Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[cliftonbros89]

So Thursday arrived.

A bit more running. I took my truck to town to finally have a sticker put on the back glass. Same as dad’s and my uncle’s

They also made up some grease fitting stickers for me.

They’re copied off the design of the ones that Deere puts in equipment. I figured it’d be nice to put on some things so when I have some help from someone else, or dad forgets on it may be able to help point the fittings out a little better.

I finally managed to catch the Snap-On guy in town.

I finally got my 1/4” 5/16” crowfoot from him and he warrantied my scraper and one of my picks for me. I was glad to finally get that done.

The new crowfoot is definitely small compared to some of the other ones I’m used to.

For the afternoon dad and I put the wench on the 7510 to pull out some trees to cut for wood.

We pulled out a good looking dead trees

We cut them up and loaded the blocks on a wagon with the 7230.

We just backed the wagon load in the shed for now. We’ll split it on a later date.

Wood took up most of the afternoon but I was at least able to get the oil and filter changed in the 9400. Put some new air filters in too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today I was able to get a decent start to the day.

Stopped by the retirement farm. It was extra dark cuz it was extra cloudy this morning.


Sunrise was the only glimpse of the sun for the whole day.

Dad and I fed hay everywhere. Luckily, things were a bit froze for once this morning so it wasn’t majorly muddy.

We picked the new truck up from inspection and dad ran to town for some things.

I went back to work on the 9400.

I finally got to use my Davco filter wrench for the fuel filter. It’s kind of nice to have something that works just right for something like that.


One of my hoses to drain the tractor axle hubs was the perfect length and size use to drain the filter too so it didn’t make a mess.

I replaced the rest of the filters and found two of the rubber hoses for the upper radiator line are leaking a bit. They’re feeling pretty spongy too. So they’re definitely getting replaced.

I had to stop bit early at the shop to make some stops in town.

I stopped just in time too. The wet, slick snow they’ve been talking about all week set in about the time I’d left the shop. So it was pretty good timing. Especially, since I was able to avoid 3 different accidents in time as well. People around here can’t drive worth a **** in the snow. So after my stops I headed straight for the house. I’m avoiding any contact with other drivers for sure.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I also got a new made in USA soil sample probe.

I’m hoping to make some time to get some soil samples from some of the farms to give us a better idea of what we’re dealing with before spring arrives.

Just finding the time to take all the samples and get them sent off for testing.

Another thing to add to the list.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well the snow arrived Friday evening. By the early morning hours the temperature rose a few degrees and the snow turned to rain. So by light it had already started to melt.

I drove down to the shop to work on the trucks. I worked on them for a bit and checked on the cattle.



This is sure to make this muddy again! Luckily, all the younger calves seemed to be doing ok.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today I went out to the retirement farm to check on things.


It started snowing again but it’s too warm for it to stick around. Looks like it’s going to be another muddy week.

 

[NKlamerus]

Finally a tool I recognize! We used those probes for the entirety of my Maritime Studies degree. Underwater archaeology, looking for Luna shipwrecks dating back to about 1530 in the muck on the bottom of the local bays and bayous

By the time i was done I was hoping to never see one again [emoji23]

Maybe you could measure the mud now?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Finally a tool I recognize! We used those probes for the entirety of my Maritime Studies degree. Underwater archaeology, looking for Luna shipwrecks dating back to about 1530 in the muck on the bottom of the local bays and bayous

By the time i was done I was hoping to never see one again [emoji23]

Maybe you could measure the mud now?

You know all about them then! That sounds like a good time.

Yeah, it will definitely be awhile before I can actually use it. At this rate I’ll be lucky if I can get any samples by spring.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Monday morning the snow continued to melt. You guessed it. It’s muddy all over again. Dad and I fed hay everywhere and looked over the cattle. We spread out some round straw bales to give them a little bit of s dry space to bed down.

Yet again we had to run some errands in town. Since I had a decal put on my truck last week dad decided he needed one on the new truck. But he took it a step further.

He had a decal put on the doors like the ones we have on the semi trucks.

By the evening I was in the shop.

Back to work on the 9400. I replaced the upper radiator hose since they weren’t looking good. Two of the four hose clamps were rusted up and broke when I was trying to remove the old hoses. I went to Napa to get some new ones.

But even though I gave them an old one they still got me the wrong size. They were too big. I guess it’s partially my fault. I should’ve known that you have to stay on those parts store people. They didn’t have them in stock so they had to get them from another store. Stupid me for not assuming they were going to screw it up...again.

I also stated draining the cooling system to flush on dad’s ‘02 as well.

I had a bit of time to I made up some studs to add to my kit.

No it’s not necessary that I paint them. But I’m hoping it’ll work well for easy identification once I have several pair.


I made a set for the shop and a set for the truck like I’ve done before.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today first thing I did was got the correct hose clamps for the 9400 as soon as Napa opened. I got to the shop, got the new clamps on, put the drained coolant back in since it was still in good shape. Got a few other things back together and it was out the door.

So the majority of the day dad and I started hauling some corn again for our other contract.

Since I got a bit of a late start I was only able to haul off a couple loads. But we loaded both trucks so they’re ready to start again tomorrow.


This evening I was cleaning up things from working on the 9400 and getting things together to finish up on dad’s ‘02. But I also had a pile of parts to inventory and put away in the loft as well.

My b-i-l came over to help dad and I with the first step for the new heater.

Dad welded up some brackets and my b-i-l and I hung the brackets and the heater, with a bit of help from the 4020 of corse. So the first and easiest step is done. Not sure when we’ll be able to start on the rest. I just hope it works good.

 

[XJSuperman]

Id be interested in knowing more about the truck for sale if you'd like to pm me some info on it. I really enjoy the pics of the 2-cylinders out helping work. Maybe one day Ill run into you at a pull.

 

[FlaGman]

I always look forward to, and enjoy your posts. As an old city boy, I find your farm life fascinating, especially with regards to the frequent equipment servicing and repair. You seem to be the exception to the rule for younger people today, I am sure your dad and uncle are very proud of you. Keep up the great work, and update when you are able!

 

[cliftonbros89]

I always look forward to, and enjoy your posts. As an old city boy, I find your farm life fascinating, especially with regards to the frequent equipment servicing and repair. You seem to be the exception to the rule for younger people today, I am sure your dad and uncle are very proud of you. Keep up the great work, and update when you are able!

Thanks!

Id be interested in knowing more about the truck for sale if you'd like to pm me some info on it. I really enjoy the pics of the 2-cylinders out helping work. Maybe one day Ill run into you at a pull.

I’ll let you know about it. We haven’t fully decided what we’re going to do yet.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Wednesday and Thursday basically consisted of hauling corn off. To finish one of our contracts, plus haul off a few landlord’s shares.


Dad and I each hauled both days. We were loading out of 2 bins to move a little quicker. Both of them ending up running low enough we had to scoop them out.


We emptied out one of the big bins and one of the smaller bins. We ended up having to quit hauling as the elevator we hauled to was full and waiting on a barge.

The roads have all been wet and sloppy from the rain/snow we had. Plus we ended up with a little more rain Thursday morning.

Hard to tell. But the trucks were a mess so dad washed both of them off. Although they’ll likely look just the same next week.

Just before the end of the year we decided we wanted to get a new 31 foot auger to load trucks with since ours is getting pretty worn. On Thursday our new one arrived.

It’s built a little heavier and has a 10” auger instead of an 8” auger like our old one. So we’re thinking of selling the old one. Might be able to get a few bucks for it.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So in addition to hauling grain and taking care of the cattle. In the evenings my b-i-l has been helping us getting things set for the heater.

We ran pipe from the heater out to the truck shed, through the truck shed outside beside the trailer we moved in last summer.

We wired everything up and got things ready to hook up.

We finished up Friday afternoon and had a guy come inspect it and test the system to make sure everything was good to go. Later he came by and brought a tank and loaded it up and hooked us all up. By 6 we had heat going in the shop. Everything seemed to be working just right.

Since we were have the new heat source we weren’t going to need the old one anymore.

This old stove has been in the shop for a long time. About as long as I can remember. At one point it used to be in the basement of dad’s house. He didn’t know what to do with it and wasn’t planning on using it for anything. So I decided we might as well move it out.

Along with the old wood rack we had for it which you can see here. So yesterday morning I listed in to the Facebook Marketplace for sale. By 12 a guy came and bought it. He makes game calls in his garage with a lathe and CNC machine. He said he doesn’t have any heat in there so it’d be perfect. He loaded it up and I told him he could have the wood rack if he’d just get it out of my way so I sent that with him too.


So now we have a little bit of extra room along the wall. I also convinced dad he should relocate his old red craftsman toolbox that was beside mine box, since all by 2 drawers were empty. Not to mention the 2 drawers contain things he never used anyway.

So with that I think I may rearrange my end of the shop a bit. I’m just not sure what to do. I know I’d like to start with having somewhere to hang my creeper and my truck wheel step to get them out of the way a bit. But I’m still looking at options.

 

[Dividing Creek]

Jealous of the 6 spd 7.3 dually.

Have an 02 7.3 crew cab 350 dually but its automatic. Bought that one to replace my 99 250 cclb 4x4 7.3 truck with 432k on the odometer. Used the 99 for a 600 mle trip this week but its craigslist bound next week. Gotta love a 9000 lb ew truck that gets 17.5 mpg running 65 mph, imagine the manual trucks do even better on fuel.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Jealous of the 6 spd 7.3 dually.

Have an 02 7.3 crew cab 350 dually but its automatic. Bought that one to replace my 99 250 cclb 4x4 7.3 truck with 432k on the odometer. Used the 99 for a 600 mle trip this week but its craigslist bound next week. Gotta love a 9000 lb ew truck that gets 17.5 mpg running 65 mph, imagine the manual trucks do even better on fuel.

It’s pretty nice so far. We’ve definitely wanted another 7.3 for awhile now.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well the weekend was not productive. I was about to head to the shop Saturday when it started to rain, sleet, and snow. Sounds like it was a good thing I held off.

We ended up with several inches of snow Saturday. It also brought a lot of wind and some cold temperatures. Then we received a bit more snow Sunday, which was a surprise.


Dad and I checked all the cattle and fed hay everywhere.




Also ground some feed too.

Had to take care of filing some stuff for the trailer trucks again...stupid government paper work...

This afternoon was spent cleaning up the shop. It’s been a mess lately and stuff was everywhere without a place to work. So things needed to be picked up.

New heat seems to be working pretty good too.

 

[XJSuperman]

Are you getting the freezing rain today that we have up here?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Are you getting the freezing rain today that we have up here?

We’re supposed to have some rain move in sometime late this afternoon or in the early evening hours. Last I checked it was supposed to just be rain. However, depending on how long and late it goes on in sure it could turn to freezing rain. I sure hope it doesn’t. That’s the last thing we need.

 

[XJSuperman]

Its pretty gross up here. North of DesMoines up to MN its worse. Winter weather until tomorrow morning.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Its pretty gross up here. North of DesMoines up to MN its worse. Winter weather until tomorrow morning.

Just rain here. But that melting the snow down isn’t going to let things dry up any quicker.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Got my latest SK socket of the month in yesterday.

This month they offered their new impact sockets for the free socket. Looks pretty nice. I’ll have try to use it soon.

Well it was pretty chilly out this morning. But it gradually warmed up. And melted the snow. Back to muddy again for a few days. Until it freezes.

So I backed the drill back in to the shop today. Had a bit of trouble with the 8400 wanting to start.

But with some help from the 7510 I got it going.

So with the drill in I started to take off the chains to replace. Since we were out of 40 chain I had ordered a roll from Deere. So today I opened it up to make up the new chains only to find they sent me 50 chain.

Needless to say I was aggravated. So I went to Deere to return the roll of 50. Luckily they now had enough 40 to at least replace all the roller chains on the drill.

So I replaced them. I think it was over 30 foot all together.

I also decided to match the hoses to the SCV’s just help with hook up.

I taped them up and put some paint on them.


I also picked up a SAE and metric tape measure from Deere. I’ve been looking for one for awhile. This one was cheaper than one from the SnapOn guy.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well we ended up with some rain over night and in to the morning. It just about melted all the snow. But the later the day went the colder it became.

I started the day finishing up with the drill


Added some extra reflector tape to the front and the back just as an extra safety precaution.

Dad added some different hazard lights to the back. The old ones weren’t in a very good spot and had caught things one too many times.

So we pulled the drill out of the shop.

Dad rewired the plug for the trailer lights on the new truck.

I got to doing some different maintenance work today.

I checked over the shop air compressor good and changed the oil in it.


I also started servicing the pressure washer as well. The belts need to be replaced, as well as the fuel filter for the burner on the washer. I also decided I’m going to change the oil in the pump once.


The fuel hoses weren’t looking very good either. So I replaced the clear hoses with actual fuel line. I think that will hold up much better.

I also sprayed some numbers and letters on the parts shelves and bins to help with locating the inventory.



Later on I started moving things around because we’re finally going to run some air hoses over on my end of the shop.


I have to get a regulator and some other things to finish up. I’ll probably rearrange the work area a bit as well. But I’m going to have a 1/2” and 3/8” air hoses on my end. The 3/8” for the main things. The 1/2” for the likes of the 3/4” impact, dad’s old 1” impact and for whatever else we may need it for.

But lots more on the list in the mean time.

 

[NKlamerus]

Loving the progress!

I'm sure it's been gone over, but how are you sorting your sockets if there's a random new one coming every month?

Seems like a always have a complete set, then a half dozen randoms rolling around in the drawer.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Loving the progress!

I'm sure it's been gone over, but how are you sorting your sockets if there's a random new one coming every month?

Seems like a always have a complete set, then a half dozen randoms rolling around in the drawer.

Well all the majority of all my 1/4” sockets and 3/8” sockets are all on Ernst rails, or an equivalent. The 1/2” sockets are all on Hanson trays for now. But yes I do have a lot of loose sockets.

For the most part they’re shoved between all the socket rails for now. There is room enough I can keep them some what lines up in order. But things are tight enough that they usually don’t fall over and roll around. For the monthly SK sockets I’ve mainly been filling in on 1/2” drive 12 points. So while I’ve yet to put them on a rail. I do have them all lined up together shoved in between rails of sockets.

One of these days I’m going to need to purchase some more sockets rails. I need one or two for my monthly SK sockets, then one for all my spark plug sockets, then another for some of my miscellaneous sockets, flat head bit and the like. Luckily, some of them aren’t used too often so I can kind of keep those in a corner. Out of the way, yet I still know where they are.

I also have a small box where I stash my fabricated sockets I’ve done as well.

 

[48RON54]

Great thread.

I've spent most of whatever down time I have had at work over the last couple weeks going page by page. I finally caught up today.

Me being in an urban setting, its really a nice change of pace to see the inner workings of a small family owned farm and the country life you have there. Question, how many hours a day would you say put in to working on the farm on average?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Great thread.

I've spent most of whatever down time I have had at work over the last couple weeks going page by page. I finally caught up today.

Me being in an urban setting, its really a nice change of pace to see the inner workings of a small family owned farm and the country life you have there. Question, how many hours a day would you say put in to working on the farm on average?

Thanks.

Most of the time I put in a 12-14 hour day. December not as much. Saturday’s weren’t always a full day either. But when things start to pick up there will be some 16-19 hour days. I’ve already had some 15-16 hour days last week. Occasionally, there might be a 20 hour day. Yes, it’s happened more than once.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Lots of grain hauling the last few days. It basically sums of the whole of the last of the week.




Hauled some corn. Hauled some beans. Had trouble with an auger, had trouble with a truck. Even at the elevator they had trouble. The cold isn’t helping anything out either.

The inbound scale at the elevator wasn’t working properly, so both inbound and outbound trucks had to use the outbound scale. Needless to say what is usually a 10 minute stop turned into a hour stop.

At least since it’s been so cold the mud has froze. Not that it’s much easier on the cattle.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Thursday evening I decided to switch things around in the shop. Just to try it out for now.

I rearranged the area. I’m going to try it out and see how I like it. If it works good I’m probably going to make some additions to it.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I may finally get back to working on the main tractors this coming week.

Yesterday evening dad and I returned the drill back to the shed in the bottom.

I wanted the 8400 back at the house so I jumped in the 4440 and brought the planter with it while dad brought the 8400.


We parked the 8400 and the planter in the shed for later. But I backed the 4440 in the shop right away. We found there seems to be an issue with it now too. We’re getting fuel in the oil. So looks like we’re going to have to check that out.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Well I had some plans to work in the shop but dad wanted to go to a big auction today. An auction that was over 3 hours away. So we left out about 4 a.m.



It was cold. It snowed for awhile. Lots of people. Lots of stuff. Some junk, some brand new super expensive stuff too. A ton of Deere stuff. Tractors, equipment, trucks, big and small.

There was a handful of stuff we were interested in. But the stuff either turned out to be not worth it, or worth more than we could spend. So we ended up heading out empty handed.

 

[jblnut]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Hauled some corn. Hauled some beans. Had trouble with an auger, had trouble with a truck. Even at the elevator they had trouble. The cold isn’t helping anything out either.

At least since it’s been so cold the mud has froze. Not that it’s much easier on the cattle.

It's been coldish (-10F to5F avg) here lately as well and it's been rough on everything. There is a cold snap on the way starting tomorrow where it's not suppose to be above 0F for 4-5 days with the low on Wednesday and Thursday being -32F and the highs below -10F. That's gonna ****.

The cold is nice for the cattle though. They go through less bedding and seem to stay healthier. Spring is always nice but everything turns to mud and gets miserable. From the sounds of it that is about how your normal winters are. Just cold enough some times that is freezes solid but mostly just mud all the time.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

It's been coldish (-10F to5F avg) here lately as well and it's been rough on everything. There is a cold snap on the way starting tomorrow where it's not suppose to be above 0F for 4-5 days with the low on Wednesday and Thursday being -32F and the highs below -10F. That's gonna ****.



The cold is nice for the cattle though. They go through less bedding and seem to stay healthier. Spring is always nice but everything turns to mud and gets miserable. From the sounds of it that is about how your normal winters are. Just cold enough some times that is freezes solid but mostly just mud all the time.

Yes, it is just about mud all the time. Especially, this year. We just can’t catch a break.

It’s been chilly here, about to get colder yet. But nothing like what you’re about to have.

 

[NKlamerus]

Seeing your toolbox lineup reminds me how much I hate corners, just seems like a constant negative space.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Seeing your toolbox lineup reminds me how much I hate corners, just seems like a constant negative space.

Oh I intend to take care of that. Absolutely. I’m just waiting to see how I like the set up and then I’ll fill that space. That’s in the plans I mentioned.

 

[lis2323]

Corners are always a problem.

I had to make a custom corner unit for our tiny farm “machine shop”.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[cliftonbros89]

Corners are always a problem.

I had to make a custom corner unit for our tiny farm “machine shop”.






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I’m hoping to make a work top/shelf that will fit in the corner with the top flush to the top of the shorter tool box. I figured that way it’ll provide a surface to store things out of the way. Plus add a shelf I need somewhere to sit my stereo. It had previously sat on top of dad’s red craftsman box that wasn’t being used. But I moved that out.

 

[Farmall450]

I don't have a problem with corners. Good places to lean tall things, stick the parts washer, etc

 

[cliftonbros89]

I don't have a problem with corners. Good places to lean tall things, stick the parts washer, etc

I’ll likely stack some tall stuff there as well. But it’s too large of a spot to not take advantage of with adding more storage/work surface. Plus, with being in the corner of both tool boxes I’m not going to want to move the boxes much to access whatever is in the corner.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Monday was back to the truck.

Hauled some more beans off. Took care of the cattle.

Cold moved in for a few days. A lot colder than we have been.

So today I spent majority of the day working on the 4440. Taking things apart and looking things over. There are several things to do.
Ganna do another SCV job in this one too. I’ve probably said it before, but this is a prime example of the handy ness of a 3/8” in a 1/4” body ratchet. Also, a 5/8”, 1/4” drive socket. Which I was also prepared with.