Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[jblnut]

Holy smokes I've a lot of replies to reply to !!! It's been a busy week and I've got a lot of updates to update !!

NEW PAGE !! WHOO HOO !!!

 

[jblnut]

Zip Ties and UV light just don't get along!!!!

Yrs ago, I use to install HF and VH redio Eqpt and small satellite stations. As most of the eqpt was installed on roofs, the traditional ZT would last maybe 60-90 days. In those cases, we switched to SS clamps and painted them black. After a while, we found a company in Germany that had Blk SS clamps and would by them 5,000 at a time. They will last forever !!!!

A few of my earlier wireless antenna installs used zip ties and I haven't had issues yet. It doesn't seem right to use a piece of plastic to make something permanent though .....

Hey, as long as the weld holds.

My thought exactly. I like things to look nice but function almost always comes before form at the end of the day.

Well the count is now up to seven have seen it. That equipment has seen a lot of use.

Dwight

It won't be replaced anytime soon. I still don't think I'm going to wear it out completely. Lots of life left !!!

make that 8

40lb boxes of bird??? when is dinner? I'll bet those turn out great on the wok

40lb boxes of chicken. I'm planning on picking up a turkey fryer burner deal sometime to make using the wok easier. I would love to cook 20lbs of thighs at a time on it or something crazy like that !!

Make that count 9... Do you plan to repair or replace that grinder mixer?

The T-Rex tape will hold until it doesn't and then it'll get actually repaired. I only mix a few loads a week so it'll be okay for a while.

Just add another number to the count on the weld.

I for one think it should hold so i don't see a problem.

I'm still working on getting better at welding. You would think it would be easy to weld if you welded a good bit in High School, but after 18 years have passed it just didn't come back that easy. As for the chicken, that wok will do a good job of frying if you go that direction, or it will do good to sear the outside of the meat and then pour some kind of seasoned liquid in the wok to let it simmer over a good fire. Could try your hands at chicken fajita!

Some things are like riding a bike. I can see welding to not be one of them. I probably spend a few hours a week welding so I stay plenty fresh I guess. I think the Wok will get used for some of if this fall if we do anymore camping. I'm quite excited !!

I guess I'm 11. But who's counting?

It is really great that you can buy your own product back (same plant anyway).

I studied the chicks and honestly I can't tell them from the other four groups you've shown us. How in the world do you tell them apart? I mean, any chick's I've known really really don't want to be confused with other chicks. You have a job on your hands.

I think I'd have tried a small hole in the aluminum and a self tapping screw. But you're bird poop weld looks pretty good considering the business you are in.

We jumped on the opportunity to buy the chicken back !!!

Lol ... we're on flock #11 I've only ever hung out with one chick at a time and that was enough to manage so I see your point. It's a burden I carry but it's okay ..... these chicks speak that language of the Cheep Cheep so even if they're yelling about me I won't know it !!

Stick with what you know. Bird poop welds blend in out here

Not sure how to count -- maybe I'm 12 but this is my second visit since yesterday so maybe I'm lucky 13 (?). I won't post again until I have something stupid to share.

Lol .... I don't usually post until I have something stupid to share either

That weld looks just fine, and not wanting to steal Bob's luck, I'll claim number 14, so your count is doubled. We really do care!

I messed with the Cheetah after the fix and it worked way better so it was a success. Plus no one will ever see it anyway

15 then

It was around age 15 when my Grandfather taught me to weld. We would fix things so much on the farm that they couldn't be fixed anymore and had to be replaced with a new part. Odd the memories that stick with you !!

Well that last couple of pages was a real rollercoaster. Too bad about the bus, but if it makes you feel better, my mother has some of the same reservations about blue school buses specifically. Some childhood memories or something... I don't know. But I'd love to have one for a camper/tractor hauler. Definitely need to add chick marks to the barn wall for a flock count. Glad to see that someone has at least a little bit of good hay this year, its been rough in Iowa as well, and I hear Ohio is absolutely FUBAR. Consider yourself lucky compared to them. I also feel the need to make a disco-skillet soon. Maybe my next trip home Ill grab one.

Think you may find time to take a day and get up to Rollag at the end of the month? Ill be up there with a buddy and some family. Should be a good show this year.

Haying up here has been decent and the price is still sky high so that is good for us. The plan for the bus is to drive it around as much as possible to work the **** out of the tank and maybe one day turn it into a farm service rig or something similar. I think a repower of some kind may be in order. Maybe a Chevy 6.0l with an automatic or a BB454 or something. Who knows ?

August will be a full month for us but we've talked about Rollag. We'll see what happens. Stop in on your way by, I'll toss a blade your way !!

Count is 16, just don't tell dad . . . that everyone else knows

Dad says updating this thread is silly but checks it every day to see if he and I got anything done the last few days

I'm in at 16!! Great thread by the way!

Thanks for following along !!

Why are we counting?

Bob nailed it below !!

Dan, because somebody thought we weren't paying attention...

Just when I think everyone is sleeping and I try to sneak something by

Yes, it's dangerous around here, to let others know what you're thinking

No kidding !!!

You mean like Dan who's not paying attention?

Lol

Hey! Wait a minute! What?

It's okay. Some days are foggier than most in my world as well

 

[jblnut]

Part of last week I spent 4hrs from home working on a new dairy. I had 3 helpers so I decided to lay out the locations of where the cameras and WiFi access points were using magnets and a note attached. I made a sticker stick out of a length of conduit to put them on the metal ceiling.


It worked surprisingly well !!


This is looking clearly at about 20% of the barn attic. The entire barn is over 600' long. Quite a decent size for a dairy barn.


It was pretty awesome being in the attic with no insulation and no steel on the gable ends. Monday there was a slight breeze with cloud cover and it was really nice up there !! Tuesday was sunny and still and sucked


19,000' of Blue Cat 6 Riser for the data runs and a box of Green Cat 6 to use as a phone line. Should be enough


The second pull location all set up. There were 3 guys in the attic stringing wires around. Our master electrician was with us so it was all done properly and looked really nice up there when all was done.


The two 2" and two 1-1/4" pipes in the foreground are for my data and fiber optic runs that we ran. The stuff in background was done by the local electrician .... or the local kindergarten class .... I can't even fathom how someone thinks this is passable work. I'd be pissed if someone did this for me.


Wednesday/Thursday/Friday I drove my old route truck at work because the current driver was on vacation. It was a lot of fun to see some of my old customers again !!


Wednesday evening I helped Dad pick up more grass hay. Another 18 bales of perfect hay


Friday I saw something I'm not sure if I love or hate. Someone used a Rigid tool box as a junction box on the outside of a silo. Inside it is equipment to run some antennas on the top of the silo to provide the neighbors with a wireless internet option.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Interesting update as usual.

I thought the local electrician's work looked good. I'll be glad when I get to first grade.

The tool box/junction box is interesting. I doubt it has much impact strength at 0F so it may be interesting getting into it during an ice storm. maybe that won't be required.

 

[jblnut]

Interesting update as usual.

I thought the local electrician's work looked good. I'll be glad when I get to first grade.

The tool box/junction box is interesting. I doubt it has much impact strength at 0F so it may be interesting getting into it during an ice storm. maybe that won't be required.

I've heated and bent my fair share of conduit over the years and I've also done it this way to match what the customer wanted and bending conduit isn't hard or time consuming. Look at the top right corner of the 12 square box, there is a buried LB. A simple LR would be legal, the LB has an inaccessible cover. The lack of F*#$@ given up there is nothing short of amazing.

The cold was a concern of mine as well. I'm going to smack one of my Riding boxes real good this winter go see what happens. If it doesn't break I may start doing some of that for oddball things.

 

[Bob Heine]

When I see that many plastic couplings I suspect a spray paint huffer has been hired. The giveaway is the bag lunches with no food inside, just extra solvent and glue.

 

[Farmall450]

I've heated and bent my fair share of conduit over the years and I've also done it this way to match what the customer wanted and bending conduit isn't hard or time consuming. Look at the top right corner of the 12 square box, there is a buried LB. A simple LR would be legal, the LB has an inaccessible cover. The lack of F*#$@ given up there is nothing short of amazing.

The cold was a concern of mine as well. I'm going to smack one of my Riding boxes real good this winter go see what happens. If it doesn't break I may start doing some of that for oddball things.

Hey, sometimes if it works, it works.

 

[jeepxj]

so that box is 40 bucks and says its made out of resin.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-22-in-Pro-Tool-Box-Black-222570/205440481

why not use a fiberglass nema box? only about half the volume for the same price range tho.

 

[jblnut]

When I see that many plastic couplings I suspect a spray paint huffer has been hired. The giveaway is the bag lunches with no food inside, just extra solvent and glue.

This guy is something else. I don't know if he's a glue sniffer or what his deal is but there is an incredible amount of glue in this barn.

Hey, sometimes if it works, it works.

I can't argue with that it looks like dogshit all over the place. Just my opinion I guess but I can't stand this level of workmanship .... or lack there of I guess ....

so that box is 40 bucks and says its made out of resin.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-22-in-Pro-Tool-Box-Black-222570/205440481

why not use a fiberglass nema box? only about half the volume for the same price range tho.

Love it or hate it it's a different idea. I would have taken the course of putting all that stuff inside a building either way

 

[Farmall450]

I meant the Ridgid box!

 

[jblnut]

I meant the Ridgid box!

Lol ok. You can come drink beer here again. I took you off the list for a moment or two there as I was worried you'd mess up my conduits

 

[jblnut]

Goodness the Hostas have sure grown this year by the barn !!!


Saturday morning the starter feed trays needed to be removed from the chicken barn as they were not being used anymore. I had 2 6' tall stacks of these dirty things when I was done. Tons of work and a lot of sweat but it is probably good for my fata$$ to get some exercise once in a while


When the electricians added the new waterer onto the same circuit they said I had to switch the heating elements from 110v to 220v so as not to overload the circuit or I had to run another circuit. We switched them out yesterday morning.


The element is all calcified from being used for the last 3 years. It's probably time to replace them anyway !!


The waterer is all scrubbed clean and the new element is in. It sure was dirty !! It's hard to clean under there without taking the top cover off and after seeing how nasty it was I think I may have to do that more often !!


One of the pens was getting quite nasty so Dad cleaned it manure out of it quick. It doesn't take long to do one pen. This is a crappy action shot but it's the best I can do.


Next up is to get the combine ready to harvest some wheat !!! The rotor speed sensor was acting up so I used my digital RPM gauge to get a reading where it needed to be. 1050 is the goal and when my gauge read 1050 it read 1050 in the cab as well so all should be good !!


We haven't purchased a larger header for the combine yet so we figured we'd give our 20' head a shot. It's narrow enough to road it to the field. It takes up a good bit of the road though !!


OOOOO !!!!! Ready to go !!!


Lol this little head on here sure does look funny !!


We only did about a half acre of winter wheat to get the combine dialed in so it didn't take long. This is the first gravity box Grandpa purchased way back when. It was a decent size then but if the combine hopper was full it wouldn't even come close to fitting in this box today


Got to make sure it's lined up to hit it way down there lol. There are only a few bushels so it'll fit with ease. I'm going to grind and feed it to the steers as there isn't enough to sell and you can't mix winter and spring wheat together when you sell them.


Once we were done messing around on the farm we went into town for the local town festival. Albany's "Heritage Days" festival involves a ton of activities with one them being a kids pedal tractor pull. Alyssa took 2nd place in her age group and can advance to the state level pull in Redwood Falls, MN. Not sure if we will be able to make it but I really want to go with her !!

 

[oldironfarmer]

I can't argue with that it looks like dogshit all over the place. Just my opinion I guess but I can't stand this level of workmanship .... or lack there of I guess ....

Reminds me of Vladimir's quote "for such work necessary to remove hands and eggs"



Get your priorities straight and make it to that girl's next pull. We're watching, you know.

 

[jblnut]

Reminds me of Vladimir's quote "for such work necessary to remove hands and eggs"



Get your priorities straight and make it to that girl's next pull. We're watching, you know.

Oh I want to go for sure but Mama Bear is standing up in a wedding that same day so that's why we'll see. I'd love to road trip down there with Alyssa in the ol' minivan and watch her kick *** and take names !!!

 

[jblnut]

Today we had a bit of a lazy Sunday. The kiddos were wanting to get the "yacht" out again because it was easier to ride around on there than the 4-wheeler. I am such a pushover and I got it out. It was buried in a shed behind a TON of **** I had to move. They're happy and the giggles that came from it today made it all worthwhile


Yesterday was the whole town festival and today was the Church Bazaar. It all happened so fast but I got volunteered to sit in the dunk tank to raise money for the school. I think I got dunked 25-30 times in a half hour period. It was sunny and 85F so it felt amazing !!!


Once we got home I decided to fix an oops I created with a lawn mower tire. I was ready for a fight but I think the whole works only took maybe 10 minutes. I was almost disappointed with how easy it was as I'd been putting it off for a while ... almost ...


Brand new and ready to rock !!


We've been getting some raccoons in the steer barn making a mess so it's time for the ol' ****-die-soon to get put out. I'm trying some Diet Mtn Dew this time instead of an egg. Partly because we're out of eggs and partly because I have a pair of cans of this nasty slop we've been moving around for a few years. The ***** make it about 10' away from the blue drink mix and take a nice loooooooong nap.

 

[Farmall450]

Works good as long as you don't have any pets around.

 

[jblnut]

Works good as long as you don't have any pets around.

No pets here. Just pesky raccoons ..... for now. I was successful in my quest last night as I snagged two of those pesky buggers.

 

[jblnut]

Minnesota has passed a hands-free law while driving so I needed to find a better solution to hold my phone. I got the cheapest phone holder from WalMart a while back and it was a complete turd. The flex shaft mount deal is awesome so I made my own phone holder.


More changes to come here soon !! A neighbor has a Deere 750 dozer and a pair of pull behind scrapers I'm going to use to make a flat spot to build yet another building.


Yesterday I got some of the straw baled that Dad got combined a few days back.


There wasn't as much straw as I was hoping in the fields by me but we'll take what we can get !!


The second field I baled was way nicer !!


10% moisture is nice and dry !!!


After I got the straw baled I worked on getting the old mower ready to tidy up some ditches and such.


There is a splined shaft in the coupler in the middle of the photo that was stripped out and slipping.


I thought about welding it but didn't know how smart that'd be. Looks like someone else already did that and the weld let loose.


I guess if it worked before it'll work again !!


It sure does cut nicely when everything is working well

 

[jblnut]

"The 2049 Shop" project has begun !!

It's been a wonderfully busy couple days out here !!

Friday I finished getting the straw baled and ended up with 119 bales total. Not bad but not the best we've gotten off of 42 acres.


I also baled up the ditch hay and ended up with 3-1/2 bales !!!


Some of the straw bales had a bit of grass mixed in but a neighbor is going to buy them all and use some for feed and some for bedding.


We got the waterer turned on in the new barn. There was a leak I needed to fix first. Some putz forgot to put teflon tape on one of the fittings and it was leaking like crazy. It's all fixed and holding pressure nicely now though !!


The waterer heater is wired in as well now. There is a simple thermostat that kicks it heater on when the water gets below a certain temp in the winter. Wire nuts open to the bottom to keep moisture out !!


Ooooo it's filling !!


Dad and I got the dirt and junk cleaned out of both pens and they are now 100% ready for cattle !!


The next step in the feed room is to put an auger in it to fill it so we decided to repurpose an old grain bin unloading auger.


I cut it down to the proper length using our ever handy "box-horses". The hole in the top will get patched. It was one of the inlets for grain when it was under the grain bin.


And now for the real fun. The Deere 750 dozer and 9yd scraper have arrived. These will be the first actual "shop" pictures in the thread so far lol. I think I'm going to call it "The 2049 Shop" because that's probably how long it'll be before it's done


Last night I got a bunch of topsoil moved off the building site with the scraper.


This picture makes it look both larger and smaller than what it actually is. So far I have a 50ish x 150ish area mostly cleared of topsoil. I think I'm going to stay home and work on this all week. Seems like it'd be way more fun than going to work !!!


The kiddos and I got their play area tidied up. I told them the lawn mower would be mowing it all up otherwise !!


Leo and Alyssa even got the "little house" cleaned up pretty nicely.

 

[cvairwerks]

Lawn mowers and Hot Wheels don't mix well....

 

[Finallygotit]

So what is going to be the size of the 2049 shop?

 

[jblnut]

Lawn mowers and Hot Wheels don't mix well....

They do but only once !!

So what is going to be the size of the 2049 shop?

Iff'in the $$$$ works out it'll be 54x88x18 but will likely start out as 54x64x18 and get added onto later. I want an 80x100 level spot so I can add a 16' wing on one side some day as well.

I spent 12hrs in the scraper tractor today and am thinking I'm going to be a tad sore tomorrow. The previous owners of this place had a little gravel pit out here 50yrs ago and I think I found where they pushed all the black dirt. I am down 6' in a few spots and there is still more !! I have issues burying black dirt so it will all be coming out.

This is a 9yd scraper and I think I'm getting at least 7yds in it on average with 5 minute turns so 7yds X 12 turns/hr x 12hrs is 1,008yds moved today. Good grief !!

 

[davo727]

Well thats like 2 million pounds of dirt at a ton a yard.

 

[madison069]

When you speak of black dirt, what are you talking about?

 

[jeepxj]

When you speak of black dirt, what are you talking about?

the $$$ dirt for farming

 

[jblnut]

Re: 2049 Shop !!

Well thats like 2 million pounds of dirt at a ton a yard.

It is a large pile !!




And a BIG hole so far !!

When you speak of black dirt, what are you talking about?

the $$$ dirt for farming

The black dirt is commonly known as topsoil. We're simple folk out here and call things by colors a lot. "Go get the big green tractor!!" "Go get the little red tractor!!" "Take the blue minivan." "Stupid heavy blue rocks" "Don't eat the yellow snow!!" Ya know.

Here is some "black dirt" next to some sandy stuff for comparison.

 

[madison069]

Got ya, I just wanted to clarify cause here black dirt can be dirt mixed with coal but not enough coal in the mixture to be sold or useful.

As for referring things by color, I'm guilty of it cause I live in a house of 4 girl/women. I can't get too techincal about anything with them or I'd never get anything done.

 

[jblnut]

Got ya, I just wanted to clarify cause here black dirt can be dirt mixed with coal but not enough coal in the mixture to be sold or useful.

As for referring things by color, I'm guilty of it cause I live in a house of 4 girl/women. I can't get too techincal about anything with them or I'd never get anything done.

Black dirt with coal. Interesting. I'm fairly certain that is not what I'm digging out here !!

 

[jblnut]

This morning I noticed a nasty oil leak on one of the cylinders on the scraper so I investigated and found a previous repair had failed and the oil was leaking out. I ground off the old weld down to the crack in the cylinder.

And here is why a larger shop would be nice. On one hand it's nice to be able to work on oily stuff outside in the dirt so a nice concrete floor doesn't get dirty and on the other hand I can't wait to get oil on a new shop floor because it would mean that the shop floor exists and I'm using it !!!

Well I ground one booger weld off and sneezed another one on but it doesn't leak so who cares ?!?!?!?!?

The weatherman was calling for a "few scattered showers" in the afternoon and here they come !!

It sure doesn't take long for things to get too wet !!

And this is what 1" of rain in 15 minutes looks like. Bonkers !!

So .... the hole I dug the black dirt out of is now a pond. All I need now are some ducks

I dug a little drainage ditch with my Kubota powered shovel. Pretty much the entire area I cleared ran into this one spot so even after the ditch was there it took a LONG time to drain.

A neighbor to our farm to the East told me they got some hail and things looked a bit tough so I went to investigate.

And now I wish I had stayed home and not seen this mess ......

This is less than ideal ....

 

[Sifan]

Seeing stalks still standing, nice sized ears with brown silks, shouldn't be too bad ... just shredded leaves, less trash to go through combine

 

[Farmall450]

Seeing stalks still standing, nice sized ears with brown silks, shouldn't be too bad ... just shredded leaves, less trash to go through combine

I guess that's one way of looking at it.

 

[jblnut]

Seeing stalks still standing, nice sized ears with brown silks, shouldn't be too bad ... just shredded leaves, less trash to go through combine

I guess that's one way of looking at it.

I think it'll be okay but we shall see after a few weeks how it looks

 

[jblnut]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a turkey fryer burner for a while to cook sweet corn and finally pulled the trigger. It's sort of a monster ....


The Wishek Wok is 25" diameter .... the cooker is a 16" square and sounds like a jet engine when it's on full blast !! This will make using it easier for sure !!

 

[madison069]

Yep, and easier to control the temp with that burner.

 

[XJSuperman]

Dang. Better hook that into one of the big propane tanks lol.

 

[iced98lx]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a turkey fryer burner for a while to cook sweet corn and finally pulled the trigger. It's sort of a monster ....

The Wishek Wok is 25" diameter .... the cooker is a 16" square and sounds like a jet engine when it's on full blast !! This will make using it easier for sure !!

She's a beaut! Did you find that online? Been looking for one.

 

[jblnut]

Yep, and easier to control the temp with that burner.

It is super nice and easy to use compared to the campfire !!

Dang. Better hook that into one of the big propane tanks lol.

It ran on a 20lb tank to cook some bacon and preseason the wok. Don't k ow for how long it'll run but I sure didn't have it full blast the whole time !!

She's a beaut! Did you find that online? Been looking for one.

I looked locally for a while and only found 35,000-60,000btu burners for that $65-$99 range and then started the search online. Long boring story short here is the link to it. It's an Amazon Smile link so search for Concord 200,000btu square burner iff'in you'd rather. I unfortunately use Amazon a fair.bit for work stuff as a disturbing amount of vendors have said "use our Amazon store" which makes no sense to me. I found out the school we send Miss Lily to had a smile account setup so I decided why not, I'm buying stuff anyway !!

 

[clmeredith]

Dude I have bad news for you on the corn. I hope you have hail insurance

 

[jblnut]

Dude I have bad news for you on the corn. I hope you have hail insurance

Crop insurance, including hail insurance, is something we factor in as an operating cost as you never know what will happen so yes, we're covered. The insurance guy is coming out mid next week to take a look.

 

[clmeredith]

He’ll probably divert it until harvest. I’m glad you’re covered