a quiet kid

fixerupper · Jun 16, 2018

Ronnie's air conditioning post jogged my memory a bit and a story I won't forget came to mind. Yes, it's another harvest story. We were cutting in a field west of Dighton Kansas and it was normal Kansas wheat cutting temperature, around 100, plus or minus a few degrees. We had one young man on the crew who was just a nice all around kid. HE never whined or complained, just a nice kid. Sometime in the middle of the afternoon he got out of the combine cab and casually mentioned the air conditioning wasn't working, there was no fan. I went to the service truck and grabbed a fan and as I was installing it under the seat I asked him when the fan quit. He told me it quit yesterday afternoon! Yesterday afternoon!!! He sat in that closed cab in 100 degree temps with no air or fan and just took it without complaining. I don't know how he stood the heat. If he would have passed out in that cab it would have been bad news. We tend to complain about the whiners but there comes a time when a little whining might be necessary..

Eric in IL · Jun 16, 2018

I don't know how anyone could survive in a closed cab if the engine was by the cab. I've done it with the door open, but am pretty sure I'd have died if it was closed.

L.Fure · Jun 16, 2018

Did he come back the next season?

fixerupper · Jun 16, 2018

He did not come back the next season because of other obligations. Sure would have welcomed him back though. The combine was a CIH 2388. They had two fans, one pulled the air in and the other one blew it into the cab.

flying belgian · Jun 16, 2018

Yesterday I was helping neighbor put a load of hay up in his hay mow. He had his neighbor kid feeding the conveyor down below. 90+ temps. He had dumped a load of gravel by the
conveyor so could not get wagon up close. That poor kid would throw 6 bales on ground then carry them 4 feet and set on conveyor. I told neighbor take tractor and loader and push
that frickin gravel out of the way so you can get wagon up to conveyor. That kid is going to die before he ever gets that wagon empty. Neighbor didn't want to do that. I then said
let's pull conveyor out of barn 4 ft. to wagon so he can set them right in conveyor without handling them again. Neighbor said then we will have to carry them 4 ft. farther up in
barn to stack them. I don't care. Either do it or I'm going home. I'm not going to watch that kid suffer like that.

Straw Boss · Jun 16, 2018

Your story reminded me of one of
my own. Also on the harvest run
during the 1980s. My Dad ran a NH
TR75 while I ran an IH 1460.
Hotter than blazes and we realize
Dad is running his machine with
the door open. AC isn't working
but no time to fix it. An
afternoon of that and the field is
finished. Dad rolls up to the
headland where everyone is parked,
gets out the the cab wearing
nothing but his boots and tidy
whities. Hahahaha But hey, at
least he stayed as cool as
possible. Also taught us kids by
example. Whatever it takes to
finish the job.

SVcummins · Jun 17, 2018

My 7700 doesn?t have ac and the dairy I used to work for had
a 6602 no ac no fan ran two years in a row with the doors
closed in 100 degree heat but it was better than itching
sometimes I would get lucky and could open the doors the last
day off cutting the wind was just right and only had to shut the
doors on the ends while I turned the rest of the time I had a
nice cross breeze

da.bees · Jun 17, 2018

So am I to conclude all you people working in harsh conditions were illegal ali,,,,uum,guest workers? Had to be because they say if it weren't for guest workers,noone would take jobs that break a sweat like cleaning homes,mowing yards and construction.

SVcummins · Jun 17, 2018

Work right beside em every day the only difference Is the government makes me pay income taxes on what I make

Traditional Farmer · Jun 17, 2018

Ever been in a concrete block plant in the Summer? Temperature usually ran between 100 and 110 with extremely high humidity because the block are cured with steam.When we'd walk outside on a
95 degree day it felt so nice and cool.

4520BW · Jun 17, 2018

Back in my younger days we had 2 high pressure steam boilers at work that were used to simulate high altitudes for engine testing. The yearly inspection came around and I had to open them up. They would not shut the test cell down till last minute and I would open them up in a 120 degree boiler room. I melted soles on my boots one year climbing on it.

caterpillar guy · Jun 17, 2018

Was on a crew just west of your Dighton over by Leoti. The guy we were cutting for The locla dealer was trying sell him a new 4wd so they were out pronto to get them fixed we had about 3 of them with the bosses as one of them.
A combine cab is a dirt collector if it is run open while cutting.

1948CaseVAI · Jun 17, 2018

(quoted from post at 07:56:55 06/17/18) Was on a crew just west of your Dighton over by Leoti. The guy we were cutting for The locla dealer was trying sell him a new 4wd so they were out pronto to get them fixed we had about 3 of them with the bosses as one of them.
A combine cab is a dirt collector if it is run open while cutting.

You guys sure bring back memories! My Dad and Granddad farmed south of Leoti all through the 50s and 60s, and also at Rozel, about 100 miles east of Leoti. Dighton was just up the road a bit from the fields north of Rozel. We all lived at Rozel.

fixerupper · Jun 17, 2018

I would like to get through that country again some time. During harvest which is about now typically, the fairgrounds in Dighton was a harvester’s camper city. I’m sure the young guys picked up a lot of dates in that area.

One of the young guys on our crew always pronounced Leoti “Leoteye”. LOL Leoti had a harvesters camp ground too but not like the one in Dighton. We stayed in a campground by Deerfield but I don’t remember any other harvesters staying there at that time. I can still hear one of our young guys in the Deerfield campground on a Sunday morning after a hard night of drinking when one of the other guys was occupying the restroom for too long. LOL I could hear him clear across the campground in the still morning air.

SVcummins · Jun 17, 2018

No i can?t say I have but I?ve been riding in combine cabs since i cold walk with no ac and loving every minute . Cutting grain is probably my all time favorite job ever no ac no radio doesn?t bother me

flying belgian · Jun 17, 2018

Ya but you pay into Govt. and Govt. pays out to them so it all evens out. ---Oh wait!--- let me rethink that.

a quiet kid

fixerupper

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Eric in IL

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L.Fure

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fixerupper

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flying belgian

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Straw Boss

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SVcummins

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da.bees

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SVcummins

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Traditional Farmer

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4520BW

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1948CaseVAI

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fixerupper

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