Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[Sifan]

All wheat around here is fall wheat, seed in October harvest June/July. If harvested early enough and adequate moisture, some double crop soybeans or milo. When do you harvest your spring wheat?

 

[jblnut]

Paid for college by working on farm. Guy I worked for adopted the policy why should I fix what I tore up when I'm paying college boy and he needs the learning experience ....... Told him I would be glad to do what I should have done 50 years ago LOL

I bet you learned more on that farm than you did in college

All wheat around here is fall wheat, seed in October harvest June/July. If harvested early enough and adequate moisture, some double crop soybeans or milo. When do you harvest your spring wheat?

We've done some winter wheat before but didn't have time to get it seeded last fall. Down there in prime farming country you all have a longer growing season where you're able to double crop if you want. We've taken first cutting alfalfa before and plowed it up to plant soybeans a few times over the years if the alfalfa didn't come back well. Usually we have all we can do to get everything in the ground by middle-end of May up here !!

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: just curious how a farmer get's OLD GAS out of a tank? is the bus almost ready for a trip to a local lake or mountain top?

not sure you use NON ETHANOL on your small engines (weedeater, generator, pressure washer, lawn mower, ...), but I started doing it about 5 years ago and I filled up 2 5 gallon jugs and also put in Amsoil (like Stabil) stabilizer and I'm still using some of the 10 gallons. in fact I used my pressure washer a couple days ago with some and it started up on the second pull probably cause I tried to not use the choke on first pull.

anyway it looks like your weather is improving so i'll understand if you are gone for a bit while you finish spreading **** and planting all your crops.

your CHICKENS getting big and I can't even imagine how you keep that many alive and well even though you are pretty automated.

have a great day!!!

 

[jblnut]

JBL: just curious how a farmer get's OLD GAS out of a tank? is the bus almost ready for a trip to a local lake or mountain top?

Hi Guy !! I used an age old method. A siphon of course !! The first gas that came out was a NASTY orange/red color and the rest was a lighter shade of orange but still nasty looking so I'm sure it's causing the poor running issues !! No mountain tops out here but we have our fair share of lakes and hopefully the bus gets closer to a few this year.

A neat little trick to get a siphon going is to use a large syringe, 60CC in this case) to create the initial suction. It worked great !!

not sure you use NON ETHANOL on your small engines (weedeater, generator, pressure washer, lawn mower, ...), but I started doing it about 5 years ago and I filled up 2 5 gallon jugs and also put in Amsoil (like Stabil) stabilizer and I'm still using some of the 10 gallons. in fact I used my pressure washer a couple days ago with some and it started up on the second pull probably cause I tried to not use the choke on first pull.

anyway it looks like your weather is improving so i'll understand if you are gone for a bit while you finish spreading **** and planting all your crops.

your CHICKENS getting big and I can't even imagine how you keep that many alive and well even though you are pretty automated.

have a great day!!!

We do use 91 on most small engines as it seems to be the ethanol that gums things up. I like running Seafoam though things once-in-awhile to clean them out but other than that so far nothing gets Stabil over winter. The only gas things that really sit over winter are the Farmall H and the lawn mowers. My generator is a PTO model and the pressure washer gets 6-8hrs of run time every 8 weeks doing chicken barn cleaning duties.

I checked the forecast a few minutes ago and there is a change of rain or drizzle for the next 5 days. Field work doesn't go real well when the ground is wet or even damp usually. Things get tacky, the soil clumps together and it all makes a mess.

We'll be done flinging steer poo until fall but have all the chicken **** to spread yet. Dad is hopefully going to start on that tomorrow depending on the weather.

As long as they have food, water and a comfortable barn to live in the chickens are rather good at keeping themselves alive. We just walk though the barn and check them to make sure they're all happy each day. I ask each one every day how it's doing and we have a solid heart to heart and I move on to the next one. Some are shy and some are just plain jerks with fowl attitudes but they're all tasty so we do our best to keep them all happy !!!

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: nice work with the gas siphoning with the hypodermic syringe to start it. I still recall the taste of gas sucking too fast on the hose when I had to do it that way.

I figured that having all those old tractors and machines and you and your dad's old school skills that you might have drilled and tapped a hole in your gas tanks and put a drain plug in them sort of like the ones on an oil pan. not sure that is something anybody does, but it sure beats pulling the tanks. if you can get it all out siphoning then you probably don't need to spend the time making another hole in your gas tank if you could even get to it.

glad to hear you and the chickens are still talking and they are all doing their best to keep happy in their short lives. did you tell them they will be dinner in a few weeks or do you keep that a secret?

it's sunny here in the rainy PNW this week so maybe you have some good weather coming soon too.

cheers!!!

 

[DPG]

I'm working in Aspen for the next 3 months. I spotted this this morning at the local grocery store. I've never seen them anywhere else. Maybe I'll try one when I go back up there next week!

 

[jblnut]

JBL: nice work with the gas siphoning with the hypodermic syringe to start it. I still recall the taste of gas sucking too fast on the hose when I had to do it that way.

I figured that having all those old tractors and machines and you and your dad's old school skills that you might have drilled and tapped a hole in your gas tanks and put a drain plug in them sort of like the ones on an oil pan. not sure that is something anybody does, but it sure beats pulling the tanks. if you can get it all out siphoning then you probably don't need to spend the time making another hole in your gas tank if you could even get to it.

glad to hear you and the chickens are still talking and they are all doing their best to keep happy in their short lives. did you tell them they will be dinner in a few weeks or do you keep that a secret?

it's sunny here in the rainy PNW this week so maybe you have some good weather coming soon too.

cheers!!!

I plan to drill a hole and install a drain valve in the bus tank so I can drain it once in a while or at the end of the summer. Or possibly use it as a 60gal gas can. Hmmmm

I don't tell the chickens they'll be dinner. I think it'll ruin the surprise and they may not take well to the delicious news

I'm working in Aspen for the next 3 months. I spotted this this morning at the local grocery store. I've never seen them anywhere else. Maybe I'll try one when I go back up there next week!

I recommend trying one. Our local grocery store stopped carrying GNP chicken a while back and the customers threw a fit because a lot of us are directly or indirectly involved with raising that chicken. They said "Due to a lack of sales of the "other" chicken variety we've made the choice to offer GNP products again" Well duh, it is produced right here and we know what we like !!

 

[jblnut]

Dad unloaded the cattle tub so we could get it all setup tonight.


I strolled on over to my little gravel/sand pit and started to dig out a bit of dirt to put under the cattle working area.


Sure takes a long time to get any dirt hauled with such a little trailer


Two loads will do nicely. Dad is leveling it off all nice and purrrrrdy like !!


On the way from the little gravel pit towards putting the mini-ex away there was a bush that I didn't like. Time for it to go !!!


It sure is a hodge-podge of colors but hopefully it'll all work great when we use it !!


I'm not sure why the previous owner of my "new" Deere 5510 had this extra chunk welded on the drawbar but I do not need it and it is in the way so it has to be removed.


No big deal for the ol' DeWalt 15a grinder !! Beast mode activated !!

 

[Farmall450]

To their credit, they did a nice job welding that on.

 

[XJSuperman]

I agree, he did a hell of a job welding that up. Must of only been pulling something that needed the clevis type hitch. Can't think of anything off the top of my head though...

 

[cvairwerks]

Looks like it would substitute for a pintle hitch maybe...

 

[jblnut]

Today began by leveling out some rough fields with the field cultivator. Feels good to be back at it again !!


I stopped to look at the scenery and water a tree so I figured I'd snap a few pics


This is the field cultivator. It goes by a few other names but that's what we call it. Basically there are a bunch of "V" shaped teeth that dig in the ground and create a lifting action on the soil to turn it and level things out a bit. We do not usually use this much as it has an amazing ability to dig out lots of rocks.


One major upside of the field cultivator vs using our big finishing disk is that I can easily go 6.5mph through the field with it. 42' swath at 6.5mph gets me somewhere at 30 acres/hour if it stays in the ground the whole time. Not too shabby !!


There is a chance of rain the entire next week and it drizzled a bit on and off this morning.


When I was about 1/3 done Dad came out with his skiddy to start picking rocks. We usually only pick softball size and larger with the skid loader. Even that takes a lot of time in most fields !!


Dad made little piles around the field while picking and when I was done leveling things out I hopped in the tractor and dump wagon to help him gather his little piles up. This wagon was pretty full when we had them all on there !!


Awww gee thanks Ma !! She brought us lunch


Right after lunch it started raining a bit harder and things got too tacky to play in the fields. Mom ran to the nearest Deere dealer and got a full set of filters for the 5510 so I could change the oils before we use it to clean out the chicken barn on Monday. The hydraulics were not working correctly and at this point I was hoping the filter was plugged and it would be an easy fix. If that doesn't fix it there may be something wrong with the hydraulic pump


While she was picking up parts I had her pick up a pair of hoses to fix this leaky mess.


They are the low pressure lines that go to the hydraulic oil cooler. Looks like they've been leaking for a while.


New hoses are installed and are clean and shiny for now


New hydraulic filter peaking out from under the tractor. I put a touch over 8gal of hydraulic oil back in the trans.


New fuel filter and engine oil filters. The fuel priming method on this tractor is super nice and easy. A couple pumps on the ol' primer knob and it only took a little bit of cranking to get it going.


While cranking on it before it started after we changed the fuel filter I smelled and saw smoke from the battery area. Seems the oil was burning off the grounding bolt. I think this needs some attention. I have a MUCH larger diameter cable to put on tomorrow and will need to find a better way to get it to the frame.


The main engine air filter didn't look too bad. It was dirty but I've seen MUCH worse !!


I ran it for a bit after the fluids were back in and the hydraulics seem MUCH happier. We'll know for sure on Monday when it's on the Housekeeper in the chicken coop.

 

[Farmall450]

Wow, I wouldn't put that ground on anything larger than my lawnmower.

Crazy what people to do (literally) save a buck. Battery cables are dirt cheap for what they are.

 

[jblnut]

To their credit, they did a nice job welding that on.

There is a local welding shop up here that usually does that kind of quality of work. I'd bet anything he took it there to have it done. I saw some of the repairs on the other machinery and the same guy did not do both !!!

I agree, he did a hell of a job welding that up. Must of only been pulling something that needed the clevis type hitch. Can't think of anything off the top of my head though...

Looks like it would substitute for a pintle hitch maybe...

I'm almost 100% sure he used it as a cheap version of an "Agri-Speed Hitch" It's a quick hooking up hitch used on farm wagons so you do not have to dismount the tractor to hook the trailer up. He had a few of them on the sale and I bet he didn't want to fork over the $$$$ to put one on this tractor.

 

[Farmall450]

Those hitches are nice. Wesley Pandy (onelonleyfarmer) runs them.

 

[jblnut]

Wow, I wouldn't put that ground on anything larger than my lawnmower.

Crazy what people to do (literally) save a buck. Battery cables are dirt cheap for what they are.

I saw it and thought it was a bit small but it didn't really click until the smoke show

Those hitches are nice. Wesley Pandy (onelonleyfarmer) runs them.

We've thought about it for a while but it'd cost us almost $1,200 to get a tractor and a pair of wagons setup to use to pick up bales. They'd also be really nice for our large gravity boxes but I'd still have to get out and hook up the flashers/lights so it's not saving a trip out of the tractor really. I guess that's what I tell myself when I think about pulling the trigger and purchasing a set or two.

 

[jblnut]

The chickens are 45 days old today and will be making their departure at 8:30PM today. Initially we were told half would leave tonight and the other half would leave Monday evening. What a mess that would be. Going from that mess to having them all go at 8:30 is about as good as it gets !!!

After playing with the chickens yesterday we vaccinated just shy of 70 cattle through the newly setup chute system in just under 2hrs. It would have taken the better part of a long morning to do it the way we used too !!

Might be hard to tell what's going on here but the cattle that have been through the chute are on the close side of the wooden wall and the ones waiting to go through are on the other side. It worked extremely well doing it this way.

We left a little area between the chute and the wall so I could walk through and enter them into the scale. Boy oh boy it worked well !!

The green solid gate is part of the crowding tub system. We load 6-10 animals at a time in it and the solid gate ratchets in to make that little pen smaller and smaller so they keep getting crowded closer to the exit. I can't stress how much safer this is for them and us than what we used to do. When you're working around cattle of any size they can easily get jumpy and run you over. Multiple times with the old system I needed to get out of the way wicked fast and with this system everything stayed calm and relaxed. Much safer for us and the cattle.

After we were done with the cattle we made a run to town for some hardware and some Subway. Side note -> holy smokes that new Spicy Italian on the cheesy Garlic bread is tasty !! After the Subway feast was over I headed over to Dad's farm to put a larger ground cable on the 5510. I cleaned all the oily goober off with a wire wheel.

The new proper sized (2/0) cable installed next to the old cable. The tractor starts faster and no more smoke from the battery area

Once that was all done I brought it home and tried hooking up the housekeeper so it's all ready to go Monday when we need it to clean the chicken barn. The pump wouldn't fit in the space it needed to. The bracket that holds it on was in the way.

It ended up being a quick fix that'll work well. I was able to use the 3pt top link bracket to hold the chain the keeps the pump from rotating and from falling off. It'll be a quick pin on install and removal from here on out !!

Once the tractor and housekeeper were ready to go I started disking in the chicken poooooooop Dad spread out the last few days.

Just as it started to get dark I began to roll the wheat field behind our house. It was planted a week ago but hasn't done anything yet so it's not too late to roll it. Rolling it makes for better seed to soil contact and pushes any rocks down as well as leveling the field out quite nicely.

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: man you and your DAD get a lot done in a day!! no wonder you are successful at this farming business.

happy to see and hear the cow gate thingy is working like you hoped cause I know you put a thought and cash into that system.

nice to clean up and repair a few things too.

I know Sunday isn't a rest day per se in your home, but get a little cause I know after the 46,000 chickens leave you'll have some clean up to do.

cheers

 

[jblnut]

JBL: man you and your DAD get a lot done in a day!! no wonder you are successful at this farming business.

happy to see and hear the cow gate thingy is working like you hoped cause I know you put a thought and cash into that system.

nice to clean up and repair a few things too.

I know Sunday isn't a rest day per se in your home, but get a little cause I know after the 46,000 chickens leave you'll have some clean up to do.

cheers

When we're not standing around talking about building a shop or one of the many other dreamy projects we want to do we can get a lot done !!

That cow gate thingy is probably going to prove itself to be one of the most handy pieces of equipment on the farm. Plus the whole safety factor of not needing to be directly in with the cattle and I (and Mama Bear) are much happier

The cleanup and repairing of things is a never ending project. It seems like when we get things cleaned up they get dirty and the more we use things the more they break. Crazy how that works

Sunday is a day of rest for the most part. I try really hard to shift the focus and spend much needed time with the family and get some projects done with the kiddos.

If Dad and I get going on Monday at 7am or so we should have the entire barn washed and cleaned out before dinnertime. As long as we don't talk about shops and combines too long

 

[Bob Heine]

We left a little area between the chute and the wall so I could walk through and enter them into the scale. Boy oh boy it worked well !!

The green solid gate is part of the crowding tub system. We load 6-10 animals at a time in it and the solid gate ratchets in to make that little pen smaller and smaller so they keep getting crowded closer to the exit. I can't stress how much safer this is for them and us than what we used to do. When you're working around cattle of any size they can easily get jumpy and run you over. Multiple times with the old system I needed to get out of the way wicked fast and with this system everything stayed calm and relaxed. Much safer for us and the cattle.

Is that crowding tub system based on Temple Grandin's work? I seem to recall from the movie that the curved design keeps the cattle calm because they can't see too far ahead. Really liked seeing someone with a "disability" make such a huge contribution.

 

[jblnut]

Is that crowding tub system based on Temple Grandin's work? I seem to recall from the movie that the curved design keeps the cattle calm because they can't see too far ahead. Really liked seeing someone with a "disability" make such a huge contribution.

I think pretty much all current cattle confinement systems have a flare of her work on them. I've done a fair bit of reading of the work she's done and it is interesting stuff. I assure you some of it will make it's way into the permanent handling facility I'll build one day ..... probably .... when time and $$$ permit

I like how you put "disability" in quotes. She is a great example of how to rise above whatever challenges are thrown at you and make the most of life. Weather you're Autistic or short an arm (or two, check out Harmless Farmer on Youtube) you take what you have and rise as high as you can.

 

[CanadianJason]

The cleanup and repairing of things is a never ending project. It seems like when we get things cleaned up they get dirty and the more we use things the more they break. Crazy how that works .

That's actually funny and shows the difference between big iron and aircraft. Most aircraft work and run better the more you work them. I once worked at a military training facility up here in Canada and they would pay the civilian training instructors to come in on holidays to run the aircraft and fly around, otherwise they would spend literal weeks working the gremlins out if the aircraft sat for 2 weeks.

 

[jblnut]

This morning Leo was getting into EVERYTHING the girls were trying to do in the house so I took him out with me to do chores. I didn't bring him into the barn long because at 45 days old the chickens create quite the stinky and dusty mess in the barn. I've looked for and tried a few childrens dust masks and nothing seems to work decently. Unfortunately for now after day 15ish the kiddos don't come in the barn long as I don't need them breathing all this dust and crud.

After chores we went to the "big city" to get some stuff. Mama Bear and the girls went to Target for who-knows-what and Leo and I went to Mills Fleet Farm for to do some Man's Mall shopping !! We scored some on sale (for sale?) oil and filters for the minivan, ranger and Jeep as well as a few odds and ends to restock some things I've used over the months since I've last been there.

After that we went over to a neighbor/friends place for the first time as an entire family unit. They have 5 kids between 1 and 8 and Mr Neighbor and I have been talking about getting our herds together sometime to play for awhile now. They all had a great time. We drank a few Bud's, grilled some burgers and GNP chicken and had a good time. Our wives even seemed to hit it off so it was a definite success !!

We had to duck out just about right after supper as the chicken's were going out tonight. I got the barn ready for chicken catching and went to the house to play with my FreeNAS server some more. Boy oh boy there is a lot to learn before it becomes my main day-to-day NAS. There are a TON of amazing features with FreeNAS but each one of them has a mild learning curve before they can be used to their potential. I am having a good time stretching my nerdish muscles on something non-work related !!

Tomorrow I have to make an appearance at work for our annual safety meeting. It is pretty much an hour or so of our safety director telling us to be careful and don't stick your fingers where they don't belong and for goodness sake, don't taste things that aren't supposed to be tasted !!

 

[Farmall450]

It must be a dull life being the safety director -- no one is ever listening to you!

 

[Growlertdi]

I watched that movie about Temple Grandin and was very impressed with her story and with how they did a movie about someone with Autism. seeing the curved solid sides on your new chute setup made me think about that movie and I was happy to read the exchange between you and bob.

I enjoy reading about the goings on on your farm. Thanks or sharing.

 

[oldironfarmer]

In my own crude way, I try to implement bits of Temple Grandin's revelations to us mortals. It was kind of her to share.

"don't taste things which aren't meant to be tasted"

Did he mean splashing cow manure or hot dogs cooked you-know-where?

 

[jblnut]

That's actually funny and shows the difference between big iron and aircraft. Most aircraft work and run better the more you work them. I once worked at a military training facility up here in Canada and they would pay the civilian training instructors to come in on holidays to run the aircraft and fly around, otherwise they would spend literal weeks working the gremlins out if the aircraft sat for 2 weeks.

I understand using things and having them function better once they are "broken in" but I never would have guess that is the case with airplanes

It must be a dull life being the safety director -- no one is ever listening to you!

I think her life as the Safety Director is pretty interesting with a few of us around. We keep her desk full of injury reports which ultimately lead to a "better way" to do things. Such as, use a ladder and not a pail even if the pail is right there and the ladder is all the way back in your van. She also has issues when we don't use our first aid kits and make "stop bleeds" from milking towels and electrical tape. She always tells us "If it's not in the kit you shouldn't use it". Yesterday we all brought our first aid kits into the meeting and went through them and restocked them. A few of us had added things to the kits. I added a milking towel, electrical tape, super glue and a ladies time-of-the-month pad for the really bad spills. She was less than amused but once explaining what it was all for she at least didn't me throw it all away. I took it out to make her happy and put it right back in before I packed it back into the van

I watched that movie about Temple Grandin and was very impressed with her story and with how they did a movie about someone with Autism. seeing the curved solid sides on your new chute setup made me think about that movie and I was happy to read the exchange between you and bob.

I enjoy reading about the goings on on your farm. Thanks or sharing.

It is a good movie that has a lot of very positive aspects about it. I enjoyed all the cattle stuff of course but the entire thing was well done.

I like going through the other threads on this wonderful site and am happy to contribute content others think is interesting. Most days I fail to take even 25% of the pictures I should to capture what we all do but I try to get what I can

In my own crude way, I try to implement bits of Temple Grandin's revelations to us mortals. It was kind of her to share.

"don't taste things which aren't meant to be tasted"

Did she mean splashing cow manure or hot dogs cooked you-know-where?

She has really proven that living with Autism, or anything out of the "norm", is and can be a really wonderful thing. If life slaps you with something nasty slap it back into shape and take charge of it yourself.

Not much you can do about splashing poop I guess. She hits on the big thing such as "don't taste oil to see what kind it is" and "even though it says food grade (anti-sieze and SuperLube) DO NOT taste it just to see what it tastes like". Like I said, we've got a bunch of goofballs on this team. Honestly though, if it says "Food Grade" on the can why can't you eat it ? Isn't that the point ? And how in the world are you suppose to know what kind of oil is in a puddle on the floor if you don't taste it ?

 

[jblnut]

It's truly amazing how much dust builds up in the 6 weeks the chickens are in the barn. Dad was using the backpack blower on the opposite end of the barn from the fans and this is what was coming out. Good grief !!


This is fan #5. I've nicknamed it Lou Bega for obvious reasons. It is one of the larger fans that gets used the most when the chickens are getting bigger and need more air moved. Because it is almost always running it is the dirtiest. It took 10 minutes to wash it off !!




The "new" 5510 and housekeeper waiting anxiously to get to work !!


I have a new favorite tractor and that's saying a lot !! The 884 was nice to use on the housekeeper but I was constantly getting stuck around the outside walls of the barn where the poop was wetter. The MFWD on the 5510 pulled through and I never got stuck. The under-slung exhaust is also really nice. No more stinky exhaust in my face !! There is a decent hydraulic leak by the SCV valve body that will need attention sometime soon. The top of the axle is all oily and nasty. I already fixed 5 leaks so one more makes an even half dozen



Today if all goes well we plan to plant 80-100 acres of corn finally !!!!!

 

[Sifan]

I attended an insurance safety seminar that was taught by a guy that worked for the NTSB Guy talked for 3 hours about no such thing as an "accident" but "avoidable occurrences" Quite interesting. The second time I sat in one of his seminar's he got to tell about the avoidable occurrence to his heavily bandaged right hand LOL He had a 4 door car was on passenger side, had his right hand between closed front door and open back door and slammed the back door with his left hand OUCH LOL

 

[drivesitfar]

JBL: so that big fan got that dirty in just 6 weeks? good to hear the new tractor is pulling it's weight and also good to know it sold to the right guy that knows how to patch up it's leaking ****.

so when do the new chicks show up? do you get 46,000 each time?

hope your afternoon and evening went well planting all that corn!!!

 

[jblnut]

I attended an insurance safety seminar that was taught by a guy that worked for the NTSB Guy talked for 3 hours about no such thing as an "accident" but "avoidable occurrences" Quite interesting. The second time I sat in one of his seminar's he got to tell about the avoidable occurrence to his heavily bandaged right hand LOL He had a 4 door car was on passenger side, had his right hand between closed front door and open back door and slammed the back door with his left hand OUCH LOL

That is interesting. Most injuries on the job site are caused by a lack of attention being paid by someone. I guess that makes that guy correct to a point. It is quite humorous that the "be careful and nothing bad will happen" guy slammed his own hand in a door

JBL: so that big fan got that dirty in just 6 weeks? good to hear the new tractor is pulling it's weight and also good to know it sold to the right guy that knows how to patch up it's leaking ****.

so when do the new chicks show up? do you get 46,000 each time?

hope your afternoon and evening went well planting all that corn!!!

The big fan got that dirty in about 4 weeks actually. The big fans aren't used the first two weeks or so. They sure look better when they're all cleaned up !![mg]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/33926387418_fb3a24dce0_z.jpg[/img]

Oh yeah, the tractor is pulling it's weight quite literally. Leaks are easy to fix. Where is it wet ? Ok now make it not wet. Simple

Not sure on the exact date yet but I'd say somewhere around May 22nd we'll get chicks again. There have been a few more barns coming online recently so we've suppose to get 45,000 birds from now on. Less birds makes for more room for everyone !!

 

[jblnut]

Yesterday morning began with washing off the chicken barn cleaning equipment. It took about an hour and drained over 100gal of water from my wash tub.


Poor "Stanley" the man-van was in dire need of a bath as well. I don't wash it often because there are enough rusty holes that the interior gets wet


After a gentle blast or two it looked much better. The Mrs didn't want to go anywhere in it because "OMG what if someone saw us in the dirty old POS ?!"


Once the washing was all finished I headed over to Dad's place to get the 7630 and corn planter ready to go. He was hooking things up and I started the usual routine. Check the oils, coolant, tire pressure, air filter .... holy goodness gravy this thing was dirty !! Hauling manure though the dusty fields really did a number on the main filter !!


Once it was all hooked up we brought it outside to start checking things over.
We always put RV antifreeze in the liquid fertilizer tanks so things do not freeze over winter and that had to be rinsed out.


We started filling with seed. When full it'll hold enough seed to plant for the better part of the day.


The hybrids we plant have what is knows as "Refuge in the Bag" seed corn in them. This "refuge" corn is conventional corn with no insect treatment's so the bugs have something to eat on. This helps prevent insect's from developing tolerance to the Bt trait in the corn that is suppose to prevent them from causing root damage.


There is suppose to be 5% of the corn is the "refuge" corn. The purple kernels are refuge kernels. There has been A TON of news coverage lately sparked by the Roundup Trials and it has lead to a lot of other things getting questioned lately that we do and use to roll our operations forward. The refuge in a bag concept is an incredible idea to help ward off insect resistance so our practices remain effective. As with everything in every area of life too much is always a bad thing. We rotate the traits we use on each field each year as well as the chemicals we use each year on each field. The amount of education we go though to be able to apply our own chemicals is ridiculous. The ones that are hazardous to human health are made VERY clearly known that they are bad for you and you should suit up if needed. We use nothing that requires anything more than a pair of gloves and a face shield. If you'd like more details on any of this stuff PLEASE ask and I'll share whatever you'd like to know. Information is power and false information is destructive.


Dad is putting seed talc in each box. It acts as a lube of sorts for the planter parts that contact the seed.


I think it's literally just baby powder but he gets it in a huge jug that says "John Deere Seed Talc" on it.


A quick fill of starter fertilizer and we can head to the field.

Making sure the markers work and everything plants before he heads out.


We dug down and checked each row and there is seed in the trenches so it's all working !!


Away he goes. Spring 2019 planting is underway !!!


Once Dad was rolling I started disking more ground for him to plant in the afternoon. I may have found a neat way to stay entertained with a tablet, Plex and my BlueParrot Headset


Once I had enough ready for him to plant Mom and I headed out to pick some rocky ground. I found a couple monsters and this was the largest !!


After I got about 30 acres of rock picked it was time to mix a couple batches of feed.


It looks like the 886 has a badass Mohawk

 

[1949 caddyman]

How many other farms in your area raise chickens like you do in the HUGE buildings?

 

[Sifan]

Spray seminar put on by insurance company, loss control guy asked "What is the most important safety item you should use every day?" He was expecting an answer of waterproof gloves, what he got was "rubber pants to protect the family jewels" LOL

 

[jblnut]

How many other farms in your area raise chickens like you do in the HUGE buildings?

I'm pretty sure there are 300+ barns like mine within 30 miles of me. I can see two more while standing in my yard. I've been told they process upwards of 40 flocks per week so that math works out to be around 320-350 in the system here. If you find a whole broiler in a package ready to eat it came out of a similar system based in Arcadia, WI.

Spray seminar put on by insurance company, loss control guy asked "What is the most important safety item you should use every day?" He was expecting an answer of waterproof gloves, what he got was "rubber pants to protect the family jewels" LOL

 

[jblnut]

The weatherman forecast rain for yesterday and he was right for a change. It was drizzling for quite a while while I was doing tillage.


It was all fun and games until a blasted rock got wedged in between two blades. Never had one get wedged on the big Wishek disk yet.


I have a heavy log chain in the tractor to be used for whatever is needed and today that would be dislodging a rock. I used the disk axle to tug it out. As I dropped the disk the chain tightened and pulled the rock right out.


Back at it !! The blades are 30" diameter when they're new. They make my 24" Diamond Calk adjustable look normal sized !!


It was getting quite moist by the middle of the field but on I went. As long as I can maintain traction I will keep going. This is the primary tillage pass so it doesn't need to be perfectly smooth.


By the time I finished the field it was all out down pouring. Definitely time to be done !!


Dad and I worked in his shop for a bit when I was done disking and it had started to snow by the time I was going to go home. WTF ??


The view out the living room window had the children hollering at the snow to go away !!


And this is the aftermath of a nice cold May snowstorm

 

[XJSuperman]

Keep it up there. I want nothing to do with it. We are having too much rain to do any field activity. Not as much rain as CliftonBros down there in MO though.

 

[Finallygotit]

Seriously?!?!

 

[jblnut]

Seriously?!?!

Snow in May is not common but seems to happen almost every year


We only got 2" total maybe. Duluth got smacked with 8-10" of this wet heavy nastiness !!

 

[jblnut]

Mom and Dad went to Drayton, ND to go to an auction and came home with a nice piece of red iron to add to the fleet !!

Oooh, a Quadtrack?

That new piece of red iron is finally home.



2004 - 2388 with the Pro600 monitor, GPS Globe, 4WD, Bushel Booster, Field Tracker, 3rd lift cylinder (12r ready), Full set of rear weights, straw chopper, 18.4-r42 duals and only 2,500 engine hours.


Now the little guy has a big brother It doesn't look that much larger in the photo but it is quite noticeable in person.