SO MUCH for plans ans Schedules

Last Friday, (Good Friday) I discovered that the water pump on my Case 931 was failing. It was starting to
leak and fan was wobbling, so I stopped plowing and headed for home.
I called my friends at the local CNH dealer about getting a new or reman pump. They were no help at all.
Told the veteran parts guy there to forget it. I called our good YT friend and Case parts supplier John
Saili and he had in stock a new Case pump, a new aftermarket pump, a reman pump, and a rebuild kit for my
Case pump. It is a 254 mile round trip from my home to his. The wifey and I left our home at 7:30am and
drove out to John and Chris's home. We had a great chat with them, and delivered a couple of gals. of
maple syrup that out family makes and headed home with the new pump and new T stats. We got home about
3:30pm.
I figured Sunday that I would remove and replace the bad pump, BUT here is where plans fell
apart.
I had terrible abdominal pain in my left side and was running a fever. Sunday was a total
washout. Monday I felt a bit better and managed to get the tractor all tore apart, before it started
raining. Tractor is too tall to fit in my shop door. Tuesday I got everything back together. This morning
I got the tractor hooked back on the plow and got back at plowing, but we had a lot of rain and lots of
wet spots in the fields that I still need to plow.
Today I had to abandon plowing in 2 fields because
of wet ground.
I will see what tomorrow brings.





This field is high ground , but there is a really wet and steep hill on the NW end of it and could not get enough traction to do a good job of plowing up the hill. I moved to another level field that plowed real nice. Only 8A and finished it. I tried another field but it was really wet. Even disturbed a Blue Harron brousing in it.










We had another 8A strip of bean stubble that could not be harvested, between the limestone ledges on the lower farm that will be planted to corn so I was able to plow that.









Had several Arial observers when plowing off the middle ledge field.
I don't know why the double pics. showed up.--Loren

Awesome job plowing ACG ! My grandpa Beaty would say your plow leaves the ground as level as a house floor.

i am kinda confused on your die hard spring plowing . i dont wanna start a fight here but i have not plowed in 30 years.
my soil has improved unbelievably as far as health and structure with lots of more life and sub drainage.
I do understand its fun to get on an old tractor and hook up a plow and watch them hypnotizing furrows lay over hour after hour
acre after acre. but i just dont understand why you would want to punish your soil like that and then bust it down to make it level with
a cultivator and then watch it all wash down the hills you have when it rains.
the wear and tear on you, bouncing around trying to beat mother nature, and wearing out your tractor and equipment, burning all that fuel and sucking
up all that dust. why dont you just get a planter with some coulters on it and just go to the field and plant.
why is it you think you have to plow.
you have nicer soil that most all of us other farmers, my planter would easily plant any one of your fields, including the one with soybeans in it.
i have a clay loam soil and you would NEVER spring plow that 30 years ago or you would be looking at fist size soil lumps the rest of the year and a crop failure.
have you ever tried to minimum till or NO till.?
I have fought the tillage itch for 30 years and believe me it is hard but seriously, you dont have to do all that field work.
Are you doing it because its tradition that you dad did it and your grand dad and great grand dad plowed or is it a hobby.
around here if you plowed that kind of soil on them kinda hills you would have nothing left. we only have 6 inches of top soil and it would all be at the bottom of the hill
and nothing but clay that would not grow anything would be showing.
im curious to hear back from you. please be easy on me.

I think the 931 is saying "so much for retirement..." at this point.

Sounds normal to me. Be careful you don't get that stuck and need a neighbor with an allis c or one of those green things to pull you out!!!

Or a FORD !!!!!!!!

Doubt he would stoop that low, he he

I fully agree with you JDadict our soils and climate being similar to yours. We would be living in a dust bowl if everyone plowed here. That said, I have to defend some of those who do plow. Every climate soil type differs and sometimes no til does not work. Weed control comes to mind as well. If a proven practice works and alternatives have shown to be less practical, you gotta do what you gotta do.
I still get the plow itch, but we host an antique plow day every year on a few acres, and once the b's sessions start and a few breweries appear, well....

Ben

I've seen the crops that grow on the land that Loren is plowing, and they are certainly doing something right, because they're some of the best around
Pete

Geeze Larry, I can't think of a farmer who even ownes a Ford the size of my 931. A neighbor used to have a TW??? but he and the tractor are long gone.

Loren

I?ll be quicker than the post below...... WHY are you plowing???

Things break when your using equipment that?s just the way it is whether it?s old or new the good thing with old equipment like we run it might break but at least it?s not broke just out of warranty and then have to fix it and make a payment on it