Close, but no cigar

[jon f mn]

Got nearly done planting, in spite of terrible conditions. Dealt with lots of mud and the resulting equipment breakdowns. Add to that that we didn't get any fall tillage done because it was too wet last fall, and Jeff having more health problems this year, and it was real tough. Jeff has been dealing with back problems making it hard for him to walk, then just before spring he ended up with off the charts high blood pressure which caused his arm to swell and get weak. In the process of fixing that they found that he had had a heart attack as well, so he wasn't able to do much more than milk his cows and do chores. He did do a few hours of driving each day, but that was about it.

We decided that as late as it was getting that we would plant what we could get. We went around a few wet spots and left a lot of ruts, but got the best part of it done. We started in the sandiest fields and work towards the heavy ground. If we would have had the full day monday and 1/2 of tuesday we would have been done. All that's left is about 15 acres of corn and about 15 acres of peas and barley mix for forage. Most of the corn not planted is mine making my first foray back into farming after 15 years about what I would expect for me. lol We do hope to get the rest done, but it's real heavy grey clay and will take a few hot dry days till it's ready. I may have to change my corn to beans if we don't get it done this week. I lost most of the pics I took of the fun in the mud, but here are some showing our spring so far.

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[jon f mn]

Some more pics, and a video of some mud. Lost most of the stuff I took of the mud, don't know where they went.

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[jon f mn]

One more video of planting the oats.
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[Anonymous-0]

nice tractors you have glad you got your planting done it has been a very wet spring

 

[rrlund]

I finished planting my picking corn Sunday. I thought I could haul manure Tuesday on the silage corn ground that needs it,but there's still water standing all over it. I got in to another field for silage corn today and plowed. A little slick and there's one spot with water standing yet,but I went around it. No rain in the forecast til Monday,so I should be able to get that field in. That'll put me about 2/5ths on the silage corn. I'll be amazed if it's all in by the 15th of June. Even then it'll be a week ahead of last year.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Will never understand why it seems like everybody has to spin down to the drawbar. If they quit digging when they are only rim deep they pull out so much easier. Tractors with duals pull out hard if down deep.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 03:38:00 05/29/14) Will never understand why it seems like everybody has to spin down to the drawbar. If they quit digging when they are only rim deep they pull out so much easier. Tractors with duals pull out hard if down deep.

In many cases there is dry ground on top over very wet ground underneath so that spinning down six inches gets the tires through the dry ground and then it will slowly sink on its own.

 

[jennifer408]

geet r done, nice pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[jon f mn]

Apparently you've never hit a Minnesota spring or frost heave on the side of a hill. just driving into one will get you that deep without even spinning. Around here you go deep fast. One time several years back I was plowing sod in the spring with a 1370 case. It started to pull hard and I looked back to find the furrow wheel under the mud, completely out of site. By that time I had spun enough to break the sod so I stopped. It wasn't as deep as this 2394, but when I got back with the other tractor to pull it out it had sunk enough that it was sitting on the frame front to back and you could step with into the cab without using the steps. Didn't find anything that bad this year, but several like the pic shown.

 

[ryanwheelock]

Nice photos!!

 

[Donald Lehman]

Same here on some of my soil. If there is water standing, no problem, there's hard pan underneath. But if a low spot looks dry, look out! You will get about three feet and be down to the frame before you can push the clutch in.

 

[jon f mn]

Yeah, but at least you can see the low spots and be ready, the ones that suck are where a spring comes out the side of a hill. You never know where they will be and can be in a new spot every year. Makes it interesting for sure.