Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[cliftonbros89]

Well today was warmer. But it was windy. Really windy. Windy enough we couldn’t get any spraying done. But we finished getting things prepped for doing so.

I fed the calves this morning. Then I gave some of the cattle some corn. I also fed mineral. While I did that dad ran to town for some things and he also picked up some chemicals for spraying.

While dad was gone I started on some of the small jobs in the shop. I also started to reorganize things in the truck.

This afternoon when dad returned he did a little more to the trailer.

He picked up some lumber to make some side boards for the trailer. It’ll work a little better for hauling chemicals. I told him he should picked up some more paint so the side boards would match.

He also put on some d-rings to use to strap some things down too.

We filled both water tanks. Both pumps for each tank are ready to go. The trailer is loaded up and hooked to the truck. We’re all ready to go. Just waiting for the wind to slow down.

Our blockage module I sent off to have checked that goes on our drill returned today

Dad has replaced it several years ago thinking it was working. So I sent it off to have it checked. If it wasn’t working they were going to give me a quote on how much it would cost to fix. They checked it and said everything was working just the way it was supposed to. So it should be fine. Which is ok to me. I was wanting a spare anyway. The monitor for this system is what I sent off Monday for a software update.

I also had a nice new tool arrive today.

It’s a Wera stubby p3 screwdriver. It looks like it’ll be handy. I’ve been trying to find a shorter handled p3. But it seems like they’re hard to find in a length shorter than 10” when you count the handle length. There are several things that have p3 headed screws that don’t allow the clearance for a 10” screwdriver.

So amongst other things I ended up rearranging the electrical supplies. I did so by actually using the same boxes as before.

Luckily I keep containers and bags for those future just in case uses. I used a few small cardboard boxes from parts, plastic boxes from assortments of things like cotter key and roll pins, containers from electrical tape and bags from parts. It allowed me to keep everything separate and organized and still fit in the same box.

I fit the other stuff in the tray for the box. It all fit great. I was surprised.

The other box I fit all the rolls and extra smaller pieces of wire. Plus it’s not all in one big ball anymore either. Which is really nice.

For now dad’s tools are in the door of the bench with some of the spare cord ends, breakers, and 220 outlets. He’s either going to get a box for those or get a new pouch since his old one is rather small and worn. Plus he has an insulated Wera set to add to it to that I gave him for Christmas a few years ago.

So that was it for the most part today. Hopefully by tomorrow we can start actually getting some work done.

I’m also hoping I can some how squeeze in time to get the hay cutter pulled in the shop. I was to check it over and make sure it’s good to go for when we start to cut rye for hay.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So I started going through the truck to organize what I have and to make a list of things to add for what I don’t have.

Front box for now I have 2 jugs of engine oil, three 2.5 gallon, and two 1 gallon jugs of hydraulic oil, 1.5 gal of 80w-90, 2 quarts of 85w-140, 2 quarts of 10w-30, and 2.5 gal of 10w-30 for the spray hydraulics.


Back box for now just has a few blocks for jacks, 3 bottle jacks, chain, wheel chock and safety triangle set.


One of the middle boxes has 2 jugs green, 1 jug red coolant, 2 jugs water to mix, lubricants, parts cleaner, anti-seize, electrical cleaner, gasket cleaner, starting fluid, wasp spray, battery cleaner, hand cleaner, funnels are dirty and in there for now. But I plan to do something different with them.


Front section where the drawers with the hand tools are I took the bottom divider out that was in there. It provides more room. I have my step ladder, high lift jack, shovels, cheater pipes, also my pad that works good when you have to crawl down on the wet ground of the gravel for awhile. There will likely be more going in here too.

You already saw the drawers the the hand tools. I have a list of a few more tools to either buy to put in there or snag from the shop box to temporarily stick in there. The top section on that side is also the same. Large sized wrenches, 3/4” sockets, ratchet and breaker bars, sledge hammer, hack saw, set of retaining ring pliers.

The other top box has my hitches, hitch balls, hitch pins, ratchet straps and bungee cords.

The other middle box has my Durham drawers with hardware. Bolts, nuts, washers, roller chain splices, roll pins, cotter keys, retaining rings, screws, square keys, set screws, hair pins, hitch pin clips, a few o-rings, hose clamps, gasket maker, hydraulic hose ends, grease fittings, valve stem caps, string, electrical tape, duct tape, vinyl tube, little bit of 1/4” fuel line, a few hose fittings, electrical ends, connectors, surveyor flags to mark things, orange marker tape to make things, magnetic trays for parts, few small rolls of wire and some other things. There are several things I plan to add to that.

The box behind the seat has jumper cables, tow strap, flash lights, paper towels, hand cleaner, rain suit, first aid kit, gloves, safety glasses...and I think that’s it. I also have by bigger Matco jump box up front. Along with my contractor clip board that has pens, markers, paint markers, insurance papers and **** like that.

That’s pretty well the just of what I’ve got. But like I said I have a list in the making of some more tools and supplies I’d like to get and add to what I do have. Both center boxes have quite a bit of room yet. One of my back boxes is empty yet. The deep front box where the tools are has some room yet. The one top box where the straps and hitch stuff is has room left too.

I also put my bed mat from my old truck in the bed today. Since this bed is shorter due to the extra deep front box I cut the mat to fit. I rolled up the excess from the mat and stuck it between the cab and the bed for now. I figured it’d be handy to have on some occasion when I may have to work under something in the mud, dirt, gravel and/or oil.

I doubt I’ll be able to get everything on my list before we get super busy but hopefully I can get most of it. I also plan to keep a box with spare parts for whatever equipment we’re using at the time. Something I can alternate parts in and out pretty easy.

So anything I’m forgetting, anything you can suggest or you may use?? Am I forgetting some things?

 

[jblnut]

Looks like a well equipped truck. I've seen a few service trucks up this way that have a solar panel above the truck cab. It'll charge a deep cycle battery that in turn runs a small inverter to charge the cordless batteries that are stored on-board.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Looks like a well equipped truck. I've seen a few service trucks up this way that have a solar panel above the truck cab. It'll charge a deep cycle battery that in turn runs a small inverter to charge the cordless batteries that are stored on-board.

We actually have an inverter sitting around. I’ve been considering putting on there. Just not sure where I can fit it in.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

This evening my brother-in-law dropped off my “new” truck I bought from him.


Paint on the bed is a little rough but the truck is actually in really good shape. It has a lot less miles than the truck I had. It’s also a 1 ton with a diesel. My other truck was 3/4 ton with a 350. Only thing I’m not to sure about on this new truck is that it’s an automatic. But we’ll see how it does. It shouldn’t be too bad.

s.

MEh, I would much rather have the vortec 350 over a 6.5 diesel. The auto thing, it's a 4l80e.....bulletproof for most things.

 

[cliftonbros89]

MEh, I would much rather have the vortec 350 over a 6.5 diesel. The auto thing, it's a 4l80e.....bulletproof for most things.

I don’t mind the diesel so far. It runs good. Seems to be doing really good on fuel. I haven’t got a chance to really pull anything with it yet. I guess I personally haven’t had very good luck with GM transmissions. Makes me a little worried.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well we got some what of a start on things today.

I did the feeding. Dad was finishing getting the last of the things ready for spraying. I helped him with that. Checked the fluids in the truck. Dad’s plan was to start spraying today. Unfortunately, it was still pretty windy.

I got started fixing washed out spots on a farm that’s a pain in the ***.



It’s a hilly mess. There are several sink holes that like to attract tracks of water. The field is also right by the road. It gets a lot of water shed from the road during rain as well.

It’s a farm that needs some major work and water ways. The landlords don’t give a **** about the farm so long as they get their check every year so they’re not much assistance. We need to talk to the highway department to see if they could work on the road ditches so we could avoid so much washing from the rain water. It doesn’t help that my uncle has never been good as keeping away from water ways or ditches for that matter.

Aside from that dad picked up a few loads of anhydrous. He tried the field cultivator out in one of the bottom fields. Looks like everything should be good to go. So tomorrow we’ll probably get at it. We’ll have tomorrow and Saturday to get somethings done for sure. Hopefully the chance of rain for Sunday won’t come through. It’d be nice to start getting some things done for once.

 

[NKlamerus]

The GM 6.5 is a fine motor,

UNTIL it is compared to the 2000+ Duramax series. Buy for it's time compared to gasoline engines it was still a great motor.

It was definitely a project but as with anything, maintenance will dictate how long it lasts.

The 4L80 is a great transmission, be glad they didn't attempt the 4l60.

I've had more problems with Allison 1000 5/6 speeds on 2000+ Duramax's than I have with 4L80s.

 

[dchance]

I am enjoying the work that you are putting in showing how you manage a farm. Not a farmer but I could never understand leaving equipment setting out in a field during the off season. What you are doing makes so much sense.

Dwight

 

[cliftonbros89]

Friday we finally got some things done. After feeding the calves dad and I set off to the bottom shed. I set off in the 8760 with the field cultivator.


While I did that dad followed behind with the 8400 putting on anhydrous.

We had the 7510 hooked to a fertilizer spreader with a load of fertilizer ready to go too. My uncle decided to come down later in the morning and take over the 8760. So I started spreading fertilizer.

It’s not very often that we’re all 3 in the same field at the same time. In between spreading fertilizer I also hauled anhydrous to keep dad moving too.

It was nice to actually start getting things going. Feels good to get some work done.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So today we kept things rolling. I fed the calves first. Although I didn’t get started as early as I’d planned.


Dad and I set off to the bottom shed again. We worked 2 farms in the bottom yesterday and dad had anhydrous on most of it. I had fertilizer on part of it too.

So I set out to the hills with the 8760 to start working some ground.

I was at the same farm where I was using the box blade the other day.

It’s hard to capture in a picture, especially through the dusty windows, but it has some hills for sure.


While I worked on that dad was at another farm in the hills to spray some rye we had as a cover crop for the winter. We’re hoping to no-till it.

This afternoon my uncle decided to come take over the 8760 again. So I set off to get some more anhydrous so dad could start on that after he finished spraying the rye.

While doing that I got a call from my uncle that he had a flat on the field cultivator. As I’ve mentioned before this can be an issue.

So I quickly picked up another load of anhydrous and rushed to the field where he was. Luckily I’d already had a spare with my. The anhydrous wagons use the same wheel and there isn’t ever a year one of them don’t blow a tire on me. On the plus side I got to use my wheel studs I made to line the rim up easier. I also got to use my new stubby Matco bottle jack.

After I fixed the tire situation I headed back down to the bottom to spread fertilizer on the second bottom farm. I had the fertilizer ready to go since this morning.

When finishing up with it I got a call from dad that he had a problem with the anhydrous applicator. He was at the shop so when I finished with fertilizer I took the tractor to the shop.

A hydraulic cylinder (which was a cheap one and not quite the size it should be for the applicator in my opinion) on the wing of the applicator to raise and lower it had broke.

Dad had managed to get it back to the shop. Unfortunately, we didn’t have another cylinder that was the correct size around to put on it. Dad made a trip to town to get another cylinder. Another cheaper one from a farm and building supply store in town. Which is the only place you can get such a thing after 7pm on a Saturday, or any day of the week for that matter.

By the time it was back on it was getting close to dark so dad decided to call it a day. So we put the equipment away. Mom gave use a ride to go pick up our trucks, which we at different farms. I also pulled one of the anhydrous wagons back to the shop too. Never know when some meth maker might want to steal some from a field on the side of the road.

Unfortunately, the weather man is calling for a decent chance of rain in the early morning hours for tomorrow. Sounds like we won’t be able to do much for a few more days again. But since yesterday we have about 280 acres of ground worked, roughly 210 acres with anhydrous on it, a little over 180 acres of dry fertilizer spread, and dad sprayed 60 acres of rye down. So I suppose all in all it’s been a fairly productive 2 days. Really wish the rain would hold out. But nothing I can do about that.

So we’ll see what tomorrow brings. If it’s rain then I’ll hopefully be able to get a start on checking over the hay equipment.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well I woke up to rain this morning. A nice gentle steady rain which has lasted the entire day. So I decided I to sleep in today. I wasn’t very tempted to attempt to turkey hunt in the rain either.

Being there was a good chance of rain for today the ole lady and I decided to go grab a few drinks with some friends of mine. The one friend’s family own the local bakery in town. So we stopped in at 1 a.m. for some fresh straight out of the oven doughnuts.

As for today it’s been a pretty lazy day. Although I’m kind of thinking I should’ve gone and got the hay cutter out of the shed to put in the shop.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well rainfall total, at the shop at least was about 1.5” from Sunday into this morning.

I strawed the barn for the calves this morning, gave them their corn and a bale of hay.

After that it was pretty much a day full of running errands. I took an empty anhydrous wagon to be filled so it’s ready to go when we can get back in the field. I also dropped off the flattened field cultivator tire to be replaced.

I had to run to town to make several stops for things. I picked up filters for the service truck so I can service it soon. Also bought a few small things to keep on hand in the truck as well. Made a trip to the bank too. I forgot to stop by the insurance place to go over my plan that covers all my tools in the truck. So I may have to do that tomorrow.

Before I ran to town I stopped by the retirement farm. I gave them some corn. It looked like they were all doing well. Calves seem to be growing well.

This afternoon I made a trip to JD we are having some problem with our light bar guidance we like to use when we’re spreading dry fertilizer. Also comes in handy drill wheat stubble beans too. So I dropped it off to have it checked out. It like so many other electronic devices has become obsolete in a short amount of time for the cost.

I ordered a hose for the 4630. I also picked up some for oil for it to have on hand should there be a hydraulic issue with it. Along with that I picked up a few metri-pac terminals that should fix a light issue on the 7230.

While I was over there I decided to get a few things for the truck.


I picked up a vise to mount to the truck. I also picked up a metric 3/4” set to keep in the truck too. All I had was SAE 3/4” stuff in there. I know there will be a day I’m bound to need a 32mm at least so I thought a JD set would be good enough.

This evening we had to move our bean heads for the combined from a shed at one of the farms we rent. We didn’t really have anywhere else to go with them. But now the land lord wants to use the shed to store some trailers that we just bought. He’s a government guy. You can tell it too. Usually just worried about himself.

There was drizzle most of the day but it didn’t really amount to anything in the rain gauge. Although a few areas of the county did see a few spread out down pours here and there. So we likely had a few farms get more in the rain gauge than we had at the shop.

Looks like we’ll be catching up on some other jobs for a few days.

 

[NKlamerus]

Can't wait to see the vice mounted on the truck! Rear bumper? Or hitch mount?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Can't wait to see the vice mounted on the truck! Rear bumper? Or hitch mount?

I’m thinking rear bumper. I considered hitch mount. I thought if I went that route it’d just be easiest to get the Wilton version that’s ready to go. But then I considered that I’d have to move it all the time I’m pulling a wagon or a trailer. At time depending on what all is in the bed of the truck I may not be able to put the vise back there when not in use. Not to mention I wouldn’t have room for it in any of the toolboxes. So I think bumper mount it will be.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today wasn’t a very productive day. Dad spent most of it turkey hunting. At least he was successful. It was a cloudy, drizzly, and wind day for the most part.

I checked on the calves first thing this morning. They’ve all been taking to the corn more. For awhile a few of them just couldn’t figure out what the other were going after every morning.

After I fed I spent awhile messing with the guidance light bar. Yesterday I got a new antenna wire to use. But I tried the old one and it ended up working. I’m not sure what its problem was a few days ago.

I went in the shop to clean some things up that were sitting around from last week including some of my jugs of oil that are supposed to stay in the truck.

Since no one else was around and it was wet out I decide to load up all the recycling that was from the shop and from mom and dad’s house.

The bed of the service truck was full of cardboard, magazines, newspaper ads, and tin cans.

On the trailer I had the plastic from an old chemical shuttle 3/4 full of plastic jugs. I also threw in a few bags that had some milk and water jugs. Then 5 barrels full of stuff. Most of it was all plastic. One was about half full of glass. I strapped the **** out of things so nothing blew away. Even though it looked a little crazy.

Since we’re out in the county there’s obviously no trash pick up or anything. I’d rather see the stuff be recycled than be burned or put in a hole somewhere. Although it takes some time to get things sorted, load it all up, haul it, then unload it, I think it’s worth it.

This afternoon I worked on our small DeWalt compressor.

The throttle handle was broke and so were one of the cables. It was also missing the filter for the compressor. The parts finally showed up for it yesterday. It’s finally going again.

I also had a new jug arrive from Summit today.

I’ve been looking for an alternative to the old jugs we use for oil all the time. I’m not sure if it’ll fit in the box on the truck or not yet. It’s 2.5 gal which is the size of the jugs now, just different dimensions. Jeg’s, Summit and Speedway all offered the same style 2.5 gallon jugs in a variety of colors. But for some reason now they’re all backordered or have an eta that isn’t until the end of this year or next year. But Summit had black available so I’ll see how it works. It would defiantly outlast the old jugs we have now. But the spout has different threads that the cap plug does. So I’ll have to figure out something out with that.

Things are supposed to clear up tomorrow. So I’m sure we’ll start on some other projects tomorrow while we wait for the ground to dry again.

 

[jblnut]

Good to see at least someone is moving !!

The snow is pretty much gone but the fields are still VERY soft. I'm hoping we'll be moving in a few weeks at the earliest .....

 

[cliftonbros89]

Good to see at least someone is moving !!

The snow is pretty much gone but the fields are still VERY soft. I'm hoping we'll be moving in a few weeks at the earliest .....

Moving some. Not a lot. It seems like every time it gets just dry enough to do something we only get about a day before it rains again. But I’m sure as always we’ll end up getting dry when we don’t need to be.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today was a little more productive than yesterday. Fed the calves first as always. Yesterday evening dad painted the side boards he made for the trailer.

I would’ve picked black myself but he decided to go with white. But it doesn’t look too bad.

I started going through some of the supplies in the truck. I’m trying to get it loaded with things before I end up needing them and don’t have them.

Not the greatest picture but I got some more Stanley organizers for some stuff to make room in the Durham drawers for other things. I have a list of things to add to them. I also need to go with my bolts too.

We have an old auger wagon we usually used for fertilizer. Made it easier to order more at one time then just fill the spreader as it gets empty.

Unfortunately, it’s seen much better days. It’s rusted through in several spots. So we’ve decided to retire it. We took a few good parts off it. It’s going to be removed from the running gear and put on the scrap metal pile.

Since we were getting rid of scrap we started on another project. We were able to finance a loan to build a new grain bin. We plan to build it next to the last one we built. In the location we plan to put it lies a bunch of junk.


It’s hard to see it all through the grass and weeds. A lot of the junk there was piled up when we tore down the hog house which used to be where the newest grain bin and now gravel lot it. That’s been several years ago and everything has been sitting around since. One of those jobs that has been on the list for a long time but is hard to get to. A truck load of scrap was hauled off from when we built the last bin. But it wasn’t all hauled off.

We put the scrap metal in the old auger wagon since it’s going to scrap as well. There was a pretty big pile of old pallets that we hauled off to burn too. There’s a lot of ground work we’ll have to do, plus fill with rock.

Amongst some of the mess there are some old implements that have been sitting where they are for as long as I can remember.

One which we pulled out this evening is an old JD 3-point rake. Like I said it’s been sitting for a long time. There are also 2 rather old JD sickle mowers back there too. Some of those old things that dad told me years ago he planned to fix up. But it’s also one of those things we don’t have time to do. So they’ve been just sitting out for years. But now they may at least see a shed. Personally I think I’d like to see someone take them would do something with them or restore them. However, I doubt that will be happening soon.

If you noticed the box trailer in the pictures, (I’m sure it’s been seen before now) it was bought several years ago for the purpose of storage. Old abused trailer that they got at auction from one of the local factories. Well inside that trailer there has been a collection of tires.

29 tires to be exact. I’m not sure why the odd number. All rear tires. All but 2 are for pulling tractors. Some with rims, some without. There are also 5 tire-less rims as well. I found a number of brand new tubes too. I knew there were a lot of tires, not this many. There was a time when my uncle kept wanting to change tires, then add tubes, then take tubes out, switch rims, put these tires on those rims, those tires on these rims. All I can do is think of how much money is sitting there. Unnecessary and not being used....but that’s a different rant for a different time.

My brother-in-law also stuck some engine blocks and a few transmission in there. Which I’m ok with.

 

[cliftonbros89]

...problems posting...

As I was saying I’m ok with my bil’s stuff, but I think it’s time to get rid of some tractor tires.

So the clean up took up the majority of the day. But it was nice to get that **** picked up. I’ve been waiting a long time to get that done.

Oh! I mounted the vise today.

It is only a 5 inch vise. But I’m hoping it’ll be enough to get by with. As you can see I mounted it on the bumper. Dad cut a piece of angle iron we had around and then we drilled the holes to bolt it all to the bumper. I think it should be good. I’m satisfied with it. We made the bracket this morning and I mounted it up this evening. Now I’d just like to come up with a cover for it. It’d be nice to keep it from rain and what not. We’ll see. Any ideas?

Tonight we’re having a bit of unplanned rain. It’ll probably be enough to take care of what little drying we did get the last day or so. Looks like it’ll be a little longer before we’re back to the field.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. There’s still plenty of other jobs to do while we’re waiting to get back in the field.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I’ve also been trying to come up with some ideas for storage for electrical and wiring for the truck. Currently, I have a few odd and end connectors and fuses in a small Plano box, I have a few small roles of wire in a plastic box screws came in. But I’d like to expand a little. More connectors, fuses, wire nuts, wire, maybe a few things for terminals if I’d need them, then the things like electrical tape, zip ties, maybe a small amount of loom. But then I’ve been considering having something to put tools in with the electrical stuff. Test light, meter, terminal tools, insulated screwdrivers, pliers, few test leads, things like that.

Not sure what I’ll do yet. I was thinking of just another small Stanley box for electrical supplies, but we’ll see. I’m open to options. Just slightly limited on room.

I’m still trying to leave some possible room for the power inverter and power tools. So room is becoming limited.

 

[NKlamerus]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Now that's an update!!

As far as the vise cover... keeping it lubricated will be the best protection. We use T9 Boesheild and it seems to work well, if you spray it thick it will get waxy. I'll choose dirt over rust any day though.

We used to use cheap shower caps over the top of them which helped but they would come off on the highway. Some guys cut a 5 gallon bucket in half, then tied a bungee to it which went underneath the vise. (Picture a "bucket helmet" with a bungee chin strap)

No one y'all know can sew? Your best bet would be a vynl cover with a decent elastic loop. Shower cap but tougher, plus you can order green/yellow vynl. No zipper to fail after sun and dirt exposure either.

Electrical Storage: fitting in the truck is going to certainly make it harder, there's bound to be tackle boxes that would fit, just need some search time on Google images. A contractor service bag of some kind might work, but they hold moisture as well.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Now that's an update!!

As far as the vise cover... keeping it lubricated will be the best protection. We use T9 Boesheild and it seems to work well, if you spray it thick it will get waxy. I'll choose dirt over rust any day though.

We used to use cheap shower caps over the top of them which helped but they would come off on the highway. Some guys cut a 5 gallon bucket in half, then tied a bungee to it which went underneath the vise. (Picture a "bucket helmet" with a bungee chin strap)

No one y'all know can sew? Your best bet would be a vynl cover with a decent elastic loop. Shower cap but tougher, plus you can order green/yellow vynl. No zipper to fail after sun and dirt exposure either.

Electrical Storage: fitting in the truck is going to certainly make it harder, there's bound to be tackle boxes that would fit, just need some search time on Google images. A contractor service bag of some kind might work, but they hold moisture as well.

My main concern for the vise is rust too. I’d considered trying to coat it with something. But I’d still like to have a cover. My brother-in-law has a couple heavy sewing machines to use for leather work. I plan on talking to him to see what we can come up with.

As far as electrical goes. I think I’m going to have to decide what all I’m going to keep with me. I think I’ll have to have the supplies in one box, then any tools I need in another. I’ve been doing some looking.

 

[jblnut]

If you were closer to me I'd gladly come get that rake and give it a good long life up here raking hay !!!

How large a bin are you building ?

 

[tarmy]

I love your thread and commitment to whatever task that presents itself...

I have a tractor...nothing like the real stuff you have...keep posting!

 

[cliftonbros89]

If you were closer to me I'd gladly come get that rake and give it a good long life up here raking hay !!!



How large a bin are you building ?

If you did live closer you would’ve had to have been quick cuz I just sold it this evening!

We’re putting up another 40 foot bin. Like the 2 biggest ones we have here. It’ll have a stirall in it. So it should hold about 15,000 bushel.

I love your thread and commitment to whatever task that presents itself...



I have a tractor...nothing like the real stuff you have...keep posting!

Thanks. I appreciate it.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well today wasn’t quite as productive as I’d hoped. But we got a few things done. Fed the calves first thing. Dad went turkey hunting again so I messed around with supplies in the truck again.

When dad returned we took the combine headers we moved from the landlord’s shed on Monday to 2 other sheds. The biggest one is just in the one hay shed for now until we start filling it with hay.

Since we need to start getting things ready for the site of grain bin we’re going to need some gravel. Quite a bit of gravel. So we took the water tank back out of the truck.
View attachment 761171
We ended up with another .4” rain last night so what little bit of drying we did have is gone. We didn’t have any sun until this evening.

This morning a guy stopped by so I can demo a new Trimble guidance system.

Since everything is muddy I didn’t really have room to try it today. But I’m interesting to try it when I’m able to start spreading fertilizer again. Even if our other one does stay working properly I think it’d be nice to have a second one. We’ll see how it does.

This evening my brother-in-law brought the transit over to get an idea of what we’ll need to do for the grade of the site for the grain bin.

Turns out one end is about 3 foot lower than the other. So we’re working on a plan for that. We’re going to try to get things prepped so we can get the concrete done soon. The bin will be delivered at the beginning of June. So we want to have it ready to go so it can be put up as soon as possible.

So that’s more to add to the list of to-do’s. In between everything else that needs to be done.

Also, we moved that old rake we pulled out yesterday.

Dad decided he didn’t want to do anything with it. My uncle said he had no interest in it. So around noon today I listed it for sale on Facebook. I ended up selling it this evening to a guy who live just about 6 or 7 miles down the road that farms a little. He seemed pleased with it. Got $300 for it. A lot better than dad’s idea of selling it for scrap. I think it deserved better than that.

This evening I also happened to sell a few boxes of old parts we had sitting around. Several years ago when I started sorting all of our parts. All stuff for equipment we no longer have. I sold a few things the last few years but I want to get rid of it all. A guy happened to message me today so I let the whole lot go for $70. So not a bad day.

Lots to do in the next few days. We’ll see what we can get done.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So while going through some thing on the truck today I was debating on what to do with a few things that were in the bed when I bought it.

There was a shelf made and put in the middle up front. I stuck a few blocks up there the other day. I thought it’d be a good spot for my 5 gallon diesel jug. But it’s not wide enough. Then there’s also the PVC mounted to the side. Not sure what it was used for before. But I’m also not sure what I’d use it for either. I’m in debate of whether or not to keep them. I like having the potential for more storage. However, bed space is already limited due to size. I don’t want to loose much more bed space if I need to put things in back.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I forgot. Yesterday while loading up scrap we managed to find a few things to salvage.

These were in a old truck toolbox that was with a bunch of junk. Dad thought they were good enough to clean up and hold on to. I also found a nice sized, straight pipe I thought would make a good cheater pipe. So I’m going to clean it up and keep it next to my box in the shop.

I also came across an old brush/grill guard I’d try to sell several years ago. It was found with a bunch of other stuff that was sitting around.

I’m going to give it another go round see if I can get a few bucks for it. I even had the crazy thought to maybe mount it on the service truck. But I don’t think it will fit properly.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So. I mentioned the hog house from which the junk and scrap metal were from, as well as it being where the new bin location is. Ill give a brief history.

At one time this red rectangular area was a hog house. My grandfather had it built back in the 70’s. Part of it was for the younger pigs, the other with larger pins were for the older, larger pigs. They had pigs here up until the markets for pigs basically crashed in the late 80’s. Grandpa sold out the pigs just before I was born. So likely somewhere around ‘88.

With the pigs gone that meant there was a large building full of empty stalls. So for my dad and the greater part of his 9 siblings that meant it was now a large storage facility.

I don’t recall exactly how many stalls there were but I think it may have been somewhere around 36-38. Eventually they were just about filled up.

Keep in mind I’ll see if I can find some more photos of it sometimes. But I was a pretty state of the art operation for the time. Each stall had feeders. There were 3 feed tanks outside of the house. They were piped into the house and of corse went to the feeders. Along one side were wide insulated metal windows that could open. One the other side were short overhead doors that were set up on a system that would open and close set to temperature change. Along half of the length of the building was a 10 foot pit for manure. All the stalls were made of rough sawn oak lumber, each with they’re own small oak gate with a metal tag number on them. Some of the stalls even had nice all stainless steel feeders in them. It was a nice set up.

So like I said, after the pigs weren’t worth anything it became a storage shed. My dad and my uncle of corse had tractor and equipment parts in there. Tractor tires, scrap metal, old junk from the shop, anything and everything. The two uncles of mine who worked construction houses lumber, sheets to tin, and buckets of screws. Then, my dad’s fourth brother, the middle and wild child of the crew had just about anything in there. Bikes, car ramps, tools, shelves, boats, oars, car parts, truck parts (I think that grill guard I came across yesterday was originally his), then a bunch of other random ****. Then one of my dad’s sisters bought some ladies entire collection of ceramic molds, just about any ceramic design you could think of she had it. I’m betting it was over 500 different molds. They were moved in too.

As you can imagine, all this stuff was the type of stuff you forget about. Things you put away because you don’t have time for them. Then when it’s out of sight, out of mind you really don’t have time for it and it’s forgotten about.

So as time passed, the building wasn’t really being used, everyone was always busy, the building started to gradually fall apart. A piece of tin here, piece of tin there. Gradually the roof because damaged. The hinges from the insulated metals windows started to rust and rot. One would fall out. It just became worse.

Eventually we’d get a good storm with strong winds and multiple sheets of metal would come off the room. A few started coming loose from the sides. It started to become my job after strong winds to start gathering up the metal and stacking it up.

After awhile as the metal came off the roof the old trusses would start to wither and rot. Parts of the roof stated to fall in. Anything that has been sitting inside was starting to get water damage. What wasn’t rusty from water or covered with metal and board from the roof was covered in raccoon **** from over the years.

So finally, and I can’t remember exactly when, my dad and my uncle decided it was time for it to go. We salved a bunch of the siding of the building. Hauled a bunch of scrap metal off. By this time 3/4 of the metal from the roof was already piled up as it had blown off already.

So one day we found an excavator to rent. A friend of my brother-in-laws who used to be an operator came down to run it for us. We hauled off a lot of what could be burned. Then as far as the foundation and floor it was knocked down into what had been the manure pit and buried. Then of corse we put a little more dirt on top and a lot of gravel.

So there’s a little bit of history on that. There’s been a lot of changes here since I was younger. I’ll see what I can find on pictures of it sometime. I know there are some around of it in good shape. Plus I know somewhere there are pictures of when it was torn down. I’m not for sure but I’d say that been close to 10 years ago.

 

[GGB]

Old farm buildings have a habit of filling up with junk-I mean treasures! And it’s often other family members and friends stuff they can’t bear to part with, and oh, you won’t mind if we store some things for a little while, will you? After all, you’ve got plenty of room in your barn/machine shed/grainery/etc.........after a short time, you can’t even turn around in the building.

Fortunately, our nephew has been getting rid of most of the junk that has accumulated over the last 115 years, and reorganizing the items that should be saved so we can find what we do need occasionally. I’ve been thanking him every chance I get! Kudos to you for organizing and cleaning up your place.

Thanks again for sharing your journey-I’m living vicariously through your story when I can’t be at our farm.

GGB

 

[cliftonbros89]

Old farm buildings have a habit of filling up with junk-I mean treasures! And it’s often other family members and friends stuff they can’t bear to part with, and oh, you won’t mind if we store some things for a little while, will you? After all, you’ve got plenty of room in your barn/machine shed/grainery/etc.........after a short time, you can’t even turn around in the building.



Fortunately, our nephew has been getting rid of most of the junk that has accumulated over the last 115 years, and reorganizing the items that should be saved so we can find what we do need occasionally. I’ve been thanking him every chance I get! Kudos to you for organizing and cleaning up your place.



Thanks again for sharing your journey-I’m living vicariously through your story when I can’t be at our farm.



GGB

Luckily, I’ve just about completely eliminated storing other people’s **** around here. The only ones that have anything around here anymore are one of my uncle’s and my brother-in-law. My BIL’s stuff isn’t in the way so it doesn’t bother me. My uncle’s stuff is all in his own small shed he keeps down here. It’s out of the way to so it’s fine.

All the stuff used to not bother me much. When I wasn’t as involved it was a different story. Now that I’m more involved and seem to have become mostly in charge of all things in the shop it bothers me. I’m glad I gradually started on a lot of this stuff the last 4 years or so.

To me it just doesn’t make sense. Usually if you haven’t used it in 5-10 years it’s not going to be used. There was loads of that here. There’s still plenty of it too What was useful and good I’ve tried to get something out of. There’s been a lot of time spent posting ads online. A lot of time spent dealing with a-holes from Craigslist at all hours of the day calling, texting and emailing. To an extent it’s paid off. I think today is evidence of that. About 4 years ago during the winter (I may have mentioned this before) I sold about $3,000 worth of stuff that was just sitting around. Old, new, used, brand new still in the box. It wasn’t being used and wasn’t going to be used.

To me it makes a lot more sense to run things cleaner and organized. After all this is a business and it needs to be treated like one.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well Friday came. Things were still a bit damp but we had sunshine for a full day to help dry things up. I fed the calves first thing, then I took mineral to all the cattle, I also doped up the wicks for flies.


Grass is nice and green. But with this cool weather we’ve had it sure seems to have come to a stand still on growing.

We ended up running the calves through the chute too. They got their round of shots, wormer, and of corse the bulls were cut. They were a fairly good group to work with for the most part. A few of the smaller calves we weened a little early managed to get themselves turned around in the alley way more than once. But other than that they weren’t too bad.


Dad hauled some more gravel for the grain bin site. We already had about 30 ton of gravel sitting there from last time we hauled. But dad ended up hauling an additional 130 ton. So there’s a pretty good size pile there.

After he finished hauling gravel we put the water tank and pump back in the truck so it’s ready for when he can start spraying again.

I picked up a few more thing that were sitting around the bin site. It included 2 old sickle mowers, plus a little light duty cultivator type tool to scratch around in the dirt.



I took the 2 sickle mowers over to our scrap metal pile just to move them out of the way for now. But I’m going to be listing them for sale sometime in the next few days. Maybe someone can get some use out of them. As far as the other piece dad wants to hold on to it for now. He wants to use it to scratch some dirt up for the few small food plots we put out for the deer and turkeys.

We also moved the calves from my uncle’s over to dad’s to be out on pasture with the other group of calves.

They’re all together now for the summer. There are 53 total. Hopefully some of them will fill out over the summer.

To end the day a guy stopped by to borrow a few manuals and tools. He’s working on a JD A that was in his family that he’s restoring. He stopped by for some advice and to look at a few of the 2 cylinders we have sitting around.

So we got a few things done. Just waiting on the ground to dry more.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I also forgot to mention on Thursday our pioneer dealer came by with our seedbeans we ordered from him.


7 boxes, 1 bag, 4 different varieties, and I think half of them are treated.
They’re being stored in the shed where the gooseneck trailers are for now. Usually when we have bean seed delivered we already have corn in the ground. But now this year.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Saturday was full of sun. But it was still too wet to get in the fields. Too windy to do any spraying either. So we did a few other jobs.

First thing I went by the retirement farm to check the cattle. I gave them some corn, put out mineral for them, also put a fresh pour on the rope wick for them. Due to the cool conditions the grass hasn’t been growing quick enough. I put out a bale of hay for them so a little something extra for them to eat on.

We’ve been having the same issues everywhere else. So we let the cattle out on to some more pastures. But before we did that I went around the rest of the fences to check on them.


In the afternoon we leveled up the bin site and spread some of the gravel for now. We need to get things figured for concrete soon.

Aside from that we cleaned and changed some of the spray tips for the sprayer.

Then we moved the sprayer up the road to a farm that is in between 2 other farms only a few miles apart. We plan to plant all of them in corn. Dad is going to attempt to get some of the spraying done today.

We quit a bit early. My sister dropped off my nephew at mom & dads. We stopped to play catch for a little while in the yard.

I know there was a bit of a lack of pictures for all the activity of the last couple days. I’ve been slacking a bit.

So we’re going to see what we can get done today.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Sunday we were able to get a few things done. I moved some equipment around first.

Moved the tractor and anhydrous up to a field to so dad could try it out after he finished spraying.

He sprayed down several fields that we’re going to no till.

I had to move some equipment around at the shed at dads. My uncle was wanting a tractor. It was hooked to an auger wagon half full of wheat seed. So put in all that in some old seed totes we had sitting around.

It was dry enough I could spread what fertilizer we had. I mounted the demo guidance system in it. Checked oil, fueled it up bs went up the road.

It’s a pretty cool system. Works really great. It can pick up at any point you left off. I really like the option of it painting in where you’ve passed over too. So I spread what fertilizer I had. I’ll have to order more today.

After dad finished spraying he started putting on anhydrous. I took him a few more wagons we had full. Since he was done spraying I took the truck with the water tank back to the shop.

For the evening I went to the bottom to see how it would work.

There are still a few low spots that are a bit wet yet. I worked til about 9. Just have the level things back up, harrow it, and it’ll be ready to plant. Hopefully, we can get some corn in the ground this week.

 

[cliftonbros89]

We started getting some things done today.

My uncle finished where I left off with the field cultivator last night. While he did that I picked up a few loads of anhydrous for dad to one farm. I took another full load out to another farm.

My uncle and I grabbed some seed corn.

We took it to the bottom and loaded some up in the planter. We tried it out just to make sure everything was set up properly and the monitor was working correctly. Then my uncle started to harrow the ground before he started planting.

While he did that I finished spreading fertilizer at the farm I was at yesterday. Then I went to the retirement farm to spread fertilizer on the field there.

After I finished with fertilizer I helped dad move his truck to the retirement farm. He was headed there next to put on anhydrous. I also moved the 7510 and fertilizer spreader to another farm for tomorrow (the farm in the hills is cultivated weekend before last, it’s finally getting dry).

My uncle stopped harrowing to get a start on planting.

So I took over the harrow.

I finished up with that field about 10 this evening. We were having an issue with the 8760 attempting to overheat, at least according to the gauge. But once it started cooling down this evening there wasn’t any issue. Not sure what the cause of that problem is just yet. But it’ll likely need to be investigated tomorrow. Won’t be good if it doesn’t want to run during that day.

So we officially have corn in the ground before May. By this time last year we were completely done with corn. We had all the corn in the ground and finished. I think we had already cut and baled 60 acres of rye hay too.

Hopefully we can keep rolling good for the next few days. There’s been some pretty big talk about storms rolling in by about Thursday. As of this morning it was sounding like a pretty sure thing. Weather man was saying it could be pretty severe weather coming. We’ll see what the say tomorrow. It would be just our luck to get some corn in the ground then get a big pour down of rain to hammer it in the ground and/or drown some out.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Back at it again today. It was a busy one.

Started the day getting dad moved with the 8400 and anhydrous toolbar and wagons. From the retirement farm to the farm we were rained out at last week.

I went to the bottom to run the field cultivator over our second field down there.

While I worked on that my dad out on anhydrous in the hills and my uncle continued planting at our other bottom field.

When I finished with the cultivator I went to the hill farm where dad was to spread dry fertilizer. I spread a load full then stopped. I had to order another load. So I headed back to the bottom.

I unhooked then cultivator from the 8760 and hooked the harrow back up. The field I cultivated had time to dry up some so I went over it with the harrow. It was going to need gone over twice.

My uncle finished planting the first field so I helped him move his truck and the 4440 with the planter to the field where I was harrowing. By this time dad was finished with anhydrous at the farm he was at. He took over harrowing. The fertilizer I’d ordered arrived so I headed back to the hill farm to finish that job.

I finished with fertilizer and took the 7510 and spreader back to big shed at dad’s. By this time he had finished harrowing. He unhooked the anhydrous applicator from the 8400 (we’re putting anhydrous on hold for now so we can get some other fields done if it does rain on Thursday). Then he unhooked the harrow from the 8760 and hooked it to the 8400 for tomorrow.

The hill field we’re no-tilling corn we’re going over with the harrow. Our old anhydrous toolbar doesn’t leave things very clean after going through with its knives. It tends to leave clods and doesn’t end up very smooth. We go over it with the harrow to break all that up and smooth things out.

So I helped dad move the 8400 and harrow to one of the farms he’s going to work tomorrow. Then I took him to the sprayer which was up the road to take it back to the shop. The chance of rain is looking to be rather good so we won’t have a chance to get any more spraying done before the rain may arrive.

We ended the day with changing a tire on dad’s truck. It developed quite a bulge today and looked like it was about to blow. It should’ve been a rather quick job. But we couldn’t locate that handy little key required from Ford to lower the spare. But after about a half hour it was found.

The 8760 was still at the shop so I took it to the bottom to have it ready for the morning and retrieve my truck which was still down there.

So tomorrow will be another busy day. I need to get over the field I fertilized today with the field cultivator. Then there are also two fields in the bottom where we plan to plant beans I’m going to try to get over too. There’s an abundance of small weeds starting to pop up in them. If it would rain a significant amount and keep us out for a week or so it wouldn’t take long for the weeds to really grow. So hopefully I can eliminate those chances tomorrow.


This was today’s only picture. The winds really picked up this afternoon. There were a few times I couldn’t hardly see where I was going with the harrow.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Off topic I got another new/old toolbox today.




It’s a box for an electrical kit. It was still in the original box. Also it included a wire stripper, crimper and 3 different terminal tools all wrapped up yet. I bought it from my brother-in-law for $5 too.

On the other end of the bottom is the local municipal airport. Just a small place. There’s also a company right beside it that works on and paints small planes and helicopters. Awhile back the airport had a sale for a bunch of aviation part and equipment. At that sale they also sold off a whole yard full of scrap that they had. Somehow a collection of these toolboxes ended up in all that scrap. My brother-in-law checked it out. All the scrap is being loaded up and hauled off by whoever was the highest bidder. My b-i-l offered to buy the boxes from the people collecting the scrap. He ended up with 23 of them today. Most still in the original boxes. Each one has the wire strippers, crimpers, and terminal tools. All of the tools are still wrapped in each box. The tools and boxes are all made in America. Some are more faded than others. There are 2 different company names on them. But the kit number is the same. There were 2 boxes that actually had some of the electrical parts and terminals in them. But the kit wasn’t complete. Top lid opens and there’s a pin inside that allows the bottom drawer to slide out.

All in all pretty interesting. I think it’s a pretty cool little box. We were both glad he saved them from ending up as scrap metal. So he plans to keep a few then sell the rest to people who will actually use them. Although I’m not sure what I’ll use it for.

 

[MacTexas]

I know it takes a lot of time to write everyday. I for one am fascinated with your posts. I had always heard a farmers work is never done, now I know it is true.