Tale From the Harvest Trail

Late last fall I decided I was going to go on a harvest crew with a guy named Mel Gossen from out in western Oklahoma. His family has been harvesting with Gleaners since the model Gs, and they've owned well over 100 Gleaners through the years. They used to have a large fleet of 9 combines (and apparently no grain carts) until recent years, when they downgraded to 4 combines, 2016 model S-97s. As combines got bigger, they didn't need as many, and finding good help is always a challenge. They've kept the combines so long mainly because nothing has changed on the 2020 S-97s and they don't see a reason to pay so much for a machine they already have. With running high-hour machines, though, comes maintenance, and before we started harvest we replaced the feederhouse bearings and sprockets in all 4 combines. Not a hard job, but took some time. I learned the value of a forklift this summer, and am now wondering why I don't have one. Six guys were hired this year for the crew, and interestingly enough, I was the oldest of the 6. He said this was the first year in over 20 that he's had an all-American crew come to him, that he didn't have to go search for. We had an excellent crew, all the guys were hard working and got along quite well. No smoking, drinking, or fighting by anybody. I signed on as a combine operator but was immediately relegated to truck driver once we began harvest, and why this is I'm still not sure. I was initially dismayed at this, but soon found I really enjoyed driving a truck, and that is something I am going to miss. I drove a 2005 International 9400i for those who are curious. We started harvest at Mel's farm, and also cut for other family and friends. (Aside- In May just before harvest starts, the girl I'm dating ends things with me, saying long-distance doesn't work. I told her we could definitely make it work, and something would work out where we'd still be together when I got back in the fall. But she was convinced, so I let her have it her way. If she can't stay faithful for a few months, she wouldn't be able to weather future storms.) Anyway, from Oklahoma we moved to Ingalls, KS. There I finally got to operate a combine a little, after some schooling from Mel's son and daughter. There's definitely a lot to learn on the new S-9 combines, but I took notes and had it down fairly well within a few days. I never thought I would like auto steer and auto height header control, but I learned that they were valuable to have, as there are a lot of things to keep watch over and those two things make the job much more manageable. One thing about these guys, they go and go hard. Not that it's a bad thing, but for a rookie, being expected to perform all operations at such a high rate of speed sometimes gets you yelled at for going a little slow, but it's all a learning curve. One feature I did like was on the yield mapping system, it tells you where you've cut in the field, so if it's night time, you don't have to remember where you've been as much, you just use the yield map to kinda show you where the uncut areas still are. Oddly enough the headlights on these newer combines aren't quite what I thought they'd be, but they get the job done. By the time we'd finished in Kansas, at the end of June, they said we had cut about 10,000 acres over the past month and a half. The next stop was in Wray, Colorado but I didn't make it there. Tensions between the crew and the boss man were continually on the rise while we were working, and I could elaborate on stories, but won't put it on the internet. About this time I got a job offer from the USDA Farm Service Agency, which was totally unexpected. I had spoke with them last September but they informed me they usually don't hire people fresh out of school with little experience. Due to the coronavirus they created several positions in offices across the state, and remembered me. I was very torn over the decision, and I still lose sleep over it wondering if I made the right choice because I like harvesting so much, but I left the crew because I knew harvest was only a 6-month venture, and this FSA job has the potential of being a good long term career with benefits and everything. All of the crew members agreed I needed to take this opportunity while it was present. After all, it's why I went to college. So I came home on June 30. I was originally going to start this new job July 5, but was pushed back due to the corona virus, and now it will begin August 17. Oh...remember the gal who said things wouldn't work long distance? She was concerned we wouldn't end up in close enough towns to maintain the relationship we had. Well the USDA offered me a choice of locations...one was in the town where we were both living and had gone to college. She works there full time. I decided I have no future in that place, so I chose the location closer to the farm 

Edited by CrestonM - 14 Aug 2020 at 9:29am

Thanks for the updates, and I agree with Dave, wise decisions on both counts.   Good luck to you.

You made the right call on both decisions!

Congratulations on the job. And.....you're all finished with college? Congrats on that too.

Great story about your experience on a harvest crew! Life long memory for sure. Congratulations and good luck on your new job!

Sounds like your on a good path.

Creston,

CrestonM wrote: I learned the value of a forklift this summer, and am now wondering why I don't have one. Yes. A rough terrain forklift is awesome for heavy repairs on outdoor/field equipment. They make short work of lifting off/on combine’s unloading auger, chopper, big tires, engine, transmission, final drive, rotors, feeder houses, rear axle, etc... They can also be used to stand header upright for safer, easier, & more efficient repairs that otherwise places mechanic underneath it.

Glad you got out and tried something different for a time. I have some good memories of the summers I spent out harvesting away from home. Never got more than 60 miles from home but still different ways of doing things.

LOL!! “Put that in your book!” is a quote from the supply wagons driver who bends over by the campfire to spread out his bed roll & farts. He laughs about it then tells Kevin Kosner( the soldier keeping a journal about the west) to “Put that in your book!” It’s from the moviie “Dancing with Wolves.”

LOL Thanks AC7060IL. I knew I had heard that before, just couldn't remember where.

Great post,good luck in your new job. When the time is right ,what you want will come to you in life. Sometimes you loose something so the right thing can come into your life.👍

With age comes experience Creston, remember the old line about the old bull and young bull standing on the hill.