Made a lot of progress (long)

I took off the corn head, but had some welding to do on the hay head first so I parked by the fuel tank w/out a head on the chopper. While I was working on the head, the bagger guy called and said he was gonna come in about 2 hours, so during our lunch break we figured I better put the corn head back on, as the hay seemed a little too damp yet anyway.

I finished fixing the head and started helping dad move some stuff around where the bag was gonna go when they showed up, so we kept working while they got the bagger set-up and the wheel switched over, and the rented 986 on it. As soon as the bagger was in position, and before they even got the bag on it, I pulled the 1st load into the field behind the bagger (kinda to say LETS GO ALREADY!!!)

On Thursday I got 9 loads of corn off, 7 of them after 4:00 or so.

Friday had rain in the forecast so we decided to do the hay so I took the corn head off again and put the hay head on while dad hauled out the manure from the barn and spread some gravel in my brother's driveway, and then he emptied me a load from the night before while I greased the chopper. Got started in the field about 11:30, stopped for supper around 5, then went back at it about 6:30. Got all but maybe 4-5 acres off before the rain, or in the rain for the last 1 1/4 loads. 15 loads chopped.

Saturday I got up early and picked pumpkins wiht my brother (3 big truck loads) after finishing the gravel in his driveway and putting another wagon on it for storage. Dad emptied the last 2 wagons I had loaded with hay from the night before, and then I finished off the hay, but only loaded the wagons 1/2 way. I then switched heads over and hooked back onto the wagons and topped them off with corn so the extra moisture in the hay from the rain would mix in with the corn in the bag, so it wouldn't get so sour from being too wet. Fit 5 more loads in the bag and then it was full. Filled the 3 wagons again after a big family supper and called it a night. 8 loads chopped.

Today my fiance and I chased one of my brother's around while he was running a marathon, gave him stuff as he went and took a bunch of pictures. Got home and started in on the farming again around noon or maybe 1. Dad called the bagger guy yesterday to come & get it and that we'd be gone. He came about when we got home from the marathon. We cleaned up the extra feed on the ground, and tied off the bag to let it sit for a couple weeks (and boy was it gassing already)

I helped set up the blower on the other silo with the 1600 on it, and dad unloaded the 1st load from the night before and I was gone again. Got 3 loads off the 1st small field, then went to the one I started on Thursday and got another 3, then came home to finish up those fields and chopped 3 more. 2 loads are on wagons yet, so 10 loads in the second silo so far.

Total load count:
2-3 weeks ago, 1st silo- 10 loads.
Thursday: 9 loads
Friday: 15 loads
Saturday: 8 loads
Sunday: 9 loads
=51 loads total so far.

We still have one small field left that was planted later after taking 1st crop off, but we're gonna use that green stuff to cap off the 1st silo that's full, and then the rest will go in the other silo with the distributer and mix it in a little bit. I expect about 3 loads off that, maybe 4.

Overall we had a good weekend, and I wasn't sure how we'd get it done. I an about 2 1/2 tanks through the 1855 on the chopper, and put on about 30 hours. The 986 we rented used about 1/2 tank of fuel, but I'm not sure how many hours we put on it.

I know 60 acres isn't much land for some of you guys to cover, but for us that's a heckuva lot for us to cover in this short time frame.
I'll probably blow the 2 loads in the silo in the morning, then maybe chop the green stuff on Tuesday or so. We'll be officially done soon enough though.

So far no major break downs which kinda concerns me, as there's always gotta be a catch. The 1855 does have an oil leak on a hard line coming out of the over/under so I've been dumping oil in it (1 qt/tank of fuel) and running it as is for now. I'll fix it later but before plowing. Hopefully I can get the fender tanks hooked up by then too. I'll have the side panels off to fix the line, so I may do it. I just gotta go get the rest of the parts.

All in all, I've probably put about 40 hours on the tractor's myself this extended weekend, which is extraordinary for us. A normal weekend might be 10 hours on any given tractor if we're busy. And my shoulder's killing me...

Donovan from Wisconsin

Grub

We milk about 25 cows, give or take. I don't step foot in the barn much anymore, but I still do all the field work.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Can even swap them out in just a minute too!

Donovan from Wisconsin

Here's some pictures from the first time we rented it 2 years ago-

It really helps keep the spoilage down, and it's much cheaper than putting up another silo and maintaining it.

The Bags are made out of a very stretchable plastic, and the ones that we get with the bagger when we rnet it have bars that you measure to see how good of a pack you're getting. And if they stretch too far or not enough you can adjust the preasure on the brakes, if so equipped with the net that holds the back of the bag with cables that run up to the machine on 2 big cable reels. The 10' bag, when filled, probably stretched to be almost 13' in diameter, if not more. We got a 150'er this year, and 2 years ago we got a 200' bag but still only filled about 150'- cost us around $200 or more for the 50 ft. we didn't use...

We put corn silage and haylage in it this season, we'll see how good the haylage digs out of it...

Donovan from Wisconsin