Kylee DeBock/DeBock Harvesting
My last post had us enjoying some time with family over the Fourth of July, due to the rain delays.
We have since moved and finished in Kansas and Nebraska and are currently working on our last farmer in Hardin, Montana.
As hot as it had been in Montana this year, the wheat ripened extra fast with it being ready a week earlier than normal.
We had a lot of driving ahead of us as we finished up Kansas and made our first trip to Nebraska. We got there around 4:00 and loaded up five people and our dog, Zoe, and headed back to Kansas, where we arrived there around midnight. Up early again for the trip back to Sidney, Nebraska.
We cut with another harvester on our job in Sidney, so we decided to go ahead and take one combine on to Montana. We left the very next morning and made our very long trip north.
We ran into some road construction which took us off our normal route going through South Dakota and detoured us though Wyoming. We avoid Wyoming at all cost because the scales have always been hard to satisfy. We had to go to a scale in Gillette and Sheridan.
Gillette was first and they made us unhook our header from behind the combine because it was six inches too long. They have a law in Wyoming which states your second trailer can only be 40 feet long; ours was 40.6′. Now, here is the frustrating part. Our combine trailer is 28 1/2 feet long, my header apparently 40.6. However, the rock trailers that were hauling in while we were there have a 40 foot trailer with a 35 foot second trailer. So total length they are MUCH longer than we are yet we had to drop the header!
We bought our permits and went on, only to get to Sheridan and them telling us our tractor and grain cart is 1,200 pounds too heavy on one axle (when weighed in Gillette, it was fine), So, we backed the cart off the trailer and repositioned it to avoid an overweight ticket! Finally, at dark, we are pulling into Hardin to get our camper set up.
The next morning (July 14th), I dropped everyone off in the farmer’s yard to work on the combine and I headed back the three hours to Gillette to get our header. Upon return, I got some VERY SAD news. Our beloved dog, Zoe, had been hit by a car. We were all devastated and heartbroken. Zoe had been a part of our family for 4 1/2 years and she will be missed terribly. My friend, Chelsea, is a vet and she took Zoe the next morning to her clinic to have her cremated so we could still take her home.
Dillon and Austin left the next day to head back to the job in Nebraska and left the kids and I to work here in Hardin. The farmer has always done the hauling on our Hardin job so it works out well that we just needed the cart and Dillon kept both trucks in Nebraska.
We were a few days into the job when a fan belt broke. We got the parts and got it replaced. We cut another 10-15 acres and the drive belt breaks. We had the parts, so we got that one replaced too, cut till 11:30 and got our field finished. The next morning, we serviced and got started cutting but around 7:00 that evening, the water pump belt breaks!
The water pump belt is behind the fan belt so we had to take all the belts off again to replace it. However, we didn’t have this belt so I got one ordered but it wouldn’t be here for two days. So, I went to the auto parts store and bought six belts; luckily, one fits and we got cutting again!
Now remember, it is just the kids and I in Hardin, so all of these repairs fell on my thirteen-year-old son. I’ve been around harvest for 18 years now but mechanic wise, Colston knows more and he did a fantastic job. He truly amazes me with his knowledge! Our farmer was really impressed that he was able to fix the combine and I am one proud mom!
Dillon and Austin are on their way up to Montana and should be here by noon today (July 20th). We will all be back in the same state. EVERY YEAR Dillon says, “We are not splitting up! It’s just too hard on everyone.” But, EVERY YEAR we split up. It’s not ideal and it’s not convenient but we always get through it.
I know as the boys get older, mom is not as cool as dad. However, I do feel like this time alone with them is really special! (Not that they would ever admit it.)
God Bless,
Kylee DeBock
“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”
Proverbs 13:20 NLT
