The beauty of a lot of the old equipment is that it was built simple with common parts we can still get today...When you showed the bad axle, I was thinking no big deal, just head to the machine shop...you were 10 years ahead of me on that thought. lol. Up in this country, you have to swath to ever get the grain dry with our climate. The old Versatile will be like a new machine when you get finished..........Thanks Dave.

Good morning Dave. There's a reason a lot of Canadian farmers still swath grain and our conditions are similar to theirs. We only straight cut in the UP but fairly clean fields and small pull type combines. Having that extra axle made was a great idea.

Morning Dave,coffee’s hot and the swather is looking better. New technology is great for efficiency and yield but with that new technology comes a huge cost and when, not IF something goes sideways, you better have some incredibly deep pockets to fix that hot mess. Sometimes the old ways are better,pure and simple, and as an added bonus for Dawn…you’re out of the house for a month out in the shop ,probably does a lot for the relationship not living in each other’s pockets 24 7…plus some of us old guys like seeing this stuff ,we like the old tried & true things that are not fancy ,are not shiny and not flashy ,but they are reliable as a lead hammer. Sometimes you just can’t beat old school Equipment.

Good morning Dave and Dawn

I concur. Minimal chemicals. I've mentioned we swathed to get dry grain. We nearly always waited for a hard frost to combine soybeans. Having always used pull type swathers i consider the Versatile modern equipment despite it's 50 plus years. Very nice. Thank you Dave.

Good job, Dave, on the swather. Your machine should run well and last you a long time. Good thing you had that extra shaft on the shelf.

Nice new shaft. Bearings.. either a good number, or measure them. Some numbers are obsolete and don't cross to anything anymore, but we've had good luck finding them by measurements. Yup..splash systems really throw the oil!!

Good morning Dawn and Dave ☕☕☕

awesome that ya'r restoring that old gal Swathing is kinda what in the olden days a Binder would of done, and it does have many advantages over direct cutting the grain if its cut down to ripen and it hails it wouldn't destroy the crop as much as when its still standing (for does that don't know yet) some grain farmers in Canada still use a Swather if they grow seed grain or for barley that is for beer

There always seems to be unexpected repairs when trying to fix the original problem. A couple of repairs are usually cheaper than buying a different machine.We swath all of our small grain also, everything just seems to work out better, no grain or straw getting hot while in storage.

Nice work! I'm surprised they call for #30 oil instead of #90. They must have their reasons.

Just think you don’t have to go to dealership for parts and pay an arm and a leg. And you don’t need to put DEF in it. The joys of good ole fashioned machenery.

Did you have another axle machined for the parts shelf? Looks like it's ready to go!

I'm not afarmer ,I'm asking out of curiosity. How do you combine the grain when it's down on the ground . All the farmers I've watched can't combine wind blown grain .