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O.T---Combine Crews.

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Farmallkid

05-25-2004 10:31:53




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Hi, I am thinking of going on a combine crew, once im done school. I have seen a couple on the net, like holland harvesting and l peterson farms. I was wondering if any of you have been on a crew. if you have, where abouts are they?. Is there a web sight about there crew? And how did you like it? Thanks for any info.




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FM

05-25-2004 19:52:57




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
I was considering doing the same thing this year. Too much stuff going on in various places(work, a girl, etc. etc.) changed that idea but its still a thought. The crew I was looking into was Johnson Harvesting, based out of Minnesota. You might try giving them a shout.


Mike



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Hugh MacKay

05-25-2004 18:14:55




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
Farmallkid: With the right attitude to adventure you never know where your future may lie. Here in Canada as far back as the prarrie harvest, we had the harvest excursion trains. Trains would leave Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I'm sure it was more than one train and they left from more places than Halifax. It was a free ticket west for any young man with a sence of adventure. The trains returned after the harvest. The trains went west, stopping at every railway station, picking up young men wanting to work in the harvest. Once the trains got beyond the New Brunswick - Quebec border they were not allowed to stop in populated areas. Seems there was an incidence in the early days of this where young lads would leave the trains, kidnaping young ladies about town. At the next town, police would board the trains and rescue the young ladies.

On one such excursion a group of young men boarded the train at Truro, Nova Scotia, in the late 1920's. They went to the harvest and back home, however one young lad was missing. He never made it back to Nova Scotia until a family reunion in 1972. He was my dad's first cousin, and dad asked why it took so long for his return. His responce," I met a young prarrie lass, and decided to stay until next harvest excursion train returned to NS." Before that occured he married the young lady and the new father in law made him part of the family farm. He went on to tell my dad that," Within two years the dirty thirties and the dust bowls on the prarries hit. The family farm survived and prospered into the 50s and 60s. I just now felt I could take the trip back home, complete with prarrie bride some of the family had never met."

So be ready Mitch, you may become a grian barron.

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Donald Hinkle

05-25-2004 14:08:04




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
O.T.,

I started following the wheat harvest, the summer that I got out of the 8th grade, all the way through high shool, I worked for the same man, the entire 5 years. He was from South Dakota, and started the harvest down here in Texas, and ended up in Prince Albert Sask.

I would stay with him until we finished up in North Dakota, and sometimes help move into Canada. I would usally get home about the second week of Sept. and start school.

This was on an open combine Massey Harris and Massey Fergusons with an umbella for a shade. It was long hours and hard work, but I wouldn't take a million dollars for what I learned, the experiences, and the people I met during those years.

I'd say find a good crew and go for it you will never regret it a minute.

Donald Hinkle

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Ty

05-25-2004 12:58:37




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
A guy I know has a friend who did that after high school. He pretty much lived in the combine going from place to place. It was in a brand new combine so it was quite comfy. I guess it got old by the end but the money was good. He only did it for one season.



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Paul in Mich

05-25-2004 12:57:49




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
Farmallkid, I'm sure that combine crews are much different than the crews depicted in the article, which I found very interesting. My uncle, when he was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946 was determined that he was going to join a combine crew in Oklahoma. Well, he got more involved than that as he ended up buying a new IHC 125-SP combine and a used Fedral truck with 14ft grain body in Texas. Self propelled combines were just making their big entrance to the scene after WWII and were quickly replacing the older side table machines of the pre-war era. He continued on the wheat run from Texas north through the Dakotas and finally into Canada where he finished up in early October in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan harvesting barley in the snow. He ended up selling both combine and truck in Canada and then came back to Michigan never to do the wheat run again. That notwithstanding, he has entertained us with stories of his experiences for nearly 60 years, and while some of the stories I've heard a hundred or so times, there is always a different story to be told and heard of his combine crew days. He is 82 yrs old today, and although his combining adventures lasted but one season, his penchant for adventure continued on as a long distance trucker until this last February when it was suggested by his Dr. that it may be better for him to give up driving truck at the age of 82. I don't know what consists of a combine crew except as to how it applies to the operation I work for, and you can see that in the post below, but I'm sure it is somewhat different in the operations in the traditional wheat belt where there may be 20 or 30 combines in a single field, and I'm sure its different from when my uncle was there, but I'll bet that the adventure is still there even though different. I'd say it would be for a single man with no family responsibilities , so if you think you want to do it, I would say, do it now, and not after you have a family.

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scotty

05-26-2004 06:26:57




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Paul in Mich, 05-25-2004 12:57:49  
Paul, Thanks for adding a little more info to me on what it was like to be on a crew. Being from the northeast, I have never seen anything like that!

scotty



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scotty

05-26-2004 04:51:58




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Paul in Mich, 05-25-2004 12:57:49  
Paul, Thanks for adding a little more info to me on what it was like to be on a crew. Being from the northeast, I have never seen anything like that!

scotty



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scotty

05-26-2004 04:18:20




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Paul in Mich, 05-25-2004 12:57:49  
Paul, Thanks for adding a little more info to me on what it was like to be on a crew. Being from the northeast, I have never seen anything like that!

scotty



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Jay

05-25-2004 12:05:02




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
What state are you in? I know a few good crews from various states. Last thing you want to do is be on a crappy crew.



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Farmallkid

05-25-2004 13:30:10




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Jay, 05-25-2004 12:05:02  
I live in Ontario Canada, so ill probably end up coming down to the states to combine if i do. I'm in grade 10 now so it will be a couple years before i would go. I'm just seeing whats out there. any info is great.



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scotty

05-25-2004 10:40:07




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 Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to Farmallkid, 05-25-2004 10:31:53  
third party image

Farmallkid, I dont have an answer for your question, but I did a search on combine crews and got this interesting article.

scotty

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Paul in Mich

05-25-2004 12:36:57




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to scotty, 05-25-2004 10:40:07  
Scotty, My Grandfather bought a D-4 Caterpillar and a 12 ft IHC combine (similar to the JD in the photo) in 1936. It was the first field combine in our county, and it goes without saying that Grandpa and my Dad did a lot of custom combining as well as plowing. The Homestead consisted of 180 acres plus anywhere from 200 to 400 rented ground, so even for that time, my family's operation was considered large for its day. By the time WWII came about, less than half of the farmers in our area had combines which ranged from 5ft to 10 ft. My Grandfathers 12ft remained the largest combine in our county until after the war and the self-propelled combines hit the scene. Still it was not until after 1950 that the last of the stationary threshers ceased to operate. (That same thresher still exists today and the family runs 2 acres of oats through it every year) Threshing crews still exist, but it is much different than the crews of yesteryear. I myself am part of a threshing crew, but I drive semis' to the grain elevator. The operation I work for has 3 combines in the field, with 4 semi grain trucks with 2 drivers. As soon as we return to the field from the elevator with one truck, we jump in to the first loaded truck and go again. This way, none of the combines have to wait to dump. Each combine is capable of harvesting over 100 acres per day barring breakdowns. I remember that 20 to 30 acres per day was considered good for that old 12 ft side table machine, plus the table had to be folded to move it from field to field or on the road. With steel wheels, 5mph was tops when moving, and the Caterpillar had to be trailered if going further than a mile even on gravel roads.

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Farmallkid

05-25-2004 10:47:33




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 Re: Re: O.T---Combine Crews. in reply to scotty, 05-25-2004 10:40:07  
Thanks, thats an interesting sight!



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