoped to make it home but got about an hour away when it got dark on us, so we parked the trucks and drove the pickup home. It was really fun coming back into PA and starting to reconize places and seeing the tomato trucks rolling on 11-15. The corn also got just a bit bigger since I last saw it peaking through the ground. The smells of hogs, cows, and chickens also remined us that we really were back home. I got back on the Charles Farm around 9 pm.

Well now that my journey has come to an end I want to thank all of you for following along as I ran around in the huge western part of our country. It was a great expirence seeing how farmers farm in the different areas we worked in. Hopfully I provided a little window for you all to look through to see what life is like on the wheat harvest.

Monday September 15th - Split up the combines to finish up by Tuesday night. I ran cart all day. The truck I had been driving all summer left for home with one of the combines.

Tuesday September 16th - Finished cutting today!!!! No more wheat, hard to believe.

Wednesday September 17th - Loaded up what we could. The local case dealer has some interest in the combines so we can’t load them up till we hear from them.

Thursday September 18th - They didn’t want the combines so we loaded them up, which consisted in taking all the tires off the combines so they would be under 12 ft wide. Got everything loaded up and left by 3 pm. I was driving the Duramax w/the 45 ft house trailer which is going to Hydro Oklahoma. I am them comeing back up to Nebraska to drive a truck in to Pa. Got about 180 miles to the town of Pinedale WY.

Friday September 19th - Left at day break. Spilt midway through the day at Kimball NE. I went with Salgells to Holyoke CO. Drove about 550 miles today.

Tuesday September 9th - Well I got two more tractors to ad to the list which is now up to 12. A 2008 John Deere 8530 with the front suspension, IVT tranny, leather seat that was all automatic and rode really nice. It was like cadilac in the tractor world. All said and done it cost the farmer 240,000 dollars to buy. I must say that was the best tractor I ran, JD has Case beat this time. The other one was another MX 285. So I ran cart all day and then at about 9 at night us trucker got to go load our trucks for the Falls, so its back to trucking for me. We have two machines back on Larsens wheat so that is why we get to truck again.


I put a bunch more pics up, check em out.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28749&l=104d1&id=618059555

Tuesday August 26th - Hauled loads to the Falls and spent the night there to be the first in line. 3 loads=2,453 bu. Total=56 loads=51,367 bu.

Wednesday August 27th - Finished up with Larson’s winter wheat and moved the combines to several different farms. 3 loads=1995 bu. Total=56 loads=53,362 bu.

Thursday August 28th - Ran grain cart all day. Got too drive a MX285, pretty nice tractor.

Friday August 29th - Ran cart again all day.

Saturday August 30th - Ran cart again.

Sunday August 31st - Went to church and had a fellowship meal there. Came back, relaxed and then went back into town for the evening.

Monday September 1st - Rained overnight so we puttzed around the trailers all day. Watched movies and played card games. Actually had off on Labor Day, imagine that.

Tuesday September 2nd - Still didn’t dry out enough to cut so got the combines ready to roll and that’s about it.

Wednesday September 3rd - The two combines I was with got to cutting by 10, the rest didn’t really get going at all. Ran cart for most of the day and then got to run combine for about an hour and half. Actually running the 7010 is pretty easy just knowing all the small adjustments is what takes a little longer to figure out.

Thursday September 4th - Blew out the radiator on my truck and ran some grain cart.

Friday September 5th - Moved to another farmer and then ran grain cart the rest of the day. Was running a John Deere 8420 with tracks on it. That was interesting.

Saturday September 6th - Let the other guys run cart so I just hung around the trailers and went to town for some stuff.

Sunday September 7th - Went to church, Chilies, the mall, Wal-Mart, the trailer, the movie theater, McDonalds, and back to the trailer.

Monday September 8th - Brought the cart back from Rexburg to Hamer and then ran it the rest of the day. The list of tractors I ran this year is up to ten. Case IH 7140, 8950, MX 230, MX 270, 3 different MX 285s, John Deere 8130 w/IVT tranny, 8420 with tracks, and an 8400.

here is a video for ya.

Try these links to some photos. I am having trouble uploading pics on blogger so see if this works. Not sure if its going to work or not so don't get your hopes up.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19486&l=aa49c&id=618059555

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24685&l=b819b&id=618059555

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28749&l=104d1&id=618059555

Tuesday August 19th - Today was not the best. Started the morning at 7 and left for Idaho Falls, came back and Clarks combine broke so Eric went to fix that so I drove the grain cart he was running. The cart has an John Deere tractor hooked to it. I got that all figured out and went to unload and sheared the shear bolt on the auger. Fixed that and tried again and sheared another one, so I cracked the auger, made a mess, fixed it again and then it worked. About two hours later I was still running cart and the pin broke and I no longer had a cart behind me. Clark was there by then to run it so I could take another load so we fixed that up and I hit he road for the Falls. I knew I was about a 1,000 pds over weight so I wasn’t really surprised when the red light came on and I had to stop. Turns out he thought that my max weight was 76,500 and I was 80,000. I was told I was legal to 79,000 so I’m not sure were the mix up was. He didn’t fine me though so I didn’t argue to much about it. Got 2 loads=1,685 bu. Total=36 loads=34,795 bu.

Wednesday August 20th - Left at six for the falls and hauled two loads till ten. On my third load I had a tire blow out on my way back. The cap came off and wrapped up around my bumper taking my mud flap off, two tail lights, and half my license plate. Took a little while to fix everything but we finally got it going again. Hauled two more loads in and then went back down and spent the night in my truck so I could get an early start. 5 loads=4,103 bu. Total= 41 loads=38,898 bu.

Thursday August 21st - Fueled up and was at the elevator by seven. Hauled four loads and took another down for an early start. A few of the combines had trouble so that is why I didn’t have as many loads today. Was waiting to get loads in lines of seven trucks sometimes. 4 loads= 3,350 bu. Total=45 loads=42,248 bu.

Friday August 22nd - For today I really know of anything of any interest which happens when I what till Monday to write about Friday. Got 3 loads=2,468 bu. Total=48 loads=44,716 bu.

Saturday August 23rd - Hauled one load in the morning and then jumped in the grain cart because I was last in line out of our trucks. We it turned out I ran the cart for about 4 hours till someone was available to run the cart. So I only got 2 loads today=1,717 bu. Total=50 loads=46,433 bu.

Sunday August 24th - Went to a different church today, Christ Community Church. Stayed in Idaho Falls till early evening. Went to the mall and caught a movie and then went back to the trailer houses and did basically nothing.

Monday August 25th - Hauled three loads to Idaho Falls. Waited in long lines all day.
3 loads=2,481 bu. Total=53 loads=48,914

Tuesday august 12th - Got to cutting at about 1 pm because there was a heavy dew which is unusual. Hauled three loads to Idaho Falls which is about 40-50 miles away with a scales in between. So when hauling down there we must only load to 80,000 with the short hoppers, longer trucks can haul more. To support three combines there was about nine trucks hauling and two of them were going to some bins about 8 miles away. 3 loads=2,418 bu. Total=9 loads=8,137 bu.

Wednesday August 13th - Found a ripe field and cut for most of the day. Hauled 4 loads to the bins. 4 loads=3962 bu. Total=13 loads=12,099 bu.

Thursday August 14th - Cut wheat. Hauled three loads to Idaho Falls. 3 loads = 2,432 bu. Total = 16 loads=14,531 bu

Friday August 15th - Up and driving to the Falls by six. All five trucks (3 Wolgemuth and 2 Slagell) were loaded the night before so we all went down together. Took another load to the falls and then started hauling to the main complex of the farmers bins. It is six bins that hold 125,000 bushels of grain. The downside to it all is that the leg only takes it away at a rate of 4,500 bushels an hour.
Here is a funny story for ya. As I most likely mentioned before we are in the middle of the dessert so it is all sand, and more sand and well you get the point. Anyway us truckers have to be careful of were we drive because it can get soft mighty quick. So one of us drivers (I won’t say who so as to spare him from the embarrassment) was driving along on a road that wasn’t graded and got stuck on a small knob due to lack of speed. The funny part is that Eric hops in the Chevy Duramax with a chain, hooks up to the 26,000 pd. truck with a 7,000 pd. pickup and pulls him right out. Doesn’t say to much for Peterbilts does it? Well, enough of my blabbing, here are the totals for you. 6 loads=5487 bu. Total=22 loads=12,018 bu.

Saturday August 16th - Got to cutting at about 10 and went till after 10 at night. We are hauling it to the big bins which is about an 8 mile round trip. Got 7 loads=6982 bu. Total = 29 loads= 27,000 bu.

Sunday August 17th - Went to church, ate lunch, went to Wal-Mart, watched a movie, went to a pig roast, goofed off, went to bed. My Sunday in a nutshell.

Monday August 18th - Worked hard all day hauling to the big bins. We are short one guys so the truckers have to run the second grain cart. Give us something to do while we wait for a load. Hauled 6 loads=6110 bu. Total= 35 loads=33110 bu.

I am sorry it took so long to get an update posted but out in the middle of the dessert there isn't any wifi. Right now I am at the elevator in Idaho Falls. The signal is not strong enough for me to put some pics up, but I will as soon as I can. I am going to keep an log of how many loads I haul here in Idaho so for each day I will write the # of loads and bu. and keep an running total.

Sunday July 27th - Went to church in Idaho Falls and dropped Clark off at the airport because he is going to a conference for a week. Went to the worlds first nuclear powered power plant which is no longer in use but a museum. Spent some time in Wal-Mart and watched a movie.

Monday July 28th - Did not do much at all today. Drove around to some different stores for some stuff the guys needed.

Tuesday July 29th - Went to Lava Hot Springs today. It is a Olympic sized swimming pool with a 10 meter high dive and about five different levels below that. Decided to go the mountains tomorrow so Doug and Randall went shopping for food.

Wednesday July 30th - Moved the equipment up to Larson Farms, which is just north of Hamer, Idaho. Left at noon for the mountains, it was about an hour drive up to the cabin in the rocky mountains on state ground. There was no electricity or running water and only two bunk beds, a table, and a wood stove. The cabin was at about 7200 ft up in the Rockies, very beautiful. We cooked all our meals over a open fire.

Thursday July 31st - Got up at daybreak because the beds were nothing but a piece of plywood and I couldn’t sleep for very long at all. Went for a hike up one of the ridges for about an mile, saw two elk and the sun come up, and a bunch of cattle. The ground is leased out to ranchers and they had a ton of cattle out there. It was kind of funny seeing cows out in the woods and up on steep hillsides. The whole group (8 of us) hiked up to a lake back in the mountains, was five miles one way and 2000 ft of elevation to the lake. Needless to say we were all shot till we got back.

Friday August 1st - Left the cabin at about 10 and went into Idaho Falls at 3 and raced go carts. Got some sup at Texas Roadhouse and caught a movie and then picked up Clark at the airport.

Saturday August 2nd - Slept in till 9, the beds in our crew trailer felt like heaven after the plywood bunks in the mountains. Unloaded the header out of the convertible hopper and got that ready to roll. Didn’t do to much in the afternoon and in the evening we went to the sand dunes. Huge piles of sand several hundred feet high in the northeast corner of the valley.

Sunday August 3rd - Went to church and then to a couple’s house from church for lunch. Relaxed the rest of the day.

Monday August 4th - Did maintenance on the trucks and goofed off the rest of the day.

Tuesday August 5th - Went to a camp that a guy from church runs and went canoeing and did some sight seeing in the area. Went up to West Yellowstone for supper. Saw some moose on the river.

Wednesday August 6th - Got everything ready to cut for later in the afternoon. Started cutting at about 2 and cut 4 loads till evening. Took some time to get the combines set up because the wheat up here is a lot larger in grain size and yield. The field was yielding from 80 to 100 bu. Rained in the evening.

Thursday August 7th - Since it rained last night we can’t cut so we didn’t do to much except not much at all. 1 load=999 bu.

Friday August 8th - Finished cutting the circle we started Wednesday and tried to start another circle but it was to wet. We are unloading into bins about 20,000 bu. With a 13in auger so it takes about 10 minutes to unload. 2 loads=1870 bu, total=3 loads=2869 bu.

Saturday August 9th - The only thing we did today was move two combines South about 45 miles so they can cut an 1000 acre job. Three friends from home showed up on their dual sport motorcycles. Took them out to the sand dunes in the evening.

Sunday August 10th - Decided to rent some four wheelers to ride in the dunes so I stayed home from church and rode the dunes with my three friends and when the others got back from church they ran them some. It was a blast, kinda like riding in snow except it was a little firmer.

Monday August 11th - The word on the street was that we would be cutting by noon, well it was 3 till we got going. Nice to be back to work. Hauled 3 loads=2850 bu. Total=6 loads=5719 bu.

Our move through the Rocky Mountains






Lined up at construction south of Hoback Junction.

Wednesday July 23rd - Loaded all the equipment up and did nothing else of any importance.

Thursday July 24th - Went to the rodeo in Cheyenne for the day. It was the largest outdoor rodeo in the country. Loaded up the last machine before dark. Ready to leave in the morning for Idaho.

Friday July 25th - Left at 6:30. We were driving four oversized loads, three combines and the 53ft with two grain carts. The farmer in Idaho supplies tractors for the carts so we left our tractor behind in Kimball. We drove four hundred miles to Boulder Wyoming. Arrived there at about 4 o clock. I kept a log book for the first time in my life, and also went through of scales for the first time. The drive was awesome, pulling a load 14ft wide, 14ft high and 100ft long through the mountains is really sweet. I tried to take some pictures but they don’t really do God’s awesome creation any justice. Stayed at a campground in Boulder for the night. Just a side note, the town of Boulder had 75 residents.

Saturday July 26th - Left at six for Rexburg Idaho. Okay, if I made the mountains of yesterday seem really neat, take that neatness and times it by about 5. We drove right through the Rocky Mountains. We followed the Snake River through the mountains into Hoback Junction and then into Alpine Junction at the Wyoming-Idaho state line. Hoback Junction is just south of Jackson Hole. I can’t really describe who awesome it was. I will try and put some photos up for ya though.
Anyways we arrived in Rexburg at about 11 am. O one more thing. In Idaho all loads over 12 ft wide must have a escort vehicle so for the last hundred miles we had two escort vehicles in front of two of the combines and for the third we made one the pickups pulling the house trailer a escort vehicle.

Here is some more pictures

This is an interesting sprayer I ran across.


A view of the valley we were cutting in.



roading the equipment

This one is for you farmers who know your test weights. Check it out.

These are some pics of our Sunday hike at some state park that I nolonger remeber the name of.

I am guessing that it was 700-800 ft tall, all solid rock.

Us guys on top of the mountain. Left to right. Me, Doug Metzler, Clark Oberholtzer, Chad Kline, and Randell Martin.

Here is a short clip of the setup that we were using to put the wheat in the farmers bins. Eight inch augers, took about 30 min to unload a truck.

Wednesday July 16th - Today we started to bin some wheat. A very slow process but luckily I get the internet there. Don’t remember much else because I am writing this on Saturday.

Thursday July 17th - Went to Cabalas in Sidney (the first every store they had) , and also to Wal-Mart in the morning. Outfitted ourselves with weapons, the kind that only go 250 ft per second. Started cutting at 1 pm and worked fairly late.

Friday July 18th - Started cutting right away and ran all day binning most of it.

Saturday July 19th - Started right away again and only had to bin a load and then the rest went to the elevator. Started hauling into Pine Bluff, a place were the Indians used to run buffalo off the cliff. Worked all day.

Sunday July 20th - Went to a Methodist church and went to the park for the rest of the day.

Monday July 21st - Worked hard all day in an attempt to finish up in Kimball before the rain came. Turns out we got done and the rain was about 2 miles to our north in the evening. Glad to be done.

Tuesday July 22nd - Washed all the trucks and pickups and goofed off the rest of the day.

Here is a short video of some clips I put together of us working. Enjoy.

Thursday July 10th - Got some wifi in the morning and then started cutting after lunch. Cut till 8 when we ran out of wheat again. Got to cut more acres then I thought we would.

Friday July 11th - Started cutting at about 1 pm. Was very hot, over 100, and windy. The wheat tested 15.5 at 11 am and by 1 pm it was down to 11 percent and by the end of the day it was under ten by a good bit. Cut till 11 pm in very good wheat. 50-60 bu. That was running 62 to 65 test weight.

Saturday July 12th - Started cutting right away in the morning and cut till early evening. At about 3 pm I got sent to haul for Eyster Harvesting. They had one of there four machines working by its self and only one truck so the combine would have to wait. So we were loading on the go since there was no grain cart. And our radio channels didn’t match up so I was on my own as to were to drive. Worked till ten for them.

Sunday July 13th - Went to a Methodist Church in morning. Did whatever in the afternoon and then in the evening we hung out with another harvest crew. The local movie theater let us rent the theater out for twenty bucks as long as we provided the movie. So us and several other crews watched a movie in style till about midnight. Much better then having 9 guys inside the crew trailer using a 13 inch tv.

Monday July 14th - Up a 5 to start loading for the move to Kimball Nebraska. Left at about 8:30. It was over 100 miles into the dry and empty Nebraska. I turned right around and went back to Holyoke to get the grain cart. Got back and they were already cutting so started haulin wheat. It is 20-25 miles to the elevator. Put over 500 miles on the truck today. Worked till midnight.

Tuesday July 15th - Up and at it at 7. Finished a 640 acre field that we started last night and roaded the combines several miles to the next field. We are out in the middle of nothing, just fields and more fields in between the big humps of rock. The combine guys were complaining cause they had to cut on hillsides and around rocks. Kansas spoiled everybody. It is nice for a change of scenery though and it makes driving truck fun on the dirt roads. We just have to make sure we don’t fall off the edge of the roads. They are all built up and if a truck got off the edge it would roll and make a royal mess, so passing on some of the smaller roads is a little tricky. The general rule of thumb is that the loaded truck has the right of way, so if your empty you make way for the loaded guy because some of the shoulders can be soft.
We cut till midnight.

Wednesday July 2nd - Left for Burlington CO in the morning, about a 130 miles. Set up the house trailers and then Chad and I headed back to Leoti for the grain cart and tractor.

Thursday July 3rd - Had some free time in the morning and then worked on the equipment in the afternoon. Set the combines in town with the for hire sign in the window. We are out of work till our next job is ready in Holyoke CO.

Friday July 4th - We are staying about a half mile from my brother in laws brothers (Kraig and Janette Weaver) place here in Burlington. Kraig had went on harvest with Eric back in the 90s. Kraig took us prairie dog hunting in the morning. A ton of fun, shot two boxes of shells through the .243 cal rifle. We were shooting at them up to 300 yds away. If we go again I will try and get an video. Went swimming in the afternoon with the Slagell guys. Had a cookout at the Weavers place and then watched fire works in town. Went back to Kraigs place and threw a flaming toilet roll around. Soak a roll of toilet paper in gas and then light and throw around in the dark. It looks really neat and doesn’t hurt if you don’t hang onto it for very long.

Saturday July 5th - Found some work. Cut about 350 acres for a local farmer. Took all day because we had to unload everything and we didn’t get an earily start.

Sunday July 6th - Went to the Weavers church in town. Went swimming and prairie dog hunting the rest of the day till we got rained out.


Tuesday July 8th - Got to cutting by noon and cut to about 8 when we ran out of ripe wheat to cut. We cut a field that averaged 54 bu an acre with test weight of about 62.5 which is pretty good for dry land wheat out here. There are some decent sized elevators out here. Nothing like Hutch but better then most.

Monday July 7th - Loaded everything up and decided to leave for Holyoke Colorado. Was a 90 mile trip so we got everything unloaded by supper.

Wednesday July 9th - Looked at some wheat in the morning and then tried to cut some in the afternoon but was still to wet. It would be nice to be able to have some stuff to cut at all day but what can you do when it doesn’t dry down very fast. We are staying at the fair grounds in Holyoke so there is about 8 different crews here and none of them are working yet. A lot of machinery sitting around this town. Went praire dog hunting in the evening. Were shooting at some dogs at 400 yds.

Friday June 27th - Cut all day and I hauled seven loads. Quit at about 10:30.

Saturday Jun 28th - Rained in morning so we didn’t cut. Moved a machine to the East side of town and Eric and Clark started to cut. The rest of us went into Garden City to the fair grounds where they had Monster trucks and some other redneck things. Got to see two monster trucks upside down.

Sunday June 29th - Went to church and then relaxed in the afternoon. Went to Scott City for supper with the Slagell Sisters as we call them.

Monday June 30th - Cut all day and finished by ten. Went and hung out at the elevators till about 11:30. Got some free hats to add to our collection.

Tuesday July 1st - Did maintenance work and loaded everything up to leave for Colorado in the morning. Very hot, over 100.

I am going to try and give you a little sneek peek into what it is like to haul into Hutch. Some of the pics were taken while driving so you'll just have to look though the buggy windsheild.

Terminal J of ADM. This is the elevator that is a half mile long.



Terminal A of ADM and the trucks backed up. Their unloading was a little slow.



Getting probed. The office were they run the probe is about 200 yards away. The grain is vacumed in the office where it is tested.



Waiting to get weighed in. The red light tells you which pit to unload at. There is and outbound scale for when your done unloading.



Waiting in line to unload.



The veiw while unloading.



Intructions!!!! The light goes green when done unloading and weighed out.



Just like going to the bank!!



The load that I hauled in. This is the 28ft convertible hopper (the one that the slides pull up and the header goes inside).



And the ticket for it.



These are the trailers I pulled to Thomas OK to get the last combine.



And the same trailers all loaded up. Can't see back to much!!



Cutting in flat as a pancake Kansas



And all three mean machines lined up. Total of about 105ft of wheat being cut at once.



Thats all for now. Don't know how much internet I can get at the next stop so it might be awhile before anything new comes up.

Sunday June 22nd - Went to go to church but they had switched their service and Sunday school so we showed up in time for Sunday school. We didn’t stay but went and had an early lunch. Went to the pool in the afternoon and the park in the evening.

Monday June 23rd - Slept in till nine cause it rained a quarter inch overnight. Hauled a load from Sat. into Hutch and then hooked up the combine trailer and the convertible hopper. I headed for Thomas OK to get the other combine that Clark ran that we left there to wrap up what was left to cut. Got there about seven and Clark and I had everything loaded by ten. Not bad for two guys because loading that header into the hopper is kind of a pain.

Tuesday June 24th - Clark and I left at day break for Leodi KS. It was a 300 mile run and when we got there we dropped the hopper and the combine and headed for Mcpherson with the combine trailer. That was a 180 miles. Loaded up the two combines and headers.

Wednesday June 25th - Left at day break again for Leodi. Arrived about noon and unloaded everything and got to cutting. Cut 450 acres till 11:00 pm. Not bad for only starting at about 2 pm. So from Monday noon till Wednesday noon I drove about 1000 miles. I think I saw all there is to see in Kansas to say the least. Were we are cutting now is a flat as its going to get. Driving here there were times when I could see cars coming at me ten miles away if not more.

Thursday June 26th - Made lots of dust today. The roads are terrible dusty, when you pass another truck you can’t see anything for about ten seconds. When the wind dies down the dust just hangs in the sky. It was a big haze tonight over every dirt road and fields where the combines were running. Cut till 8 pm when it rained enough to shut us down for the day.

Here is a bunch of photos for ya.

Taking over a fuel station.






The natural gas well we went to.









the cat engines making power for everything.






Some pics from the top of the elevator in Thomas OK.

The town of Thomas. If you look close you can see two elevators on the far side of town.





Looking down from the top of the leg. There is a pipe that moves around and directs the grain into the proper hole.

Which then goes down these pipes and into the concrete silos.

The top of the leg

Friday June 20th - Ok I was wrong. The elevator is actually a half mile long. It was unbelievable today. There is three ADM elevators and one Cargill elevator and about three of four other elevators that I haven’t hauled into. The last load today I took to ADM’s Terminal I. I pull in and there is a double line of trucks lined up to be probed. They have one automatic probe and trucks pull on each side of it and while its probing you there is a system, just like at the bank drive through, that you send your paper in with all your info. Then you pull around to the pits, there are 3, I got sent to pits 1 or 2. They are right beside each other so it was a double line of trucks waiting there to unload. When done unloading they send your ticket out to you through a tube. The only time you must get out of your truck is to untarp and retarp your trailer. You never even talk to anybody.

Saturday June 21st - Spent the day hauling into Hutchinson and being amazed by the amount of volume that is put though the elevators. Today their was a total of 9 pits running at four differen elevators and each pit could unload a truck in about 5-8 minutes on average. About 100 trucks an hour were unloading at four elevators. I also found out today that the half mile elevator holds 18.2 million bushels. That is about 20,000 truck loads for just one place. Their is at least seven elevators in town so sometimes it seems there is more semis on the road then there is cars. We cut till midnight.

Wednesday June 18th - The plan was to leave at daybreak but that changed when Eric calls (at 5:30 in the morning) one of the farmers in KS and finds out it rained during the night so we stayed in Thomas. Went to the pool in the afternoon and then Eric found some wheat that was fit SO we unloaded the combines and went and cut till midnight.

Thursday June 19th - Got up early and loaded up the combines and left for KS. FINALLY. It was about a 250 mile drive to McPherson and I drove the 97 Pete with the grain cart on the 53ft trailer. Along the way there was a place were all the electric poles were blown over, there wires were laying in the fields. These were the big tall pole and some were even snapped off up 20ft.
Arrived, unloaded, and started cutting. Cut six loads till the elevators were closed at 8:00 pm. The harvest hasn’t really started here so some elevators aren’t even open yet.
Hauled on load into what is supposedly the worlds largest elevator. One row of concrete silos stretches for a good quarter mile and another set is about 2/3 that big.

Some pictures of the combines stuck in the mud.

Saturday June 7th - I worked on a truck’s a/c compressor and other thing till noon. Hauled a few loads and then loaded up all the equipment till dark. We are done in Texas.

Sunday June 8th - Left for Thomas Ok at 7:30 am and arrived at about 11:00. Relaxed rest of day and headed to town in the evening for some supper. Came back and watched a movie.

Monday June 9th - Rain 4 inches early morning, water was running every where. Made a mud mess in the yard where we were parked unloading the equipment. Did main. on the combines.

Tuesday June 10th - Hauled wheat about 50 miles for the local elevator all day. Hauled six loads. Nice to have something to do while we aren’t cutting.

Wednesday June 11th - Hauled two more loads for the elevator till noon and then headed for the field. Started cutting about 2 pm and it went good till about midnight when one combine got stuck in mud up to his axles and the other machine went over to help and he hit a soft spot and his one wheel sunk to just about the top of the rim. We called it night and will worry about them in the morning.

Thursday June 12th - Pulled the combines out with a big John Deere versatile tractor and started cutting. Hauled 8 loads which is 8000 bushels and worth about 50-60 thousand dollars. The elevators put millions of dollars of wheat through their setups.

Friday June 13th - Cut all day and quit at about 11 because it got tough.

Saturday June 14th - Didn’t start cutting till about noon because it gave a good dew overnight. Cut till 12:30 and called it a day.

Sunday June 15th - Went to a Methodist church and went in to the city (Oklahoma City) for lunch and to meet up with the new guy, Chad. Went to a church picnic for supper.

Monday June 16th - Rained last night so we didn’t start cutting till after noon and then got rained out about 4. Hauled for the local elevator for the rest of the day.

Tuesday June 17th - Rained again last night. Decided to load up and move to Kansas in the morning so we gave every thing a bath and got it loaded up by late afternoon. Went to the local elevator were got to know the guys that worked there. Went up the man lift to the top (125 ft) and saw how things are done. Then we went to an drilling rig which was drilling for natural gas. They were at about 7200 ft and were going to drill to 11,700 ft. They drill a 7 1/8 in. hole and can drill about 600-700 ft per day. Went to Weatherford for supper.

Thursday June 5th - Worked all day and at about 8 pm we got rained out by a thunder storm. I was right in town and at one point I couldn’t see more then 20 feet it was raining that hard. There was water running every were, but it only rained about a half inch, just came in a couple of minutes. It was said that the storm was moving at about 60-70 mph, so it was also very windy.

Friday June 6th - We would have finished up today if it hadn’t rained, so now we hope to knock it out Sat. Cut all day and chased wild pigs with the grain cart, couldn’t shoot them cause the land was leased out for hunting and the farmer didn’t want to get in trouble, needless to say the pigs are a bit faster the tractor. It was fun though. Worked till midnight.

Loading trucks

Up close

A crew of John Deers working in the field beside us

Us and Slagells crew working

Dirt roads of Texas. Very dusty.