Fall 2010 Plow Day - Blunier's - Roanoke, IL

[sblunier]

Dad and I made a couple rounds on the west side fo the field today......all I can say is until today I have never wished for 2" of rain the week of PD, but.....pray for rain!!!

It's hard and dry. It's not impossible to plow, and the 10" and 12" Brinly's we were using were able to plow at a reasonable depth, but it pulls fairly hard and does not roll over in ribbons, instead breaking off in big chunks.

The good news is, it will shine up your plow in no time flat. All of the till-coat was off of the 10" I was pulling in 1 round and the board was bright enough to shave in. So....if you have a plow that you've been wanting to get shined up, you might want to bring it along and drag it around!!!!

I'm not posting this to scare anyone off, it will plow, it just won't be a cake walk (not that our soil ever is) and will require more power than you might expect.

Dad and I figured we owed it to everybody to give you an update on the conditions as of Sunday afternoon. They are calling for rain on Monday, and if it's enough (1" to 2") it may soften things up by Friday night.......otherwise, it will be a good test of our equipment!!!!

 

[sblunier]

UPDATED PD MAPS and INFO

Common Areas:

Orange/Yellow = Off Limits Area. (This includes inside of all of the buildings and any parked farm machinery...for everyone's safety)

JD Green = Truck & trailer parking. Dashed lines indicate traffic route. Additional parking is available at the church.

IH Red = Plow Tractor Parking. Dashed lines indicate traffic pattern and headland driving areas.

Purple = Vendor set up area.

Blue = Display area (custom and or non-plowing tractors)

Dark Green = Food stand, Toilet, and Registration/Door Prize area.

Brown = Plowing field. NOTE: Plowing will be NORTH and SOUTH this year.

General Information:

Main Event 9:00-2:00 Saturday.
Unloading starts ~8:00
Parade Lap: Immediately after lunch.


Field:

RED = headlands and driving lanes, these are not to be plowed.

GREEN = area in front of registration table reserved for PARADE LAP after lunch. This will be taped/marked off, please don't plow here until we line up for the parade lap. (Big Steve or I will start the line for the parade lap and will try to keep everyone bunched up for good picture opportunities!!!!)

BLACK = Friday night plowing.

BLUE = Open plowing all day Saturday.

The red driveway up the center of the field is necessary for the parade lap and the parade area will allow the most spectators the best view without walking all the way out into the field.

Thanks for your cooperation, and see you all this weekend.

Big Steve & Mr. Plow

 

[canderson]

hey steve what time should we show up on fri. for the night plow? tia chris a.

 

[sblunier]

Most people show up around 4:00 for the Friday plow, but the plowing usually starts closer to 5:00 or 6:00. We usually try to make a couple rounds after dark, between 7:00 and 7:45 or so, then head to the shed for eats....

I'll be there most of the day....

 

[kduffy]

I'll echo the fine folks over at the <font color="119911">other forum</font>. Any decisions being made for the weekend yet since it looks like there is a growing possibility of inclement weather moving in for Saturday?}

 

[sblunier]

I was out of the office all day at work and just got home to check up on things.

Here's the deal...same as always.

We can't be sure that next weekend will be any better, so we are still a GO for this weekend as of right now.

It looks like Friday night should be great weather. If it pours all night Friday I will post the conditions ASAP Sat. morning.

For those of you driving in from far away or showing up Friday, like every other plow day, it is travel at your own risk. There is nothing I can do to make that part work out any better.

If we already had soaking wet ground this would be an easier call, but as-is, if the rain Saturday holds off until the afternoon we could still tolerate some rain Friday night and have a successful event.

IF it rains Saturday we still have next weekend to fall back on, but right now I'm willing to take a chance, given next week may not be any better.

I know this doesn't make it easy for some of you, but I really don't have a choice at this point.

I'm sure all of you who have had to plan outdoor events know how much watching the forecast sucks, and understand that I don't have any magic bullets

(BTW, why does this always happen at my PD's)

Thanks,

Steve

 

[sblunier]

It is 6:00 AM and we have not seen any rain yet. The radar shows some clouds, but so far not large amounts of rain to the south west, only trace or light precipitation.

I can't promise it won't rain, but it does seem to look better than the forecast predicts......you look at the radar and make your own travel plans accoringly.....

Thanks,

Steve

 

[gerickson]

It's 6:27 Steve and we've only had a slight drizzle an hour and a half north of you. On my way. Thanks for all you and your family have done for all of us. See you in a bit. Gus

 

[memorgan]

Well 420 miles round trip,Left out at 530,got to Ananwan,stop for fuel, the decision was, we;re an hour away,so press on. the drive south on 180 and 29 was pretty despite the rain, had a heck of a time with a detour north of Bluiner's, the last 10 miles and we thought we would never get there, but we made it just in time to sign up, have some pie, make introductions, see people you haven;t seen for a while,talk some shop and then head back home,but like Steve said "travel at your own risk" and that;s ok, Plow Days are great family fun a chance to get away from the rigors of every day and enjoy. Thanks Big Steve and Steve. we'll do it again

 

[bbranstetter]

what? No pictures yet.

 

[jlang]

Thanks for a great time again Steve & Big Steve and all who worked on putting on this event!
--Here is my report which I just posted over on the WFM site also.
---
Bluniers, Thanks again for all your work putting on this event. I had a good and interesting time.
Even enjoyed plowing in the rain, but glad I was not out there when that lightening hit. Then I got into the neat racing trailer with the guys from Pennsylvania and learned some interesting info about extracting Natural gas from Shale by Jeff Kerr. Nice photos Jeff!
The drive home was very beautiful fall colors, especially from Metamora to Peoria! That was almost worth the trip by itself!

I got home before 6 p.m. in time to mow some grass for my goats for their evening feed. We only had .15 inches of rain here this morning.

I just now finished uploading 38 photos from the trip that some of you might enjoy.
Blunier 2010 Plow Day on my photo bucket. There you go!

We are getting more rain tonight and we need it. Watching good football game Mizzoo vs. OKLA!

 

[sblunier]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone, obviously the weather didn't cut us a break, but we had a good time anyway.....even with soaking wet boots!!!!

We will offer up the field next Saturday for open plowing, probably something like 9:00 - 2:00, so long as the weather/field conditions permit it. I'll post Friday to confirm. It will be a "simple" event, so plan on bringing lunch, etc. More later.

The 4-H club appreciated all of you stopping by, even though the attendance numbers were way down, they were able to make a little money for the club thanks to you guys.

Anyway, thanks to all who came, we had a good time in spite of the weather!!!

 

[jlang]

Here is a direct link to a slice show of the plow day photos

 

[sblunier]

Looks like the weather will hold for this weekend, so anyone who wants to "try again" is welcome Saturday 9:00-2:00.

No lunch stand or anything, just simple plowing!!!

Thanks,

Steve

 

[tgipe]

Hi guys ,just thought i would throw this out there, we are having a plow day at short notice at my dads farm in milledgeville ill, if any one is interested. we will mainly plowing with antique tractors but the field is open for garden tractors also the address is 24231 wysox rd, milledgeville ill 61051. also want to thank the bluniers for last weekend. any questions call Tim, 1 815 718 2246.

 

[tgipe]

DUH how stupid of me to forget the date, it is this sat oct. 30. thanks.

 

[cengelking]

Another great plow day at the Blunier's. A small group but we plowed a lot of ground. A big thanks to the Blunier family for a great time.

 

[proessler]

Thanks Big Steve & Steve B for the rain date. Chuck & I enjoyed another Great PD . Big Steve thanks again for the use of your spare front tire , you saved my PD , since I got one front flat & my spare was flat only on the bottom.