Riley, I think as with most things, it is a case of what you started at and where you ended up at. 500 from where you currently stand would be a major change to your car, a totally different experience!
Funny how we end up working both Smart cars and Hayabusa's into the thread. Odder yet is someone who put a Hayabusa's engine into a Smart car!
Maybe the best of both worlds??!!
It is one of those wants and not needs. Sort of like the diesel grain truck I bought two weeks ago. Didn't need it, but the price was right and the investment was small, 2K, so I picked it up.
If I found a nice, well priced, yellow diesel Smart car I'd consider it. Just for the perceived quirkiness of the experience of owning one.
Then again if I move to Fairview ever, the majority of driving km's are going to be gone.
So started seeding yesterday. For me, major first day blues. You prepare and check the equipment over but you can't anticipate everything that will go wrong. I checked that the peas and fertilizer flowed through the hoses, yep. Did a round and ended up with 4 of 6 main feed lines plugged. Cleared them, boosted the fan speed and tried again, reseeding the same area of course. Ended up later on with 2 of the main's plugging again. Part of the problem was that the monitor in the cab has a connection or sensor problem for fan speed and the adjustment is ultra sensitive, just a tap in the lever and it goes from 3500 rpm to 4000. But every once in a while it would function and I would adjust it. It seems to be fine now.
Another problem, this one squarely on my shoulders, was that I failed to order the rhizobia that I needed for treating the pea seed (bacteria that infects the pea roots to allow them to make nitrogen for the plant to use from the air - one of the benefits of all legume type plants and part of the reason why you grow them - no nitrogen fertilizer needed! It comes in different forms, granular, liquid and peat based. Granular is best but you need the 3rd tank on your aircart and mine only have two. Liquid is the easiest to use, just dribble it on as you are loading the peas into the aircart. Peat based has a higher rhizobia count than liquid but you need to mix it with water before you can apply it so it is a major pain in the behind to use - very time consuming.
People always ask me why, for the number of acres I seed, I have the equipment that I do. 4 combines, 4 swathers, 6 grain trucks(!) and as of last year 2 airdrills for seeding. Part of the reason is that I can't afford to buy the newer, larger equipment in one fell swoop. But the smaller older stuff I can handle. And equipment, old and new, breaks down. One larger, newer piece of equipment down means you are at a standstill. In all likelihood I still have something rolling.
Case in point, while I was struggling with my drill yesterday, my gf had no problems with hers and so she seeded while I was unplugging etc. What ever stress, grief and misery I was experiencing was offset but the fact that some seeding was still taking place!!!! Stress reduction. Compare that to my poor uncle who only has the one airdrill, needed a fuel filter for it (good luck on a Sunday!) and got no seeding done yesterday as a result.
But now it appears that my drill has its' problems sorted out.
Another difference between my father and I. Dad was always against hiring others to help out. I stand with the position that you can never have enough labour on hand. Last night, 7 pm when we filled with pea seed, I discussed with cousin Brad how to operate the drill and tractor and turned him loose. I gained two hours with my son while seeding continued to roll along. Just smart management.............I learned long ago that I don't have to do everything myself. I remember some CEO being interviewed and he said that he was successful not because of that he did but because of the people he hired under him - makes sense.
Ditto this morning, I have to take my son to school, then at 10 am have to see the dentist so I probably won't hit the field until noon. Dad won't use my airdrills so if cousin Brad wasn't available it would be motionless, instead Brad will be seeding this morning along with my gf. Acres getting done and my presence not required. I'm learning..............
Yes it costs $ for labour (and of course I even pay my gf - what were you thinking??!!) but of what cost to me is getting the crop in the ground earlier? Crop insurance clearly shows a correlation between seeding date and outcome (yield/quality), the earlier the better so this for me is again just smart business.......I'll reap much more back by getting the job done sooner rather than later.
Similar situation right now to last spring though, makes me nervous. No rain in the forecast for the next week (good for getting seeding done) but major dust being kicked up by the neighbours who still cultivate and harrow. While I have awesome moisture myself right now it is going to get dry and while it is normally +15 it was +27 yesterday and going to be similar for the rest of the week. I decided to seed a bit deeper, peas especially being a larger seed require a lot of moisture to imbibe before they will germinate. But I can only do my part and hope that Mother Nature will do hers.
Overall, so really happy to have started seeding, the 1st of May is early for us. And ended the day with more accomplished than when I started and today is going to be even better - right!
Cheers,
Garry
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