Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Heli-bales?

Well, this past year we had someone approach us for large round bales of straw.  They were working on a restoration project in the marshes about two hours from here.  They were going to spread the straw on top of the marsh to allow for new growth.  According to the deal we would haul the bales to a local air strip.  It is not really in use anymore, but that was the delivery location.  Turns out, the only way to get the bales there, because of the marsh, is by helicopter.  We used the tractor to load a net, one bale at a time, for them to be air lifted and dropped at the restoration location.

As you can see, the day was not great for flying, but this guy did pretty good.


The helicopter coming in to get hocked up to the line for the bales.


This is the net that the chopper would use to lift the bales.


Our tractor and the straw bales we already unloaded off the bale wagon.


The chopper with the netting attatched.


The guys are adjusting the nets for the bales.


They would hold it in place and guide Dan in with the tractor.


He would place the bale in the middle of the net.



The chopper would come down and the netting would be attached to the line.  They had two nets, so one was being loaded while the other one was in flight.


The pilot said our bales were heavier then we said.  We of course did not realize this, but he was able to lift and manage them very well.


Up, up, and away!  I have to admit, watching it, in the storm, freaked me out.  Everyone else was really cool about it, but then again, I hate to fly.


You can see how bad the weather really was.  Raining and he was flying into some pretty nasty winds.  But there he goes, with the bale.


Him returning with an empty net.  He would drop this one and then go to attach to the other one.


Fueling time!


And away he goes with another bale.

As much as I hate flying, watching that chopper getting pushed around by the bales a bit in the air, makes me never want to get in a helicopter...  EVER!  But it was so cool to watch.  

And who says farming is just riding a tractor back and forth every day?  Farming is an adventure and it is only as big as you allow it to be.  I have learned over my three years here that farming may be hard work, tedious, and at times draining.  But it can also be a really cool learning experience and one that you will never forget.  I for one cant look at a helicopter the same way again.  I don't know.  Maybe when you lead a simpler life, things like this are pretty awesome.  But maybe things like this are always awesome, but most are too busy to see it.  For us, it was awesome.  And the kids loved it too!

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