Fencing forever day 1

Well as in all things in life there must be some adversity. We started marking T post locations with a string and marking paint.  I brought the tractor so I could mow more weeds. As we started driving T posts it dawned on me we were going to have to fix the old fence also. The only problem with that is the old fence is buried in the weeds. So I left johnathon to mark the next run of new fence and went to mow the old fence line. I kept finding old metal pieces next to the fence. These are found by large clanking and banging as I attempt to mow over them. The weeds are so tall I cannot see the ground. 

I was doing great until I wasn't. I was almost to the end when the hillside just started to get steeper. When you are holding on with one hand and your seatbelt is the only thing keeping you in the seat you have issues. I tried to back up. No go.  I tried to turn the front wheels and the tractor started to roll over!  I quickly dropped the front bucket and stopped the roll over. I crawled off, uphill side of course and both uphill tires were off the ground a few inches. I got a shovel and a breaker bar and we dug into the hillside about 10 inches down in an attempt to let the uphill side touch the ground, 45 minutes later we were ready to give it a try. I do have a Lifeflight membership, I did put on my seatbelt and did cinch it down.  As I raised the bucket the uphill tires dropped down into the freshly dug area and I was able to drive out. Another great save!!  I just paid off the tractor last month. 

I started mowing out into the tall weeds and dammit if five minutes later I didn't hit the ditch and had to drop the bucket again.  This time we were able to bring the pickup over and I chained the uphill side to the pickup and backed up in an arc using the pickup as a fulcrum to hold my uphill tire on the ground. It worked slick and I was out of there in five minutes. I did quit mowing in the tall weeds. Too much potential calamity. 

The old fence line did get mowed. There was no way to get in next to it without clearing the debris first. I had to make a couple attempts at creating a metal T post H brace. This one uses two posts driven into the ground at an angle then wired to each upright and wired together at their crossing point. It's surprisingly sturdy. 

We ran out of used T posts so we quit for the day, it was 1300 anyways. My help left so I went to the scrapyard and snagged 119 used T posts. I usually buy them at least twice a year. There was a big stack this time so I sorted through them and took everything I thought I would be able to drive into the ground. Then I went home and finished mowing. I wanted to be ready for tomorrow. 

I would love to be able to label the pictures but our computer died also.  Annmarie is working on that problem, looks like a new computer will have to happen.