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| It is done, almost... |
My help came in spades today. A young man who is out of school for the summer told his mother he needed some money. She said she may know a person who is willing to pay for some hard manual labor. He came out this morning and mowed for 4.5 hours! I had more work for him digging out post holes, they need to cleaned of all the loose dirt. He said he needed to get home. His mother said he was dragging tired by the time he got home! I told him digging out the barn was the next job and it was going to take 16 hours. You would have thought I told him a month. He seemed amazed that something could take that long. Oh, to be young again.
Phil and I tackled the corral. I wanted to get done. The ten foot gates had to have a 3/4 inch hold drilled through a railroad tie. I do not have a 3/4 inch drill. We ended up using a 1 inch drill and it still took forever. We finally got all the holes drilled and all the gates hung. I have one gate that needs a cow panel attached so the sheep and baby calves cannot get out. I also did not get the connecting wires across the top of the chute ties. I need a bigger washer and a 5/8 inch drill 14 inches long to get the holes done easily. There are 14 ties I want to connect at the top with cables to prevent them from spreading once the cows start fighting in the chute. Oh, and I need Packy to come measure my chute for two custom gates that he needs to manufacture. I also want him to build a new pump bracket for my sprayer so I can use my quick connect on the tractor. I also want a couple of hooks and a holder for my spray wand. It will be a lot easier to use with those improvements.
It is totally useable now. No animals can be trapped in the chute with a gate. We could slip 2x4 between the posts to make a temporary gate. It wouldn't be fast to remove but it would stop them from leaving the chute. I am hoping to have Packy out in the next two weeks. I may even get him to make a gate for the new fence and make a gate for Donna. I have several jobs for him.
Phil and I were able to go down to Donna's and chase the momma cow into the lower field and I snagged the dead calf. I drove it up to the bone pile. The scavengers will be happy. If not then the bugs will be happy.
I even scraped all the dirt around the corral and cleaned up all the junk next to the driveway and put it away or moved it away. It looks very nice. I am considering scraping it down further and putting gravel every where. That will wait as I will need about three loads of gravel to accomplish that objective. Annmarie told me I was on irrigation duty after next week. Once the front fence is up all my efforts have to go to getting the irrigation pump up and going. We will be able to irrigate the lower pasture and the orchard from the front creek. It is a grand plan and one which I will strive to meet. I want to do some other things and this must be done first before I can go play with other projects. I have a new fence line I want to install on the back hillside, and one on the lower pasture. The place is starting to come together. They are using a rock picker to get the rocks out of the old CRP field and I asked that they dump them in a couple of locations so I could pick rocks for the new fence rock wall. I also need to order a rock hammer so I can shape the rocks.
Phil and I tackled the corral. I wanted to get done. The ten foot gates had to have a 3/4 inch hold drilled through a railroad tie. I do not have a 3/4 inch drill. We ended up using a 1 inch drill and it still took forever. We finally got all the holes drilled and all the gates hung. I have one gate that needs a cow panel attached so the sheep and baby calves cannot get out. I also did not get the connecting wires across the top of the chute ties. I need a bigger washer and a 5/8 inch drill 14 inches long to get the holes done easily. There are 14 ties I want to connect at the top with cables to prevent them from spreading once the cows start fighting in the chute. Oh, and I need Packy to come measure my chute for two custom gates that he needs to manufacture. I also want him to build a new pump bracket for my sprayer so I can use my quick connect on the tractor. I also want a couple of hooks and a holder for my spray wand. It will be a lot easier to use with those improvements.
It is totally useable now. No animals can be trapped in the chute with a gate. We could slip 2x4 between the posts to make a temporary gate. It wouldn't be fast to remove but it would stop them from leaving the chute. I am hoping to have Packy out in the next two weeks. I may even get him to make a gate for the new fence and make a gate for Donna. I have several jobs for him.
Phil and I were able to go down to Donna's and chase the momma cow into the lower field and I snagged the dead calf. I drove it up to the bone pile. The scavengers will be happy. If not then the bugs will be happy.
I even scraped all the dirt around the corral and cleaned up all the junk next to the driveway and put it away or moved it away. It looks very nice. I am considering scraping it down further and putting gravel every where. That will wait as I will need about three loads of gravel to accomplish that objective. Annmarie told me I was on irrigation duty after next week. Once the front fence is up all my efforts have to go to getting the irrigation pump up and going. We will be able to irrigate the lower pasture and the orchard from the front creek. It is a grand plan and one which I will strive to meet. I want to do some other things and this must be done first before I can go play with other projects. I have a new fence line I want to install on the back hillside, and one on the lower pasture. The place is starting to come together. They are using a rock picker to get the rocks out of the old CRP field and I asked that they dump them in a couple of locations so I could pick rocks for the new fence rock wall. I also need to order a rock hammer so I can shape the rocks.
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| Ram pasture all mowed and beautiful. |
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