Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[XJSuperman]

The rain doesn't just affect the farm and cattle, it affects tractor pulls too, and thats just a tragedy. My hometown pulls had a rough go this year, and they cancelled the semi truck class and 12,500lb hot farm classes altogether. Muddy mess.

 

[cliftonbros89]

The rain doesn't just affect the farm and cattle, it affects tractor pulls too, and thats just a tragedy. My hometown pulls had a rough go this year, and they cancelled the semi truck class and 12,500lb hot farm classes altogether. Muddy mess.

Had a few pulls in this area get rained out too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So back to it.

Last Friday was a short day. I was supposed to be leaving to go on a float trip for the weekend. So it was a quick day.

I spent the weekend at a friends house on the river down in the bootheel for the weekend.

By Monday it was back to work.

The day started with rain.

So I finally had the parts so I finally was able to work on the brakes for the 4010.

The new valve part is made different than the old one and it requires a deepwell socket to install. But the new one was too long for a regular deepwell. So I decided to use my spark plug socket.

But then the end was in to far to get a wrench on.

So I had to use a socket on the socket.

But I finally, after all this time, was able to get the full brake valve back together and on and bleed and working.

Dad was trying to get some manure moved but the had an o-ring go out on the lift cylinder of the loader.

But it was a quick fix after grabbing the o-ring kit.

That evening I had Noah take a bunch of boards out of the little shed we picked up a few weeks ago. Then we started removing the nails from the boards.


But while in the process of that we had another shower. About an inch in about 15 minutes.

The day also ended with the water pump going out in my uncle’s truck. Which of corse he just left at the shop for dad and I to take care of.




Tuesday started with checking cattle and an escapee calf.

Got it back in right away and checked the other calves.


Most of the day consisted of picking thing up around shop and getting hay equipment ready to roll. Changed the knives on the cutter, replaced teeth on the rake, greased everything up and had it ready to go.

Dad also cleaned up the 720. We’re going to be using the post hole digger on it and it need a bit of work first so we pulled it in the shop.

The rest of the day was spend taking care of things for the cattle.


Then we moved the hay equipment because plans were to cut stubble clover. 92 acres worth.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Wednesday started with taking care of the calves.

Then I started right away with cutting hay.

The field was pretty rough in places but I kept at it for pretty much the whole day.

I cut over half of it. Dad had started tedding some of what was cut first by late afternoon.




Thursday morning it was right back to cutting. Dad went back to tedding too.


By early afternoon I was all finished cutting. Then I was able to start raking.




After letting the raked hay sit for a bit dad was able to start baling.

I only raked about a third of the field. The rest needed some dry time. So I went on to ted what I cut last.

The 4010 finally got some use this week.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Friday it was back to the hay field. A full day of raking and baling.

But it started with taking care of the cattle.
Also moving some equipment back home.

But we discovered the 4010 has fuel leak. So it may be going back into the shop.


We also unloaded a new head gate and alley way set up that dad picked up last Friday when I left for the float trip.





So then it was off the field. I raked everything, dad kept the baler rolling. I had Noah go around the field with the 3020 picked up bales and put them in groups to make it easier to get the bales loaded on the trailer and out of the field.

I was able to get a few loads hauled out of the field. The 550 handled it no problem.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Yesterday we finished hauling bales.

I drove the 550 and pulled the big gooseneck while dad drove the 250 and used the other gooseneck. So we could move 31 bales at a time.

We had all the hay hauled and moved by the afternoon. Then we got all of the equipment. Moved back, cleaned up and put away in the shed. It was a good feeling to have it done.

This was a field was cut on shares. We made 240 bales. All cut, tedded, raked, baled, and moved everything out in 3 and a half days. It was a fairly busy couple days.

So after all of that I decided to take the day off today.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Another day on Monday.

Check on and fed all the cattle. Put out mineral. Loaded up all the back rubs too.

I picked up a full pallet of mineral and a pallet full of feed supplement. Also, some last jugs of Liberty for dad to do some final spraying on our last planted beans.


I also got back to some pasture mowing too. At least for a little while.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today was cut short a little.

It started with taking care of the calves and checking the cows.

Then I got some things prepped for dad to do a few jobs.

One thing he’s going to do this week is work on the new weights he had made for the pulling tractors. He just has to weld some handles on them all. Then he’s having a guy powder coat them.

I got things set for him to do this week. Got things ready for him to do some spraying too. Had a little shower this morning a few pop ups this afternoon too. Heat and humidity are mixing just right.

But although there’s a lot to get done and a lot I’d like to do this week I guess I’ll be taking a break this week.

My girlfriend has some cousins going down to the gulf til the weekend. They’ve been wanting us to go with them. So I guess tonight I’ll be leaving for the beach. So I’ll be on a brief hiatus. Phone use will be minimal for the rest of the week.

 

[cliftonbros89]

On a side note as of today the river here is officially and finally below flood stage. I’m not sure of an official count of consecutive days that we’ve been at or above flood level. But I believe we have well surpassed the record that was set in ‘93.

If it makes any sense...our fields on the outside of the levee will be dry and clear before our fields on the inside...

 

[Farmall450]

Have a good weekend; congrats on the water going down!

 

[welder57]

Question; Do you think the market for grain will be up or down this fall and winter, with all the flooding this spring in the Mid West and Upper plains?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Have a good weekend; congrats on the water going down!

Thanks

 

[cliftonbros89]

Question; Do you think the market for grain will be up or down this fall and winter, with all the flooding this spring in the Mid West and Upper plains?

I have no idea. I thought it was going to keep going up now due to all those same factors. However, all these issues with the tariffs that still aren’t solved, that we’ve been told for 8 months now will be solved in a few week, keep screwing with the whole market.

Just a few weeks ago top dollar for corn was $4.48. Last week it dropped down to $3.80 due to the tariff issues. If that **** keeps going on it’s really going to hurt. We already didn’t get 600 acres planted then they want to keep screwing the prices on what we do have.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well I’ve returned from my trip.

Trip to the gulf. Nothing crazy. I never get too excited about the beach. But I was sure to have plenty of beer, margaritas and seafood to enjoy myself.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So yesterday it was back to it. It always hard for me take a break because it makes it that much harder for me to get going again.

It seemed as though there wasn’t much done while I was gone so I had to do some catching up.

Checked on the calves and fed them.

Loaded up corn to feed the cattle, mineral for all the cattle and calves and mix for the back rubs.

After checking on everyone I put out some hay for both groups of calves.

Then it was time to grind feed. A batch for the big calves and a batch for the feeders for the small calves.

Bombed a wasp nest on one of the feeders. But that wasn’t before they nailed dad.

Had enough left over to put some fed out for the group of old cows.

One thing dad did manage to finish while I was gone was his tractor weight job.

He welded on all the weight handles and cleaned them all up.

I also had a new arrival waiting for me while I was gone.

The Atlas46 Dragoon mat.





Pretty tough cushioned, made in U.S.A. mat. Thick for laying on. Can fold it up to kneel on. It goes in its own bag.

It has Atlas46 signature velcro strips for accessories. Which I just ordered yesterday. I’ve been waiting on this to arrive for a little while. Everything is made not far from me. All U.S. made.

I’m looking forward to using it. I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile. Im going to keep it in the truck. It’d be nice to have on those days something has to be worked on the the field. It’s not always enjoyable to crawl under something on gravel, tall grass, or major dirt. It’s supposed resistant to dirt, mud, and oil. Lifetime warranty too.

The add-on’s I’m getting are a magnetic strip and socket holders that velcro to the side strips. Which will make it easier to keep track of tools and small parts while working on the ground too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today I didnt get much done. Checked cattle. Fed the calves. Did some reading on an issue with the 7510. Moved the 3020 back out to the retirement farm.

Dad hauled some rock today too.

We’re going to try and finally level up and fill in the lots after being a disaster this past winter.

Moments after that picture was taken an issue developed. Which stopped dad from hauling anymore rock for the day.

We backed the truck in the shop.

So we had to disassemble the brake. It was having a major leak issue. Good thing it happened at the shop and not at the quarry.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Is that one of the wheel air brakes?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Is that one of the wheel air brakes?

Yes. That would be it. Looks like it’s pretty much done for.

 

[rixtrix1]

Good thing you're knowledgeable and mechanically inclined enough to do all the maintenance work on your equipment and trucks. Don't know how many of those brake actuators I replaced back in Nebraska when I started being a professional mechanic. Lots of work, but you save a ton of money doing it yourself!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Good thing you're knowledgeable and mechanically inclined enough to do all the maintenance work on your equipment and trucks. Don't know how many of those brake actuators I replaced back in Nebraska when I started being a professional mechanic. Lots of work, but you save a ton of money doing it yourself!

I couldn’t imagine how much it would cost if we had to pay someone else to work on some of this stuff sometimes. We’d be in the hole from labor cost.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not much excitement for the rest of the week.

I mowed off some of the smaller grass patches we usually make for hay. We should have plenty of hay so we won’t be messing with the small patches anymore this year. I mowed them off. Keeps weeds and what not as hay.

So Wednesday I mowed some of the hay patches and along some of the bean fields. Also started on all the hay and pasture ground out at the retirement farm. I did that til dark.

Thursday was the same.

I got started early and finished the pasture. Then started along the bean field at the retirement farm.

Then some more hay ground.

Then some of the road ditches.

While I was doing that dad was working on fixing up the cattle lot at his house.

Then I started back on the pasture at dad’s

I mowed it til dark.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Friday started with checking on all the cattle.

Everyone got some corn and looked over good. Also put out some mineral and loaded up the back rubs again. Flys seem to be getting bad on and off again.

After looking over all the cattle it was time to grind a couple batches of feed.

A batch for the big calves and a batch to put in the tank to use for bucket feeding.

Later that morning I made a quick trip over to Deere.

I ordered a small pressure washer for my house. It finally came in so I picked it up right away. Not a lot of options around for a decent small pressure washer. I didn’t need anything major for the house. But I didn’t want to get a cheap one either. The only ones similar to this is a Stihl model. It has a Kohler engine. I wasn’t to sure about it. So I went with the Deere since it has a Honda.

Then for the rest of the day it was back to mowing pasture at dad’s which I pretty much finished up with.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Saturday didn’t consist of much either.

Checked all the cattle and fed the calves.

My parents were going to watch my nephew for the day.

Dad gave him a driving lesson on the 4020. He’s 6 and just started kindergarten this week.

So after some catch with the football with the nephew I picked some things up in the shop, made a few stops in town for some things and called it a day.

I took off for the afternoon to go on a ride with some friends. Figured I need to take advantage of a few weekends before things start to get really busy today.

Day off today too. Might try out the new washer.

 

[rixtrix1]

Every time I see a sunrise or sunset like this, I'm reminded of my departed son Graeme, whose favorite color was purple! Thanks for sharing!

 

[1Garageman]

Maybe you have already mentioned this, but how many acres do you guys own/rent? Your farmland looks very big!

 

[XJSuperman]

Those smaller hay patches you mowed weren't worth baling and selling?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Maybe you have already mentioned this, but how many acres do you guys own/rent? Your farmland looks very big!

With the farms we picked up this year, between what we own and what we rent, it’s about 1,600 acres of crop ground that we farm. It’s a little spread out.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Those smaller hay patches you mowed weren't worth baling and selling?

This year the only advantage to the rain was making decent hay. There isn’t much of a market to sell hay within the county as everyone and their brother in the area make hay. So majority of the time, unless drought or a long winter comes in, the only market to sell is out of the county. Most the time down south of here a good ways. So to me it wasn’t really worth it.

One of the patches had a few more weeds than I would’ve liked. Another one had clover in it but it was too far along to be of any quality to really sell. Plus, none of it really looked thick enough or tall enough to really amount to many bales. So it was just faster and easier to mow it down.

Mowing it only took. A few hours all together. Rather than the time to let things dry, moving equipment, and moving bales. Not to mention we’re out of shed space to store any hay as well. So we’d likely have to find someone to buy it right away. Then there’s hauling it to whoever is buying it as well. Sometimes it just feels like more trouble than it worth. Especially, this time of the year. We’re running low on time to get other jobs done before it’s time to get things ready to roll for fall.

 

[XJSuperman]

I gotcha. Obviously rain makes the grass grow but it also makes bad hay when its rained on, and there was a lot of that happening. So I wasn't sure if prices are up or down on that around you. Cutting losses sounds like a good choice.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I gotcha. Obviously rain makes the grass grow but it also makes bad hay when its rained on, and there was a lot of that happening. So I wasn't sure if prices are up or down on that around you. Cutting losses sounds like a good choice.

For the most part around here, I think most people have managed to luck out like us and have been able to get the hay made in between rains. I couldn’t say what most hay has been going for around here lately. But I doubt the price has gone down any.

 

[1Garageman]

With the farms we picked up this year, between what we own and what we rent, it’s about 1,600 acres of crop ground that we farm. It’s a little spread out.

Thanks, I was just curious how big the land that you farm is. Had to look it up, 1,600 acres is about 2.5 square miles. That is a LOT of land you guys farm!!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Thanks, I was just curious how big the land that you farm is. Had to look it up, 1,600 acres is about 2.5 square miles. That is a LOT of land you guys farm!!

Back before dad was sick and my uncle semi retired we were farming about another 600 acres added to that, plus we were doing some custom spraying and combing on an addition 1,000+ acres. So we’ve slowed down a bit. That was all spread out in about a 45 mile radius too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well here I am falling behind yet again. But not too much going on this week though.

Monday I got started mowing pasture again.

After doing the feeding that was all I did all day.

So I knocked out a pretty good chunk.

For the last several years we’ve been battling Canadian thistles in the pastures. We finally beat that battle and now it’s locust tress sprouting up everywhere...I’d rather deal with the locust.

Because of the locust I had a flat on the 7510 Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday we also had planned to start finally placing the small building we picked up awhile back.

We were going to place it at the edge of the pasture by the big shed. So we started pulling some post and getting gravel ready to go to level a spot.

We had the post hole digger on the 720 to dig holes for post to bolt to the post on the building... but the 720 had a problem.

We had an issue with the resistor on it and it wouldn’t start.

But it looked like there was more than the resistor that could be an issue...these type of things happen when my uncle lets things sit...

We started getting things leveled up...but we had a surprise.

A bit of rain moved in...

So I kept myself busy with some other stuff.

So I went to work on the 4010.

The first fuel leak I was searching for was exactly what I thought it was. The hose on the fill neck of the tank. So that was easy.

The other was washer on the fuel line to the front injector. So luckily that was a quick and easy fix too.


It ended up being a pretty heavy rain that came through.

By the evening we had part of the site leveled up for the building and had our 4 back post set.

After getting our stuff set and picked up and I got things ready to feed in the morning I called it a day.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Wednesday I started things out at the retirement farm.

We had a new arrival overnight.

Then I checked on the rest of the cattle and fed them.

After feeding dad decided to haul some more gravel for the building. The weather man was calling for more rain and it was pretty muddy from Tuesday so I didn’t do any pasture mowing.

So I took some time to clean up and pick up the shop once. I was turning to a disaster from the last couple weeks.

Backed the 720 in the shop to do some work on it soon.

Stuck some new wheels on the washer.

The old ones were done for.

But the rain never arrived. So it was back to getting the building ready.

I didn’t get any pictures of the move. It took some time to do. But we placed the building and set the front post.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So dad and I started to get the fence put back together and get some poles set. But...more rain.

Since it was raining I had to go to town to run some errands.

I returned and we got back to fixing the fence by the shed. But we ran in to a problem. Which could’ve been avoided...

We were using the posthole digger on the 4020 and we hit something. It ended up being the drain pipe for the gutters on the big shed...we weren’t paying attention.

So I did some digging and we fixed the problem.

We got our post set.

Hard to see cuz it was getting dark. But we fixed the fence back up. Hung a new gate where the gate used to be. Then we also hung the old gate on the other side of the shed. So we just about have that job finished up.

Now we just need to run the wire back up on the post for the electric for the fence.

 

[1Garageman]

This is a serious question, do farmers ever go on vacation for a week or two? I just don't see how you could with all of the daily work that has to get done. Curious???

 

[cliftonbros89]

This is a serious question, do farmers ever go on vacation for a week or two? I just don't see how you could with all of the daily work that has to get done. Curious???

Well I did take 5 days off a couple weeks ago to go to the beach with my girlfriend and some of her cousins. But that’s the longest vacation I’ve had in quite some time.

Honestly, anymore I can’t stand to be gone that long. There’s just too much stuff to get done. It was all I thought about while I was gone. In that time I could’ve finished all the pasture I have to mow. But here I am almost 3 weeks later and I’m still not finished.

I use the 7510 to mow and it needs some attention before fall. As does everything else.

I look at vacation and just think how I’m that much further behind.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well Friday morning after checking on the cattle we finished up the electric fence around the shed.

In between things I managed to get a flat
on the truck.

Rock jammed up in the tire. Luckily I had everything I needed to fix that problem.

So I took a trip to the bottom with the brush hog.

As you can see the water has gone down. However, there’s still some standing down there. Where there isn’t water standing the weeds are starting to pop up. But everything is still muddy.

I mowed around the shed again.

Checked on things in the shed too. Ground is still muddy in there too.

I was at least able to mow parts of the roads between fields. I was actually able to finally drive on the county road to the shed too.

After mowing I made a trip to feed mineral and load up the back rubs for the cattle.

And that pretty much wrapped up the day.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Saturday I checked on the cattle and the calves. After that it was a trip to Illinois. Not exactly work, but work related.

Dad and I drove over to a farm auction. Just straight across the river from us.


Only thing we picked up has an IH rotary hoe. Has some age. Looks like it’s been outside a little. But it looks like it’s hardly been used. It’s in good shape. Not a bad deal for $600.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Checked the cattle today.

Not exactly a day of work. But not exactly a day or work either. I went to grandpa’s today with dad to check on the deer stands and roads in the woods to make sure things were clear.