Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[OutlawDrifter]

Plus the ‘ol Busch Light overhang provides quite a bit of shade so not there really isn’t much to see if you get my drift

We call that "dicky-do disease" in my old stomping grounds

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

We call that "dicky-do disease" in my old stomping grounds

In the Northeast it's called a "Dunlap" - That guy's gut has "done lap"ed over his belt.

 

[jblnut]

I had a hankering for some cabbage and carrot soup but it takes a day to make. First for lunch you gotta cook a couple rings of bologna and save the water. Then for supper you use the bologna water to cook the cabbage and carrots. It’s simple and amazing and brings back fond memories of time spend at my Grandparents place.


I got this firewood tote mover 8yrs ago and am finally putting it to work !! Leo and I took bladders out of 8 more totes and he got the cages moved closer to the bucking table.


The lug bolts from the 884 were quite rusty so I soaked them in some Evapo-Rust for a few days. I’m always amazed at how well this stuff works.

 

[jblnut]

Today at 9ish AM the tire on my grinder mixer suddenly went flat in just a couple minutes. WTF. I was in a hurry so I don’t have any pictures from that to this as we were planning a family outing to a laser tag place. I fought with this tire for literally 2hrs. I didn’t spend 100% of the time with the tire itself. Some of it was spend repairing the bead breaking tool I tore in half, some was spent making the center post the bead breaking tool and the tire removal/install tool ride on more suitable for larger tires. Most was spent trying to break the bead before I built the extension below. Some previous owner named Pete put a tube in the tire and didn’t baby powder it so everything was glued to everything else and it was a bear to get apart. My carpel tunnel fingers had all they could do to get the tube out once I had the beads broken and one side removed. Looking forward to Feb when I get arthroscopic surgery on both hands to hopefully make this more tolerable.

It was a weird one and was flat on top. Strange.


I built a post extension that goes to the bottom of the original post to hopefully keep things as strong as possible while putting a very carefully calculated amount of extra force on things. I engineered the **** out of this to make sure it would work and not destroy itself the first time I used it.


Insert the extension and pin it down. I didn’t have the bottom pin at first and went to use it and immediately realized I was dumb lol. Of course I need to keep it from being pulled up. That’s how levers work !! One side goes up, the other side goes down. Der lol.


I have to grunt hard enough to get the tire over the top now that I have to make sure to do this before lunch so I don’t grunt too hard and fill my shorts ……


Before the extension the bead breaking tool would be about half way on the original post. Sometimes it worked out but not always. An 11l-15 was about the largest tire I could work on. Now I can tackle anything I can lift on there lol.

 

[jblnut]

Hey hey hey !!! A brand new 2026 HH 16’+V is now part of the stable !!


First task was to pick up some lumbers and stop by pops place to grab his track saw and foam base dealio.


The idea with it is to make a portable storage unit of sorts for our seed corn business stuff. Tables and chairs need to be at a few different locations throughout the year and this will make it a lot more convenient having it all in a trailer we can stand up in.


The plan is to put shelving in the front and put other supplies like roasters, event signage, apparels and other stuffs in here to have it all in one spot so I don’t have to load the minivan every time we want to do something that isn’t at my place.


Lots of room for activities up here yet !!


Interior shot of the previous trailer. It’s a bit on the short side !!

 

[Boostingaz]

Very cool. That will be nice. Hey and now you also have somewhere to "hide" too if it ever starts to rain at an event. Well a place you don't have to lay down in hahaha.

 

[jblnut]

Very cool. That will be nice. Hey and now you also have somewhere to "hide" too if it ever starts to rain at an event. Well a place you don't have to lay down in hahaha.

Agreed !! I’m excited to be able to have it all in one shot vs everything everywhere !! I’ll have to leave at least one chair and a bottle of something smooth in there lol

 

[cvairwerks]

Gonna have to build another barn to just to store the fleet now....

 

[jblnut]

Gonna have to build another barn to just to store the fleet now....

My 2026 crop plan includes putting oats in the field by the steer barn so I can level off a flat spot large enough for a shed in the 80x162x20 neighborhood. I’ve gotten a couple estimates back and I’m hopeful it’ll happen. So yeah, I’ll hopefully have some more sq/ft under roof soon !!

 

[82355]

Storage, livestock, bigger shop? Firewood storage?

Martin

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

80 x 162 x 20 isnt a shed. It's damn near a county.

Lol. I recently checked our suburban NJ shed ordinance at it lists the MAXIMUM shed size as 100 sf. Nobody is in compliance but they dont bother anyone it seems.

Jim

 

[madison069]

Today at 9ish AM the tire on my grinder mixer suddenly went flat in just a couple minutes. WTF. I was in a hurry so I don’t have any pictures from that to this as we were planning a family outing to a laser tag place. I fought with this tire for literally 2hrs. I didn’t spend 100% of the time with the tire itself. Some of it was spend repairing the bead breaking tool I tore in half, some was spent making the center post the bead breaking tool and the tire removal/install tool ride on more suitable for larger tires. Most was spent trying to break the bead before I built the extension below. Some previous owner named Pete put a tube in the tire and didn’t baby powder it so everything was glued to everything else and it was a bear to get apart. My carpel tunnel fingers had all they could do to get the tube out once I had the beads broken and one side removed. Looking forward to Feb when I get arthroscopic surgery on both hands to hopefully make this more tolerable.

It was a weird one and was flat on top. Strange.


I built a post extension that goes to the bottom of the original post to hopefully keep things as strong as possible while putting a very carefully calculated amount of extra force on things. I engineered the **** out of this to make sure it would work and not destroy itself the first time I used it.


Insert the extension and pin it down. I didn’t have the bottom pin at first and went to use it and immediately realized I was dumb lol. Of course I need to keep it from being pulled up. That’s how levers work !! One side goes up, the other side goes down. Der lol.


I have to grunt hard enough to get the tire over the top now that I have to make sure to do this before lunch so I don’t grunt too hard and fill my shorts ……


Before the extension the bead breaking tool would be about half way on the original post. Sometimes it worked out but not always. An 11l-15 was about the largest tire I could work on. Now I can tackle anything I can lift on there lol.

Nice modifications! Can you get to the tire machine with a fork lift? Maybe save your back on lifting heavy tires.

 

[jblnut]

Storage, livestock, bigger shop? Firewood storage?

Martin

Storage mostly. Maybe bedding and maybe a few camper spots rented out. Mostly I want to get all the stuff that sits outside a place to be inside out of the elements.

80 x 162 x 20 isnt a shed. It's damn near a county.

Lol. I recently checked our suburban NJ shed ordinance at it lists the MAXIMUM shed size as 100 sf. Nobody is in compliance but they dont bother anyone it seems.

Jim

I showed the plans to a buddy that lives in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and he says “that’s bigger than my whole damn lot !!” That’s funny.

We’re 150sq/ft here before a building permit is needed. Or it has to be “portable” which is well defined and loosely enforced.

Nice modifications! Can you get to the tire machine with a fork lift? Maybe save your back on lifting heavy tires.

Thanks !! I could but anything larger and I’ll either bring it in or do it on the machine it went flat on. A 12.5l-15 or 12-16.5 skid loader tire is about the largest thing I’d want to do on this little changer.

 

[ambenz]

That pressboard floor won't last long! Best get some commercial tile in there! Nice trailer! I am looking for something like that in 10 foot or so for my wifes car care product business. Something insulated so I can heat it with a few light bulbs in the winter to keep the product from freezing.

 

[jblnut]

That pressboard floor won't last long! Best get some commercial tile in there! Nice trailer! I am looking for something like that in 10 foot or so for my wifes car care product business. Something insulated so I can heat it with a few light bulbs in the winter to keep the product from freezing.

It’s Advantech sub flooring. It’ll be fine for what we’re gonna do with it. I bought an Atlas trailer from the same guy 15yrs ago and it’s been great. It’s a 6x10. HH makes a nice trailer. I wanted an HH last time but didn’t want to shell the extra difference in purchase price out at the time.

Flooring of some kind was discussed but we’ll see how far it goes.

 

[cvairwerks]

Flooring of some kind was discussed but we’ll see how far it goes.

With your planned usage, I'd just put solid vinyl flooring down and up the sidewalls to the trim strip. When it gets nasty, it would be easy to mop out and eventually replace when worn out.

 

[jblnut]

Oooooooooo look at em’ all shiny and new looking !!


Damn it. I feel the urge to have the rest of the tractor repainted now


We finished the trailer build out. Shelves up front for apparels and other supplies. More totes in the ground so they can be moved as needed, also full of apparel. We gotta start giving more stuff away !! It doesn’t do any good sitting in these tubs.


Back half is full of chairs, tables and picnic tables. The twobyfur is removable so we can move around better or reposition things as needed for tongue weight reasons.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Well spring is over 2 months away, so you do have lots of time to paint that tractor.

 

[Bob Heine]

I haven’t gotten mine either. Does that mean we’re not peasants ?

Mike, I hope to someday become a peasant and be showered with day-old food and used clothing the day after Christmas. Wait - that's how I live every day.

 

[jblnut]

Mike, I hope to someday become a peasant and be showered with day-old food and used clothing the day after Christmas. Wait - that's how I live every day.

I went to Sam’s Club the other day with honey buy list and found some insulated pants that looked interesting enough for me to stop and look at them. I haven’t purchased pants from a “real” store in years and years. A blue vested gal saw me looking confused and asked …
Her - “Sir can I help you with something?”
Me - “Can I try these on somewhere ?”
Her - “Well we don’t have changing rooms here….”
Me - “I’m not bashful, should I duck behind that pallet of TV’s?”
Her - “Oh heavens no!! Go in the family bathroom and try them on!”
Me - “Yeah that makes more sense.”
Me - goes to family bathroom, enters with pants, tries pants on, likes pants, puts my pants back on, exits bathroom to see another blue vested person outside barhroom
Him - “Sir we do not allow merchandise in the bathrooms”
Me - “I was told to try them on in here, you can clearly see I don’t have new pants on anymore unless your new pants come with sharpie marks that reference the torque spec for the lug bolts in a 2388 combine”
Him - “Sir I’m going to have to ask you not to bring merchandise in the bathrooms again”
Me - “okay”
Me - Buys pants. Brings pants back into bathroom to put on so I can wear them around the store go see if I actually like them. I took tags off and put the receipt in my pocket.
Him Again - “Sir I thought I asked you not to bring merchandise into the bathrooms again?”
Me - “I didn’t, I own these now.” Hands him the receipt.
Him - *Looks confused* “Did you buy them just so you could try them on !?”
Me - *seizing the moment* “Yeah, I’m a big rule follower, that’s exactly what I did”

What a goober lol. I get it but jeez. I wore them around and grabbed 7 more pair. When I find something I like I usually get a decades worth lol.

 

[jblnut]

Bit of a cold snap coming up so we gotta make sure the not-pets get plenty of scratches. Or so I was told lol.


Lily has been trying to make friends with this little Holstein since he got here last fall and she finally got him to come to her and allow himself to get some lovin. He won’t leave us alone now lol.


The chickens were loaded out the day before it started getting chilly.


Let the manure harvest begin !!


It was -2f when I took the last load of pooooooooo out of the barn. Chilly.


If you’re cold, your machines are cold. Bring them inside !! It was gonna be -15f when I needed to mix feed the next day so I brought the mixer inside. It’s happier when it starts out warm.


When the exhaust makes a cloud like that it’s chilly out.

 

[68400BIRD]

When the snow squeaks when you walk on it you know it's cold out.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Did you initially start out by putting that little Deere on everything to prove to the taxman that it was a farm purchase and not a lawnmower, and now you can't stop using it because it's so handy?


I know chicken poo smells awful, but you'll sure appreciate it in the spring when you don't have to pay an equivalent fertilizer bill. That stuff isn't getting cheaper. Will you have enough to cover the acres that you need to?

 

[jblnut]

When the snow squeaks when you walk on it you know it's cold out.

When the wind hurts my face it's cold out as well

Did you initially start out by putting that little Deere on everything to prove to the taxman that it was a farm purchase and not a lawnmower, and now you can't stop using it because it's so handy?

It's easier to believe the lawnmower was a farm purchase than the minivan so I send him a picture like this every once in a while.


Or this one ....


Or this one ....

I know chicken poo smells awful, but you'll sure appreciate it in the spring when you don't have to pay an equivalent fertilizer bill. That stuff isn't getting cheaper. Will you have enough to cover the acres that you need to?

I'll take ************ over baby diapers any day hands down. It is truly impressive how they can turn peas and carrots into hazardous waste.

The barn provides enough for around 200 acres a year which coves around 25% of the acres we farm. I buy more from a neighbor that hauls it with an end dump to the fields I want to spread it in for $25/ton plus hauling. Any manure has more micros in it than you'll likely ever buy commercially. It's good **** !!

 

[jblnut]

The two littles were helping get the shop ready for a couple get togethers and decided it was time for a photo op.


They vacuumed under and behind everything. I put a bag in the shop vac for the first time ever. Wow that’s impressive !! No more unclogging the filter every 4.7 minutes.


Teaching them life lessons here.


“Everyone likes a clean crack”
“Daaaaaad !! That’s inappropriate!!”
“Yeah but we’re in the shop. It’s okay”


We also took the time to hang a large American Flag up gifted to us by a good buddy when he was visiting last fall.


Setup and ready for a good time !! We started hosting a “Christmas party” for my old work crew in 2021 while I was still a fellow employee. The bosses didn’t want to get together that year due to mentionable health reasons so we decided to throw our own party. They were quite unhappy about it and even told a bunch of us we needed to stay home for 2 weeks and check ourselves for ticks (or something silly like that). So we’ve continued to host it as they’ve continued to not have a company party lol. 25ish people showed up this year. Around 40 showed up the first year. Twas a good time.


Resetup and ready for party #2 !! We host a customer appreciation party for our seed sales business each year and around 130 people rolled through this year. We gave away door prizes and went through close to 90lbs of roast beef and sloppy joe meat !! It’s rather spendy evening but without our customers we’d have no need to have an appreciation event so we happily do it !!

 

[JbTech]

...insulated pants that looked interesting enough...

The pants are hard to find in my size, but I buy a pair every time I find one.
Wearing a pair right meow, as a matter of fact.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I went to Sam’s Club the other day with honey buy list and found some insulated pants that looked interesting enough for me to stop and look at them. I haven’t purchased pants from a “real” store in years and years. A blue vested gal saw me looking confused and asked …
Her - “Sir can I help you with something?”
Me - “Can I try these on somewhere ?”
Her - “Well we don’t have changing rooms here….”
Me - “I’m not bashful, should I duck behind that pallet of TV’s?”
Her - “Oh heavens no!! Go in the family bathroom and try them on!”
Me - “Yeah that makes more sense.”
Me - goes to family bathroom, enters with pants, tries pants on, likes pants, puts my pants back on, exits bathroom to see another blue vested person outside barhroom
Him - “Sir we do not allow merchandise in the bathrooms”
Me - “I was told to try them on in here, you can clearly see I don’t have new pants on anymore unless your new pants come with sharpie marks that reference the torque spec for the lug bolts in a 2388 combine”
Him - “Sir I’m going to have to ask you not to bring merchandise in the bathrooms again”
Me - “okay”
Me - Buys pants. Brings pants back into bathroom to put on so I can wear them around the store go see if I actually like them. I took tags off and put the receipt in my pocket.
Him Again - “Sir I thought I asked you not to bring merchandise into the bathrooms again?”
Me - “I didn’t, I own these now.” Hands him the receipt.
Him - *Looks confused* “Did you buy them just so you could try them on !?”
Me - *seizing the moment* “Yeah, I’m a big rule follower, that’s exactly what I did”

What a goober lol. I get it but jeez. I wore them around and grabbed 7 more pair. When I find something I like I usually get a decades worth lol.

I buy my outdoor clothes at Costco.

They used to sell sherpa-fleece lined zip hoodies so I bought a bunch of them. I'm down to 2 "nice" ones and 2 "ratty" ones.
They also used to sell flannel lined carpenters jeans that I stocked up on too.

They no longer carry either item so I will need to find a new source once I run out of stock.

 

[drivesitfar]

Since you and your family live and work in Miinnie Soda I hope the politics and BS are leaving you and your friends alone.

Every time I look in on your thread you are busy as heck and always posting pics of your kids that are growing up nicely so keep up the good work.

Just an fyi. I needed to clean out some cracks in my parents 1928 built home’s basement and found a 4.5 inch grinder head that cleans and widened them nicely do I could caulk or epoxy as needed. I’ll dig up info on the part if you can’t find it just ask. Or keep doing manually with the poker and build up those farm muscles.

Here’s to another day on the good side of dirt!!

 

[jblnut]

The pants are hard to find in my size, but I buy a pair every time I find one.
Wearing a pair right meow, as a matter of fact.

I buy my outdoor clothes at Costco.

They used to sell sherpa-fleece lined zip hoodies so I bought a bunch of them. I'm down to 2 "nice" ones and 2 "ratty" ones.
They also used to sell flannel lined carpenters jeans that I stocked up on too.

They no longer carry either item so I will need to find a new source once I run out of stock.

I feel ya. I dislike shopping for clothes so when I find something I like I buy all I can lol. The jeans I got were a flannel lined Colman work pant deal. They’re all kinds of comfy and warm enough that I don’t need my bibs until it hits 0f and I can wear them in the shop at 62f and not get sweaty. I sure like that !!

Since you and your family live and work in Miinnie Soda I hope the politics and BS are leaving you and your friends alone.

Most of that is South of us and hasn’t bothered much at all up here. I’ll be sure to bring such things up at Easter gatherings when some of my extended family that lives and breaths that stuff will be up here. Always makes for a fun time.

Every time I look in on your thread you are busy as heck and always posting pics of your kids that are growing up nicely so keep up the good work.

Argh they’re getting so large so fast !! I gotta stop feeding them or something.

Just an fyi. I needed to clean out some cracks in my parents 1928 built home’s basement and found a 4.5 inch grinder head that cleans and widened them nicely so I could caulk or epoxy as needed. I’ll dig up info on the part if you can’t find it just ask. Or keep doing manually with the poker and build up those farm muscles.

The farm muscles are fading a bit as we have gotten more automation and things like skid loaders. Burning wood helps keep me at least a little bit in shape lol.

I wouldn’t mind knowing what you used. I’d rather have 100 tools I never need than one I need and don’t have !!

Here’s to another day on the good side of dirt!!

Thanks for stopping by !! It’s been too cold up here to dig graves so I’ll be okay at least until spring

 

[drivesitfar]

I’m not sure how to send Amazon links via my iPhone but Google concrete crack chaser for 4.5 inch grinders and you’ll find several. Just mdd as he sure everyone in the room are well protected with heavy duty masks.

Glad to here you are going to be kicking a while longer cause when Leo gets to be a teenager if he’s like my boys were his intake is about the amount a normal family of 4 eat.

Good luck!!

 

[jblnut]

One of my aunts called and asked if I wanted a large teddy bear for the kids to love. Her kids are all moved out and don’t want it anymore. I said sure. OMG this thing is insanely large !! We gifted it to Miss Middle Child for her birthday and she seems to like it.


I’m not too fond of him. I found him in my comfy chair with my mug and remote when I got back in from chores. I’m gonna have to keep an eye on this guy !! He’s just sitting there with that **** eating grin on his face like he owns that place. Jokes on him, we don’t even own the place yet


A few days ago I carried some large chunks up to the boiler pad to block up with a chainsaw as my splitters wanted nothing to do with them. I started with the 044 and 24” bar and made it this far before giving up.


Today I grabbed the 066 and tossed the 32” Sugihara bar on it with a full skip chain. Every time I use this thing it brings a smile to my face. 90cc in my hands with a chain spinning at Mach Jesus making wood chips as fast as a tub grinder.


I got everything blocked up but the chunks were so stinking wet yet that I tossed them in a pair of IBC totes to dry for a year or two so they actually burn. I needed to stop and install an aftermarket extended wear kit on my winter work gloves. They were getting a few thin spots.


Once the big blocks were gone I cleaned up all the bark and other **** that was on the concrete and hauled the rest of the punky splits up to the boiler pad. With warmer temps finally on the way I hope that little pile lasts better than a week. Then I’ll start pulling from the IBC totes around the pad.

 

[jblnut]

I’m not sure how to send Amazon links via my iPhone but Google concrete crack chaser for 4.5 inch grinders and you’ll find several. Just mdd as he sure everyone in the room are well protected with heavy duty masks.

Glad to here you are going to be kicking a while longer cause when Leo gets to be a teenager if he’s like my boys were his intake is about the amount a normal family of 4 eat.

Good luck!!

Drives I googled “4.5” crack chaser” and I got some interesting results

Leo already eats like he’s 3x his size. I don’t know where he puts it all.

 

[drivesitfar]

I actually bought a teddy bear that big when kids were babies and ended up donating it to their Christian grade school as a huggable bear in the principal’s office. I bet your kids will love it.

Omg I get you got some good stuff if you didn’t include concrete

 

[Jayman17]

Those Teddy bear pics had me laughing, that thing is BIG!

 

[cvairwerks]

Sure that teddy bear isn't a body bag in disguise?

 

[ambenz]

Your property furnace is just amazing to me but I'd hate to be the one feeding the monster on the coldest winter day. The stuffed bear is cool, though might have to take it to a laundermats Industrail washer if you ever needed to clean it.
On the subject of concrete expansion cracks.....
Might be a good idea to use Loctite PL10 concrete crack sealer in the garage.

The sealer keeps radon away , reduces chance of water freezing under the slab, AND no more cleaning cracks! Used on my floor and concrete drive for over 10 years now and its still sealing the slabs together. As Always, thanks for sharing your musings on the farm. Sure brings back memories on my Cousins farm in Wanatah...love seeing all the memories you are making for your family. These ARE the days that will be "PRICELESS MEMORIES" for all of the family....."AND ALL WHO VISIT!"

 

[jblnut]

Your property furnace is just amazing to me but I'd hate to be the one feeding the monster on the coldest winter day.

On the real chilly days when it’s windy and -30f I’ll load it around 10pm with whatever hardwoods I have on hand as well as around 200lbs of coal. It’ll easily last until 7am when I load it with some punky junk wood which lasts until 3-4pm. I’ll load it then with more punky stuff which will last until the 10pm loading.

On warmer days when it’s 25f or warmer one load a day usually does it. I enjoy it but it takes some time for sure.

The stuffed bear is cool, though might have to take it to a laundermats Industrail washer if you ever needed to clean it.

The kiddos have been lovin the cheap outta it since it got here.

On the subject of concrete expansion cracks.....
Might be a good idea to use Loctite PL10 concrete crack sealer in the garage.

The sealer keeps radon away , reduces chance of water freezing under the slab, AND no more cleaning cracks! Used on my floor and concrete drive for over 10 years now and it’s still sealing the slabs together.

I’ll have to give it a look. I’ve seen a few other “concrete crack” products and haven’t been wowed by any of them but I like PL stuff. Thanks for the product suggestion!!

As Always, thanks for sharing your musings on the farm. Sure brings back memories on my Cousins farm in Wanatah...love seeing all the memories you are making for your family. These ARE the days that will be "PRICELESS MEMORIES" for all of the family....."AND ALL WHO VISIT!"

Stop in if you ever get close !! We’re not always doing something interesting but even on a boring day we’ll be able to drink Busch Light and watch Big Bang Theory in the shoffice lol

 

[jblnut]

I gotta get better about updating this thread before all the other misc threads I post in here ……

Some wood and snow showed up on the same day. Can’t argue with free wood especially when it’s dropped off !!


After a few dead battery issues I invested in a pair of jump pack deals. The Project Farm dude said these were good so I blindly bought like so many probably do lol


Next shop project is replacing the blades on the finishing disk AGAIN as the ones we put on last spring are garbage.


Bending and breaking chunks off. Not happy about this.


Not gonna lie, this is impressive. Depressing but impressive. We must have something underground that is more immobile than the metal disc blades …..


A few weeks before the disc project began I setup this 80gal air tank to be used as a larger supply for Big Chooch. 160psi through a 3/4” air hose should supply it with enough air so it can achieve its full potential !


Oh boy this worked great !! A few uggas and a couple duggas and the 2-3/8” nuts spin free. They went back on just as nicely. The Torque Test Channel says this cheap Vevor is good for close to 2,000ft/lbs at 15sec and that’s right at what the torque spec says is needed for the disc gang bolts.


One wing done !!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That is wild about those discs! In my 4+ decades on this earth, I haven't run across anything like that. I grew up in an area with sandy soil and hard pan, we really didn't have the rock problem.

 

[jblnut]

That is wild about those discs! In my 4+ decades on this earth, I haven't run across anything like that. I grew up in an area with sandy soil and hard pan, we really didn't have the rock problem.

When we looked the specs up they were a little thinner than the CNH EarthMetal blades. Not a lot but enough apparently.

We don't have a lot of hard pan issues what with frost going down 6-8' sometimes and all the rocks down there that move around when things freeze. We use a Wishek 862NT as primary tillage on 3/4 of our acres as it doesn't dig up as many rocks as a chisel or ripper. We joke about buying a ripper and say we'd need to invest in a Grade 8 shear bolt company at the same time as we'd spend more time replacing shear bolts than doing tillage. We demo'd one a while back and after 20 acres and a whole box of shear bolts we called the dealer up and told them to come get it. The first Wishek was purchased soon after that.