The Beet Harvest is in Full Swing

We did our first yard shift today, in this Sugar Beet Harvest, starting the Beet Piles... First thing I discovered is that they discovered just what a genuine western hero I truly was... so they gave me a promotion 'fore I'd even worked a day in the yard.

*Sydney Sugars Beet Piling Station*

Yup... ya gotta have a lot of respect for folks bright enough to put me in a skidsteer...

...since that is requiring of such a high IQ and quick reflexes... ;)

... and I think we'll probably find that 24' pipe I lost too...

It should likely be somewhere behind the pile of others! :)

Hell... it can't have rolled THAT far! :)

*My Bobcat with a grapple setting tubes for pile ventilation*

 So... the day started off cool... for a few minutes... but when that Montana sun climbed high enough it got warm enough to have stuff leaking outa my hide... and I since I hadn't put that awful much on, I was running out of stuff to take off... at least and have the women folk still able to keep their attention on the BEETS! ;)

So... here's a quick, rough lil' clip from my phone to give ya some perspective of the operation...

 My... don't it look all bright and sunny? ...

Montana's like a lot of the rest of the west... wait a minute or six and things'll change...

The wind from the storm had the dust so thick for a bit you couldn't see 'cross the lot... and then the rain that came behind it had that gumbo stick to your feet so's you gained 3" with every step...

... of course... some guys were sitting inside the nice dry, warm cab of his Bobcat, listening to the radio :) while herself was out in it wading around in the mud and the crud.

I felt terrible about it too. Just plumb terrible ... but what could I do?! I juuuuuust had to sit there all dry and cozy... in that job I was assigned! :)

Then come the afternoon... we walked back to the truck to move over for our night shift in the "Tare Lab" ... and the truck wouldn't start! oooooffffffffTA!

Second crank it turned over... just...

Rolled back to the fairgrounds for our short break between shifts, left it running until we left for the Lab... and only shut it back off when we returned to the factory and did that shift.

When we walked back out to the rig after  the shift, I crossed my eyes and gritted my fingers ??? huh??? yeah, don't worry... I don't know what the hell that means either... but, when I cranked it over... the gremlin took a nap and she fired right up just like normal.

So...Tomorrow in the A.M. we do it all over again. 12 hour days... and only 20 of 'em left... give or take.

Piling Beets to pile cash
Brian