Custom Cutting ‘23 With The Green Team

[Lowland1]

Depends if its the posh part like @spin cycle area or more like me and @robbie part of Norfolk

Posh area? I’m confused. I just have visions of you all chasing Londoners out for the day from Wells down the broads whilst playing ‘Have yew got a loight boy’ on your banjoes.
Am i wrong?

 

[robbie]

Posh area? I’m confused. I just have visions of you all chasing Londoners out for the day from Wells down the broads whilst playing ‘Have yew got a loight boy’ on your banjoes.
Am i wrong?

Completely wrong, out @spin cycle way they welcome "them thar dussy furigners wi opun arms"!!!! All the celebs have holiday homes juts up the road from @spin cycle.

Now the brecks that is proper red neck country and we would fit right in in the deep south as our views are more or less the same!!!!

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

Posh area? I’m confused. I just have visions of you all chasing Londoners out for the day from Wells down the broads whilst playing ‘Have yew got a loight boy’ on your banjoes.
Am i wrong?

Banjoes?? What sorta music makin rumun things are they?? All sounds a bit 20th century modern like stuff.
If @Lowland1 had seen my ol fella at the beet do @robbie, with his rouging stick he'd have soon concluded that we are a strange breed apart....looking at lumber in the field

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

Banjoes?? What sorta music makin rumun things are they?? All sounds a bit 20th century modern like stuff.
If @Lowland1 had seen my ol fella at the beet do @robbie, with his rouging stick he'd have soon concluded that we are a strange breed apart....looking at lumber in the field

Anyways,

Apologies @Cab-over Pete as I seem to have gone wildly off topic Sorry.

 

[kiwi pom]

Crop yields in 2018 ranged from 1t/ha wheat in Texas, to 7t/ha durum in North Dakota. Both places were pleased with these yields for the year.

We were on hourly, which varied state to state, and I came home with a second holdall full of Wrangler, Carhartt and Ariat, having already wired half a house deposit home, so again it varies!!

I was on hourly with a silage crew, time and a half after 40 hours, just about everything else paid too. The majority of the work was from base with the odd week on the road so accommodation, electric etc all paid too. On the road we had a credit card and booked our own motels, breakfast and evening meal on it too

Saved a fair amount over the times I was out there. The boss was a top bloke

Wouldn't like to be stuck in a big caravan with a heap of others.

 

[Lowland1]

No it’s not 3.13 it’s 3x13 as in 13 dollars an acre plus 13 cents a bushel over 20 bushels an acre and 13 cents per bushel per mile for haulage to elevator.

When I did it (mid 80’s) it was 3 eights.
Rookie crew members got 800 dollars a month. Second seasoners got 1000 and third seasoners got 1250.
I don’t know if the increments continued after that cos I didn’t do a fourth.

I re-read a book about custom harvesting last night and in 1980 they were charging 12,12,12. I presume harvesting prices followed the wheat price.

 

[oakleaf]

I re-read a book about custom harvesting last night and in 1980 they were charging 12,12,12. I presume harvesting prices followed the wheat price.

Well I don’t know if the price changed much from year to year back then or if the cutters or the farmers were not giving accurate figures but when I asked the boss what the rate was, that’s what I was told. That was three 8’s for wheat harvest and three 10’s for fall harvest.
That was in 1985.

l went on harvest because Tim Slessor’s film “Yellow trail from Texas” planted a seed in my imagination in 1976 and each year the itch grew stronger. I could not ignore it and indeed did not want to, so when I had the chance in my early twenties there was no thinking will I or won’t I.
I was on that £99 skytrain
from Gatwick to Newark and nobody was going to stop me.
It was an eye opening experience and one I’ll never forget. One season wasn’t enough so I got a job driving a truck to fill in till the next season, changed crews and off again.
I was never much interested in money, I was there to experience the harvest from Texas to Canada and I loved every minute of every day. I honestly don’t think I would have been that bothered if at the end of the season the boss had said there was no money and he couldn’t pay me. I was there to be part of one of the world’s great agricultural events and it was brilliant.
My visa had been extended and was now expired but I didn’t care, I wanted more so stayed.

It’s funny how life twists and turns, I think I could easily have stayed there for good or maybe I would have got sick of it eventually, I don’t know.
Anyway situations changed at home and I returned, but I’ll never forget those times and still get a twinge of nostalgia every May. Those years were without a shadow of doubt the highlight of my life.

 

[Lowland1]

Well I don’t know if the price changed much from year to year back then or if the cutters or the farmers were not giving accurate figures but when I asked the boss what the rate was, that’s what I was told. That was three 8’s for wheat harvest and three 10’s for fall harvest.
That was in 1985.

l went on harvest because Tim Slessor’s film “Yellow trail from Texas” planted a seed in my imagination in 1976 and each year the itch grew stronger. I could not ignore it and indeed did not want to, so when I had the chance in my early twenties there was no thinking will I or won’t I.
I was on that £99 skytrain
from Gatwick to Newark and nobody was going to stop me.
It was an eye opening experience and one I’ll never forget. One season wasn’t enough so I got a job driving a truck to fill in till the next season, changed crews and off again.
I was never much interested in money, I was there to experience the harvest from Texas to Canada and I loved every minute of every day. I honestly don’t think I would have been that bothered if at the end of the season the boss had said there was no money and he couldn’t pay me. I was there to be part of one of the world’s great agricultural events and it was brilliant.
My visa had been extended and was now expired but I didn’t care, I wanted more so stayed.

It’s funny how life twists and turns, I think I could easily have stayed there for good or maybe I would have got sick of it eventually, I don’t know.
Anyway situations changed at home and I returned, but I’ll never forget those times and still get a twinge of nostalgia every May. Those years were without a shadow of doubt the highlight of my life.

I quoted from Robert White's 'Starks Harvesters' book about working with the crew from the 'Yellow trail from Texas' .
The same thing with me 18 months in the States made home seem quite dull so I went to Australia and ended up in Africa.

 

[robbie]

I quoted from Robert White's 'Starks Harvesters' book about working with the crew from the 'Yellow trail from Texas' .
The same thing with me 18 months in the States made home seem quite dull so I went to Australia and ended up in Africa.

A top bloke and a very interesting book which I've read several times.
As a side note just yesterday he was combining winter barley and was running 3 mf 865, it's quite a sight.

 

[oakleaf]

I quoted from Robert White's 'Starks Harvesters' book about working with the crew from the 'Yellow trail from Texas' .
The same thing with me 18 months in the States made home seem quite dull so I went to Australia and ended up in Africa.

Ah that explains it then. Dale would have been able to charge what ever he liked and still get plenty of work! He was known to be the most conscientious and efficient cutter, and was very well known and highly respected by every one in that community.

 

[MF CI]

A top bloke and a very interesting book which I've read several times.
As a side note just yesterday he was combining winter barley and was running 3 mf 865, it's quite a sight.

Damn good combines them 865s

 

[robbie]

Damn good combines them 865s

Couldnt tell you but as a boy being on a field with him and his 865s they seemed huge!!!
A lovely combine to bale behind too they leave a lovely swath.

 

[CPF]

 

[Devil's advocate]

Is the farmer owned combine rare in the US?

I imagine hard worked sh combines are availble in large numbers, maybe reconditioned for the next owner. Maybe ideal for the smaller farmer growing a varied rotation.

The other thing do they do harvest runs in other production areas such as Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina & South Africa?

Fantastic experience for keen young lads, not just combining but other aspects of farming too ie shearing, fencing or horticulture.

 

[Magnus Oyke]

Is the farmer owned combine rare in the US?

I imagine hard worked sh combines are availble in large numbers, maybe reconditioned for the next owner. Maybe ideal for the smaller farmer growing a varied rotation.

The other thing do they do harvest runs in other production areas such as Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina & South Africa?

Fantastic experience for keen young lads, not just combining but other aspects of farming too ie shearing, fencing or horticulture.

No, more farmer owned machines in the corn belt though.

 

[Lowland1]

Is the farmer owned combine rare in the US?

I imagine hard worked sh combines are availble in large numbers, maybe reconditioned for the next owner. Maybe ideal for the smaller farmer growing a varied rotation.

The other thing do they do harvest runs in other production areas such as Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina & South Africa?

Fantastic experience for keen young lads, not just combining but other aspects of farming too ie shearing, fencing or horticulture.

I worked on a Rice farm in California and they had their own combines as did the neighbours. I visited friends in Minnesota and North Dakota and the farms they were on ran their own combines too. My brother worked in Canada and they had their own combines too. I worked in Australia and we went from Northern New South Wales into the middle of Victoria combining. I don't know whether they travel much in South Africa but they clock up phenomenal hours on their combines because they have a very dry winter so maize can be left and cut whenever they want so one combine can do the work of several. I've put 600 hours on my combine in a year and never moved more than three miles from the yard.

 

[oakleaf]

Is the farmer owned combine rare in the US?

I imagine hard worked sh combines are availble in large numbers, maybe reconditioned for the next owner. Maybe ideal for the smaller farmer growing a varied rotation.

The other thing do they do harvest runs in other production areas such as Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Argentina & South Africa?

Fantastic experience for keen young lads, not just combining but other aspects of farming too ie shearing, fencing or horticulture.

As post 215 said.
The only large farmer in the wheat belt with his own combine that I encountered was the first man that we cut for in Texas. He simply pulled his machine in alongside us. We even daily serviced it for him (including fuel).
But nearly all the soyabean and corn (maize) growers had their own machines as well.
One farm had 8000 acres split 50/50 beans and corn. We cut the beans and their own combines did the corn.
We sometimes did mopping up jobs as well, where a crew would move onto their next job before finishing out the current one and contract another cutter to finish off for them.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Bit of an update but not much to report. It’s about the same all over although the weather is a bit better. Not really settled though, so it’s still a frustrating job.

They press on.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Just spoke to him, he’s about to move up to Kimball, Nebraska.

They’ve had a good run for a few days with half decent crops and drying weather.

It’s not uncommon for them to shift a fully dualled combine on the road for a few hours, but as I type he’s roading his machine complete with duals and towing his header over 130 miles, on his own with no escort and just a pin on a phone map.

And he’s absolutely loving it!!

 

[Iben]

Just spoke to him, he’s about to move up to Kimball, Nebraska.

They’ve had a good run for a few days with half decent crops and drying weather.

It’s not uncommon for them to shift a fully dualled combine on the road for a few hours, but as I type he’s roading his machine complete with duals and towing his header over 130 miles, on his own with no escort and just a pin on a phone map.

And he’s absolutely loving it!!

Can he still squeeze into a drive through with that outfit?