By Tyler Trieglaff

Notes from the Chief

Notes from the Farm…The search for baler parts took me to Sisseton, S.D. I talked with a salvage yard who had pictures of the pickup units and I thought it seemed like a pretty okay deal.  

I got down to Sisseton and found out that he only deals with five foot-bales and ours is a four-foot baler. So much for that road trip. I left about 7 a.m., and got back to the farm about 3 p.m., after a couple stops on the way home. Around 4:45 I was talking to a farmer friend who told me that there is a salvage yard in Aberdeen, S.D. I called them and asked about parts for a New Holland 654 round baler. About 5:30 p.m., I got a phone call that they had a pickup header that would possibly work. I made it home from a meeting, helped dad with the haybine that he broke, changed the flat spare tire that was in the back of my pickup, had supper and headed back on the road to Sisseton. I made it to a hotel in Sisseton around 11:15 p.m., and bedded down for the night.  

I made it to Aberdeen about 9 in the morning and the pickup unit that they showed me looked to be in about as good as shape as the one I already had. We did some measuring and looked at another pickup header and I decided to go with the first one they showed me. About an hour later I was back on the road headed home. Lots of driving for a part that we can hopefully repair and get to work on the baler we have.  Going to Aberdeen was about the closest I could find. I did find a parts baler in Michigan, but that was 12 hours one way.  

We started to tear into the new to us header and found several bent pickup teeth that were causing it to bind up. We removed all the pickup bands and replaced the broken pickup teeth. A little lubrication on the moving parts sure helped loosen things up. The bands will be reassembled and hopefully it will bolt into place like the old one did.  

As far as haying season goes, all the round bales are hauled home, about 500 or so.  We have about 80 acres left with 15 acres on a field that we will only cut once and the rest will be the only second crop we cut. We will be close to 600 bales for the year, which will be enough for the coming year. We also plan to buy some hay from a neighbor as well as having about 400 bales left from last year. The bulls were turned out with the cows last weekend which gives us an April 20, 2026, calving (not calfing) start date next year.

Friday, July 4

1:04 p.m. Talk with an elderly male about his animals.

8:41 p.m. Assist an elderly female with her phone and getting back to Detroit Lakes.

Saturday, July 5

12:12 a.m  Officer found two vehicles in the back of the high school parking lot with teenagers getting to know one another better. Apparently, the Frazee High School parking lot is the geographical center between Bluffton and Hitterdal.  

12:30 a.m. Fireworks complaint on Rivercrest Drive. Adults setting them off claimed this was a good time due to the rain earlier. Officer also let them know that most of what they were lighting off were illegal.

12:49 a.m. Assist party with needing gas to get back to Pelican Rapids.

1:15 a.m. Pickup parked with the cargo light on illuminating the pickup bed. Nothing seemed to be tampered with. Officer left a message for the owner.

4:10 p.m. Request to do a welfare check on a young adult male. Male was found deceased. Under investigation. 

10:21 p.m. Apartment tenant claiming a vehicle was shining its headlights into his apartment.  

Sunday, July 6

3:45 p.m. Issue with RR cross arms. BNSF contacted.

7:06 p.m. Report of a stray dog. Dog taken to Marshmallow Foundation. Dog owner called soon after and was given the information to retrieve the dog in the morning.  Officer relayed to dog owner that this could have been prevented if the dog was licensed with the city and we could have returned the dog.

10:03 p.m. Officer talked with two juvenile boys who were out riding their bikes around.  They were on their way to one of their houses.

Monday, July 7

5:08 p.m. Traffic stop for stop sign violation.

7:31 p.m. Complainant calling in that he paid for some automobile work to be done and he doesn’t think the work was completed correctly. Officer told the caller that it was a civil matter and it would have to be handled in court.

Tuesday, July 8

1:14 p.m. Complaint of sexual contact between juveniles. Under investigation.

3:06 p.m. Assist with a medical.

9:48 p.m. Report of a disagreement between roommates and friends. Officer talked with those involved and all was calm when he left.

Wednesday, July 9

1:08 a.m. Report of a wrong way semi on US 10 from Perham. State Patrol stopped the semi.

10:37 a.m. Report of suspicious activity by the campground on River Drive S. Vehicle was gone prior to officer’s arrival.

11:50 a.m. Resident reporting that neighborhood children are at the Town Lake swimming beach without adult supervision.

3:01 p.m. Report of people possibly under the influence of drugs.

5:30 p.m. Assist with a disturbance that started in rural Detroit Lakes and turned into a pursuit toward Frazee.  

11:56 p.m. Report of a domestic disturbance on Balsam Ave. An intoxicated female was causing issues at the residence. Officer told the female it was time for bed or he could make a reservation for her at the Crowbar Hotel. 

Thursday, July 10

8:46 a.m. Report of a possible crash on US Hwy 10. The issue was a phone crash detection alert. The phone was riding on the tailgate and fell off causing the phone to automatically call emergency services.

9:34 a.m. Officer talked with some people about paying up to date for their campground stay.

5:48 p.m. Landlord with questions about tenant issues.

8:09 p.m. Assist with a disturbance in the area of Co Hwy 29 and 130th St.