14 HOUR DAYS

 This song brings back memories of farm life back in the 1960's operating some of those old combines in northern California harvesting barley, rice, safflower and milo corn.   Then in my later years working on a grass seed farm near Harrisburg, Oregon operating modern combines in the 1990's.  The one thing that never changed was the long days, many were 14 hour days.   

The John Deere Rhythm Section

The Moron Brothers performing to the rhythm of this old John Deere tractor.   Spent many hours operating one these in my younger days cultivating beans, watching the row marker to stay inline with the furrows during the hot summer days of the 1960's.    The ending reminds me of a mechanical breakdown.

A MAJOR BREAKDOWN

The hitch behind the D7 Caterpillar tractor had a large pin that attached the chisel plow to the draw bar of the tractor.   There were two smaller bolts on the chisel plow hitch that were used to adjust the tilt of the implement.   Two hydraulic hoses were attached to the hydraulic pump on the back of the tractor.  These two hoses went to a cylinder that was used to raise and lower the implement as it was supported by two iron wheels.   These hoses were made of hard rubber with a steel mesh lining in side, since there was high pressure when the hydraulic oil was forced through them.  A chisel plow is basically a ripper used to break up compacted soil.  This particular implement was 14 feet wide with three rows of rippers offset where they were about 12 inches in width between each ripper that were set for 16 inches in depth through hard compacted ground.   The tractor had a 5 speed transmission and could only pull this implement in second gear, so you can imagine the resistance.   

One hot afternoon the two smaller bolts broke while I was operating the tractor.    The two hoses did not break and were strong enough to pull the hydraulic pump off the tractor when the cast iron housing attaching the pump to the tractor broke.   It happened so fast I did not have time to release the hand clutch and prevent the damage.    

LEARNING THE HARD WAY

Learning how to operate and maintain farm equipment was usually done by the trial and error method.    Very seldom did anybody read an operator's manual or even know where they were at.  Looking back I never remember seeing one.

Many of the tractors made before 1940 did not have electric starters, some required cranking the engine or turning a flywheel to get the engine running.    Most of the Caterpillar crawlers had gas-starting engines to preheat and start the bigger diesel engines.  International Harvester (IH) came out with a diesel engine that started on gasoline and after a few minutes, you could switch it to diesel.   Most of the equipment my dad had was old and used until 1963 when he bought a new IH crawler.   That winter he sent me out to a field where it had been sitting for some time to move it to another field   As I started the engine it sputtered, started for a few seconds then made a clunking sound and quit.   At the time I did not know the water in it had frozen at some point cracking the head causing water to fill one of the cylinders.   When I started the engine on the gas the piston in the filled cylinder compressed against the water bending the rod to the crankshaft.   Once it started the rod broke causing serious damage to the engine.   I was told later that the spark plug for that cylinder should have been removed to allow the water to be pushed out.   How was I to know and who was responsible for not checking for antifreeze in the radiator?

Eventually, it ended up in our shop where we proceeded to take the engine apart.   There were parts all over the place when the IH dealer came to repossess it due to no monthly payments made for the last few months.   They took it all including the nuts and bolts scattered all over the shop floor.   Sure was a good way to clean up the place.

STICKING MY NOSE IN THE WRONG PLACE

 In the summer of 1962, during my high school years, I did a variety of farm work for both my dad and another farmer by the name of Joe Stutz.   Joe was a row crop farmer, growing sugar beets, tomatoes, and beans.    One morning Joe drove me to a field that he was preparing the ground for planting beans.   The rows had been constructed and it was time to fertilize the beds before planting the bean seeds.   The red Farmall tractor he was going to have me operate had two tanks on either side of it with hoses going down to a toolbar on the back of the tractor that injected the liquid fertilizer through steel shanks into the prepared seedbed, six beds at a time.   The fertilizer was ammonia nitrate, very toxic, but there was no mention of that by Joe.    There was never any talk of safety.

Joe gave me instructions on what levers did this and that and pointed to a trailer parked nearby with a large tank on it where I was to fill the tanks on the tractor when they got low on fertilizer.   Joe's parting words were, "give her hell and somebody will pick you up at 5."  Now it was just me, the tractor, my lunch, and a jug of water all alone, a mile from the nearest county road.

As I drove the tractor back and forth over the rows I noticed the tubes on the back of the tractor tanks indicating the fertilizer was getting low, so I made my way to the parked trailer.   The trailer had a small engine on it that operated a pump for filling the tractor tanks with a long hose with a nozzle on it.    After getting the small engine going and putting the nozzle in a tractor tank I could not hear any sound of liquid flowing.   I proceeded to stick my face, nose first toward the tractor tank opening to hear if any fluid was flowing.   In a flash, I was on the ground gasping for air.   It took me a few minutes to gain a sense of well-being and breath again.   It was not the place to be sticking my nose into.   Luckily it all worked out and I continued fertilizing the field without any more mishaps.  

GRANDPA'S TRACTOR

The other day I stopped by the John Deere tractor store to buy some oil and a filter for my tractor, better known as Grandpa's tractor.    There are so many interesting items to look at in the store and outside too.  Tractors of all sizes, utility vehicles, riding lawn mowers, all kinds of implements and attachments for tractors.   I felt like a kid in a toy store, it reminded me of  Zumwalt's Equipment store in the small farming town of Willows, where I grew up in northern California.   Whenever I had any extra money earned from seasonal farm jobs I would spend it on hand tools purchased from Zumwalt's.   Many of those tools from 60 to 65 years ago I still have and use.    When the grandkids were here last summer we all had a good time on the tractor, not sure who had more fun, the grandkids or grandpa.  

Farming

I recovered this from the original posting to publish it again for those that may not have seen it.    With the high cost of food today, labor shortages and climate change it is worth reviewing. 

 Farming is a risky business.   There is the weather to contend with, the market, and a certain amount of debt load to deal with.   Farmers usually don’t get a monthly income from the sale of their crops, but the bills keep coming in on a monthly basis making it necessary to take out loans.  Payments for crops can be lump sum or paid out periodically depending on the contract between grower and buyer.    It is usually the buyer or market that sets the price, not the farmer.   

Most farms are passed down from one generation to the next along with the same old risks.   There is the high cost of farm equipment, maintenance, fuel, soil amendments, fertilizers, seed, labor costs, insurance, overhead and more.   Profit margins can be slim.   Most of the labor on family farms are the family members and from experience I know they can be overworked and under paid.   Today many family farms are going under.  Personally I saw my own dad take on too big of a debt load where he got behind on payments and had to sell off everything to satisfy the bankers back in the 1960’s.   

Farming is highly mechanized.   Fifty years ago it took three tractors to do what one large tractor can do today.   The only difference back then was the operator was exposed to the weather, the noise and the dust.   There were a few hazards with the job, such as a hydraulic hose breaking and spraying oil on you or a flying piece of metal from some mechanism blowing apart.  Today the operator sits in an air conditioned cab with a radio, maybe a tape deck and the biggest hazard is falling asleep.   

Immigrant farm labor is critical for the crops that can’t be mechanically harvested.   Most the fruits, veggies and meat you see in the market was picked, slaughtered,  processed and packaged by somebody from south of the border.   They might be here illegally or under the H-2A agricultural work visa program and without these people there would be critical food shortages.    You do not see many white people doing this work.   

Next time you’re in the market think about where that food came from and who processed it.  Tomorrow it may not be there.  

Tractor Payment Frustrations

 The attached letter to John Deere only expresses some of my frustrations with trying to make electronic payments on my new tractor.  With many phone numbers for customer service, addresses and emails for their financial branch you never know who is the real customer representative or what kind of response you might get.  Some have been helpful, some say they would get back to me, and never did and one that cut me off, which could have been my phone.   I know John Deere is having a rough time due to a lack of sales of large agricultural equipment and many mid west farms not able to make equipment payments because of adverse weather conditions preventing planting, a loss of export markets and the declining price of some crops/products. 

No doubt I'm not a big time operator, but enough is enough, even for a little guy!

John Deere Financial                                                  August 23, 2019

P.O. Box 5328

Madison, WI  53705-0328

 

ATTN:  Customer Service

Account No:  510001716322

I have tried unsuccessessfully to make a payment electronically using MyJDFAccount.com.   Set up my account on 8/8/19 attempting to make a payment of $204.24 (Confirmation No. 1292388017841) which was due 8/19/19.   Called JD customer service three times (1-800-634-9662 and 1-800-541-9053) asking for advice.  Have been informed by customer service that my account does not exist.   Have used the same routing and account numbers over the years for tax return deposits with no problems.   Again, tried to make payment on 8/20/19 (Confirmation No. 1242389159703), even tried a phone transaction on 8/20/19 with no success (Confirmation No. 1272369234720, for what it’s worth).

As of this date 8/23/19, I have mailed in a check for $204.24, which must be my only option for making payments in a timely manner.

Frustrated!

 

Wm Mike Burke

855 Wildflower Lane

Oakland, OR 9746

Email:  farmhand.mike@gmail.com

Phone:  541-729-7786

 

Cc:  SELCO Credit Union

         Samuel Allen, JD CEO