oldironfarmer
Well-known member
Just never planted corn on a snow day.


You can never have too many tractors Out on Quaker Rd !!!

A few years back Dad was planting corn in a 1/4 mile long field and it started to snow and by the time he got to one end and about halfway back he couldn't see where the row marker was he needed to follow so he had to quit. Corn can take a bit of snow and it'll be fine, it really doesn't like cold and wet for just too long though. I sure hope it warms up or we're going to have a rough time of it this season ....Just never planted corn on a snow day.![]()
We've been looking for a larger/newer combine for a couple years and this one was such a good deal it had to come home. If it were listed at a dealer here in central MN they would have been asking a tad over double what we paid for it. I think we need to slow down though for a little bit and let the checkbook catch back upSounds like you're making good on that sig line.
![]()

Thank you for checking in all the time !!!I don't post here often, but read this thread every time I come through. It's like a new episode of AG PHD every time I'm here (I love that show).

Thank you for checking in all the time !!!
I've been to a few Hefty Boys events and they are always a good time. My tight-*** doesn't have "TV" in the house so AG PHD TV is a no go for me. My Pops always talks about what he say on RFDTV and I have nothing to add other than what the Welker Farm guys are up to lately on YouTube
On a side note you should update your own gallery thread. It ends with a nice looking half finished garage !!

Sounds like a classic case of farming fever. It's catchy and doesn't go away and there is no known cure. Playing farmer seems to help ease the symptoms but it'll take a lifetime to work it through your system !! Come on over and I'll see if we can't do a little to helpI enjoy the show. Didn't grow up on a farm, or have any immediate family or friends that farmed (great aunt and uncle had a hobby farm, but had sold it before I was born). But there was farm land within a mile of the house, and all around us from there on out (central Illinois). Just always found it interesting. Then watching that TV show...all of the things that have to be considered, the various crops, seeds, chemicals, drainage, equipment, all the regs, all the pressures from the market...it's a fascinating, if stressful business. I just really enjoy learning about it. And then there's the "Weed of the Week"...who doesn't want to watch that feature each week!
As for my shop, sadly, it probably looks pretty much like it did the last time I posted, except full of stuff now. The wife and I went through a streak of company down-sizings, job changes, company changes, the kids are in college...just never felt like I had the "free" money burning a hole in my pocket to finish it up. Still, completing the interior is never far from my mind, and hanging out here is certainly a bad influence. I'll get there, hopefully before arthritis or something else prevents me from actually USING the space.



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.
![]()
I do like Snap-on (Who doesn't?) but my check book hates it. It is probably not a bad idea to invest in something like that. Figuring out the math has worked pretty good so far but being more accurate is always good.Greetings, you might want to take a look at Torque Multipliers, I know you like Snap On but this link is just an example. We used them for torqueing 750 lbs nuts for 747 landing gear, it takes all of that ticking time bomb away when you using cheater bars and such
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00825PWSA/?tag=atomicindus08-20
20/13mbps isn't the fastest offered out here but it works. We have fiber to the home so we can get up to 1/1gbps if you want to pay for it. I can stream out 3 Plex streams at once with decent quality at the receiving end so it's all good for now.What you got for an internet connection at home?
Have you thought about backing up the freenas to backblaze? https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-to-setup-freenas-cloud-storage/
edit:
I guess you could put the drobo in the chicken shed and beam the backups there. only a tornado would remove both buildings....
I agree with the assumptions being made about the safety of certain things we use everyday. For instance the cell phones we all rely on everyday may or may not cause cancer. Cell Phone Cancer Info There is no possible way the cell phone companies have had no influence on such findings. Dig into who owns who and you'll find that the same companies have ownership of Verizon/AT&T/Sprint and T-Mobile. No way they'd let us think their cash cows cause cancer.I do think there is something with exposure going on. The biggest assumption being made is the testing/certification on the chemical's safety is valid and being applied fairly. Time and time again in history we have chemical companies doing anything possible to get their products into the market even if they know it's bad for the people handling it.
example:
generic study from a while ago says 2.5 as likely to develop symptoms if i'm reading it right - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257680/






Annnnnd I was able to log over 20hrs for the in-town job doing odds and ends on a few projects in my spare time.Wow, you've been busy - what a week! From FreeNAS burn-ins to dual wheels and oil changes, then onto Wishek disk fence posts, field work and civil liberty discussions - when do you sleep?
I really like that custom fence, by the way. That was a great idea for making it movable, and using up materials on hand at the same time.
Depending on the brand of tire we put on the STX325 it'll be between $15-$20k in tires. Cheap off brand tires are around $1,800 each and nice Michelins are in the $2,500-$3,000 range .... each ....JBL: I bet the annual costs of tire replacement and machines parts and repairs are up there taking a chunk out of your profits so no wonder you try to make the tires last as long as possible.
I think I have an old 1950's Proto torque wrench that is rated for 3500 pounds, but not sure how accurate. I keep kicking it cause I don't have a good place to hang it (and I don't own big trucks or machines now) so it might need to find a new home.
i like your thinking on figuring out how to torque your wheel bolts.![]()
I agree with the assumptions being made about the safety of certain things we use everyday. For instance the cell phones we all rely on everyday may or may not cause cancer. Cell Phone Cancer Info There is no possible way the cell phone companies have had no influence on such findings. Dig into who owns who and you'll find that the same companies have ownership of Verizon/AT&T/Sprint and T-Mobile. No way they'd let us think their cash cows cause cancer.
It's the same in every industry. There is something that is dangerous to our health but makes them piles of money so that makes it worthwhile for them to convince us it's "safe enough". As the users of a number of "controversial" technologies I will say that I make my decisions based on the best information available to me. I don't think a bunch of non-sciencey jurors should decide if they think RoundUp causes cancer. The jurors are suppose to be non-biased on the topic of the trial they are part of but I challenge you to find someone with a true non-bias on anything to do with GMO's ... especially in California.
I am not trying to say that I think RoundUp or any of the other things we've been told are "safe" are truly 100% safe. I don't really know and I don't think any of us possess the channels/money to really know those answers. It is because of this we need to make the best decisions based on the information we have available to us. The information I have seen/read/whatever tells me that the proper use of RoundUp/GMO's/seed treatments is a good thing for my industry. Putting all gains in profitability from using GMO crops aside, if I or my wife thought these technologies were dangerous we would not feed our children the beef we raised. We would also not have cell phones, radios, or cars as they are also potentially dangerous to our health.
Believing what you want is what makes American great. Acting out to try to prove your beliefs are better or more correct than mine is where I draw the line. Civil discussion is one thing, protests and the destruction of property are NEVER necessary. Ever.
We live by a relatively busy road and the kiddos like to play outside when they all get home from daycare/school so it's time to build them a giant playpen. First step is to make the posts. At almost 80lbs an old worn out Wishek disk blade will do nicely as the base.
![]()
I was able to finish 4 posts and hang 3 sections tonight before it got too dark. I think it'll work swell. I don't know where my gas lines come into the house and go out to the shop so disk blades seemed like a good idea. No posts in the ground and I can move them around if needed.
![]()
Yeah. All that's been showing up in my favorite, or used to be favorite, RSS News feed these days seems to be how RoundUp is going to give your great-grandchildren cancer and it's a bit frustrating.I felt like you needed to let it out. Hence the poke post. I'm all for GMO. it took corn from 60b/ac to 200b/ac. Roundup is part of the gig. Just gotta treat it like its liquid cancer and you'll be alright. Its the cost of progress as a society in the end. Some have to suffer in the name of progress for the whole.
I've heard many similar stories. You should file a suit against whomever made that chemical and maybe you can get those flowers replaced along with $2 billion in punitive damages ya know for the hassle.Products, education, training, and licensing has come along way in the last 50+ years. As a snot nosed kid, I read the instruction label on how to mix and apply the product. Warning label? what warning label. Of course in the process of mixing and filling one's hands, hands not gloves, got wet. Of course no one carried towels, so you used what was readily available, jeans pant legs.
One night, while eating at the family dinner table, my Mom started telling my Dad he was going to have to do something about his hunting dog because he was peeing on her flowers. Peeing on them so much that her flowers were deader than dead. Dead !! And as Dad and his dog is catching it ... I suddenly have this vision of wiping my hands on my jeans and Mom using the washing machine water to water her deader than dead flowers. Talk about a moral dilemma
That is a wonderful idea !!! I'm absolutely going to do that. Do the math to figure out the length of the pipe and how much I need to lean on it to get to what torque. I love it !!I worked for a farmer for a few years that would use a bathroom scale and a long piece of pipe to torque lug bolts. He had the pipe marked at a certain length and would calculate how many pounds to pull after weighing himself. I remember when I was the one on the scale I had to pull 90 lbs. Always questioned how accurate it was but this guy was super particular about everything.
If you were a tad closer I'd say come and get some !! In a few years we'll have a TON more as the big finishing disk will need new blades again .... then the front and rears will be worn on the Wishek so there will be a ton of them again ...I always envisioned if I could have access to a supply of those used disc that it would be perfect for fence post base. Glad to see someone else thinks the same way. I generally use them to cook in, such as fajitas and fish fry!
But currently I don't know of any farmers in the area so I can't ask if they are willing to part with their used disc.
I enjoy reading the thread even though I don't post much so just know you got another lurker!

Boy o boy that creates a scenario in my head. If I get cancer and sue Bayer and win millions of dollars I could afford to farm WAY more acres and would have to get a much larger sprayer to cover all that added ground which would mean more RoundUp but I'd have won so ......https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-couple-in-roundup-cancer-trial-idUSKCN1SJ29F
I'm sure the judge is going to knock down the figures but that is a stunning result. imagine if every farmer could get paid out on this.
Boy o boy that creates a scenario in my head. If I get cancer and sue Bayer and win millions of dollars I could afford to farm WAY more acres and would have to get a much larger sprayer to cover all that added ground which would mean more RoundUp but I'd have won so ......






















If you were a tad closer I'd say come and get some !! In a few years we'll have a TON more as the big finishing disk will need new blades again .... then the front and rears will be worn on the Wishek so there will be a ton of them again ...
You cook in a disk blade ?? Boy oh boy if I can get one clean enough I think I'd give it a try !!!
Lurker's, posters and everyone else is appreciated. I honestly still find it entertaining that others think what we do out here is interesting enough to check in so often![]()
Expect to see that built and photographed on here one day !! That is an awesome idea !!Not my picture but this is how it's used in Texas/Mexico/New Mexico a lot of time. We just weld the hole in the center close, burn it in a hot fire to clean it. Season it with Bacon grease and then after another cleaning we start using it to cook all kinds of food!
Most of mine had 3 or 4 legs welded on the underside which allowed me to place it directly over a fire in the ground. Some folks has gotten pretty creative but a simple disc with legs and horse shoes for handles gets the job done!
Yeah Wheat!!!![]()
![]()
![]()
I will make one and see we use it and then maybe make a few more in my spare time and try to sell them. Seems like a really neat idea !!I bet if you make a few of them, you could have them sold at a market somewhere with demonstrations for the folks who don't know about it! Something to put out at the corner booth if your wife or mom does some selling of produce o the side?
The Googler confirms the ****-ton of money claim. Wow. I could buy new disk blades and make them out of those for that kind of money !! They wouldn't have that authentic drug through the dirt taste thoughPeople pay a ****-ton of money for what is called a tembo tusk (brand) skillet just like a disc.

Meh it looks like more work than it is. Try taking pictures of things throughout your day and you'll come up with a ton of stuff you did as well !!JBL: just a normal few days on the farm for you and some of us it might take a month to do all that. new fence, drainage fix on a few acres, and quality time with the family too.
I compare raising kids to riding a roller coaster sort of it's a ride and just hold on and enjoy it no matter what's coming up. I always tried to pay attention to who my kids spent a lot of time with cause they are who they hang out with and if they are spending a lot of time with you and your bride that's great and hope they find great friends too.
keep up the great work and thanks for taking the extra time to take a few pics of all the good work you do!!
They sure were excited.Yeah Wheat!!!
And this is probably whyThey are happy because the fence didn't hold them in......













Too many people let emotions get in the way of science.Wow, a busy thread lately.
I doubt Roundup gives you cancer. But, whatever. Everyone knows this country has set a dangerous precedent with lawsuits...
It really is. I disked through 100% of that area today without a single issue. There was water there a few days ago !!Never a dull day around your place. It is amazing what a little trench and some pipe can drain away.
The tile releases the water to a small 3 acre "lake" downhill a few hundred feet. When you dig a few feet down most all our soils are heavy clay as well. Stick tacky stuff but the water will move though it and find the tile.Where does the drain tile release the water to? Around my area the soil has a lot of clay and doesn't drain well, I know lots of the fields have some tile. But then there are some fields where there is no good way to drain water from the low spots, so they have a mini lake in them for most of the spring lol.


Wow, a busy thread lately.
I doubt Roundup gives you cancer. But, whatever. Everyone knows this country has set a dangerous precedent with lawsuits...