Harvest Time

bearrassler

bearrassler

Well-known member
We sold our real estate and closed our business last November and I planned on taking about 4 or 5 months off and then going back to work but enjoyed it so much that I have had the last 9 months off. I am going to work for a large farmer in the area for the harvest season which is very late in our area this year. I am starting Tuesday morning and it sounds like it will last until about late November which would be just in time for the snowmobile season. He has about 60,000 acres of crop to take off including spring wheat, red potatoes, dry edible beans, sugar beets, soybeans, and corn. I am starting in potatoes and may throw a few pictures up from time to time on how to harvest 60,000 acres in 90 days. Here are a couple of pictures of the trucks and combines in the farm yard getting ready to go.

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D

Deleted member 10829

Guest
Wow, what an operation! That is one heck of a fleet of day cabs and trailers. Share more pics if you can.
 
B

Bradzoo

Active member
Very impressive sounds like you will be pretty busy please post more pics when you can, there's a lot of money sitting there in equipment.

Bradzoo
 
G

G

Guest
I'm sure they have GPS steering on all the field equipment. If they stick you in a tractor a good operator will watch and listen for breakdowns even if you don't have to steer. Even new stuff breaks. If they stick you in a truck make sure to get enough sleep and remember to eat. Most farm accidents happen due to being in a hurry or lack of sleep. Biggest truck worry is field crossings. Very easy to tip over. Not all field crossings are the same width. Best to mark edges of field crossings with reflective sticks. MacMartins are a good operation but remember that a 60000 acre harvest is not a race. Be careful.
 
bearrassler

bearrassler

Well-known member
Well I have been at it for 6 days now and it is quite interesting, I started in potatoes, the first day driving semi to the St Thomas farm about 60 miles northwest of Grand Forks and hauling them to Buxton, ND about 20 miles south of Grand Forks, Wednesday thru Saturday we did a field just south of Grand Forks and hauled them to Buxton. I knew potatoes were labor intensive but it is even more than I thought. We had 8 field trucks hauling from the field to the yard, two harvesters, and a windrower in the field, in the yard we had two clodhoppers separating the dirt from the potatoes, and two loaders loading 6 semis, line workers and a foreman, I think about 35 people total and it took 4 days to do 150 acres, we did have short days due to warm temps and rain one day, but I helped with wheat Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, and today and it looks like it takes about two hours to move into a quarter (a little less than 160 acres) until it is done. With 7 combines, 2 grain carts pulled by Quadratracks, and up to 20 Semis it goes fast, the slowest thing is waiting in line at the grain elevator, here are a couple of pictures of the Potato yard in St Thomas and a couple of the grain harvest on Saturday.

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D

Deleted member 10829

Guest
Interesting stuff! Thanks for the update and keep them coming.
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
For some reason, I'm suddenly in the mood for a big plate of hash browns.

How does the re-fueling process work for all that equipment?
 
D

Deleted member 10829

Guest
I'm no expert, but I'd bet an operation of that size has it's own fuel truck or trucks that makes the rounds. I'm sure they also have a mobile service truck that handles most repairs and general maintenance.
 
bearrassler

bearrassler

Well-known member
skiroule said:
For some reason, I'm suddenly in the mood for a big plate of hash browns.

How does the re-fueling process work for all that equipment?
Click to expand...

Here is a picture of a potato bin, when full it holds 2,100,000 pounds of potatoes and we have filled a few bins already. I think we are about 10% done in spuds.

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We have a fuel station at both the Grand Forks and Saint Thomas farms and refuel the trucks every day. If the equipment is in the yard they refuel but there is also a fuel truck at both farms for fueling in the field. They have a few service trucks and I noticed that when we were combining wheat there was a service truck in the field at all times. The standard maintenance is done before and after harvest by employees but almost all of the equipment is also under warranty if there is a major problem. Most of the equipment is new every year, the trucks are on a two to three year rotation. The wheat harvest is getting close to done already, I think we took off 8 to 9000 acres of wheat in the last 7 days.
 
M

m8man

Moderator
wow, that is awesome... I love the farming pics.....working on a farm was my first real job.....made a man out of me.....

keep em coming.
 
F

frosty

Member
Does the guy you work for own the farms or just contracted for harvesting by other farmers?

keep the pics coming, its very cool to see how this truly done each year. I like big tonka tools!
 
bearrassler

bearrassler

Well-known member
We are caught up so they gave us the weekend off. They said we will hit potatoes hard Monday morning in both Grand Forks and St Thomas. The weather has been OK, we have been stopped a few times because it was to warm on potatoes but then we just went and got a hopper bottom and helped with wheat. We have had a few rain showers but the farm is so spread out (a few fields touch Canada and the farthest ones south are south of Fargo. a stretch of about 160 0r 170 miles) that if it rains in one field there are other ones ready to go somewhere else. The wheat should finish up in the next few days and the navy beans are about ready to go. The whole farm is planted, sprayed, and harvested by his employees, he does not do custom work. Most of the land is cash rented though, he does not own very much of it.
 
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