Murphy's Law of Farming

Today we investigate the relationship between two very chaotic systems: Murphy's Law and Farming.
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How Farms Work by Ryan Kuster is a KZbin channel based in rural Potosi, Wisconsin. Our mission is to teach those who didn't grow up on a farm what the farming life is like. These videos show the Kuster family working together raising cattle and crops. We believe everyone who wants to know more about farming should be able to share the farming experience with us and we look to educate the world on many essential agriculture topics.
How Farms Work takes place on ~1,100 acres with around 75-200 cattle at any given time. Four John Deere tractors are currently used on the farm, which are a 4020, 4640, 7600, and 8235R.

[@bionic8085]

You always have to appreciate Ryans musical choices in his videos. He doesn't take half measures on that.

[@Durufle68]

I always appreciate the music and the video work is superb!!!

[@jacksak]

You drive that drone like a surgeon... beautiful!

[@bigguydiy2184]

Your flying looks like your warming up for one of those Drone races I see on TV. Amazing how the different angles play with my head making me look away once in a while. Sucks getting old...

[@bryanginder5903]

Ryan your drone footage was great!!👍

[@HowFarmsWork]

Thanks Bryan!

[@bryanginder5903]

@@HowFarmsWork no problem!! Love the early morning view of the fog in the valley!

[@daleley7645]

Opening drone shots were amazing! Looks like the corn was running good through the combine. Too bad about the breakdowns , especially at the busy time.

[@ontariocashcropfarmer4955]

I must say that Drone footage pretty awesome, going to have to start calling you Top Gun 👍 Sloan's are missing an opportunity by not giving you a loaner tractor just my two cents🤷‍♂️🤠💪👍👌

[@kirklothert3435]

Or a combine demo

[@russkes9745]

Sadly this was the first big channel and it's stalled for years

[@davidgay2679]

Great drone footage, enjoyed the music too!!

[@busterbailey370]

Great video thank you all👍

[@VnazT]

Always look forward to your videos!

[@HowFarmsWork]

Thanks for tuning in!

[@edfeustel5235]

What a great opening on this video. Drone shot fantastic

[@Husker3435]

I agree , that’s some pretty slick flying Ryan 😎😎😎

[@someperson7]

Footage so good I turned up the picture quality to enjoy it properly

[@Blackwellll3066]

Can't wait to see combine grain cart and semi all working together

[@GM-dv1db]

Fantastic intro Ryan!

[@jordanhopp6905]

Saw your dad post about something new coming...excited to see it in a video soon. Also the drone footage is so awesome love it!

[@davidanderson8133]

Beautiful footage in your opening

[@larrysheriff8251]

Very seldom say anything but Your Family you and Travis are great! I try watching other farming videos and it is not the same. I guess it is because I have been at how farms work for what 6 years now. I hope you and Travis keep on making videos!! Wish I lived closer so I could come visit. SC quite a ways away.

[@EtzEchad]

Your drone videos continue to be awesome! Especially the intro on this one. That tire on the grain wagon didn't look that bad. Throw a patch on it and keep going. :)

[@dwightl5863]

Just put a tube in it!

[@brittblanton8342]

😂😂

[@clinthochrein888]

Excellent drone footage an video. I remember Going through Murphy’s law during a cold snap an snow. Silo unloader froze, water pipes freezing, tractor won’t fire up. Or almost getting kick by a cow just after taking the miker off.

[@williamtfinnegan1359]

Miss your explanations of How farms Work from the old videos. Some questions-- How do you decide what size corn head to use. Other operations seem to go the bigger the better (they seem to have a lot of flat land). I would imagine you would need one big enough to harvest during the harvest. How about the hilliness, gates to go through, roads to traverse. Is a larger head more expensive to replace cutter parts on? Horsepower required and speed? Another question is tires. I don't see farms that keep spares for the smaller tires. Seems like you would need a 6-hole and an 8-hole that would work temporally, especially if you were in an area that road-vehicles couldn't access. My dad always complained that the things he hated most having trouble with were tires and batteries. Keep up the good work. Thanks!

[@lukestrawwalker]

Good question and observations! On the corn head, YES all those things you mentioned are factors. Fitting through gates, transporting them, etc. are all factors. The main this matching the size of the head to the combine. Hills are another factor as operating on a hillside or incline or rolling ground, even with a contour master (swiveling feederhouse plate that can tilt the header in relation to the combine to help account for hills and rolling terrain) can only help SO MUCH with rolling ground... the longer the head, the more the ends raise up or lower down, but it does you no good if the middle is still to high in spots! SO shorter heads are better in that regard, with rolling ground. The other thing is, in tightly curved rows, like they have on thier contour farming practices, wide heads swing the ends more as they go around a curve, meaning that the inside end of the head is pushing rows over while the outside end of the head in the curve is "pulling rows in" and that can lean the stalks badly and break them off and lose ears on BOTH ENDS of the head, particularly in tight curves in the rows. The wider the head, the worse the problem becomes. Narrow heads are MUCH better in curving rows, particularly in tighter curves, because they have less of this effect. Wide heads are great for long, straight fields that are mostly square with few curves or point rows, but not good for hilly, rolling fields with odd shapes and tight curves in the rows in spots. The other issue is, wider heads cost more, have more moving parts and wear parts, and thus cost more to repair (though doing the same acres, each row unit sees less acres through it per-row than a narrower head, so that kinda evens out in the end-- narrow heads make more rounds so each row unit harvests more acres per year than a wider head) and of course they're much heavier, which can be a big issue in wet years when getting stuck is a problem. Wider heads also have higher horsepower requirements to run than a narrower head. Then there's also the capacity of the combine to consider... If the combine can only handle say 5,000 bushels an hour, in good corn you might be running with a 6 row head at say 5 mph, but with an 8 row head, you would have to slow down since you're pulling in 2 more rows into the combine, to about maybe 4.5 mph... so you're still doing the same amount of corn in an hour, (the machine's full capacity) you're just doing it wider per swath but slower ground speed. SO it largely evens out in the end, and there are advantages to the narrower head than the wide one-- 1) it's cheaper, 2) it's lighter, 3) it's easier on the combine power-wise, and 4) it's more maneuverable and handles curves and hilly terrain better. Lots of guys are just in love with new iron and have to get the biggest thing they possibly can get financed just for the sake of "bragging rights" or whatever... Later! OL J R :)

[@williamtfinnegan1359]

@@lukestrawwalker Thanks for the great up=to date explanation. Things change over the years!

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@williamtfinnegan1359 yep they do

[@ridgerunner80]

Ryan you keep showing that timbered valley with the creek running through and I'm gonna start begging to let me put a cabin there ,,,, scenes like that ,, log cabin = my idea of heaven on earth

[@markb.1259]

Really excellent drone videos lately!!! Love It!

[@jonathanmcintire9777]

Awesome intro and drone shots!!!

[@41MegaCab]

You definitely make the best farm videos!

[@DutchTurkey11]

Old boss of mine said it all happens in threes! The best of luck with the rest of harvest!!

[@farming4g]

Always something to go wrong... seems to come in 3s. 82 in for work, 76 down, and a blown tire. When you guys got that JD skidsteer, I was thinking to myself maybe you should have purchased a front-end loader tractor instead for an additional mid-range tractor but it is your business decisions in the end. I know you get quite a bit of use out of those skidders... but gives more options.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yeah exactly... I mean skiddies are nice and handy, they have their place, but they're nowhere NEAR as adaptable as a chore tractor is... a front end loader might not be quite as handy as a skiddie, BUT the tractor it's mounted on can do a heck of a lot more jobs around the farm. You're right, their money their choice but I agree with you honestly! OL J R :)

[@daveconger6199]

Fantastic video…very professional and entertaining. Stay safe!

[@patkelly7999]

Good stuff Ryan, theres always something, great intro, fog shots really cool:):)

[@SimonKL11]

It's awesome to see your drone shots👍😁 that's corn harvest just like the good old days I guess, a combine and a tractor with a wagon😉👍 hopefully you will get the 82 and the 76 back to work soon👍👍 Great video again👍

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great how farms work, Video, thanks for sharing

[@thomasvogelgesang667]

Great drone footage. I hope harvest goes great for you.

[@leeforeman3656]

Great drone footage Ryan. Its unfortunate your beautiful scenery is going to be spoilt by solar farming, but that's progress I guess. Hopefully no more breakdowns. Thanks for explaining how the dryer works on the bins.

[@maxmoo3275]

Great drone footage! Brass balls! You must be flying FPV now..........what drone are you using?

[@nwpioneer2551]

GREAT DRONE SHOTS AND TRICKY ALSO.

[@madisonyoder1088]

I can appreciate some good drone work! Good job Ryan

[@lindadanielson7849]

Nice shave& hair cut. Drone footage is super

[@michaelc9128]

Wow Ryan harvested his beard and back to baby face..plus at least Travis didn't ruin the wheel on the grain trailer

[@fazerainbow5674]

awsome video ryan thumbs up and shared

[@charleslynch7274]

Your drone footage really amazes me a job well done

[@justincase2830]

great drone footage and great looking alfalfa!

[@acomputernerd]

That’s where all the tp went! Love the flyovers and thanks for the video. Happy harvest and may the odds be ever in your favour.

[@galegregory97comcast]

Hope your doing well. I'm fine thanks you video are the best wow

[@heatherkohlwey8379]

Your drone work is amazing! I love that area of our state. May you be blessed with a safe and bountiful harvest.

[@januszfarmshayandgrain2012]

Awesome drone vid Ryan. Keep up the good work kid 👍

[@wingrider687]

With drone footage that good you need a "call sign"... 😁

[@moonlightmedia5755]

Recently order some merchandise from you, me and my fiance love watching your videos, we definitely like the ariel footage from the drone major thumbs up for the flying ability keep up the great work

[@jimmycurran5355]

Cool drone footage.

[@doclull1989]

Hey Ryan!! Getting pretty brave flying around those trees. Sorry about all the break downs. Have a great weekend.

[@HowFarmsWork]

You too Darrin!

[@CuriousEarthMan]

Thanks Ryan! I hope you get for more power in motion soon, if you can! Loved the drone footage and music, as always, such a good job! Your mug looks different to me now, not just the beard, but how you look. At one point, you looked like an eagle, and I wondered if you are a Scorpio lol had to say it lol I appreciate the great videos, thanks!

[@tokencivilian8507]

Tough break on the mechanical breakdowns. If nothing else, it sounds like the yields are pretty fair. Stoked to see more harvest vids.

[@farmshoffman8475]

Great awesome video Ryan , yup top gun , he went like this you went like that , where he go , where u go lmao

[@hfff1]

I like the new intro!

[@aaronjarvenpa1743]

Great montage. Looks like another tractor is needed .

[@nikphoenix]

Great drone shots for the opening. I know Travis keeps talking about needing another tractor to help with hay. I worry if he gets it one. It will be to late the the 76 will be retired because of being warn out.

[@brittblanton8342]

Hey Ryan thanks for the great video the drone footage is awesome. You are so right the alfalfa looks great. Are you guys using the same corn reel that you used last year? Do you rent it or is it a loaner from a friend? Take care and have a great rest of the weekend 👍

[@matthewburns5053]

Thanks for great video, I enjoyed it as always. Sorry y’all on the struggle bus for this video.

[@ianhaggart1438]

Afternoon, evening or good morning to you 😉😁 nice vid your really flying that 4 like its a rental 😆. Your obviously wanting an excuse for getting a new one 🤫😀. How's that truck doing for you? Don't see many over here. Stay safe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@HowFarmsWork]

I built it myself, so I can fix it in about 10 minutes. Many crashes already 😂

[@ianhaggart1438]

@@HowFarmsWork looks like its a good build for you. Well done are we getting to see it at some point or have I missed that 🤔😁🤣

[@markarmitage7411]

Why don't grain cart manufacturers use a joystick and solenoid bank? That means you can work off one scv or load sensing if the tractor is equipped with it. Probably would only cost them a grand in parts

[@FoodwaysDistribution]

Can you post the footage of you pulling the drone out of the grain cart :P)

[@randycharest4507]

I like your videos and I really hate that you guys had down corn again this year.

[@jordanschneider6505]

I love the montages with drone footage and music

[@woody6330]

I like the new intro

[@waterskiingfool]

Tough luck on the tractors. Time to add some more horses to the shed

[@TommyTester]

One of those gaps is gonna bite you, but that intro was way cool.

[@wagon9082]

Good video

[@jameslipe4080]

If it is going to break it will during the busiest time of year!

[@Adam_Poirier]

Nice drone footage bud

[@HowFarmsWork]

Thanks Adam! Have a great weekend!

[@Adam_Poirier]

@@HowFarmsWork you too man stay safe

[@ronaldjennings8057]

A Ryan you're getting pretty good with that drone think about taking pilot lessons then you could be a dust Cropper I just kidding Ryan that Alfalfa's literally looking good for sure you're right it seems like your fence is holding up pretty good I hope you and your better half is doing well take care can't wait till the next video hear from you soon God bless🙏👍🛩🚜😊

[@dustinkeith7641]

that drone shot...

[@eyema_pierat8993]

nice intro Ryan

[@scottneill8646]

You guys need to invest in a grain cart with tracks 👍🤠😎

[@lukestrawwalker]

For what?? Has it fallen in four feet deep yet? Tracks are probably another $70,000 bucks. Lots of other places to spend that kind of money first, like a newer combine maybe?? LOL:) Later! OL J R :)

[@Murphyslawfarm]

G'day Ryan

[@jetegtmeier71]

the thing about flat tires.... there usually only flat on the bottom :)

[@austinpickett3348]

Just wondering why don't you put the 4020 on the gravity wagon and the 4640 on the smaller Brent?

[@lukestrawwalker]

too much weight to handle it on their hills safely... OL J R :)

[@dennishayes65]

Seeing the TOILET PAPER on the yard & in the trees of the football coaches lawn reminds me of when our yard got (TPed) after our daughters high school volleyball team won the state championship ! I woke up Sunday morning & looked out the window & saw what your local football coach had in his yard ! I got up & went outside & cleaned most of it up ! My wife wasn’t happy with me ! She thought the toilet paper should have been left alone ! WHAT !!!!!!!

[@CurrentChoices]

Autumn Tradition....pre-COVID! LOL

[@chesterraybon3442]

I feel for ya. Don't you just love those days when everything goes to heck at the time you're most busy. Need 3 mechanics and a tractor trailer full of parts to get it all going. Love the drone footage but miss the "hello this is Ryan". Take care and great video.

[@waynejones5239]

Nice

[@samueljoejr5191]

Hollywood is calling !

[@americasdream1265]

it has been a strange harvest season here in Indiana but it must be the same every where in the midwest. Both the corn and soybean stalks still have a lot green in them but the soybeans are running most of the time at 12% and the corn is running at 17%. This year we can't go by the green in the stalks at all. In the soybeans even with the Crary air reel and the Flex Draper head with the reel running very slow we are losing more than normal beans at the head they are not coming out the back at the straw shredder.

[@SteveHolsten]

Thanks Ryan! Do y'all have a regular grain dryer?

[@lukestrawwalker]

Regular as in a continuous flow dryer? No. They dry "in the bin with a fan and burner blowing hot air through an air floor in the bin. Batch dry 20,000 bushels a time, transfer them over to the second bin with no stirrators, but the airflow floor and Agri-dry system to control the fan automatically by monitoring grain temp, ambient air temp, relative humidity, and grain moisture levels. Later! OL J R :)

[@SteveHolsten]

@@lukestrawwalker Thanks

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@SteveHolsten You're welcome... :) OL J R :)

[@wileybranchfarms2626]

So is what you are saying the 8235r and the 7600 went down and the 4020 and 4640 both ran fine and didn’t brake nothing built like the old iron horses so I’ll stick with my early model 4020 and am looking at a 4440 or a 4650

[@pascalhumphrey]

If you had a new Combine, how much more product would you pick up? Or is it just that a new one would work faster and clean the same?

[@lukestrawwalker]

No difference in harvest versus a well maintained and properly operated machine like they have... Just faster and yeah clean about the same. Oh, and a lot more electronic rubbish to go wrong on it... OL J R :)

[@stewartscenturyfarm238]

What is the biggest grain cart you would pull with the 4640?

[@pstrass6353]

I saw that blown tire, it freaked me out. If you have ever pulled a full gravity wagon you know what I mean. The tire have a huge sidewall and with all that weight it could easily roll over. Also the rims on implements are not hardened like a steel wheel on a car or truck, they easily deform.

[@silasschmal2712]

Is it just me or do a lot of Minnesota corn farmers this year seem to be cutting corn really high this year? One of the farms out by my place was cutting at a solid 8-9 inches high when they normal cut 4-5 inches at most.

[@craigmiller5372]

My cousins just bought a couple brand new gravity wagons and they said that they actually come from the factory with the used tires? I guess they use used tires off of semis?

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yes they don't need perfect tread, so long as the tire carcass is good and can hold air and support the weight... those tires are like $1,100-1,200 a piece or so new... so it makes sense. OL J R : )

[@peterjames2004]

you just had to fly under the unloading auger didnt you, well done good flying

[@frankeem3820]

Have you ever dropped your camera inside one of those bins?

[@georgedavidson1221]

Hey ‘This is Ryan “. need the opening

[@VernonChitlen]

The opening video and music, led me to think, hollywood has nothing on you.

[@rtz549]

Put Super Singles on the back of the semi and those huge tires they run on the front of a concrete truck so it can pull grain carts.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Super singles are pretty worthless on the farm semi's... they're only really good for running LOTS of highway miles-- less sidewall heating and thus less fuel consumption on the truck (fraction of a mile per gallon, but run enough miles it adds up to fuel savings). On farm trucks they get stuck REAL easy, cut into the ground more than duals, and if you blow a tire you can't limp it to the elevator or home to fix it like you can with duals. Later! OL J R :)

[@rtz549]

@@lukestrawwalker I thought the duals would sink in the ground easier and the singles would offer more floatation? Deep sand or mud situations.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@rtz549 You would think so, but it doesn't really work out that way... everybody I've heard of running super singles on a farm hate the things and want to go back to duals when they can. It's sorta like how duals on combines do better than super-wide singles... heck my nephew in law, his family farm bought 2 pairs of tracks for their combines at $70,000 a pair. Ended up having to a hire a guy who put triples on a 9600 combine to harvest their grain-- the tracks have a lot more surface area, BUT they "cut in" easier and the rest of the track is running in the rut cut by the front roller, so they just sink in... at least in muck soils. Maybe wet sand or clay might work better, but not in muck. Gotta spread the weight out LATERALLY as well as length-wise. Later! OL J R :)

[@johnjosephmercadante6664]

The most taken for granted industry in America. Our countries backbone before we were a country. We need to do more to help.

[@JeffStewart78..]

How does your operation get away without a dryer? Is it because of the weather?

[@HowFarmsWork]

We have one 20K bushel drying bin

[@JeffStewart78..]

@@HowFarmsWork Well I mean like a actual dryer that takes propane or natural gas.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@JeffStewart78.. You mean a continuous flow grain dryer. Most farms "get by" without a continuous flow dryer. If you have a continuous flow, you either have to have a grain leg or auger setup to transfer grain CONSTANTLY as it is processed through the dryer, and you have to have a wet grain bin to feed the dryer continuously. That is a LOT of money. OR you can have a bin dryer like they have, which is a high powered electric fan blowing through a propane fired heater that heats the air and blows it under the bin's perforated drying floor and up through the corn, with stirrators to turn the grain over in the bin as it dries, and "batch dry" 20,000 bushels at a time. When that is dry, it gets moved over to th eother 20,000 bushel bin with an air floor in it and a fan only (no burners) with and "Agri-Dry" system to monitor the grain and atmospheric conditions and blow air through the grain as needed to keep it dry. The two bin setup gives them 40,000 bushels of storage, the rest they sell in town out of the field. My BIL has one 20,000 bushel bin and in a year with a lot of wet corn, we end up filling it, drying down that batch over a few days, hauling it to town to the elevator, and then refilling it again, til harvest is done. Just work with what you got... OL J R :)

[@met1117]

we want to see Hanah

[@xhulianbicaku8563]

Where is "Hey everybody is Ryan"???

[@Rupinder_Ghuman]

Hey brother 👋

[@wolfriverratt1302]

I wonder if there isnt some way to run the auger with the skid steer? That would free up another tractor!

[@lukestrawwalker]

No. There isnt... I guess "technically" a guy *could* but you'd have to power it with a hydraulic motor and run that off the skid steer's system... You COULD but WHY would you, and what would it cost, and you'd be probably scorching the skiddies' hydrauli system to do it. OR you can get an old tractor for nearly nothing and have IT power the auger... LOL:) OL J R :)

[@wolfriverratt1302]

@@lukestrawwalker Not sure how much HP is required to run that auger. We had a regular paddle conveyer we used a 2hp motor to run and it worked, But yes run with a hydro motor was my idea.

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@wolfriverratt1302 Oh I'm sure it COULD work but really probly more trouble than it's worth. Running a $60,000 skid steer to do the job a $600 Farmall could do just seems rather counterproductive to me LOL:) BIL runs his auger with an old Case DC... it's all it can handle, but it will run it LOL:) Later! OL J R :)

[@wolfriverratt1302]

@@lukestrawwalker Have a great rest of you day!

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@wolfriverratt1302 Hey you too!!! Later! OL J R :)

[@PeggyStentzCasey]

I'm a new viewer so I don't know everyone yet. Is Travis your brother?

[@HowFarmsWork]

Yep!

[@lukestrawwalker]

He has his own channel "The Rest Of the Story" as well... OL J R :)

[@robertmoncur3781]

Man dude this harvest hasn’t been going well for anyone. Accidents and crop loss it has been a pretty eventful harvest for sure

[@brianrutherford3681]

That is farming nothing ever runs perfect.everytjkng breaks at different times.