pics from today. corn planting at last

Spent a couple hours this morning looking for the driest farm. Cliff went to the field with the tractor and cultivator about 1 this afternoon and when he was done I started planting. It always takes awhile to get going the first day but I did get 40 acres planted before dark. Things look ok but it is wet. It has dried ALOT the last couple days but a couple more good days would really help out. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and keep the planter moving if we can find dry places to run. Lots of guys in the field today. The roads are a constant stream of tractors, NH3 wagons, spreader trucks and sprayers. I would expect tomorrow everyone will be running hoping to get something done before it rains again.

Cliff working ground.


Tying to get the rows straight.


The finished product.


A pic while off digging in the dirt.


Alot of guys running hard putting on NH3.


The first of many sunsets I will get to see from the seat.


Of course my supervisor was keeping an eye on things!


If the weather holds we can cover alot of ground in a hurry but it looks like we have a good chance of getting rained out sometime wednesday. In the meantime, progress at last!
bill

Looks great!! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Great to see Wrigley the Wonder Dog helping by driving a tractor. Makes the work go faster when you can run two tractors.

Great pics.

Give that dog a bone!

I can only imagine fields like that , Beauitiful !!
I live in a very hilly part of PA never had a field as long and straight as that.

What model CaseIH tractor do you have on the planter? We plant with an 8920 and a 12 row JD7200 with liquid fertilizer on the planter. The tractor gets a little light in front at times. How well does it work without front wheel assist? We always wondered how guys pull a 12 row without fwa. Looks good though. We only have 17 acres of corn in. Talking rain here on Wednesday too. Every time the fields dry off it rains again. I think we might be making hay and then finishing planting corn this year.

Adam - WI

Great looking old Versatile! Those are great old warhorses!

HH

Either you have some steep hills or you are not serious about having enough tractor with a 8920 mfd on a 12 row.

I pull this 12 row Kinze with a little old 1086 2wd and have no problems at all.

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Great pics!

Tried to loosen up a couple of wet spots with a disc yesterday. Got stuck, had to unhook and chain it out. Guess I'll wait a couple more days.
That old Versatile looks like a real horse.
Paul

That's one happy looking pup. I just wish I could train mine to drive the tractor, but he hasn't got the feet for it. (He's a Sheltie)
Lovely pics BTW.

Using a disc in a wet spot is a sure way to make bricks. A feild cultivator or a spring tooth is what ya gotta use, but even then you can make bricks pretty easy. You need to have it just barely scratching the ground to loosen up the top. Much deeper and your not doing any good.

We try to avoid wet spots at all costs, but there are lots of times where that's not an option. If nothing else, we'll go around them while working the feild but go through them with the planter because by then the wet spots have dried out some from leaching out into the worked soil.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Hi Bill: Makes me a little homesick. I"m from La Salle County Il. now in Az. Your co-pilot looks to be enjoying itself ,long Winter. Here"s a painting I completed recently for a showing,a sunrise on the ocean as I remember them from a long time ago. Is comparable to your photo of an Il. sunset. JC

I wish I could get my dog up in the cab with me. The mutt is 120lbs and doesn't fit up there too well. He watches from the set of the truck most of the time. Nice looking equipment and always remember, if you don't plant straight you are just trying to get more seeds per row.

If any of our tractors had cabs I'm sure my dog would be riding along with me too. Yesterday I took a 1 1/2 hr drive South with her riding shot in my truck, she had a great time.

Had to stop once for her to do her business, once for myself. Shoulda went next to her in the ditch instead of holding it then.

Overall was an enjoyable trip and will for sure take her along next time I can.

Donovan from Wisconsin