Ken & His Big Chopper.

 For once, I actually knew what I was doing when I got up this morning. Uncle Ken had called Dad in a panic last night because the contractors were coming to cut his maize. He’d known about this for several days, but instead of checking whether he had help lined up earlier in the week, he decided to leave it until Sunday afternoon. By then, of course, it turned out the usual help were all busy. One guy said he might be able to come later in the afternoon — if everything went well at the job he was already on. That’s when Uncle Ken thought of Dad to help get him out of his mess.

So it was that this morning, I found myself pulling into Ken’s yard at 6:45am with my tractor. The contractor — also called Ken — was already there with his big chopper, getting it ready to do some serious work. I found it very impressive. I say that because the machine was nearly the size of a combine. I was immediately directed to one of two high-sided trailers parked in the yard. These belonged to the contractor, and, just like that time with Lou at Mr. Luckyman’s, Ken the contractor was a bit sceptical about whether I’d be able to attach one to my tractor. I like to think he was just being kind and trying to be helpful, but it felt like he was quietly assessing me.

The rest of the day was full-on. I spent it running back and forth between field and farm, delivering loads of chopped maize. It wasn’t like carting grain, where you often find yourself standing around doing nothing. This was non-stop. I even had to eat my lunch while driving, which wasn’t ideal — I ended up with crumbs all over the cab.

To be honest, I actually enjoyed it. Unlike a combine, a forage harvester doesn’t store the crop. Instead, it chops it up and blows it straight up a spout into the trailer. That means the tractor and trailer have to drive alongside the harvester, on the move the entire time. It was a bit tricky at first, matching the harvester’s speed and keeping the right distance, but once I got the hang of it, it felt pretty natural. It really just depends on how the harvester’s being driven — once you understand that, it’s easy enough to keep pace.

When we’d finally finished and I was unhooking the trailer and getting ready to head home, Ken the contractor came over. He was full of praise. He admitted he’d been a bit worried when he saw me pull into the yard, but he said he was genuinely impressed at how quickly I picked it all up. Apparently, by the end of the day, I was more than keeping up with his main carting guy. He even gave me his phone number and said that if I was ever at a loose end, I should give him a ring — he could probably find me a bit of something to do.

I took it as an open invitation to come and have another play with his big chopper sometime — though I doubt I’ll take him up on it. I’m pretty sure Mum and Dad can keep me busy enough as it is.