Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[davo727]

How much BTU of heating does the chicken building have? Propane?

But yeah the cold has made it all the way to Houston, 16 at the moment at 1Am, will be 10F in a few hours. In 5 days it will more like 60.

Typing this in the dark, Texas ELEC generation is currently hosed apparantly luckily this house has a gas fireplace and the living/kitchen area is about 62 degrees.

 

[jblnut]

I know you have to get outside and take care of the critters and your stuff, but OMG that looks cold from my chair. WOW!!

one of the members who lives north of you in Canada said when it gets around -50 they have to not only put chargers on their cars, but I think he mentioned nitrous instead of air in the tires. also you can't let any vehicles sit outside or tires go out of round and stay that way?

anyway I hope it warms up a bit for you cause it has for us.

take care and stay warm!!

Cold from your chair lol. I know this will sound quite "typical Minnesotan" but ..... it's not so bad

-50C is -58f .... yikes that is chilly !! Definitely time to zip the sweatshirt up all the way !!

Today we hit a balmy 6f with upper 30's on the way !! Whoo hoo !!!

I installed a "frost free" Mira-Fount double drinker (floating ball type) in my barn lot in 2012. It's the only good water source my little beef herd has in the winter. I haven't had one issue with it trying to freeze up, until this past Friday. The last day we had above freezing was 2/5. Several nights in the single digits above since then. I think the balls may be getting water-logged, because they don't fit up as tight as they should anymore. I had one ball trying to freeze tight in the hole, and even the valve trying to freeze up at 2°F Saturday morning.

Made a trip to the MFA coop, and bought the last compact, submersible 250W heater they had. I installed it under the center valve cover of the waterer, suspended from the stand tube, right below the valve. Just clears the float. Had to get creative with a small channel cut in the perimeter of the top cap, and a 100' extension cord carefully routed to the machine shed to power it. But hey, it was all the way up to 10°F when I was doing that!

And hallelujah, it worked! Completely clear yesterday morning at -2°F, and this morning at -3°F, and heavy snow. Supposedly -7°F in the morning, but back above freezing by Saturday. About damn time - our normal daily high for 2/15 is 45°F. Our high today was 0°F.

I've been reading all the stories of things freezing down South and it all seems so unreal. I can't imagine not having freezing cold temps to deal with and not being set up for it. I'd much rather deal with the 100f days we get once in a great while versus the freezing temps that the South is dealing with right now. It's easier to stay cool than it is to warm things up !!!

Glad to hear it all worked out with the waterer. We sell those same units at Leedstone and the people that have them love them. Most put a small heater in them up here to keep them thawed over winter and have no issues .... until the heaters quit lol.

Fresh frozen beef!

My mom's friend is a nurse in Minneapolis. Said she was worried for her life walking from the parking lot to the hospital because of the temps. I don't like when it rains here at the ski resort, but at least it was +35°F

If I was wearing dress cloths and fancy shoes I'd be worried being out in the cold for any length of time as well !!

EDIT: After reading that it hit me that I walked the 100' or so to get the mail wearing a winter coat, winter hat and shorts and barefoot flip flops while it was -10f. I was chilly when I got back but didn't regret not spending the time to fully button up

How much BTU of heating does the chicken building have? Propane?

But yeah the cold has made it all the way to Houston, 16 at the moment at 1Am, will be 10F in a few hours. In 5 days it will more like 60.

Typing this in the dark, Texas ELEC generation is currently hosed apparently luckily this house has a gas fireplace and the living/kitchen area is about 62 degrees.

There are 28 ix 80,000btu infrared heaters in the barn broken into 2 zones of 2 heaters and 6 zones of 4 heaters. That is a total of 2,240,000btu's. The gable end heaters run the most and still only ran around 75% of the time to keep it 84f with it being -26f outside at the coldest. Every 5 minutes the exhaust fans cycle on and pull out 25,000cfm of air for about 90sec so the heaters are heating/drying air all the time. There is a fine line of keeping the air warm in the barn and keeping the air quality high enough for the chickens to be happy. When it was all said and done we went through a little over 1,000gal of LP during the coldest 3 days when it didn't get above -10f

When I think of all the things we have up here to "winter proof" everything from our houses to vehicles and water systems to electrical systems I can not imagine what it must be like to have sustained freezing temps. The shop walls are insulated to R30 (8" high density fiberglass) and the ceiling to R52 (24" blown in fiberglass). The waterlines from the pump house to the shop/barns are a minimum of 8' underground to get below the frost line. Some years depending on snow cover and sustained cold spells we've had neighbors with frozen water lines !!!

I truly hope you all are staying as safe as you can down there and will think of y'all the next time it's 100f up here when we hit our extreme !!!

 

[Jayman17]

Mike, I'm trying to imagine going from -35* to the upper 30's in a couple days time. You must feel like breaking out the shorts/mankini and frolicking through the fields. . I apologize to readers of this thread for planting that image in your minds.

 

[XJSuperman]

Its the same here in Iowa. Yesterday was a tropical 12 degrees. Today should be the same-ish. When we hit 32 its gonna be party lol.

Of course I'm typing this from the 75deg heated/cooled cab in a brand new Deere with my feet kicked up on the footpegs. I'm a little salty this one doesn't have the massage seat in it.

 

[jollygreengiant]

A lot of people are complaining about the weather right now, and rightfully so. But all the talk of wanting to live somewhere else because of a week of extreme weather? Your just trading one hardship for another. No matter where you live on this planet nature is going to try to kill you; whether it be cold, heat, venomous creepy things or things actually trying to eat you. The only thing you can choose is which one you want to deal with.

One thing's for sure jblnut, if your propane guy puts up a nice addition on his house this year you'll know why.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Cylinder blow by or other stuff going on to put fuel in the oil ?? Any ideas why yet ??

Hyd pump whine is usually due to sucking air and cavitating a bit. Mine doesn't do it as far as I can tell. Changing the hyd filter is a good easy start. Well maybe not easy but the simplest. The hyd filter on the 884 is an element only and pretty much everything but a shot glass full of oil will end up running down your arm unless you drain it first

I think the main seal on the injection pump shaft is bad. Parts just came in so hopefully going to try getting that fixed this weekend. I plan to change all the fluids and filters as well, since I didn't do that when I first bought it. Once that's done, and I get 2 of the loader cylinders rebuilt, it should run for a long time.

 

[drivesitfar]

speaking of getting the mail in your flip flops when it's -15 when you had a choice I guess cause you wanted to cool off?

I remember flying from here to Myrtle Beach (weather in Myrtle Beach was in mid 70's for the week I was going there) so I left Seattle in shorts and T shirt. our flight changed planes in Chicago and other plane never got there so had to spend the night. only thing airline did was provide a bus ride to a hotel. no luggage cause still in airlines hands so I walked out of bus into hotel and the -6 degrees was a bit chilly, but I think it was colder the next morning when we got back on the bus to the airport.

just asking do any of your critters pass on when it gets super cold or are they staying indoors when it gets that cold?

keep warm!!

 

[Sifan]

Best not loose any cause sure not digging a hole to bury them in that frozen tundra.

 

[drivesitfar]

Sifan: sounds almost colder than inside of a freezer if one passed?

ALL: just curious how far do you guys have to bury your water pipes and how much insulation? any of them breaking or have you all figured out how to avoid that by not using any water when it's below zero?

 

[cvairwerks]

We saw record lows down here this week...-2 at the airport about 3 miles from me. 2nd lowest temp ever recorded in the state since record keeping started in 1898. We lost power on Sunday about 2:30 am, and didn't get it back and stable until about 6 am Wednesday morning. Val told me the thermostat showed 38F for the inside temp when the power came back.

Our plant had to shut down for all but essential skeleton operation peple due to power and gas issues. We are fed by a pair of 135kV feeds and have two of our own substations on the facility. Environmental Control crew had to shed as much gas powered stuff as possible to prevent a total collapse of the gas system on that part of town, due to dropping pressure. First time the plant has shut down for weather in the nearly 35 years I've been around it.

Here's the real kicker about this...weather guessers are saying we will be back in the high 70's middle of next week!

 

[jwith68]

I've been reading all the stories of things freezing down South and it all seems so unreal. I can't imagine not having freezing cold temps to deal with and not being set up for it. I'd much rather deal with the 100f days we get once in a great while versus the freezing temps that the South is dealing with right now. It's easier to stay cool than it is to warm things up !!!

Glad to hear it all worked out with the waterer. We sell those same units at Leedstone and the people that have them love them. Most put a small heater in them up here to keep them thawed over winter and have no issues .... until the heaters quit lol.

I'm in central MO, and we are used to freezing temps on a regular basis, just not for as long a stretch. This has been the longest stretch continually below freezing in quite some time, and definitely more hours below 10°F since the late '70's.

I really shouldn't complain, as we've had no significant issues at all. Our ground source heat pumps are keeping up with the house on low stage, not even switching to high stage, let alone electric backup. All our underground water lines are fine, and the Modine Hot Dawg in the garage/shop is keeping it nice in there. My little Mustang 940 skid steer was sitting in the shop keeping warm, so it fired right up to plow things out on Tuesday. I just plug in the block heater on the MTX 120, and it fires off at 0°F about the same as summer time.

I do think the waterer issue was just due to the balls. I'm going to put a couple new balls in it, and let the original ones dry out, keep them as spares. They're definitely floating lower now, and it has been fine down to -5°F with no heat in the past, but only for one or two nights at a time. I'm still leaving the heater in til at least March 15, but I doubt I'll need it again.

 

[Farmall450]

Being over 20 today in the sun felt like spring after the last 3 weeks.

 

[loganb]

Being over 20 today in the sun felt like spring after the last 3 weeks.

Agreed! Don't think I've ever thought that 20 degrees and sunny felt so good!

Sent from The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[teal95]

I also have a kindergartner named Alyssa. Good to see the kids out in the shop.

42" isn't that big of a monitor. I had 4 ~20" monitors hooked up to my old work laptop. Then they replaced it and the new one could only handle 3 monitors, including the laptop. I do a lot of work where I'm filling out a spreadsheet from multiple other spreadsheets so the screen space really helps. I tried looking for a 4k resolution monitor but the cheapest one I could find was a 27" for $250. Since the output is HDMI I looked for a 4k TV. I ended up with a 42" TCL TV and one of my old monitors. I put any Zoom meetings on the old monitor and then I can use the big screen to continue working.

 

[SKFengineer]

I can't claim to have the same below zero weather here in PA that exists in MN but we've been into the single digits a few nights and I've yet to wear long pants while walking my dog. I can totally understand how the flip-flops were fine for your walk down the lane at home.

 

[jblnut]

Mike, I'm trying to imagine going from -35* to the upper 30's in a couple days time. You must feel like breaking out the shorts/mankini and frolicking through the fields. . I apologize to readers of this thread for planting that image in your minds.

As one of the readers of this thread I appreciate the planting of that image in my mind. That sounds like a fantastic idea

It's the same here in Iowa. Yesterday was a tropical 12 degrees. Today should be the same-ish. When we hit 32 its gonna be party lol.

Of course I'm typing this from the 75deg heated/cooled cab in a brand new Deere with my feet kicked up on the footpegs. I'm a little salty this one doesn't have the massage seat in it.

No massage seat !!! How do you survive !?!?!?

A lot of people are complaining about the weather right now, and rightfully so. But all the talk of wanting to live somewhere else because of a week of extreme weather? You're just trading one hardship for another. No matter where you live on this planet nature is going to try to kill you; whether it be cold, heat, venomous creepy things or things actually trying to eat you. The only thing you can choose is which one you want to deal with.

One thing's for sure jblnut, if your propane guy puts up a nice addition on his house this year you'll know why.

I like it here ... mostly I guess ... I'd take -30F over 90F any day. -30F ***** but 90F is waaaaay worse. I can wear more to stay warm but can only take so much off when it's that hot

I think the main seal on the injection pump shaft is bad. Parts just came in so hopefully going to try getting that fixed this weekend. I plan to change all the fluids and filters as well, since I didn't do that when I first bought it. Once that's done, and I get 2 of the loader cylinders rebuilt, it should run for a long time.

These little IH tractors are fantastic little machines with a little maintenance once in a while. I love this little 884 and although I've thought it needs to be updated with something newer I think it'll be here for a long time

speaking of getting the mail in your flip flops when it's -15 when you had a choice I guess cause you wanted to cool off?

I remember flying from here to Myrtle Beach (weather in Myrtle Beach was in mid 70's for the week I was going there) so I left Seattle in shorts and T shirt. Our flight changed planes in Chicago and other plane never got there so had to spend the night. Only thing airline did was provide a bus ride to a hotel. No luggage cause still in airlines hands so I walked out of bus into hotel and the -6 degrees was a bit chilly, but I think it was colder the next morning when we got back on the bus to the airport.

Just asking do any of your critters pass on when it gets super cold or are they staying indoors when it gets that cold?

Keep warm!!

I was too lazy to put pants and shoes on so out I went. Honestly it felt fine but I was only outside for a few minutes


The critters do fine in the cold. They hunker down and deal with it I guess.
-25F when the photo was taken and the farm cats are as happy as can be hiding out in the corn straw bales

Best not loose any cause sure not digging a hole to bury them in that frozen tundra.

Yeah. During the winter if we have a steer that passes on we call "the guy with the red truck" to come pick up the aforementioned passed on steer.

Sifan: sounds almost colder than inside of a freezer if one passed?

ALL: Just curious how far do you guys have to bury your water pipes and how much insulation? Any of them breaking or have you all figured out how to avoid that by not using any water when it's below zero?

Most of our water lines are buried around that 7-8' deep up here. The best way to keep things from freezing in the cold is to either have them totally empty or to keep the water running at a good clip so it doesn't have a chance to freeze.

When I took this picture it was around 15F warmer in the chest freezer in the shop than it was outside

 

[jblnut]

We saw record lows down here this week...-2 at the airport about 3 miles from me. 2nd lowest temp ever recorded in the state since record keeping started in 1898. We lost power on Sunday about 2:30 am, and didn't get it back and stable until about 6 am Wednesday morning. Val told me the thermostat showed 38F for the inside temp when the power came back.

Our plant had to shut down for all but essential skeleton operation peple due to power and gas issues. We are fed by a pair of 135kV feeds and have two of our own substations on the facility. Environmental Control crew had to shed as much gas powered stuff as possible to prevent a total collapse of the gas system on that part of town, due to dropping pressure. First time the plant has shut down for weather in the nearly 35 years I've been around it.

Here's the real kicker about this...weather guessers are saying we will be back in the high 70's middle of next week!

Having read tons of stories about the issues faced in Texas I still find it hard to imagine how I'd deal with that type of weather. I flip it around and think how I'd deal with 120F and cringe. Hard pass !!! Cold is WAY harder to deal with than heat though so it's still nothing close to apples to apples.

I'm in central MO, and we are used to freezing temps on a regular basis, just not for as long a stretch. This has been the longest stretch continually below freezing in quite some time, and definitely more hours below 10°F since the late '70's.

I really shouldn't complain, as we've had no significant issues at all. Our ground source heat pumps are keeping up with the house on low stage, not even switching to high stage, let alone electric backup. All our underground water lines are fine, and the Modine Hot Dawg in the garage/shop is keeping it nice in there. My little Mustang 940 skid steer was sitting in the shop keeping warm, so it fired right up to plow things out on Tuesday. I just plug in the block heater on the MTX 120, and it fires off at 0°F about the same as summer time.

I do think the waterer issue was just due to the balls. I'm going to put a couple new balls in it, and let the original ones dry out, keep them as spares. They're definitely floating lower now, and it has been fine down to -5°F with no heat in the past, but only for one or two nights at a time. I'm still leaving the heater in til at least March 15, but I doubt I'll need it again.

Good to give the ground source heat pumps a test I guess !!!

I asked around a bit at work and was told the balls fill with water over time and sink down. Seems logical I guess. The brass floats in my waterers will eventually fill up as well which seems illogical but it still happens.

Being over 20 today in the sun felt like spring after the last 3 weeks.

Flip flops and a mankini. Yup. That image is still bouncing around in my head lol.

Agreed! Don't think I've ever thought that 20 degrees and sunny felt so good!

It was 40F today and I worked outside in a T-Shirt for a bit and it was amazing !!!

I also have a kindergartner named Alyssa. Good to see the kids out in the shop.

42" isn't that big of a monitor. I had 4 ~20" monitors hooked up to my old work laptop. Then they replaced it and the new one could only handle 3 monitors, including the laptop. I do a lot of work where I'm filling out a spreadsheet from multiple other spreadsheets so the screen space really helps. I tried looking for a 4k resolution monitor but the cheapest one I could find was a 27" for $250. Since the output is HDMI I looked for a 4k TV. I ended up with a 42" TCL TV and one of my old monitors. I put any Zoom meetings on the old monitor and then I can use the big screen to continue working.

It seems like yesterday when we brought Miss Alyssa home from the hospital as a newborn ..... now she's reading me books and "teaching" me lots of things. Gosh I love these kids but wow .... they're growing up so fast !!!

I purchased a 43" TCL 4K tv thinking it'd be used as a PC monitor and it has spent most of it's life with various background noise things playing on it. Like right now with Letterkenny playing from Season 1 through 9 for the umpteenth time.

I can't claim to have the same below zero weather here in PA that exists in MN but we've been into the single digits a few nights and I've yet to wear long pants while walking my dog. I can totally understand how the flip-flops were fine for your walk down the lane at home.

My toes were a but chilly but hey, I wasn't outside for long.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 40F we had the last two days. Things are melting and getting muddy and there are around 80 days max until we start planting corn

 

[jblnut]

A bit behind as these pictures of cold temps were last week .....

The vents in the chicken barn were not opening and working properly so I went outside (in the -18F) to check out what was going on. Seems they were a bit "restricted"



The louvers do not seal 100% inside the barn and they let a bit of air out and the bird block mesh gets fogged a little each cycle and eventually they freeze shut. I smacked them all with a chunk of broken broom handle and they opened right up !!


85F air hitting -21F air makes it look like it's all on fire.


Foggy mess !!!


Dad and I got the seed treater in its new home.


I put the adjusting side into some pipe pieces to keep it from wandering out of place.


The other side sets on a chunk of old gravel conveyor belting to provide a little of isolation from the vibration this thing creates.


Time to change the hard surface skiddy tires out for something with more grab. Pops got stuck in the bedpack in the steer barn with the current tires and that is quite silly. Time for new tires !!!


That floor jack didn't want to lift the skiddy in the center of the rear but it did one corner. It's a 3-1/2 ton jack. Good grief !!


Fill them up to 80psi and put them back on

 

[Jayman17]

Mike, just curious about your seed treater, what does it do to seed? I will guess that it applies some kind of fertilizer to coat each seed?
I sure don't envy you working outside in those cold temps, my hands or feet wouldn't be able to function

Jay

 

[jblnut]

Mike, just curious about your seed treater, what does it do to seed? I will guess that it applies some kind of fertilizer to coat each seed?
I sure don't envy you working outside in those cold temps, my hands or feet wouldn't be able to function

Jay

The seed treater is used to apply a few different products to soybean seed. Mostly to help insets from eating them before they germinate and to help them from rotting underground if the weather turns cold and they do not pop out of the ground right away.

It has been in the 30's and low 40's the last couple of days and we've been working in sweatshirts and tossle caps. It is a nice change !!!

 

[jblnut]

Thanks to Getter and his "The Brazen Brazilian Adventure(garage)" gallery thread there will now be some moving things in my posts



We ordered a bunch of crop protection products from FBN and they are going to be delivered today. I told the driver I'd wait at the end of the driveway that he is to turn in to get unloaded.

This guy was super awesome and told me he had his doubts if the skiddy would lift the totes. I asked why and he said no way his would. Of course I had to ask what it was and he said it was a Bobcat 610. It's a nice machine I told him but this S300 could probably pick it up. He laughed and we BS'd for a bit until he had to go.

I put the skiddy in the shed once all the pallets were put away and heard a air leaking noise. Simple fix !! I just tightened the valve stem a bit and it was all happy again.

Time to clean out the barn. This will be the 2nd time I've gotten to actually work the skiddy a bit. It's a freaking beast !! Good grief !!

Om nom nom. Look at it scoop that poop !!

Piled high and headed out to the field.

Over winter when we have more time we haul the manure to the field we'll be spreading it in. In the spring when it's time to spread it we can keep the spreader in the field and not drag as much mud on the roads. Plus it saves time by not having to go up and down the road.

Missy the shop cat has become Missy the hayshed cat. Stupid cat keeps darting out the garage doors when they're open so he gets to stay outside now !!

The new Artex SB600 vertical beater spreader is here !!!!

And it is MASSIVE !!!

 

[drivesitfar]

I'm not sure I can handle all that movement in your pictures now cause it's making me dizzy. that said if you like it it's your thread and you do you.

great pics and information about your busy life as usual.

have a great weekend and maybe it's time to make a little critter door for your kitty? unless you have rodents bigger than her that could get in and cause havoc.

 

[Muzzy]

The new Artex SB600 vertical beater spreader is here !!!!

I looked up the specs. and that is an impressive machine!
Is this replacing the last new(ish) spreader?
Thank you for keeping the updates coming, always interesting to see what goes on in your world day to day.

 

[mfg0772]

I like the update. This gives a whole new perspective to everything you are doing.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Nice action shots! Those are cool!

 

[red]

Found the engineer, I had mention earlier about "venting" SIP roofs

His name is Dr. Joseph Lstibuerk, here's one of his videos
(32 min mark he's shows failure modes of SIPs)

 

[Jayman17]

Wow, moving pics! Mind blown! I like the update.

Jay

 

[jollygreengiant]

Man those moving pics are really cool!

But are they really slow loading for anyone else?

 

[Getter]

Thanks to Getter and his "The Brazen Brazilian Adventure(garage)" gallery thread there will now be some moving things in my posts

No problem jbl!! those shots are great, makes it seem like I'm right there with ya- Glad I'm not after I saw that poop scooping one! HA! and that vertical beater spreader looks like serious piece a gear.

 

[XJSuperman]

Thats a heck of an update! That spreader looks like a monster. Switching spreader tractors too I assume?

 

[jblnut]

I'm not sure I can handle all that movement in your pictures now cause it's making me dizzy. that said if you like it it's your thread and you do you.

great pics and information about your busy life as usual.

have a great weekend and maybe it's time to make a little critter door for your kitty? unless you have rodents bigger than her that could get in and cause havoc.

I like the moving pictures but don't like that they have to be hosted on Giphy's site. We shall see if I can figure out a way to get them over to Flicker.

We've talked about a little critter door for the kitty but there are dozens of little critters out here that would end up in the shop. Currently I'm in a heated game of chess with a stupid skunk in the hayshed !! I set the trap in one spot and he goes around it .... I move it to his current path and he goes around it .... I'll end up victorious but until then

I looked up the specs. and that is an impressive machine!
Is this replacing the last new(ish) spreader?
Thank you for keeping the updates coming, always interesting to see what goes on in your world day to day.

Up in this country an Atrex spreader is the one to have. They're made just a few hours South of us so it's a MN made product which is neat as well. We traded the other spreader in on this one as we have no need for both of them. This one is actually towards the bottom of their entire lineup as far as size/capacity goes. This one weighs in around 12,500lbs with a 22yd capacity and the largest model weighs around 27,000lbs with a 42yd capacity !! I've seen one of the CB1200's and it's an impressive machine !!

Thank you for following along !!!

I like the update. This gives a whole new perspective to everything you are doing.

It requires a bit more effort to be put in but I think they're neat as well

Nice action shots! Those are cool!

I think they'll have their place. Not all shots need to move but having some moving will be neat I think.

Found the engineer, I had mention earlier about "venting" SIP roofs

His name is Dr. Joseph Lstibuerk, here's one of his videos
(32 min mark he's shows failure modes of SIPs)

When you were last talking about this I actually stumbled on his videos. We're doing a "regular" roof to avoid some of the SIP issues. Well, not issues but it'll be easier and we do not need fancy vaults and such so it makes more financial sense to stay with a truss/blown package.

Wow, moving pics! Mind blown! I like the update.

Jay

Thanks Jay. I like them a lot as well !!

Man those moving pics are really cool!

But are they really slow loading for anyone else?

They load a lot slower on my phone than on my laptop. Not sure why

No problem jbl!! those shots are great, makes it seem like I'm right there with ya- Glad I'm not after I saw that poop scooping one! HA! and that vertical beater spreader looks like serious piece a gear.

Thanks again Getter !!!

Lots of poop scooping going on here

Thats a heck of an update! That spreader looks like a monster. Switching spreader tractors too I assume?

When we asked the sales guy Randy what we'd need to pull it with and he responded with "150hp is plenty" I laughed. He said, "If you haul **** when you're supposed to haul **** 150hp is PLENTY". Meaning don't go out in the winter and play in the snow or in the early spring when things are spongy. We usually haul in the spring/fall when the ground is nice and firm so we should be fine with the dualed up 7630. If not the STX325 has a PTO

 

[jblnut]

I used the S300 to plow snow a few days back and wow. It's a monster compared to the 763 !! It never turned out of the snow because it was too heavy and the 2spd made it actually throw it a ways !!

Pops shaking a bale apart for the steers. I like these .gifs for these moments

Hey look !! He's got a helper !! Miss Alyssa snuck in the cab with Grandpa for a ride along

Everyone get back in your pen !!!!

You guys as well !!!

Mama Bear went on a "crafting weekend" with some of her girly friends so the littles and I made the walk from the house Sat/Sun to hang out in the shop. We had a good time and they loved spending time in the room upstairs as well as helping me in the shop a bit. Win Win Win for all !!!

Last night the septic high level alarm went off. Boooooooooo. Time to thaw this cover out and see what's going on

What a shithole ......

I took the pump out and put it back in and it worked. I think the float was stuck or something

Dad brought the 7810 over to the shop a few days back to warm up because it was going to get some new shoes !!!

Dad spent his stimulus money on 4 new Firestone tires. Well, his stimulus money paid for just under half of one tire I guess :

I think I could have watched this guy do this all day. In less than 15min he had the old tire off and the new one on. Goodness !!!

 

[jblnut]

Four brand new Firestones on the 7810. Not a bad way to spend $5,800


Thud crunch bang pop sizzle smoke weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee goes the engine when the trans drops pieces on the ground


That looks like fun ....


Oooooo I can think of a few things to do with that !!!


Other than move it in and out a few times this is the first thing we did with it. Moved an auger out of the shop back to it's "storage" spot outside. The plan will be to use it to move rolls of tile around with the skiddy (once I put a quick attack plate on it to keep the forks from stabbing the tile) as well as on the forklift for it's intended purpose. It'll act as an A-Frame hoist, jib boom and cherry picker on the forklift. I'm stoked


The local General Rental Center had a 12k rated low load height skid loader trailer that I used to bring the forklift home. The book says it weighs over 10k and the pickup agreed. That thing pulled like a SOB on the way home !!


One more thing cluttering up the shop floor !!! I'm going to have a local forklift company out and give it a once-over and give me a "wish list" of things to fix. It runs out pretty well but is in bad need of a tuneup. The couple hundred bucks they'll charge will be well worth it. I have a few dollars I'm okay with spending as I paid a little over scrap price for the forklift and it should easily be work $5k I'd think


Pops and I got the two main storage cabinets moved to the new shop yesterday.


Third sticker from the bottom on the right door "QST". I missed looking at it as this cabinet was in the other shop and I haven't seen it lately. A very nice reminder to spend some "Quality Shop Time" and even more important are all the other things it reminds me to do. QFT being the most important that seems to get pushed aside too often. It'll be there as a reminder now to make sure the family comes first. "Quality Family Time" after all can be spent in the shop


Seems I need more little hanging bins. I love this cabinet !!


The other was a gift from Mr. ABSTIFFGS when he moved houses to his current place. He says "one day" he'll build a shop where he is and I hope he doesn't want it back because I've grown quite fond of it

 

[madison069]

Just playing catch up and you've been very busy! I dig that forklift with the boom/cherry picker attachment setup. It would be great to have it around the garage when disassembling cars for repair and such!

 

[ambenz]

Thanks for sharing your life on the farm, very cool to see.
Love the cows coming and going...LOL!
Curious what is the going price per chicken now days...maybe it is weight.
When I can buy chicken for 49 cents a pound, I think of this thread and wonder what is the incentive to raise chicks? You are not breaking the bank with that adventure.
Now the cows, they gotta be the ca$h crop...I can barely buy a cheap cut of beef anymore for under $5 a pound so we rarely buy beef...glad chicken is "cheep!"

 

[JAB82]

first let me say that I love reading this thread and sometimes I don't get time to read it but when time allows I spend some time catching up so here I am reading about the carpet squares you put down upstairs and I wanted to lend some insight on how the PSA glue(Pressure Sensitive Glue) works you spread it out and wait for it to dry to the touch this way when you put the squares down it sticks like a removable sticker this is how commercial carpet tile is installed so you can just peel up a damaged tile to replace it what you did is set it in the wet glue for permanent installation as for your comment about on walking on the glue when it dries it is transparent and you can see chalk lines trough it you just start at the door laying tile and work your way in to the room so you don't really walk on the glue anyway keep up with the good work and family time out on Quaker road

 

[quadrcr87]

You have been very busy. I like the variety of projects and equipment running a farm gets you into. I would hate to see a $5800 tire bill but I know its necessary.

 

[madison069]

I put the skiddy in the shed once all the pallets were put away and heard a air leaking noise. Simple fix !! I just tightened the valve stem a bit and it was all happy again.

Last night I started working on the riding mower and first thing to fix was the front left tire was flat. I pulled the flat tire off the mower and got the bead set on the rim again using a ratchet strap, an air chuck that clips on the valve to keep it on, and some smacks to push the bead of the tire on the rim fast so the air will stay in the tire. After a few good smacks it started airing up and I released the ratchet strap. Sprayed the tire down with soapy solution only to find the leak was the tire stem valve inners. Luckily I keep extra stems inners and so I replaced it and aired the tire back up. retested the valve stem and I had no more leak!

So I guess it's a leaky tire stem kind of month cause this is the 5th one I've heard of leaking from different people.

 

[jblnut]

Just playing catch up and you've been very busy! I dig that forklift with the boom/cherry picker attachment setup. It would be great to have it around the garage when disassembling cars for repair and such!

Busy Busy Busy !!! No other way out here. I stay out of trouble if I'm to busy to get into it

I'm pretty stoked to use the boom and forklift for stuff as well !!! I was going to install a pivoting crane with a hoist and then thought about a giant A-Frame deal and settled on a forklift and this boom deal. Way more versatile and I'm under $2,500 in the combo so far

Thanks for sharing your life on the farm, very cool to see.
Love the cows coming and going...LOL!
Curious what is the going price per chicken now days...maybe it is weight.
When I can buy chicken for 49 cents a pound, I think of this thread and wonder what is the incentive to raise chicks? You are not breaking the bank with that adventure.
Now the cows, they gotta be the ca$h crop...I can barely buy a cheap cut of beef anymore for under $5 a pound so we rarely buy beef...glad chicken is "cheep!"

Thank you for reading about me sharing about you reading about me sharing my life on the farm

The chicken barn is a contract barn so they supply feed, fuel, birds, bedding and electricity and I supply the land, loan, labor and light bulbs. I do not know what the going price is per chicken I guess. My incentive is that it adds value to the farm by providing a consistent revenue stream and the manure is worth way more than anything we could ever purchase to put on the fields. Plus, it keeps me busy and out of trouble

The last steers I sold I made around $150/head profit after all expenses were paid. I sell in the neighborhood of 140/year so it's not a crazy get rich quick deal but it's still in the neighborhood of $21k/year. Plus, like the chicken barn, it adds diversity to the farm and they produce manure.

I just sent a runty steer off this afternoon to get turned into hot dogs and bologna so I'll let you know what that costs when we get it all back. We do have a nice steady supply of steak and hamburger though. It sure is nice to be able to grab stuff out of the freezer knowing I raised it

first let me say that I love reading this thread and sometimes I don't get time to read it but when time allows I spend some time catching up so here I am reading about the carpet squares you put down upstairs and I wanted to lend some insight on how the PSA glue(Pressure Sensitive Glue) works you spread it out and wait for it to dry to the touch this way when you put the squares down it sticks like a removable sticker this is how commercial carpet tile is installed so you can just peel up a damaged tile to replace it what you did is set it in the wet glue for permanent installation as for your comment about on walking on the glue when it dries it is transparent and you can see chalk lines trough it you just start at the door laying tile and work your way in to the room so you don't really walk on the glue anyway keep up with the good work and family time out on Quaker road

I really appreciate all y'all's that follow along !! About the glue .... yeah .... we read the instructions and were told how to do it but it just didn't seem right to let it dry and then lay them down. Stubborn do it our own way I guess but that's fine. I wanted carpet squares so I could do it myself, not so much for the "remove one later" factor. Although knowing that I just about can't ever nicely remove one makes me want to try !!!

You have been very busy. I like the variety of projects and equipment running a farm gets you into. I would hate to see a $5800 tire bill but I know its necessary.

Thank you for following along !! I also enjoy the variety of tasks out here. Some are much worse than others but if you check one boring/nasty thing off each day eventually there won't be any or as many left to do !!

In fairness the tires were not $5800 ..... they charged $75/ea to put them on so they were only $5300

Last night I started working on the riding mower and first thing to fix was the front left tire was flat. I pulled the flat tire off the mower and got the bead set on the rim again using a ratchet strap, an air chuck that clips on the valve to keep it on, and some smacks to push the bead of the tire on the rim fast so the air will stay in the tire. After a few good smacks it started airing up and I released the ratchet strap. Sprayed the tire down with soapy solution only to find the leak was the tire stem valve inners. Luckily I keep extra stems inners and so I replaced it and aired the tire back up. retested the valve stem and I had no more leak!

So I guess it's a leaky tire stem kind of month cause this is the 5th one I've heard of leaking from different people.

Yesterday the chicken barn housekeeper had a low tire and sure enough, it was the stupid valve stem as well !! Good grief !!!

 

[jblnut]

Chickens are gone again and it's barn cleaning time !!!

It's a bit dusty to really see what's all going on but maybe this shows more than a still picture

I got a call from a trucker dude that he was close with more Golden Harvest Soybean Seed so I hopped in the skiddy and went to unload it all.

Nine more proboxes of soybeans. The trucker was worried about rolling them off the back of his truck but he kept it all together and didn't let even one soybean out !!

Pops is cutting chain ......

To mount the transfer auger with !! It's about damn time too.

Too fast too fast !! Slow down !!

Ahhhhh there it is

It only took 18 months to get the other feed bin up and running

Time to mix another load for the big steers now.

Lets see .... out of the bin, up an auger, up another auger, through a hammer mill, across an auger and up another auger and it's in the mixer hopper. That corn has to be dizzy by the time it's in there !!!

The ol' mixer is getting a bit tired. Pops stuffed a glove in the gap to seal it up and it seems a pail is needed. She needs a bit of adjustment to be back in tip top working order again

On Sunday we loaded up a nice guy that drove over 3hrs to get his third load of 10 bales of corn straw from us. He said there is nothing up there for sale and this was the nicest stuff he's ever used. Always feels nice to hear the product you have is of nice quality