Prepping for Winter
With The Kidling's assistance, I got most of the winter preparation done around the farm. As an important note, The Kidling actually helped out a lot, with no noticable complaining once we got going. This is a huge improvement over his normal attitude, and I sincerly hope it's not a one-time deal!
We cleaned up some space in the back of the quonset shop, making room to put the hay-baler, the dixie-mower, and the Massey-65 tractor back inside where they belong. It might sound simple when written in a single sentence like that, but they job took about two or more hours. The next thing was moving the equipment that had been sitting (in the way) by the pump-house for the last three years; This included a John-Deere Model 5 sickle-bar mower, a home-built cultivator, and the New-Holland hay-rake that we bought last summer from Alfie's estate.
We had to move the cultivator last, since I also wanted to use it to tear up the ground where the garden is going next summer; No point in mounting it twice! It was no wonder that the little roto-tiller on the back of the John-Deere garden tractor couldn't break the ground - Even with the weight of the cultivator and being pulled behind the Massey-65 tractor, that ground was so hard that breaking it was very difficult. The tractor even got stuck a couple of times, and I had to lift the cultivator out of the ground in order to free it. :/ Just for giggles, I tried taking a roto-tiller to the now broken ground for a few feet, and darn-near got my arms taken off the way the thing jumped around! Even broken up, that ground is still so hard that it's going to take multiple passes with the cultivator to break it up. OR... I could probably break it up a lot faster if I had a much larger (and heavier) 3-point-hitch roto-tiller for the back of the Massey-65. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for a used one somewhere.
We got the Deutz tractor and the haybine perched back up on the hilltop, facing East this time. I've got one of those little flappers on the exhaust stack, and my concern was that if it were facting west, the wind might be able to lift it up and drive snow or rain down the stack again. I think I'm going to remove it for the winter, and replace with with an old soup-can again. Of course, the best thing would be to get the machines into the quonset, but we need to clear more room in there first. Had I been thinking, and if I had had the time, I should have moved the old John Deere 7700 combine, and the old Chevy 3-ton grain truck out of the quonset, polished them up, and put them out in the front field with a big FOR SALE sign on them. I could use the space, and the $$$. Ah well, maybe next year.
The only thing that didn't get done, that needed to be done, was to get Poohbear's hooves trimmed. I feel really bad about that, but by the end of the evening I was too stiff and sore to even think about it. It was getting cold and dark too, but I could have worked on him in the barn/garage had I not been aching everywhere. It's a good thing that the area that he's in right now has very soft, spongey ground from the years and years of thatch overgrowth, because it's going to be another couple weeks before I can get to him. :/
Actually, the other thing that never got done (nor will get done) was baling the hay from the East field. While it was cut down a couple months ago, the crop was so thin that it would have to be raked first, and there simply hasn't been time. By the time we were able to get anywhere ready, the grass in the area had become tinder-dry, and there's just too much of a chance of the machinery throwing a spark and starting a grass fire. So, there's nothing to do for it but leave it laying there; Waste of time and fuel to have cut it down. At least we got a decent haul from the West field.
trixstir and I will be heading to Calgary for a few days on Wednesday, and coming back on Sunday. This will likely be our last trip to Calgary for 2012, though we expect family to visit for Christmas; There won't be much for the adults this year, but we've got plenty of stuff for the littlest ones. Now the trick is going to be getting the place tidied up and ready for guests!
We cleaned up some space in the back of the quonset shop, making room to put the hay-baler, the dixie-mower, and the Massey-65 tractor back inside where they belong. It might sound simple when written in a single sentence like that, but they job took about two or more hours. The next thing was moving the equipment that had been sitting (in the way) by the pump-house for the last three years; This included a John-Deere Model 5 sickle-bar mower, a home-built cultivator, and the New-Holland hay-rake that we bought last summer from Alfie's estate.
We had to move the cultivator last, since I also wanted to use it to tear up the ground where the garden is going next summer; No point in mounting it twice! It was no wonder that the little roto-tiller on the back of the John-Deere garden tractor couldn't break the ground - Even with the weight of the cultivator and being pulled behind the Massey-65 tractor, that ground was so hard that breaking it was very difficult. The tractor even got stuck a couple of times, and I had to lift the cultivator out of the ground in order to free it. :/ Just for giggles, I tried taking a roto-tiller to the now broken ground for a few feet, and darn-near got my arms taken off the way the thing jumped around! Even broken up, that ground is still so hard that it's going to take multiple passes with the cultivator to break it up. OR... I could probably break it up a lot faster if I had a much larger (and heavier) 3-point-hitch roto-tiller for the back of the Massey-65. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for a used one somewhere.
We got the Deutz tractor and the haybine perched back up on the hilltop, facing East this time. I've got one of those little flappers on the exhaust stack, and my concern was that if it were facting west, the wind might be able to lift it up and drive snow or rain down the stack again. I think I'm going to remove it for the winter, and replace with with an old soup-can again. Of course, the best thing would be to get the machines into the quonset, but we need to clear more room in there first. Had I been thinking, and if I had had the time, I should have moved the old John Deere 7700 combine, and the old Chevy 3-ton grain truck out of the quonset, polished them up, and put them out in the front field with a big FOR SALE sign on them. I could use the space, and the $$$. Ah well, maybe next year.
The only thing that didn't get done, that needed to be done, was to get Poohbear's hooves trimmed. I feel really bad about that, but by the end of the evening I was too stiff and sore to even think about it. It was getting cold and dark too, but I could have worked on him in the barn/garage had I not been aching everywhere. It's a good thing that the area that he's in right now has very soft, spongey ground from the years and years of thatch overgrowth, because it's going to be another couple weeks before I can get to him. :/
Actually, the other thing that never got done (nor will get done) was baling the hay from the East field. While it was cut down a couple months ago, the crop was so thin that it would have to be raked first, and there simply hasn't been time. By the time we were able to get anywhere ready, the grass in the area had become tinder-dry, and there's just too much of a chance of the machinery throwing a spark and starting a grass fire. So, there's nothing to do for it but leave it laying there; Waste of time and fuel to have cut it down. At least we got a decent haul from the West field.
trixstir and I will be heading to Calgary for a few days on Wednesday, and coming back on Sunday. This will likely be our last trip to Calgary for 2012, though we expect family to visit for Christmas; There won't be much for the adults this year, but we've got plenty of stuff for the littlest ones. Now the trick is going to be getting the place tidied up and ready for guests!