Just not having good luck with Bean hauling!!!

I posted about the trouble clearing the road to haul the beans out. Well today we get the generator(no permanent electric at the farm) all setup and load the first truck. The driver pulls out on the road and stops to roll his tarp. He went to take off real easy. Something pops like a rifle shot. Shattered a drive shaft Yoke and cross. So he is setting in the middle of the road with the road now blocked. Two other trucks waiting to load BEHIND him. So they can load but can't get out the road.

I slip my pickup by in the ditch and go and get enough tools to pull the drive shaft and yoke. Take oldest son with me to bring back a tractor to move the truck out of the way.

I plug the JD 4960 in and go load tools. When I get everything I thought I would need loaded the tractor started right up. So I left my son to drive the tractor and I took off to start tearing things apart.

When my Son got there he had to drive in the ditch to get by the truck. He was just about by the truck when I hear another POP!!!! Here the county guys had mowed off a 2-3 inch tree about a foot tall. It poked a hole right through the right rear drive tire on the JD 4960. LOTS OF CUSSING over that. 90% Firestone 20.8 x 42 radial tire. Just two years old. New they are over $2000 each now. Pull the tractor around behind the bin real slow. I hope we can Boot the tire and move it out on one of the duals.

By this time both the other trucks are full of grain. So I have one of them pull behind the broken down truck and we use it to tow the broke down truck back past the drive way so the last truck can at least get out and go haul his load.

I then go home and get the JD 4450 MFWD. I do take all the tire chains this time. I get to the trucks and I am just barely about to pull the broken down truck back into the farm drive way. It took every ounce of traction I could get with all four tires digging and the chains flying.

So 2 of the 3 trucks are under way. So that leaves me and the driver of the truck to remove the drive shaft. The guy that is driving this truck is retired and just drives a few days each week for us. He is 75 years old. Might weight 120 lbs soaking wet. So I am doing most of the work. I finally get the entire drive line out. Then have some fun getting the broken yoke off the power divider/rear end. Find a bad carrier bearing too. More fun!!!

Load everything up and take the driver home and head out to Dubuque for parts. Find the carrier bearing I need and the cross. NO YOKE!!!! No one in Iowa has one. Closest one is on Madison. They say they can have one out of Chicago at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning.

So it is going to get down to 20 degrees tonight. So I am looking forward to having to finish the job in the cold morning air. Laying on packed snow even better. I need someone to remind me why I am still doing this stuff??? LMAO

My middle son offered to take the morning off an do the repair but I told him to go to work. He is making six figures at his day job. I told him to not waste a day on something I can take care of. Actually I would rather do it in the cold as the heat of summer. I can bundle up in more cloths but the heat just kills me anymore.

So hopefully by late morning I can have that truck back on the road. Then we have ten more loads to haul out of the bin. I hope it goes better as we go along. It has been fun so far.

Bet I will be popping the Ibuprofen pills hard tomorrow night!!!

years ago when iwas 9-10 a old neighber told me something that i didnt understand then but sure learned since.If its got t-ts or tires itll give you trouble.

At least it will be frozen in the morning. No roads are embargoed here so spring grain is moving. We usually fight the embargoes.

Been through everything you are going through but not all at the same time like that so I can't say I feel your pain. When you told us about the tire my thoughts immediately went to a little over a year ago when I slashed the sidewall on a 18.4-42 on the 4650 by snuggling too close to a plow in the machine shed. Terrible noise it is indeed. Hope everything goes together well for you tomorrow. Jim

Hope your luck is better tomorrow. This sounds just like HEE HAW, If it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all.

Things happen in THREE's, so hopefully you are over the hump, or at least through the low spot.
Loren, the Acg.

Thanks for posting that. I am sorry for your bad fortune, but every once in a while I regret not staying in farming and think that I missed out on something. I need a reminder like this to bring me to my senses.

Gene

Man O man JD, you had a day today. Hope it goes your way tomorrow.
I used to tell my main superintendent, You have to work just as hard to lose money!

After you get it fixed don't forget to go have a little talk with the county about the tree and the hole in your tire.

Hope things go better tomorow. Stan

The county would be useless on doing anything about the tire. They rarely do anything on this road but will not close it. Two land owners own all the road frontage. They have agreed to a plan to close the road and turn it into private lanes for each property. Then they could be gated and locked. The county will not agree to the closing.

I think that the county is making money on these grade "B" roads. I am willing to bet that the roads are counted toward the total mileage and they get state and Federal money based on that mileage. If they would agree to the closing then the cost would go down just a little for the poor job they do but they would lose state/federal money which I bet is more then they are spending.

And that $3000 bonus sure looked good before you started.....

Dang the luck.

Paul

All that trouble and you still remain calm,that is hard to do! The sun will come out tommorrow,and today is the first day of the rest of your life,,,best of luck to you and your entire family!

(quoted from post at 22:21:52 03/25/13) The county would be useless on doing anything about the tire. They rarely do anything on this road but will not close it. Two land owners own all the road frontage. They have agreed to a plan to close the road and turn it into private lanes for each property. Then they could be gated and locked. The county will not agree to the closing.

I think that the county is making money on these grade "B" roads. I am willing to bet that the roads are counted toward the total mileage and they get state and Federal money based on that mileage. If they would agree to the closing then the cost would go down just a little for the poor job they do but they would lose state/federal money which I bet is more then they are spending.

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Yes, you can bet that the town is making money on them. Here, any road that is on the books weather anyone uses it or not our road agent spends whatever it takes to keep it top shelf.

Having farmed myself, all I can say is I"ve had days like that (maybe worse) and anyone who has farmed much has done likewise, Oh well such goes with the territory as they say. I"m sure things will all get worked out

John T

And I thought my Monday was sour!

BESS YOU J D Seller ,This is HOW GREAT AMERICANS ARE BUILT,....Your gumption is a inspiration to us all

Some days you're the hammer, some days the nail. Hopefully you've had your quota of "nail days" for this project.

Sorry for your troubles, but, it sounds like it was going to happen eventually, so better to be there than on a busy highway or something like that. It could have been worse....or at least try to think of it like that. By the way JD, my shifter linkage on my 5055E is still working perfectly. "No more freezing up thanks to you!

I am glad your shifter is wroking great. I wish all the issue could be solved that easy. Have a good day everyone. Son is here so it is time to go.

That's why God makes insulated Carharts. LOL

No you know why some people say "sometimes it dosent pay to get outt bed in the morning" good luck with all that.

wha are you fixing someone else trucks,or do you own them and have the 75 year old driver.

JD, it is awful uneventful without Lyle coming on here all the time, but you're doing a fine job of making things more lively. It's really nice to know that someone ele has as many troubles as we do, and is taking the time to post them. We started calving last week, and the first one has a herniated navel, and the sale isn't until next week, but she might go this evening, yet. There's another cow calving as I type this into the compuker. G-son got laid off again yesterday and SIL is on vacation this week. And then, 6" of white stuff yesterday is just maling things peachy around here, too. Keep going- you're doing a fine job.......

The trucks are a partnership between my sons and I. A long time friend died two years ago and we bought them off his widow.

We do most of the driving ourselves but we do have three part time guys that cover some of the work during the week.

When I started driving I looked into getting my own truck a couple times. Each time I blew up a turbo within the week, so I finally decided that the headaches belonging to someone else was a good thing.