Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[RickP]

Those LEDs look amazing!

I'm sure you're glad to get started on the corn harvest -- hope your yields are pretty decent.

With the new stove, you'll be going through firewood like rhubarb through... well, you get the picture. That new stove will definitely lower your heating bills this year!

 

[jblnut]

Welcome to modern lighting. All the new stuff comes with LEDs these days it seems, and man, when I need light, we got light. Whats the corn coming out as this year? Decent yields/moisture? Its pretty dry down here, but I think its yielding ok. Haven't heard enough yet to know for sure.
You can keep the snow a bit longer if ya like. I don't want it.

Yeah the LEDs are amazing !! Going to be a spendy deal though as I want them on everything now

Soybeans did around 57bu/acre which was well over what what our average is and what we expected so quite happy there !!

Corn looks to be in the 160-170bu/acre but we're not done yet. A couple more days to go and that'll be wrapped up as well. Then on to making bedding and cleaning the steer barn and tillage and the list goes on .....

With the new stove, you'll be going through firewood like rhubarb through... well, you get the picture. That new stove will definitely lower your heating bills this year!

So far I've burned very little actual firewood and have been getting rid of a ton of scrap lumber and other junk. People have heard I have an outdoor boiler and have offered a few years worth of wood total so far so I think I'll be good on wood supply going forward. We have about a years worth laying on the ground already from a ditch we cleaned out as well. I'm the odd one where I actually enjoy cutting wood so I'm excited to feed this monster !!

So far $0.00 in fuel cost. The stove and it's pumps use an average of 225w 24/7 so there is give or take around $1/day in electricity to move the water around. Not free but better than 2,000gal/yr propane use !!

 

[jblnut]

My "new" pickup is in its parking space. Roughly 225 miles to get it home and it ran like a champ. The passenger door did fly open on the freeway however and it startled me to say the least lol.

 

[XJSuperman]

Are those.....ramps? As in, put the ranger on the back ramps?

 

[jblnut]

Are those.....ramps? As in, put the ranger on the back ramps?

Maybe .....

 

[racer-john]

My "new" pickup is in its parking space. Roughly 225 miles to get it home and it ran like a champ. The passenger door did fly open on the freeway however and it startled me to say the least lol.

Where's the fifth wheel trailer?

 

[drivesitfar]

Nice little truck. Was mama bear in the passenger seat or one of the littlest? Geesh that would have been a nice jolt to the heart.

Nice find!!

 

[jblnut]

Where's the fifth wheel trailer?

It's got a gooseneck ball but not an actual "semi" 5th-wheel plate. In it's former life it was a utility company truck with a service body, crane and auger on it I guess.

Nice little truck. Was mama bear in the passenger seat or one of the littlest? Geesh that would have been a nice jolt to the heart.

Nice find!!

My bag of Dots Pretzels was in the passenger seat and they nearly flew out !!!

 

[jblnut]

I picked up "a few" pounds of bologna and hot dogs that I had a local meat shop make out of a cull cow that my inlaws gave us. 250lbs of hot dogs and 150lbs of bologna are "a few" in my world I guess


It's corn !!! It's Enogen corn to be precise.


Damn I am behind on posting lol. This field is already totally harvested, corn stalks chopped and baled up


Red combine ..... Green tractor. The universe is in complete balance out here !!!


The front tires on the 7630 were quite worn (10ply on a 14ply tire sticking out) so we decided to put the new ones on.


Old backwards tire on the left, new Firestone on the right .......... if you couldn't tell


Fancy bead breaker tool to get these buggers loose.


Almost got our money out of these !!


Well that looks better


Pops eating up acres in the combine.


Usually it is well cold enough to see the steam coming out of the dryer but this year it's been crazy warm. It got down into the low 30's a few nights during harvest and I snagged a steamy pic finally this year.


Although I absolutely love this stove so far I think I'm going to wait until we're done with harvest next year to fire it. It is easy to maintain but I think I've gone though a total of 2 cords of lumber, 1 cord of actual wood and an untold amount of other misc burnables so far.


Time to do another test plot. This is a "weigh wagon". It has load cells under it to measure within 5lbs how much corn is in it.


Scale head on the bottom, moisture tester top left and a simple device to measure test weight on the right. All are important to do accurate yield checks.


We also calibrated the yield monitor on the combine. May as well !! Bring a Golden Harvest dealer has it's perks


Time to haul corn to my place and fill my bin finally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Good grief this has been a long time in the making !!


So here's me sitting on this tire while the wagon is unloading and all of the sudden BAMMMMMMMMM!! WTF was that ?!?!? Not a flat tire, no sir. We have a flat rim. Never seen this before !!


Jack it up with everyone's favorite tool. The "new" tire is on the EZGO service rig lol


Once the new tire was on the little guy had to do some quality control.


He even made sure all the bolts were tight


Once we got it back to the shop we checked the rest of the tires and he helped air air. Such a little worker he is !!


Leo put in a 10hr day with Grandpa in the combine. He took one nap and ate part of Grandpa's lunch but was smiling and waving like a crazy person every time I drove past them. I couldn't be happier as a father

 

[Mr.zippy]

My bag of Dots Pretzels was in the passenger seat and they nearly flew out !!!

Yep, that is a necessity of life right there!

 

[loganb]

Yep, that is a necessity of life right there!

Was introduced to these recently.... dangerous item to keep around for sure!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That's pretty wild with the wheel! Rust worms finally get to it?

 

[RickP]

We also calibrated the yield monitor on the combine. May as well !! Bring a Golden Harvest dealer has it's perks

Nice perks!

How's it going so far being a dealer? Is the amount of your time invested in the business being paid back yet? Do you prefer this to your tiling gig, or do you like both for the variety?

So here's me sitting on this tire while the wagon is unloading and all of the sudden BAMMMMMMMMM!! WTF was that ?!?!? Not a flat tire, no sir. We have a flat rim. Never seen this before !!

I've never even heard that was possible!
How much pressure was I'm that tire?
I need to take a closer look at my trailer tire rims in the future...

Leo put in a 10hr day with Grandpa in the combine. He took one nap and ate part of Grandpa's lunch but was smiling and waving like a crazy person every time I drove past them. I couldn't be happier as a father

You must be so proud of Leo. What a hard worker -- 10 hour days are hard at that age. He's really learning the ropes -- future farmer in the making!

 

[Finallygotit]

Was introduced to these recently.... dangerous item to keep around for sure!

I have grown quite fond of the honey mustard variety.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

" I couldn't be happier as a father" I would bet your father feels the same way!
I grew up with a father that had a busy side business of rebuilding motors outside his job as a mechanic / machinist.
I had to stay home from church because I was too young, and my dad had to watch me, so I helped my dad before I started school. The skills that I was taught very early on are skills that I used almost every day.
I'm making the assumption that you helped your dad when you were Leo's age, I would also think that your grandpa might have been the same for your dad.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[jblnut]

Yep, that is a necessity of life right there!

These damn things will have a group that meets once a week to discuss how to use less of them eventually. They're damn good ....

Was introduced to these recently.... dangerous item to keep around for sure!

Almost as addictive as the smell of fresh cut alfalfa ..... oooooooooo

That's pretty wild with the wheel! Rust worms finally get to it?

They must have, I can't think of what else would do it in like that

Nice perks!

How's it going so far being a dealer? Is the amount of your time invested in the business being paid back yet? Do you prefer this to your tiling gig, or do you like both for the variety?


I've never even heard that was possible!
How much pressure was I'm that tire?
I need to take a closer look at my trailer tire rims in the future...


You must be so proud of Leo. What a hard worker -- 10 hour days are hard at that age. He's really learning the ropes -- future farmer in the making!

Selling seed has been a wonderful adventure thus far. I know it's not always about the money but I made probably 4x/hr what I made at the previous job. Granted I do not sell seed 40hrs a week so that number is a bit wonkey. I pounded the seed selling pavement one day a week from about now last year until mid April so it's more profitable per hour for sure. In the end it's a nice sideline income to the farm that is still farming related. Win Win.

I certainly enjoy them both I guess. Selling seed has me in front of people which I enjoy and tiling lets me drive big sandbox toys which I also enjoy

I have grown quite fond of the honey mustard variety.

Not looking to start an online squirmish here but yeah no. They are certainly better than whatever flavor it is that comes in the blue bag though. Original red bag for this guy !!!

" I couldn't be happier as a father" I would bet your father feels the same way!
I grew up with a father that had a busy side business of rebuilding motors outside his job as a mechanic / machinist.
I had to stay home from church because I was too young, and my dad had to watch me, so I helped my dad before I started school. The skills that I was taught very early on are skills that I used almost every day.
I'm making the assumption that you helped your dad when you were Leo's age, I would also think that your grandpa might have been the same for your dad.
Thanks for sharing.

He likely feels the same way some days I'd hope. I've been poking and prodding about doing things differently and changing a few things and it's been going well but he's resisted at a few of them for sure. I get it, I really do but I'd like to do somethings my own way and I respect that we'll not see eye to eye all the time and have to figure out how to deal with that without throwing wrenches across the shop too often.

I lived in the tractor when I was smallish and I have heard an untold number of stories about how Pops used to "Ride on the hitch of the Farmall H to fields that were 5 miles away when he was 5". Not sure if I'm quite ready for the kiddos to do that yet but he lived so

 

[jblnut]

Winter is approaching !! Make sure you're freezers are full !!!


Every vehicle needs a name. My Mother thought Walter was a good one for the Freightshaker. I don't hate it so we'll try it on for a while !! Time to see what Walter can do !!


I parked out there, walked back to get the skiddy to load it up, and walked back out there to take it home. I'm trying to lose whatever weight I need to lose to fit comfortably in a size 36 again. Partly because I'd like to lose a few pounds, mostly because all my 38-40 pants are shot and need to be replaced and I'm too tight to spend a couple hundred dollars on new stuff when I have buckets of smaller stuff. Losing weight is free so we shall try that first.


10 bales are around 10,000lbs plus the trailers and it didn't even know it was back there. Sweet


The next project on the list was to put new knives on the stalk chopper. The old ones were duller than a 2x4 and it showed. I laid on my back on a creeper for the first set and said NOPE. There is always a better way !!


In the effort of the upmost safety around here I lifted it up a little more after the pictures so it was almost perfectly balanced and would tip backward if something broke or the forklift said NOPE for some reason. I had them all redone in just shy of an hour. Can't complain with that !!


Off to bring some more corn home. This was my office for quite a few days this fall


Somehow 2 cups of hamburger, 4 cheese sticks and a gallon of water kept me going all day.


We're in the last field of corn for 2022


Can't hardly call it rain because it didn't stop us from combining. We could sure use some moisture around here ..... What do the old guys say .... Dryer than a Nuns popcorn fart .....


Headed out to make some bedding !!


We'll need to have around 500 bales of bedding on hand to bed the steers. This 52 acre field should get us around 180 or so.


"My pickup gets 12mpg's, no way I can daily drive it" I'm going 9mph. Do the math


When you spread that fuel use out it works to around $2.56/acre or around $1/bale of bedding for the stalk chopping plus $1.25/bale for the tractor itself. The baler tractor will use about half that as it isn't being worked as hard so another $0.50/bale fuel. Hauling them home and putting them in the shed I always figured was around that $0.50/bale as well. Add in $1.50 for net wrap, "roughly" $2.75/bale for the baler, $1.25/bale for the tractor, an unknown amount for the tractor, wagons and skid steer to get them in the shed and we're up to $7.25/bale in fuel and machinery. There is a guy up here that charges $8/bale to come custom bale them for us but the convenience of being able to do it whenever I need to and not on his schedule is worth it in a heartbeat to me. No way I'd do it for $8/bale either. I've done some custom work but charged $12/bale and if someone grumbled I gave them the $8/bale guys number. He does a good job, is a nice guy and has the EXACT same tractor and baler lol. Let him wear his stuff out. <-that was a bit rant'y .... sorry ....


The big city of Avon, MN has a "Trunk or Treat" deal the Friday before Halloween so I shut er' down for a few hours to go hang out with actual people. The kiddos had a blast and the dads all tried some weird beers that had names that made no sense. I guess I'm not a Craft Beer person. Give me Busch Light any day over that sludge.


I picked up any cobs I found on the ground while hauling wagons home and forgot to put them through the combine so in the stove they go !! Corn has roughly 300,000btu's/bu so it's actually quite energy dense. The creosote is building up something awful due to the stove not cycling that often because it's been so stinking warm up here lately. I ordered some of the same stuff that the Central Boiler guys use in their stoves to manage it a little better so hopefully that helps it from creating such nasty creosotecicles lol

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That's one hell of a "bale train"!

And the forklift stand is 100% OSHA compliant from my vantage point...I have and continue to use similar methods.

 

[zanyad]

The next project on the list was to put new knives on the stalk chopper. The old ones were duller than a 2x4 and it showed. I laid on my back on a creeper for the first set and said NOPE. There is always a better way !!


In the effort of the upmost safety around here I lifted it up a little more after the pictures so it was almost perfectly balanced and would tip backward if something broke or the forklift said NOPE for some reason. I had them all redone in just shy of an hour. Can't complain with that !!

And the forklift stand is 100% OSHA compliant from my vantage point...I have and continue to use similar methods.

I've put a heavy C clamp on the end of the fork to prevent the chain or strap from coming off.

 

[jeepxj]

ok hear me out; heated driveway.

 

[drivesitfar]

Another member who lives in Wisconsin has a burner similar to yours and he had creosote issues and took off his turbulator if that makes any sense to you. He said his works much better now and I’m guessing he’s had his fir maybe 2-3 years. His handle is sublime68charger if you want to chat on his thread or pm him

 

[jblnut]

That's one hell of a "bale train"!

And the forklift stand is 100% OSHA compliant from my vantage point...I have and continue to use similar methods.

From your vantage point. I'm sure it does look just fine from there

I've put a heavy C clamp on the end of the fork to prevent the chain or strap from coming off.

These forks have a hole in the end of each that I put a bolt through with the clevis just like it would be if it were on a drawbar. No way it was coming off

ok hear me out; heated driveway.

It was discussed and rapidly voted down. I think my words contained the phrase "**** no" a few times. I have relatives that live in a fancy uppity neighborhood somewhere down in the Minneapolis/St, Paul area that have a heated driveway. Just pure sillyness but having money to burn (literally) does that I guess

I have located an old flat top bulk tank from a dairy farm that I'm trying to figure out how to heat with the stove to use as a hot tub on the hill by the stove. Who knows. Mama Bear is on board with a hot tub, but not sure about the bulk tank bit

Another member who lives in Wisconsin has a burner similar to yours and he had creosote issues and took off his turbulator if that makes any sense to you. He said his works much better now and I’m guessing he’s had his fir maybe 2-3 years. His handle is sublime68charger if you want to chat on his thread or pm him

Yikes I looked through his thread and it is one I'll be following from now on !! Thank you Drives for the heads up !!

 

[jblnut]

I can see over the top of the cattle trailer



I was worried about clearance issues Clarence so I hooked it up and drove around a bit.


Really gotta get my MN plates on Walter sometime


Round bales .....






I sure do like the sun and nature smells but having a tractor with a cab while baling is a luxury that has VERY few rivals !!!


I think there were in the neighborhood of 145ish in these four fields. 20 home at a time makes for a good time .... for a week or so when it's all said and done


Every day before tucking it in for bed I give the baler a BJ like no other. No sense in having it decide to start on fire in the shed !!


Page 1, post 1 has this building filled up with stuff with a Farmall M torn apart to get a new clutch and a complete rewire if I remember correctly. Lots and lots of stuff went through this building when it was my shop and I sort of miss it. The small space (24x24) was A LOT easier to keep clean and organized. Only one project at a time was also a plus. Oh well. It is getting cleaned out to become a dry wood holding shed. The idea will be to put dry logs (3-4yr or more dead) in here to cut up and bucket to the boiler pad. We'll see how well it works. If any one has experience with a decent electric CORDED chainsaw I'm all ears. I sure like my Sthil Farmboss but if there is an electric version that's worth a **** I'm all ears. It'd be much nicer in there than a gas saw.


I had a couple extra UFO lights from the steer barn so I wired them in all proper and such.


That somehow looked like a WAY larger pile of wood when it was outside


3546 may have become a pet


He (and 3554) follow the girls around in the barn like they are a damn dog. I do give him head scratches every day as well so I'm sure that helps. They love coming to the barn and helping with chores but always end up petting him the entire time


That white ring is a frost ring on the grain bin. Seems that it is "That full". Neat.


Soybean seed is already showing up for 2023 !! Good grief.


Today I used this homemade tool to turn the feeders in the chicken barn from flood to feed ... all 239,344 of them. Okay, not that many but it always seems like it !!!


They don't care. They were starting to make a mess so they feeders get turned so there is less feed in each pan so they stop making a mess. Damn kids.


Took Walter to a neighbors place to help combine a test plot. He's looking to purchase a truck just like this so I thought I'd bring it over and let him check it out. I got a couple of "FU's" of jealousy


Pops blew off the combine today and I rolled in with the baler just in time for him to blow that off as well. Yeeeeesssssssssssss !!!

 

[sublime68charger]

Wood Stove question What made you go with the Crown Royal?

How much water does your's hold?



I have the Central Boiler 760HDX and its been good for the most part. Primary reason was the local guy is a Central Boiler Dealer and if/when I have problems hes' able to help me out on thing's.

Chainsaws

Anything and everything about chainsaws!

forestryforum.com

any chainsaw questions Id go there and start asking around.

 

[jeepxj]

gotta step your night shot game up







they made these light stands for night hauling. super handy if you do much at night. bonus cone of shame.

 

[DennisK59]

You better get the air moving better on your Frosted bin, otherwise you'll have a Jiffy Pop bin.

 

[jblnut]

Wood Stove question What made you go with the Crown Royal?

How much water does your's hold?



I have the Central Boiler 760HDX and its been good for the most part. Primary reason was the local guy is a Central Boiler Dealer and if/when I have problems hes' able to help me out on thing's.

Chainsaws

Anything and everything about chainsaws!

forestryforum.com

any chainsaw questions Id go there and start asking around.

I knew I wasn't the target customer for a gasser stove because of the varied type, quality and seasoned-ness of the fuel I have to burn. It was between the Central Boiler CL6048 and the Crown Royal 7400MP. Both would easily heat what I want heated and both have decent dealer support locally. Ultimately the multipass design of the exhaust system, the simplicity of the controls (a digital aquastat runs the whole stove) and the shaker grates are what made me go Crown. Both stoves were within a few hundred bucks of each other.

The book says 320gal of water. I think close to 340 went in when we filled it and the pipes and exchangers and such.

So far it's been great. One thing I didn't expect is how little ash this thing generates. I've burnt 7 IBC totes of lumber, 4-55gal barrels of fines and junk from under the grain dryer and at around a half cord of actual wood that was fairly green and I have had less than a 5gal pail of ash get into the ash tray. Crazy.

gotta step your night shot game up


they made these light stands for night hauling. super handy if you do much at night. bonus cone of shame.

Those are sweet shots !! My stupid phone barely takes pictures so night stuff is a good laugh from this POS unfortunately.

Time for an iPhone finally me thinks

 

[jblnut]

You better get the air moving better on your Frosted bin, otherwise you'll have a Jiffy Pop bin.

The fan has been running for a while already. It was cool dry corn out in there so I'm not too worried I guess

 

[jeepxj]

Those are sweet shots !! My stupid phone barely takes pictures so night stuff is a good laugh from this POS unfortunately.

Time for an iPhone finally me thinks

you got these kinda things all over for your PTO stuff? no more having to get all the way into the cab. PTO and throttle up from the step.




operation modernization has commenced:


now the load guy on haul days can just sit in the 4440 and run the whole operation from there.

https://imgur.com/XsJNwXb

next year i want to put some 12v linear actuators on the PTO and throttle in the 4440.

like this:

but an off the shelf remote:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYWBDHM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jollygreengiant]

next year i want to put some 12v linear actuators on the PTO and throttle in the 4440.



but an off the shelf remote:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYWBDHM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I was about to say you need some linear actuators until I scrolled to the bottom of your post. I've seen guys mount those controls on an external control box on the tractor so you can run everything from ground level in one spot.

 

[jeepxj]

I was about to say you need some linear actuators until I scrolled to the bottom of your post. I've seen guys mount those controls on an external control box on the tractor so you can run everything from ground level in one spot.

put it on the cone out by the trucks for drivers to grab when they're loading. if its just 2 trucks it would be nice to just have a second remote and keep them in the cab.

 

[jblnut]

Update time !!!!!!!

Load #1 of I dunno 34 or sometime


Also load #1 but a different angle so it seems different somehow. I really really try to appreciate these nice sunsets when they happen.


Load #the next one


Home and in place to unload them.


Unloaded and nestled nice and dry in the shed.


Heavy little guys !!!


A neighbor needed a couple bins moved and his skiddy wasn't large enough to do it so I wandered over with mine to help out. T'was a good time


All this **** under the grain dryer makes a royal mess when it gets wet so I raked it all up and bagged it into those white feed sacks. They got brought home and burnt in the wood stove. Sweet deal.


There was a pile of rain forecast so I brought 8 loads of wood home from the pile at Pops place.


I shoved 6 loads into the old shop to stay high and dry. I'll cut it up in here and haul it up to the stove as needed. Should work well I hope !!


Time to haul some POOOOOOOOOP !!!!!


Hauling chicken POOOOOOOOOOOOOOP on soybean ground that will be planted to corn next year.


Well **** .....


That is some REALLY dry hard ground


This is the length of the chisel plow points after 28 acres ....


This is the length of the chisel plow points when they're new. Goodness !!!


T'was Sunday so we made some crockpot chicken/potatoes in the shop. Er'ma'gawsh it was delicious


Look at the interesting frost patterns on the hayshed


Got the last of the PoOoOoOoOp hauled and started to dig it in. Gotta dig it in ASAP so as to not lose nutrients.


We've decided to only work the ground that we've spread manure on. Some rough math puts it at $2/acre just for chisel plow points. That's bonkers !!!

 

[jblnut]

It started to rain a bit so we decided to try some tillage again. It was raining hard enough that I stuffed a rag in the fuel tank fill so as to not get too much water in the tank. Do not need to piss off the already temperamental injection pump on the STX325.


Rain has never been more welcomed !!!


Still turning up dry dirt after 3/4" of rain. This stuff was really dry !!!


Pops was filling in washouts with the scraper while I was disking. It worked well. He hauled dirt and I essentially smoothed it out with the big disk.


More tillage !!!


Miss Lily came with and rode with for a solid 11hrs on Saturday. What a trooper !!!


She wanted to drive so here she goes !! She drove for close to 2hrs and did a great job !!


Boy oh boy am I ready to put a building up on this pad next summer. This wet wood stuff is already getting old.


More tillage into mildly frozen ground. I think it was in the low 20's this day. It worked very well though. Roughly 3" of rain fell the few days prior so it was quite soggy but the frozen ground made it do-able again !!


Where there were still corn stalks it was barely frozen but was solid enough that it worked perfectly.


We went from too dry to do tillage, to too wet, to almost too frozen and then it snowed 4"


The dirtwork crew was scheduled to come and put in a 12" dualwall pipe so we can close up a 1360' ditch and farm though it. Of course it was in the mud and snow and cold now.


What a mess !!!


Cat 329 and a D6K LGP made short work of digging the trench and filling it back in while shaping it all up nicely.


One could have a dinner party in that huge bucket


Dozer guy has just shy of 50yrs experience and boy oh boy did it show. This all looked great when they were done !!!


Almost finished


Sure is going to be nice not having to farm around this dumb ditch anymore !! How nice ? Roughly $15,000 so far of nice


In effort to become more active (yeah right lol) I bought this stupid thing. In the short time it took to split these few pieces I already love and hate this splitting maul. Love and hate for the same reasons. Love because it's a pile of physical labor to use and hate for the same reason

 

[jeepxj]

you gona build a lil shed for the boiler work?

this was so smart:

 

[RickP]

You've been busy! Work on the farm is never done, right?
I can't believe the wear on that chisel plow.
But it's gotta' be tilled...

In effort to become more active (yeah right lol) I bought this stupid thing. In the short time it took to split these few pieces I already love and hate this splitting maul. Love and hate for the same reasons. Love because it's a pile of physical labor to use and hate for the same reason

I hear you on the love/hate for a splitting maul!
I spent my teen years splitting with an axe and sledge/wedges.
Then I got a maul to make life "easier."

I finally broke down and bought a splitter, which is so much faster, especially since my wife volunteered to run it -- hauling rounds and stacking wood is still plenty of work for me!

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Very nice update! I have been working on drainage over the summer, nothing to the scale your project is.
Looking down into the clean outs for the French drain shows lots of water being drained from the property, this time last year I had a river running across the front of my property and could not walk down the side of the field without sinking in. Now I have no standing water or water flowing across the front of the property only a very little surface water after a hard rain, looking forward to seeing if this will help me get a tractor in the field sooner in the spring.
Thanks for sharing

 

[drivesitfar]

Great update!!

Wow your little gal is already driving machines in the field and looks like she’s enjoying it too.

Having all this work done before next spring will be nice come spring. I know you’ll figure out a great system for using all that wood to heat your home. Does it also heat some of your shops/buildings?

 

[jblnut]

you gona build a lil shed for the boiler work?

this was so smart:

I've watched that a few times and it seems super slick but not really what I'm thinking of doing.

This is more it but a 24'x24' building with the boiler in the corner. Not exactly sure on roof design or if I want to do a front door or what yet. Leaning towards a conventional peaked roof with a few greenhouse panels in it to provide some lighting. Will also be doing a fan system of sorts to vent the smoke. Think "big vent hood" like over a kitchen stove.

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altheatsupply.com

You've been busy! Work on the farm is never done, right?
I can't believe the wear on that chisel plow.
But it's gotta' be tilled...

I hear you on the love/hate for a splitting maul!
I spent my teen years splitting with an axe and sledge/wedges.
Then I got a maul to make life "easier."

I finally broke down and bought a splitter, which is so much faster, especially since my wife volunteered to run it -- hauling rounds and stacking wood is still plenty of work for me!

There is always something to do that is for sure.
- Finish bed on Walter (New Freightliner)
- Loft in shop
- replace disc blades on finishing disk
- install GPS stuff in planter tractor
- rebuild two soybeans heads
- replace all fabric/foam panels in 7400 cab
- build little man a bunk bed
- build kiddos a swingset
- Mama Bear wants some shelving thing made from wicker baskets in the living room to put junk, er ... treasures ... in.
- and on and on and on .... wouldn't have it any other way though !!!

I have a really nice PTO powered splitter that my Dad and Uncle built 40yrs ago but thought the maul would help me get in shape a bit. PLUS it's oddly satisfying being able to beat the hell out of big chunks of wood. Sort of like seeing a therapist for anger issues but MUCH less expensive

Very nice update! I have been working on drainage over the summer, nothing to the scale your project is.
Looking down into the clean outs for the French drain shows lots of water being drained from the property, this time last year I had a river running across the front of my property and could not walk down the side of the field without sinking in. Now I have no standing water or water flowing across the front of the property only a very little surface water after a hard rain, looking forward to seeing if this will help me get a tractor in the field sooner in the spring.
Thanks for sharing

We installed a few French drains at our old place in town and holy smokes did it make a huge difference !!!

Thank you for following along !!!

Great update!!

Wow your little gal is already driving machines in the field and looks like she’s enjoying it too.

Having all this work done before next spring will be nice come spring. I know you’ll figure out a great system for using all that wood to heat your home. Does it also heat some of your shops/buildings?

Miss Lily had a great time and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't smiling from ear to ear the entire time !!!

We like to get as much fall tillage done to save time in the spring so it was really nice to be able to do as much as we did.

The system as a whole works great already but I'm already sick of digging wood out of the snow bank. I decided a few farm repairs were more important than building a shed over the wood pile this year but it will most definitely be happening next year.

The stove heats the shop (4,224sq/ft total), the well house (128sq/ft) and the house (2,560sq/ft house and 1288sq/ft garage) for a total of 8,200sq/ft of space heated with wood. I love this thing so far and we haven't burned a single gallon of propane so far. Doing some quick math I am down to roughly $25/hr for the 53 days it's been running so far

 

[welder57]

You need a wood Splitter to go on the back of one of the smaller tractor. You will which you had way before now. My Dad built one out of 1/2" Flat Plate, Rail Road Rail and a 2" Cylinder with a falve Control on a three point hitch. We three sons of his were never so Proud of Dad. Hooked it up to 420 John Deere.

 

[jblnut]

You need a wood Splitter to go on the back of one of the smaller tractor. You will which you had way before now. My Dad built one out of 1/2" Flat Plate, Rail Road Rail and a 2" Cylinder with a valve Control on a three point hitch. We three sons of his were never so Proud of Dad. Hooked it up to 420 John Deere.

These pics are from Christmas Eve 2016 but it all looks the same yet. I used to burn wood in the old shop and went through two bays in this old barn full each winter. It was mostly junk wood much like I'm burning now in the new outdoor boiler.

Pushing a big chunk of wet boxelder or elm will about stall the poor H out