Except for this post’s last photo, these photos and video are of Section 24, Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa. This section is about halfway between Rolfe and Pocahontas.
Click on any of the photos to enlarge them, and/or view the video in full screen mode.
In this photo I'm in the cab of the John Deere 9660 combine. I'm looking down on the bean head as it draws in the mature soybean plants. Video of this process is at the end of this post.
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From this combine auger, soybeans are transferred to a wagon moving alongside the combine, i.e., dumping on-the-go. (This on-the-go dumping in Section 24 is shown in the video below.) Again, I took the photo from inside the combine cab.
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This photo including farmstead and lighted combine was taken two or three hours after the previous photos. At this point, I wanted to get from here (Section 24) to Gunderland (now the only farmstead in Section 13, which is where I was raised) quickly before they started dumping soybeans there to be stored in grain bins. (Until this point in the evening, the soybeans had been dumped at a farm 1/2 mile away where my dad was raised.) Here, I had just gotten out of the combine so I could drive to Gunderland, a little over two miles away. Where you see the silhouettes of the grain bins is the same farmstead where my dad (Deane Gunderson) was born in an upstairs room in 1918. (The house is no longer there.) This farmstead is also the former location of the "Bud Barn" which is now in Rolfe and owned by Roger and Dan Allen who are operating the tractor and combine seen in this post.
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I love the hum of the grain drier and the hubbub when grain is dumped at this farmstead where I was raised in Section 13. Almost obstructed from view, on the far side of the larger wagon is a tractor. This tractor and wagon just arrived from Section 24 (the location of the photos above) about 2 1/2 miles away. If you click on the photo and look closely you'll can see the soybeans spewing from the auger (attached to the larger wagon) into the smaller wagon. From the smaller wagon they are transferred to a long auger which transports them to the top of the grain bin in which they will be stored. (The tractor at the far left is used to power the long auger.)
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The following video was taken from inside the combine cab, with dust flying around outside. The location is the southwest field in Section 24, Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa. The video includes dumping on–the-go. It was so dusty and bumpy, and the video reflects that. Still, I’m glad to have it, if for no one reason than for grandson Jackson to see it. He loves combines and harvest, and he is fond of Rog and Dan Allen, the two guys running this operation. Rog and Dan were very close to my dad; they were integral in making it possible for my dad to continue living on the farm until just before he passed away in mid-2010.
If the video play is jerky at all, let it play through once while you do something else. Then watch it when it plays a second time. That might allow it to play more smoothly. Also, to view it in full screen mode, after starting the video click on the lower right corner of the video rectangle.
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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
October 8, 2011 at 9:23 am |
Louise, I love this post. Homesick. But being able to read your blog, see the photos and video helps.