Between the River Hills & the River Bottom

[cliftonbros89]

"Some" square bales lol. You have enough loaded wagons in that pic to make my arms hurt just looking at it. I bet that 2520 baling is the cat's meow compared to some other setups. Smooth.

I was surprised by the amount of stubble you left in the straw fields. Out west they leave a lot to help catch the winter snow, but obviously you don't need that. With straw prices in small squares as high as they are I just assumed you would cut it lower and take more. Do you set the combines for chopping or do they leave residue fairly long when you harvest the wheat? Back in my demo days we had a fella who didn't want a new Case combine because his 8820 Deere (spotless beautiful machine) could lay down much nicer straw even when we had the chopper off and the spreaders raised up.

I'm glad your fam found a pull to go to. Dad went to his first pull this weekend and I am having a hard time finding any near me this year.

It was only about 760 straw bales. Enough to break a sweat. Yeah I would rather have the 2520 on that baler than anything else. Turns tighter and runs slower. That way while I’m stacking on the back I don’t get buried from the tractor moving so quick.

Main reason why we left as much straw standing was because it was pretty tough while we were cutting it. It was a lot easier to cut and feeding in the combine if we cut it off a little higher. Not ideal for making bales. But it helped the whole wheat process out. If we don’t make bales out of it we’ll usually just chop up the straw. The 9770 does a great job of chopping up all that straw.

Yeah as far as I know that’s the only tractor pull in the area that’s gone though this year. I’ve heard of several more already cancelled for later too. There’s a big ride across the county that my dad and uncle are going on this weekend.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not a whole lot from the last few days.

Took the day off on Sunday.

Monday I checked the cattle. By the way I FINALLY found that damn calf that way missing! Guess it was just hiding in the trees some places.


Friday we had taken some wheat to be cleaned and treated for seed. We picked up both of our wagons that were full of seed and the screenings that we left on the truck.

We had a little rain in a few places too. But not at the shop.

Did a few odd jobs. Wasn’t much going on.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Today I checked cows and got dad started on spraying the wheat stubble beans.


I got the new fuel gauge and temperature gauge mounted up on the 3020. But due to the dumb design of the aftermarket gauges that I was hardly able to get mounted I had to leave the gauges turned so the mount wouldn’t short them out on the studs on the gauges.


Today we ended up with some more pop up showers. We got enough to make dad quit spraying.

Oh and I don’t recall if I mentioned the brake valve I’d got to replace for the 4010 wasn’t right.

This is the one that should be on there.

This is the later model...apparently there is absolutely no adaptor that can go from the brake lines to the ends on this valve.

So I found another one.

I should really have the hang of redoing these valves after I do this one.

 

[bugnut]

Good the calf showed up. The raccoons are a nuisance everywhere as they are not hunted or trapped much anymore. Last I knew ODNR let you terminate them 24 hrs a day any day as they are out of hand.

Do you use that much straw or do you also market the bales? Just curious?

 

[cliftonbros89]

Good the calf showed up. The raccoons are a nuisance everywhere as they are not hunted or trapped much anymore. Last I knew ODNR let you terminate them 24 hrs a day any day as they are out of hand.

Do you use that much straw or do you also market the bales? Just curious?

Hopefully, it will start staying out where I can see it.

Raccoons are awful here too. My dad and his brothers used to hunt them all the time too. But since the hides aren’t worth anything no one ever hunts around here either. So we try to trap them.

We won’t use all that straw with in a years time. But we’ll put a decent dent in it. We always like to have square bales for bedding for calves in the barn in the winter. If we run low on hay I’ll throw one in a batch of feed for a little filler (even though the nutritional value isn’t there). Plus there are usually people ask for some come fall. Someone always wants at least a few for fall decorations, hay rides, that sort of thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[XJSuperman]

If you know of any local horse owners, theyll buy small bales all day long. Pricey, but at 4-6 bucks a pop, its good for you. I know with less and less small bales being made each year due to shrinking small farms and growing large farms moving to large squares or rounds, there hasn't been as much small straw bales as there used to be.

 

[Sifan]

Been seeing tv ads:

July 25th

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tractor-pull-holzhauerslutz-agency-southern-il-tickets-58670666543

 

[Sifan]

Showing my ignorance about tractor pulling classes ... Do they even have a class for your family's tractors?

 

[XJSuperman]

Showing my ignorance about tractor pulling classes ... Do they even have a class for your family's tractors?

Doesn't look like it. Though maybe the most confusing part about tractor pulling is the lack of communication/description between antique pulls and modern pulls.

The weight classes at that pull aren't really right for the Clifton bros tractors anyways, but without reading the whole rule sheet, there's no clarification on whether modified antiques are invloved or not. It looks like the tractors there will start with what are probably stripped down D21s, 4020s, and 1066s on custom frames, gutted rear ends, custom fuel pumps, turbos, on alky or diesel, with stamped wheels, etc.

EDIT: looking at the ITPA site class descriptions, (5800 and 6000# weights are close to their Deeres) The 5800 Modifieds are full customs with multiple v8s and turbine motors and allison airplane engines. The 6000 ProStocks are the diesel and alky pullers built with sheetmetal/hoods from tractors from the 60s-today. Basically what I was describing above.

Even at 100hp on a very thoroughly built 2-cylinder, its no match for any of that. Sled settings are different between those too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

If you know of any local horse owners, theyll buy small bales all day long. Pricey, but at 4-6 bucks a pop, its good for you. I know with less and less small bales being made each year due to shrinking small farms and growing large farms moving to large squares or rounds, there hasn't been as much small straw bales as there used to be.

A lot of the horse owners I know typically only buy alfalfa hay. Which we never make anymore. But you’re right they are usually willing to pay whatever you want.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Showing my ignorance about tractor pulling classes ... Do they even have a class for your family's tractors?

Yeah like XJSuperman said. There wouldn’t really be a class for ours there. Ours are always classified as the antique classes. Now depending on who or what club is putting on the pull class types can vary as well. At least as far as the type of build and what not. There aren’t too many pulls that my dad and uncle compete in aside from the NATPA (National Antique Tractor Pullers of America) pulls. So many clubs and groups have quite a few varying rules as to what you can and can’t do to your tractor to compete. Due to the varying rules they don’t venture out to much aside from the local pulls that are really close.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So Wednesday morning after checking the cattle I got back to swapping brake valve parts around.

Also helped with a few tractor that my dad and uncle were planning to take on a big ride this weekend.


By the afternoon dad went to finish some of the spraying he didn’t get finished before being rained out.

I went to mow along a few field and mow pasture at the retirement farm.



But another pop up storm ended up putting an end to that after only a little over an hour.

So it was back to the shop to clean up the brake valve parts.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Since it was wet Thursday morning dad and I weened calves. We weened 18 between 2 groups in the morning and 5 from the group as dad’s that evening.

Little warm out but it’s supposed to cool down and I think they’ll be fine in a few days.

Got things ready for dad to move manure piles out of the feed lots.

Then I went back to the brake valve. Looking at them you would think everything should just swap out. But there are enough of a subtle difference between them that there’s only a few things that can be swapped.


But I finally got it together. I guess I’ll just have some spare parts for other valves should something happen in the future.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Thursday evening we had another little pop up rain.

Friday started with a heavy fog and a heavy dew.



I took care of the cattle.

Our young Hereford bull at dad’s keeps jumping the fence to get in the lot with the old cows instead of staying in with the young one’s he’s supposed to be with. I had to get him out of that lot twice on Friday.

I helped dad load up the tractors for the ride on Saturday.

Dad was taking the ‘53 50 and my uncle was going to ride the ‘44 A.

Got a load of mineral and feed supplement and put it all away.


By the afternoon things dried off so I went back to mowing.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not much action for Saturday. Dad headed out early for the tractor ride.

I took care of the calves and checked all the cattle. Put out mineral and loaded up the back rubbers as well. The flies don’t seem to be getting any better.

Then I went back to the retirement farm to mow some more.


I got the main part of the pasture mowed by early afternoon so I thought it would be a good stopping point. Especially since I was just about out of fuel and didn’t have any fuel with me.

So I decided to go home and mow my yard. I wasn’t running very long with my throttle cable broke.

Naturally the cable broke right in the middle. I had to move the air cleaner out of the way and solved the problem with a temporary fix with some baling wire. Running wide open for sure now. So it looks like I’ll be getting a new cable some time this week.

 

[fmf111]

"Our young Hereford bull at dad’s keeps jumping the fence to get in the lot with the old cows instead of staying in with the young one’s he’s supposed to be with. I had to get him out of that lot twice on Friday."

There's a joke in here somewhere...I'll just let it be

I have been following your thread from day one and thoroughly enjoy it...Thank you

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not much going on today. Took Sunday off.

Checked all the cattle, fed weened calves and gave them a bale of hay. Ground a batch of feed for the big calves.

We had some wheat screenings from having seed cleaned left on the truck. We emptied those in to some seed tote bags. It was clean enough we’ll likely save it to mix with some fertilizer this fall and spread for a cover crop.

Then this afternoon I went back to mowing around field edges and parts of pasture.

But by about 5 I was rained out. Couple heavy showers. Then more forming through the evening. Cool front was coming in to cool things down for the week. Had some pretty hard down pours in places. Saw some places had 4” or more with in just a few hours...little more than we needed.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So some places had a lot of rain yesterday evening. Others not some much. Places of the county only had a tenth or two. Other spots I heard got about 6” yesterday evening. Luckily most of our farms got only 1-1.5” or less. But the morning started with some more rain. Just about 3 tenths.

About a month ago our Deere dealer offered to do a “free” inspection on any of our tractors. They said they’d also do a “free” inspection on whatever it was hooked to. So dad told them to check out the 7230 and 569 baler.

As I figured they found something expensive that needed to be fixed. The mechanic said the bushings where the front axle is bolted on were so worn that the axle itself was showing ware. Then said it’s a common problem. If it’s a common problem why the hell don’t they advise customers about this before they ruin the whole axle??

We thought no big deal we can drop the axle out put in the new bushings. No problem, wouldn’t be much different than when we did the axle on the 4440. Wrong! The mechanic insisted that the axle had to be taken to a machine shop to be fixed and machines properly for the new bushings. Since that had to be done the dealer HAS to be the one to take the axle to the machine shop. If it goes to the machine shop the dealer HAS to be the ones to install the new bushings and the axle. Personally I think it is absolute bull ****! Not saying it may not need machining, but why do they have to do the work? Only so we can pay them $1,000 more? It’s ridiculous!

So anyway dad didn’t argue with them and rather than pay even more for them to take the axle off at our place or come pick the axle up we just hauled it to them.

I’m betting this will easily be over $3,000 before it’s over. I’m not happy about it or dad’s decision.

But anyway. It between showers I also fed the calves this morning.


Then I finally, FINALLY, got the brake valve mounted on the 4010. Even better it worked great. No leaks or anything. Brakes now work better than they ever have.

So that was one plus. It’s obvious why they went added the equalized valves to it later on in production. It performs much better than the original brake setup that was on the early models like this one.

But then I had to run to town for stuff. Grandpa asked if I’d get a battery for grandma’s car. It died on her. Since he’s going to be 81 next week he doesn’t always like to bother with that type of stuff anymore. So I made a trip to do that.

Grandma drives a ‘00 Impala they bought brand new from the GM/Chrysler dealer in town. This thing is practically new yet.

20 years old and there’s just over 50,000 on this thing. It’s crazy. But it never leaves town. Even now it only leaves the house 2 or 3 days a week. But that’s how my grandpa is with everything. So I went to the dealership and got a new AC Delco battery for it and it was ready to go. The last battery was a Delco and the manufactured date was 7/11. That’s pretty impressive really.

Got back to the shop and pulled the 3020 in.

I adjusted the clutch a little bit. It’s ready to go back to the retirement farm. But the clutch adjustment is pretty well maxed out now. The clutch slipped some on my in 8th gear last time I drove it and dad said it slipped on him last time he drove it. Good chance it will be due for a new clutch after feeding this winter.

Then dad and I had to fix a fence over at my uncle’s. Had a few tree limbs on it and the electric wasn’t working on it either.

Fixed that and then had to get a calf and a cow in the lot. Calf was born almost 2 weeks ago but it’s sick. Has quite a few flies on it as well. Cow wasn’t very cooperative but we got her and the calf both locked up. We plan on treating the calf in the morning.

Lots of rain chances the rest of the week. Every day from tomorrow til Sunday, last I checked anyway. That may not be a good thing.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not exactly farm talk, but I’ve really be anxious to get my metal detector out again. Last week I ordered a bigger coil for it. Unfortunately, when I put the new coil on I broke the plastic mounting bolt. You can’t use a metal bolt on a metal detector either.

So after I installed my grandma’s car battery I stopped by True Value and found a nylon bolt. Picked up an extra just in case. The Garrett Company is supposed to be sending me an original replacement but it hasn’t arrived yet.

Anyway, by the time we got done with the cow and calf it was almost dark, just before 9. But I wanted to try my new coil anyway. I only hunted around in dad’s back yard for about 15 minutes.

First find was an ignition style wrench. Thought that was pretty cool. Then a few nails and junk, shards of aluminum. But notice the cross.

It was now dark. I said I’d dig one more thing. Signal sounded really good. I couldn’t read what the reading was in the dark and I’d forgot my flashlight in the shop that I normally have on me all the time. So I dug and found this....

Sterling silver U.S. army marksman badge. Sharpshooter qualification. Dad almost said grandpa was supposed to have been a sharpshooter (rifle I believe). So there is a really good chance this could’ve belonged to him.

 

[cliftonbros89]

well let’s get caught back up here. Friday before last I did a little shop work after taking care of the cattle.


The 4010 got new fuel filters, oil filter and new oil. Also checked over some other stuff on it.

We also ended up with another half inch of rain. Heck of a way to end the month of July. It’s not very often the last week of July comes with at least a 1/2” of rain every day. Kind of a nice change.

Then Saturday morning we had some more light showers.


Had some feeding to do in between rain, put out mineral and checked on some new calves.


Then I decided to get a start on something I haven’t worked on before.

The selective control valve on the 4010 has been leaking lately. So I decided I was going to rebuild it. But taking in off the tractor didn’t go so well.

One of the steel lines twisted off when I was trying to undo the fitting. Before that happened my wrench slid off the fitting and resulted in my hand flying into my face and punching my own nose...

So by the time I got the valve off the tractor and got some of it apart I wasn’t in the greatest mood. It was Saturday, and rainy, so I decided after lunch to just call it a day.

So instead I just took a drive around to check out some of the fields. Drove around on a few county roads I been on in awhile.


Creeks were definitely up from the rain fall. I crossed low water in a few places.

Also, drove past a local land mark.

I took the day off on Sunday.


Went to a landmark across the river Sunday.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Monday came and I checked the cattle.


Then I had to work on a few fences at dad’s. That young Hereford bull kept getting in with the old cows. So I made sure to get the electric wire going good and hot so it would deter him a little more.

Got him back in with the younger cows and luckily he’s stayed now. Guess the fence is doing it’s job again.

Then I finished disassembling the reset of the selective control valve from the 4010.


I took the time to keep everything separated to make assembly easier. Plus cleaned up every single part and looked everything over real good to make sure nothing was worn or scared before I do put it back together.

I’d ordered all the new o-rings, back-up rings and seals. But naturally there was one that wasn’t in stock. Then I found there was another that they had but forgot to send to me...why this keeps happening I don’t know.

Tuesday I check on all the cattle.


We also decided we were going to sell some of the larger big calves.


We rounded them all up to the barn and separated the bigger ones out. We ended up hauling off 30 to take for auction on Wednesday. So that left us with 22 smaller big calves. Then there are 23 weened at my uncle’s, and there are 17 calves still on the cow.

Tuesday I guess was when I’d actually discovered that I was missing a few seals.


But I had everything ready to put back together. I put together what seals I had.

I worked on a few more fences that day too.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Last week was nice. As I unusual as the weather was for the last week of July it was just as unusual for the first week of August. Lows in the 50’s and a few days the highs didn’t even get out of the 70’s. It was great weather to be out in.

Wednesday morning after checking on the cattle i greased you the brush hog.

Greased the tractor and blew out the radiator and the air filters on the 7510.

It was finally time to get back to mowing pastures.

Which is what the rest of my day consisted of.

Thursday was more of the same.

Except we rotated some of the cattle from one pasture to another, which was right beside one of the other groups of cattle. Yet again one of the young bulls thought we needed to see what was on the other side of the fence.

That resulted in the young bull getting into a 25 minute fight with the other older bull. After going to get the four wheeler I finally managed to get them separated.

The older one went off in the pasture and the younger one too the woods. The young one, which was the instigator of it all got his **** kicked. Luckily, they didn’t actually hurt one another but the younger one took some pretty good hits and just about went down on the ground several times. When I caught up with him in the woods he was worn out. He couldn’t catch his breath for about 10-15 minutes after. When he finally was able to breath normal without his tongue hanging out and got a drink from a water puddle I got him to move. It took a good while and some smacks with some sticks to motivate him to move but I finally got him back to where he belonged. I think he regretted his decision
.

Then it was back to more mowing for awhile for the evening.

On Wednesday dad got a used replacement for the hydraulic line on the 4010 that twisted off (same place we got the correct brake valve from). But when he returned he added to the work load for the job some.

He bought a second selective control valve and set of couplers to add to the 4010.

The place had everything to add a second SCV.

Including all the lines and linkage for it. So I guess I’ll be going through everything, cleaning up and rebuilding the second valve and set of couplers as well. Let’s hope I can get this all back the way it’s supposed to go.

 

[cliftonbros89]

So now for Friday.

We got the 7230 back from it’s expensive trip to have the front end worked on. I’m still not happy about that situation.

Then I picked up some chemicals and loaded up the water tanks for dad to do some spraying.

Should be it for that for awhile.

Then I went back to mowing.

Another good day of mowing and I should have that job finished til it’s time to mow around fields this fall.

Yesterday, on Saturday was quick.




I fed the calves and looked over all the cattle real good. The pastures have definitely been liking the rainfall we’ve had. The cattle have definitely liked the cooler temperatures too.

Had some place I had to go so I called it a day after checking on the cattle.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not sure how well the calves did at auction this week. But hopefully good.

Sounds like we should’ve sold what corn we have left about 2-3 weeks ago. Due to some new reports the grain markets have fell pretty significantly again in the last few weeks.

I need to start getting things ready for fall. But there are also a lot of other jobs I want to get finished up before fall gets here too. Like the 4010 for example.

Had an unexpected rain last night and this morning. So I think I’ll take the day off.

I’ve been trying to take things a little slower so I don’t have myself burnt out before fall gets here.

I haven’t and likely won’t be taking an vacation this year so I’m try to take a few days on weekends off.

Part of the reason I’ve been falling behind of updates is that I took a few evenings to do a little more metal detecting around the farm before dark the past week. I’m starting to really get in to that.

 

[Sifan]

Nice looking group of feeders, be interested to see how they do at auction. Picked up 1/4 of beef that Nephew fed out. Should be prime/prime ... was supposed to go in end of a
April but didn't go in until July because of virus shutdown. Talking to locker owner, he said he was currently booking for third week of April 2021. That's booking solid, only way to work something in would be somebody cancelling out.

Good luck putting the 4010 back together, looks to be a challenge. I used to be "If I take it apart, I can put it back together" My memory hasn't been as good as in the past so I placed a cellphone mount over my work bench and have started doing a video taking things apart

 

[cliftonbros89]

Nice looking group of feeders, be interested to see how they do at auction. Picked up 1/4 of beef that Nephew fed out. Should be prime/prime ... was supposed to go in end of a
April but didn't go in until July because of virus shutdown. Talking to locker owner, he said he was currently booking for third week of April 2021. That's booking solid, only way to work something in would be somebody cancelling out.

Good luck putting the 4010 back together, looks to be a challenge. I used to be "If I take it apart, I can put it back together" My memory hasn't been as good as in the past so I placed a cellphone mount over my work bench and have started doing a video taking things apart

I hope the calves bring some good money. Guess we’ll see.

Any place around here that butchers is booked over a year in advance too. We booked a cow to be butchered this December, back in October of last year.

I would feel a lot better about rebuilding things if I was able to get to it right away. But with having so much other stuff to do in between it’s easy to forget. But that’s why I have the repair manual. Also why I printed out the parts catalog break down of the valve too. Plus I usually take pictures to post and I’ll refer to those as well. Whatever I can to make sure I get the job done right the first time.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Not much of any exciting action on the farm this week.

 

[Sifan]

Relax, take a deep breath and enjoy ... 30 days, you'll be shelling corn

 

[cliftonbros89]

Relax, take a deep breath and enjoy ... 30 days, you'll be shelling corn

I know it’s definitely going to be here before we know it. Summer has seemed to fly by. Still lots to do before we get back in the fields too. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long fall.

 

[Sifan]

Hope crops dry down on a timely basis, current prices, sure don't want to dry or take dock.

 

[XJSuperman]

Well, if your corn is still upright you may be ok. Iowa has 10million acres flattened, so that outta help your crop prices.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Hope crops dry down on a timely basis, current prices, sure don't want to dry or take dock.

I sure hope so too. If we have wet cool weeks like we’ve had lately they really won’t be drying quick. Especially, some of those later beans.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well, if your corn is still upright you may be ok. Iowa has 10million acres flattened, so that outta help your crop prices.

I saw some pictures of what happened in places out there. That looks like a nightmare. We had some good winds around that same time. But nothing to do any damage. Luckily, they were short lived.

 

[cliftonbros89]

Well I don’t know where the days go anymore. But they seem to be flying by. I don’t know where the month went. But hopefully I’ll get caught up this weekend.

Not much going on yet. All except for one mechanical issue we experience last week.

 

[Sifan]

heading to central Illinois next week to help prep equipment for the fall. Going to get scale system working on grain cart, never done that before, should be fun???

What's with corn prices? Derecho takes out 1 billion bushels and no change in prices? So much for supply and demand economics.

Have a safe harvest!

 

[cliftonbros89]

Don’t worry. I didnt forget. But things have been busy and we’re not even busy yet.

Been taking care of cattle, working on fences, working on equipment, getting things prepped for fall. Lots to do.

I’ve been selling some Macnaught stuff. Also, officially became a Wera dealer as well. So I’ve been selling some screwdrivers too.

But I’ve had a lot going besides work. There’s been weddings to attend. Funeral to attend. My grandparents each had a health issue in the past month so I’ve had to assist with that.

There has just been a whole lot to do. When I get a “break” it’s really not much of one.

But I’ll get caught up before we really get to working soon.

 

[Sifan]

Good to hear from you. Lot to do this time of year.

FYI Nephew has been waiting for two weeks to get parts for a Massey platform. If you need some parts, you might want to get on it. Don't know that Deere is having problems.

 

[buzzboy]

Started reading on and off when my retail job was slow in the evenings. Only took the summer of reading a page here and there to catch up!

That's a pretty area you farm, though I understand it comes with a set of headaches. I'm from east NC and everything out here is FLAT as a pancake. I'm more accustomed to seeing cotton in the fields so it's really interesting to me to see something else in the ground.

 

[Steve102C3]

I'm looking forward to your next update.

 

[XJSuperman]

He's posted up on Insta a few times recently. Seems like some progress with Macnaught and getting plenty of use out of their products during harvest. Im sure we'll get an update soon if he gets a break. If I understand his posts correctly, they've finished corn and are probably in beans? Standing by for details!