Bean Harvest has started ... FINALLY !

Some years we are done with all beans but double crop by now.  We have been driving around looking ... and looking ... and all the sudden WOW ! Those changed overnight! So we started Wednesday afternoon.

First problem: We were expecting to go to milo before beans. So we had to make some combine and head adjustments and clean out the corn from the combine.  Milo screens out well in processing.  Corn does not. So I got up in the combine with a leaf blower and a shop vac and cleaned for a while.

We finally got to the field. Beans ranged from 12.3% to "boy those are green" in the same field.

Once we got the field done we had a new problem.  Almost all our beans are seed production. That means we need to put them in a bin. The problem is we haven't actually used our new toy, yet. Since seed beans are very quality sensitive there is a benefit to using a conveyor instead of an auger. But you can't dump a hopper bottom in our conveyor. This Spring I talked to Chris PIne at Yargus Manufacturing (LAYCO if you're an old guy like me)  and bought a reconditioned unloader. 

We were a bit different than their usual customer.  We wanted hydraulic drive instead of electric.  They said if we would run the hoses that was no problem. So after a trip to see Steve Shawler at West Union Hydraulics last week we were ready to go.

 

It's a bit of a hassle, because you have to pull the truck up and then roll the unloader under it.

But it works and was about $10,000 less than a drive over.  So we have beans in the bin and the only auger that touched them was in the combine.

Now we are all ready to go and ... yep, beans are still too green everywhere else.