BRANDON – Billy Prince runs the bottom sieve wide open on the Air Foil Chaffer he installed in his 8820 John Deere combine. While most operators would be reluctant to run like that, Prince said he gets better performance with this setting. Scott Vibert said Prince might be right, but only if everything on the […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Yellow flower provides jet engine’s oomph
BRANDON — When Kevin Therres releases the brake, his jet engine funny car rockets down the quarter-mile track in six seconds at more than 250 m.p.h. As the smoke clears, the question might be asked, “fries with that?” That’s because the same oil used in deep fry vats is used in Therres’ 7,500 horsepower jet […] Read more
Teen’s old combine really shines
BRANDON — Few people have ever thought of buying a beat-up 1988 JD 8820 at auction and fixing it up to Class 7 performance standards. And it wasn’t what farmer and custom combiner Billy Prince of Deloraine, Man., had in mind when he bought the dirt-cheap Deere in 2008. But it’s what he ended up […] Read more
What makes Billy tick?
BRANDON — What goes on in the mind of a 13-year-old farm kid who buys his own combine — with cash? “I pretty well knew by the time I was nine or 10 (years old) that I wanted my own 8820,” said Billy Prince, now 17, of Deloraine, Man. “When I was six or seven, […] Read more
Miniature chopper scouts fields
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — U.S. crop advisers are field scouting with remote control helicopters that could be straight out of the movies. “The AutoCopter G15 is a gas powered remote control helicopter on steroids,” AutoCopter president Don Effren told the InfoAg precision farming conference in Springfield July 12. He said the operator can stop on a […] Read more
Snaky sneaky-cam gives farmers inside scoop
BRANDON – The kind of probe camera that doctors use to take pictures of their patients’ insides is now available to the public. It’s not the same quality as the medical version, says Acklands Granger representative Jean-Guy Marion, but it can still come in handy. “There’s an LED light at the tip of the probe, […] Read more
Grain cart on track to move in muck
BRANDON — The new 1,600 bushel Haul Master from Elmer’s Welding features a special rubber track and undercarriage designed specifically for grain carts. Manager Mike Friesen said the growing demand in Western Canada is the main reason for diversifying into grain carts. “Grain carts have been in general use in the States for years. Every […] Read more
Out with rain, up with grain with combine cover
BRANDON — With so many combine hopper covers available, why would anyone bring yet another one to market? Adding an additional 100 bushels capacity to the hopper is one good reason, said Lawrence Dueck of Horizon Agro in Morris Man., developer of the new Umbrella Bin Extension. Dueck said the Umbrella also forms a weather […] Read more
Shelves bare at Valmar as mud continues
This year’s muddy conditions have emptied the shelves at Valmar. “Guys in really wet areas are desperate to get their hands on some kind of Valmar for their canola, and I have to tell them we’re sold out,” said Jim Gladstone, manager of the equipment manufacturer from Elie, Man. “This morning (May 24) I had […] Read more
Large lines make for NH3 fast fills
Kent Hanmer has managed to take a 70 minute chore – filling two 2,000 gallon anhydrous ammonia tanks – down to 10 minutes. And in years like this, in which standing water has put a dent into his goal of seeding his entire 22,000 acre farm, every minute saved takes on added importance. “We’ll get […] Read more
