Why are you digging a hole in the middle of the cornfield ...

 AND WHY ARE YOU PUTTING THAT IN IT?

Well, if you look closely in the first picture you see an irrigator about 1/4 mile away.  The neighbors are generously selling me water from it.  You might also notice that big aluminum tree in the field.  They REALLY don't want their lawn sprinkler to run into that tree.

We're putting in a stop.  The system has a switch on an arm that will shut down or reverse the system when tripped. And if it doesn't this I-beam should stop it physically.

Here is how long it was carrying it out on the back of the 966.  it's close to 16 feet long and about half is in the ground.

Think it will work?

It's an end to life as we know it!

Tuesday we went almost to Crawfordsville, Indiana and Aman bought a red tractor.

He's not sure he'll be welcome to family dinners any more. (kidding, just kidding ... sort of)  I bought a 3010 last year at a Shannon's sale.  Great little tractor, but just not quite enough oomph to do what we need.  One of Aman's seed customers traded this one in, and we decided it would do what we are wanting and needing a bit better. So now I am strongly considering selling the 3010

We were a bit surprised.  They did not have a detachable trailer.  To load or unload the driver just goes up and over

He says big combines can be interesting.

It's been two weeks ..

Yes, I know,  it has been a while since I posted anything.  What have we done in the last two weeks?  Went on a fire run or two

Neighbor parked his tractor along the field to go feed and came back to find 3 firetrucks in the way.

I'd say it was totaled.

Finished planting beans

and seed corn

put up cemetery signs

Sprayed Poison Hemlock

And a few other things.  I'll post them on http://walnutprairie.blogspot.com/

Oops. Wrong place ...

I posted my personal blog on the farm page Sunday morning. So if you saw it and wonder what happened, go to http://walnutprairie.blogspot.com 

I just had this terrible realization I am going to have to be careful. It has been pointed out I have way too much orange equipment.

I've worn "hunter orange" sweatshirts for years

ANd then 4 years ago bought the Husqvarna LZ6127 mower.

But it is the darndest thing for grass cutting thing I was ever on.  That IS an unretouched actual photo from behind my pond Saturday evening

And then the Toyota forklift Aman and I own together

Which DID replace a YELLOW Allis Chalmers

And now Lenore's Allis

I gotta be careful.  It might be a disease.

Why ?

I bought a tractor this week.  Not a big tractor.  Not a new tractor.  Not one I have always been pleased with.  But it and I have a history and I have proven it will do what I want and need (as in it has already done it).

I bought Milo and Lenore's old 170 Allis.

Sue was so enthused.

I sent a text saying I had bought it.  Her reply was "Why?"  I figured I wouldn't need the air conditioner when I got home.  She was a little warmer to the idea than I expected.

But I have a history of and with the old *^%. Milo and Lenore bought it after they retired.  It has been pretty much a PTO tractor. V.O.Drum rolled it clear over on it's top one time.  Jim Decker rebuilt it.  That's why there are no decals.  Lenore wouldn't waste the money on them.

I know, I can be quoted every time I work on it saying "Allis Chalmers DESERVED to go broke."  I've looked at the new tractors.  They are worse.

I put new front tires on it one time.  Went to mow roads, hit a culvert just right and ruined a new tire. I was mowing east of Walnut Prairie one time and as I turned you could track me by the fluid squirting out of the failing rear tire.

The heavy duty grill is because Steve was mowing with it one time and the grill fell off.  Dad called a salvage yard to be told "You can't find any of them.  They all fell off and got Bush-Hogged."  Dad agreed that might be possible.

 One of the main uses I have for it is running an auger.  The old 560 will do it, but you are continually climbing over the PTO shaft to start, stop, adjust, shut down ... anything you do puts you in the proximity of the PTO.  I have never liked that.

My original intention was to sell the 3010 I bought at Shannon's sale

(I can't believe I don't have a photo of it. It looks like this without the weights on front)

But I'm kind of talking myself out of it.  We're going to have 3 - 10" augers plus the conveyor this fall.  This gives me a tractor for each one you don't have to climb around the PTO to use.  IF we can get the 3010 to start better.  It has been known to throw a fit and not start until you put a charger or jumper cables on it.  We'll figure that out or it is going down the road.  I have no patience with a tractor that won't start when I'm hauling corn to the bin.

Well our plan was to plant seed production Friday.  But we got rained out again.  One of these days it will happen.

Kinze Maiden Voyage

I've not been satisfied with our bean planter for quite some time.  About 10 years ago I bought a hybrid 15" row planter.  It was an odd looking thing the guys who made it built out of leftovers.

It had Case 900 modules and Tye openers.  For all its oddities it worked pretty good.  It just wasn't large enough for our operation and wasn't heavy enough to no-till double crop

In 2005 Dad and I bought the Case 5500.  30 ft wide drill box with SI belt meters and Case Early Riser openers on 15" rows.  Looked like the best of both worlds.

It just had a few quirks.  For instance negative tongue weight.  When full and raised it would make the back wheels on the tractor light.  I almost got it stuck in dry round one time  Switching to the 9230 helped.

But the other problems refused to go away.  One was the belt meters.  They do not handle large seed well ... like at all.  And  most of  our newer varieties are big seeded.  The other was in row spacing.  The SI belt meters gave an exact population, but you couldn't get it to the ground.  The tubes goose necked, etc and seed ended up in bunches.

A couple years ago our 24 ft Great Plains drill got to the point of needing rebuilt.  We decided this was the opportune time to upgrade both.  So we traded the 24 ft drill and 30 ft bean planter for a 30 ft Great Plains drill.

It does as good as as drill can.  The seed spacing is erratic, the population varies, depth control is a good idea.  This winter a friend wanted to sell his 30 ft Kinze 23 15" row planter.  In a fit of silliness I bought it

 We've modified

 rebuilt,added a monitor

played with, and finally took it on its maiden voyage Friday

We got rained out, but it seems to work OK

LOOK MA! NO HANDS!

We started planting today.  I know, other folks are done with corn already.  Some even have beans planted.  To use one of my favorite Howard Utterback quotes:
 "Everyone is constitutionally entitled to his own wrong opinion."
Mine is it has been too early.

But anyway, we started today.  And Aman is officially the planter operator.  Had work. You push this button

and the tractor steers itself

Frees you up to work with the monitor, turn around and watch the planter

and it keeps going in a straight line

without using markers even

He says he needs more games on his phone.