Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[lis2323]

Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

What’s the working width on that rotary hoe? 30-32ft?

Pretty sweet for $600!


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[cliftonbros89]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

What’s the working width on that rotary hoe? 30-32ft?

Pretty sweet for $600!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Honestly, I’m not actually sure what the width is on it. I didn’t measure it. I’m not sure it’s quite 30’ though.

Thought it was definitely a good deal too. We used to have a small one years ago. But had to borrow one a few times in the last few years. One of those pieces of equipment that’s nice to have. We just hope we don’t have to use it.

 

[jeepxj]

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.

I wonder how much diesel would be saved if guys would land swap to keep them closer to the home place.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I wonder how much diesel would be saved if guys would land swap to keep them closer to the home place.

I’m wondered the same thing myself. Same as I know of several guys from this area that farm ground over in Illinois. There are guys in that area in Illinois that come all they way over to our bottom ground to farm. You’d think it save a lot of headache if someone would just trade. But it’s all about who you know. Location and money have a lot to do with it though too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

But to add to that I can say it sometimes makes a difference to have things spread out a bit. It’s sometimes surprising the difference in the amount of rainfall within just a 5 mile stretch.

 

[jeepxj]

I’m wondered the same thing myself. Same as I know of several guys from this area that farm ground over in Illinois. There are guys in that area in Illinois that come all they way over to our bottom ground to farm. You’d think it save a lot of headache if someone would just trade. But it’s all about who you know. Location and money have a lot to do with it though too.

but my dirt is blacker so it's worth more was the argument i heard when i brought it up.

and true on the rainfall spread stuff.

 

[XJSuperman]

Don't forget the sentimental factor. "My granddad was plowing this land clear back in '35 and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands..."

 

[donnie]

I had to google what a rotary hoe was used for.
Rotary hoes are versatile tillage tools that can be used to accomplish many tasks. The rotary hoe can decrease soil crusting and enhance crop emergence. ... With severe rain, the potential for soil crusting is high on fine-textured soil after it dries.

 

[cliftonbros89]

but my dirt is blacker so it's worth more was the argument i heard when i brought it up.



and true on the rainfall spread stuff.

There’s always a reason.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Don't forget the sentimental factor. "My granddad was plowing this land clear back in '35 and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands..."

And then let it grow up until it’s unmanageable anymore. Or if it’s pasture load it with cattle til there’s nothing left but cedar and locust trees. Then if they do decide to sell then they want an outrageous amount for it.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I had to google what a rotary hoe was used for.
Rotary hoes are versatile tillage tools that can be used to accomplish many tasks. The rotary hoe can decrease soil crusting and enhance crop emergence. ... With severe rain, the potential for soil crusting is high on fine-textured soil after it dries.

That would be it. Also explains why it’s something you hope you don’t have to use.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So Monday it was another day.

After checking cattle I set out to mow pasture again. I ran all day nonstop.

Decent day. Cloudy. But I got a pretty good chunk knocked out again. Almost done with that job.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Overnight we had some more rain.

About 4/10’s everywhere. Just enough to make things muddy again.

Took care of the cattle.

But then there was a change of plans for me.

Dad wanted to go back out to Grandpa’s. He wanted to spray weeds on some of our trails through the woods and put up some cameras on some deer trails. So that put a big change in my day.


Batteries went dead in the 550. Got some new ones and put them in. I dropped the screw for the battery hold down and was reaching around for it...
I found an oil fill cap. It was stuck under the washer fluid reservoir. Apparently someone lost it at some time and just bought a new one.

Did a few things around the shop and checked on a few more of the cattle.


Then I took the fuel filter off the 720. It needed a rebuild. So I took it apart and cleaned it up.

Had to quit so I could go see the Matco guy. Haven’t seen him in awhile and I had something to pick up that he got for me a few weeks ago.

So let’s hope tomorrow I can actually get something done. This is one of those weeks I feel like I’m not getting a damn thing finished up.

 

[1Garageman]

Do you listen to music or something while you mow?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Do you listen to music or something while you mow?

Yeah. Especially, when I’m in the tractor all day doing something like mowing or working ground. Usually in the mornings I’ll listen to a talk show from a St. Louis station. Other than that it’s usually music off my iPod or iPad.

Every once in awhile I’ll listen to an independent radio station. No commercials and don’t play the same 20 songs all day long.

In the last 5 months or so I recently got back in to the world of professional wrestling. I used to love it as a kid. But if I have decent service I’ll stream a wrestling podcast to listen to on my iPad.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well today I feel like I kind of got something done.

I finished up on mowing the pastures today. I’m glad that’s out of the way.


Dad had a regular doctors appointment today. It took most the day. But after he returned he got back to moving manure piles.

After I finished with mowing this evening I ground some feed for the calves.


Also put the 720 back together.

Unfortunately, the battery for some reason didn’t have enough power to crank it over. So it had to be charged before I could start it to make sure everything was good.


I cleaned off the brush hog a bit and greased it all up. Although I’m done with the pastures I have a few fields to mow that had some spots we didn’t get to plant this year due to water. Just trying to knock the weeds down before fall.

After closing up the shop I headed out to check the cattle at the retirement farm.

They’ve had some extra flies on them lately. So I decided to spray them a bit. They didn’t enjoy it.

Called it a day a little early.

Got something different scheduled for tomorrow. A little trip. Won’t be getting anything actually done. Which aggravated me a little. But we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Stuntmonkey]

Best thread on GJ. Just spent the last 3 days between studying reading this.

 

[welder57]

Stuntmonkey one of mine too, farming is not for the faint of heart. Love the photos of the morning and evenings in Missouri, Super colors...

 

[cliftonbros89]

Stuntmonkey one of mine too, farming is not for the faint of heart. Love the photos of the morning and evenings in Missouri, Super colors...

Best thread on GJ. Just spent the last 3 days between studying reading this.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. I honestly didn’t think many people would really be interested. Especially, with everything else that’s on GJ.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So yesterday we took a trip. The place we buy all of our fertilizer, anhydrous, spraying chemicals, cattle mineral and cattle supplement took to Decatur, IL yesterday. We went to the last day of the farm progress show.



I only snapped a few pictures. But there was a whole lot to see.

For anyone who isn’t aware what the Farm Progress show is. It happens each year I believe but alternates locations in the country. But it is loaded with tons of farm stuff. Seed companies, tractor and equipment companies all kinds of stuff. They run equipment demos, combine demos, loads of stuff.

Since it was 3.5 hours away and we were only there for the one day it was impossible to really look at everything. But there was stuff from Deere, Case, New Holland, Claas, Cat, Kubota, all kinds of stuff. Booths for cattle stuff, chemicals, fertilizers pretty much anything farm related. I even got some some information on hemp growing.

It was interesting. I was hoping to maybe see a tool company or two. But the closest thing I found was a few tool box companies and Husqvarna.

It was a pretty good day. Didn’t pay for a thing. Ticket, food, supper afterward, beer, all paid for. I’ll take that once in awhile.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today was a normal day. For the most part. Took care of the calves, helped my uncle with a few things. Then I set out to do some more mowing.

I started mowing down the weeds in the couple spots in a few fields that we didn’t get to plant. They’re finally dry.



So it pretty much took up my whole day. Biggest part of the day was the creek bottom where we had wheat. Due to the creek being up from the river it had flooded half the field. Due to that we weren’t able to spray what wheat was still standing. So a bunch of grass and weeds grew up in the wheat too.


So I finished the job. It was back to the shop and I unhooked the brush hog.

While I was busy mowing dad was busy doing some other stuff. Once job was getting a tractor out of the mud that my uncle buried in a field outside of the levee while attempting to work some ground does food plot for deer season. So it begins. The pain in the *** of dealing with everyone’s **** for deer season.

But dad also made a purchase today. A small local construction company set a trailer out for sale today. We’ve been looking for a trailer for over a year now to pull with one of the semi-trucks to haul water when we’re spraying.

It’s used, it’s got some age, but it’s not bad. Especially, for only $1,500. I looked it over a little bit. But it seems to be in pretty decent shape. If we can find a couple good tanks to mount on there we should be good to go. Oh and notice the Knaack boxes. They’ve by no means perfect. They’ve got some dents. I’m not sure what the hell we’ll use them for, they’re pretty big. But at only $150 a piece dad couldn’t pass them up.

Pretty good day.

 

[cliftonbros89]

I took a picture of this at the Progress Show. It was there with an old grain truck. But notice it’s a ‘46 model. It say in ‘46 the price of corn was $1.51 a bushel. Here we are 73 years later and last week the price of corn was $2.10 higher than that. But think about how much the input cost on corn has increased since then...

 

[kruizer66]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to write this thread. I love the narration. It makes me want to be a farmer, and not be a farmer all at the same time. ....your cattle’s pictures make me laugh and they remind me of the old comic strip “the Far Side”. Just missing the funny captions at the bottom.

 

[cvairwerks]

For tanks, keep your eyes out for some of the 275 and 330 gallon IBC totes that have had food grade liquids in them. They're metal caged and forkable, so you don't have to dedicate the trailer to just water. Set the drain valves up with camlocs and you gang them all together as a single fill/drain or solo. They are always showing up on craigslist around here for a 100$ or so.

 

[cliftonbros89]

For tanks, keep your eyes out for some of the 275 and 330 gallon IBC totes that have had food grade liquids in them. They're metal caged and forkable, so you don't have to dedicate the trailer to just water. Set the drain valves up with camlocs and you gang them all together as a single fill/drain or solo. They are always showing up on craigslist around here for a 100$ or so.

Those are nice. I’ve seen them for sale a lot of places too. But we were thinking more like two 1500 gallon tanks. It’d be a little more ideal to have about 3000 gallons on board at a time.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to write this thread. I love the narration. It makes me want to be a farmer, and not be a farmer all at the same time. ....your cattle’s pictures make me laugh and they remind me of the old comic strip “the Far Side”. Just missing the funny captions at the bottom.

Thanks.

There are plenty of times I miss out on a good picture of the cattle. Sometimes someone is trying to be boss and pushing or butting heads with someone else. On cool mornings or evenings when I feed some of them get excited and start running around everywhere jumping and bucking. Sometimes they start doing that and it’s a little too close for comfort.

 

[lis2323]

Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Have you considered looking for a used semi tanker or even a 3 axle pup? Just add a platform to carry your chemicals.

That’s what we used to use for a nurse tank. We didn’t farm anywhere close to the acres you do but sprayed higher gallons per acre. (100-150 GPA)

 

[cliftonbros89]

Re: Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

Have you considered looking for a used semi tanker or even a 3 axle pup? Just add a platform to carry your chemicals.

That’s what we used to use for a nurse tank. We didn’t farm anywhere close to the acres you do but sprayed higher gallons per acre. (100-150 GPA)

We’ve considered and looked for several different options. But I think this is likely to work pretty good for us.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So another day today.

Checked on all the cattle. Everyone got corn, mineral and back rubs loaded up. All of them were looking pretty good today.

Helped dad with a few things. Then got the 4010 back together.

I had some new cushioned pieces to put on that hold the fuel lines in place.

The brakes have been working good since I worked on them. But they still seem to take some time to grab like I’d like them too. So I decided while it was in the shop I’d try to bleed the brakes again. Which is sort of a pain in the ***.

I put a yellow mark on them. You can see the right side isn’t easy to access since there are 2 hydraulic lines in the way. They’re not the easiest to get a wrench on either since they’re recessed in there. Not to mention the old things seem a bit rusty.

Since they’re such a pain I’d had a bit of time and thought I’d come up with something to maybe make things a little easier.

There was an old offset WestLine wrench laying around in our bucket. Which must’ve been a rebranded Industro as it looks exactly like the same size Industro ones we have. I decided to try the torch and the press with it. Straightened the 5/8” offset side out and then bent the middle of the wrench to basically make the 11/16”’side a handle.

So I bled them again with the assistance of dad pushing the pedals in for me. It seemed to help a bit but they’re still not where I’d like them to be.

So I set it aside for now.

Now that I had the mowing done I wanted to get the 7510 in the shop.

So I washed it up so it was decently clean.

I put it in the shop so I can look things over soon.

Being I rearranged tractors in the shop I used the few minutes it was almost empty to clean things up from the week as usual. Swept the place, picked things up, I can’t stand starting a job with the place being a mess.

So being I had a new wrench to put in the box I had to rearrange the SAE wrench drawer a bit

I got it in there but it’s getting to be pretty full. A little cluttered but not too bad.

Pretty much wrapped up my day except checking in on the new calf that arrived at the retirement farm.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So I thought my day was over, went one, cleaned up, my girlfriend and I met up her her cousin and her cousins husband to go out for supper. Before we were seated I got a phone call from a friend of mine. He’s an operator for a line company in Indiana and was called out to Florida to prepare for storm damage from the incoming hurricane.

I’ve been friends with the guy for 25 years. We’re pretty close and have helped one another with a lot of dumb stuff over the years.

Now I may have mentioned earlier in the thread that he was wanting to start a new project awhile back.

A late 50’s model Dodge truck. Also, 4 wheel drive. Not something you see every day. Since he’s out of town he wanted my b-i-l to work on it for him. But as I’d suspected he was going to end up changing his mind after he figured out how much it was going to cost to redo it like he was planning to. So he decided to sell it. But regardless it ended up at dad’s so it wasn’t in my b-i-l’s way.

Long story short some guys were hired to pick it up. All the way from New York and were supposed to give us a heads up of a day or so before they arrived. But it ended up being about a half hour notice in advance. So being absolutely no one else was around near the farm I had to go down and help these guys load this truck, in the dark.

These guys weren’t exactly the easiest to work with as they were in a rush and they were misinformed about the truck and thought that it ran. So after a bit of an argument I helped them load it with the tractor and a chain. Anything to get them on the road.

So it was a bit of unplanned excitement for the evening. But they gave me $30 for helping them out. So I was sure to call my friend and tell him he’s not allowed to leave any of his **** at the farm again. He was thankful for the help and assured me he wouldn’t be doing that again.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Another surprise for the evening was something that my girlfriend’s cousin’s husband picked up for me.


Snap On matches. Said he got them at a yard sale for 50 cents. I’ve never seen such a thing before. They’re going to get a spot with my old tool collection at home.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Did the regular daily chores this morning.

Did a few things at the shop. Then dad wanted to go to grandpa’s to clear some trees out.

So dad decided that we wanted to try out the new trailer.

Dad decided to play dozer with the 4020. Which can go bad. Pretty sure one of the front tires is going to be flat in the morning. So we cleared some trees on the paths through the woods. Cleared some trees in a spot for a food plot. Cleared some trees for a path to a location for a new blind.

So after we finished I decided to call it a day.

Went home and mowed the grass. Lawn shed is coming along pretty nice.

 

[cliftonbros89]

The Snap On matches will go well with my old and growing tool collection. I’ll have to find some more and display them some how.

 

[1Garageman]

Wow, amazing how busy you guys are every day! I don't remember seeing your dads trailer before, it looks awesome!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Wow, amazing how busy you guys are every day! I don't remember seeing your dads trailer before, it looks awesome!

There’s always something to do. We’re never caught up.

The yellow trailer we just bought last week.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Yesterday wasn’t exactly a day off.

Took care of the calves.

Checked on the rest of the cattle.


Looked like everyone was doing good.

Some of the bred heifers we bought earlier in the year are due to have calves right now. Two of them had calves last week and we knew 2 more were going to be really close to having their calves. One of them were missing. So I proceeded to look for her for 2 hours. With no luck.


I got some things ready for the next few days in the shop.

Afternoon I went to check on a few of the corn fields.

Some of it’s not looking too great.


So not only do the markets not look great. But the crop doesn’t either.

So I did call it a day early. But didn’t get much accomplished.

 

[cliftonbros89]

This morning started off good.

The heifer that was missing yesterday was with her new calf with the rest of the girls. So it was good to see.


I pulled the 4020 in the shop to take the tire off to get it fixed. I took it and the tire from my truck to finally be replaced.


So the shop is pretty full right now.

But for most the day I was in the bottom.



Things are getting drier finally. I went to go over the ground outside of the levee with the cultivator. Just for weed control. First time for the year working any ground in the bottom and it’s September.



So I finished that up. The ground inside isn’t quite dry yet and it’s going to need the disk. Maybe even the brush hog.

Then it was back to the shop.

The 4020 was having a hydraulic oil leak so I decided to investigate it since it was in the shop.

I started it up and noticed oil coming from this pipe plug fitting. I took it out and it was good and tight and looked like it was good. I wrapped some tape around the threads to maybe seal it up better.

I put the plug back in tight and started it up. Now it was leaking even worse than before.
I took the plug back out, took the tape off, put it back in, snug but not overly tight, started it up, and it didn’t leak at all...how the hell does that work? I’m going to look at it further.

While in the process of looking for some stuff on my iPad I noticed that my spreadsheet on excel for my parts was gone.

Some how my inventory list of over 600 parts, with part numbers, quantity, what the part fits, and what shelf and bin the part is located in is all gone...vanished...I’m not too happy about it.

So after that incident I decided to start investigating the SCV couplers issues on the 7510.

I didn’t get to deep into it. Just enough so get an idea what I may be dealing with.

While I did all that today dad worked on straightening up the cattle lots.

 

[Farmall450]

Wow, that trailer was a bargain! There should be some history of an old revision of you sheet available for a limited time.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Is that a crack in the part that pipe plug is threaded in? I sure hope it isn’t.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Wow, that trailer was a bargain! There should be some history of an old revision of you sheet available for a limited time.

That trailer was a hell of a deal. Naturally the lights have issues on it. But it seems we never have luck with trailer lights.