Combines Working in Scott City Kansas

I realise that I haven't really described the harvesting process. I took this video from the top of my trailer while I was being loaded in the field. It's rare to have all five combines lined up as they are in this instance. Usually they'll be split over a couple of fields or they'll be a little more spaced out.

Each combine has a 36ft header and will run at about four miles per hour in a decent crop. So, in metric terms, five combines will shave about 50 metres off each side of the field each time they go around.

If you look closely at the front combine, you'll see the grain piled up in a bin above the cab. These bins hold about 9 tonnes when full and, if the crop is good, can fill up after one lap of the field. Usually, the combines will unload while they are cutting onto a trailer pulled by a tractor called the grain cart. The grain cart then dumps onto the trucks (as in the vid) which transport the grain to the local elevator to be stored and eventually sold.

My truck will hold about 30 tonnes of grain. When all five combines are running in the same field, four trucks can be constantly moving. On a busy day we can haul over 1500 tonnes of grain to market, which is pretty cool.

The most important part of the operation is keeping the combines moving, simply because when they're moving we're making money (hence unloading on the move). On a normal day, they'll start running at 8am and will cut through until 12 or 1 in the morning. When the drivers are eating lunch, someone else will jump in and keep them running. It's amazing how durable the machines are.