2019 Fertilizer mixing, conveyor loading, and spreading

Back in February I contacted a young guy that had spread lime on my land and told him I needed fertilizer spread and to put me on his list.  Latter part of April comes and still no fertilizer was spread.  I called him and informs me he had leased his spreader truck to company about forty miles away.  So I began scrambling and decided to spread my own.  This is the first time doing the spreading but it was not too much of a learning curve.

My only thoughts were can my old tractor pull the weight.




The old tractor still has the power.  Now to watch it grow.

Pushing steel post in ground

I found an article in a publication of "Farm Show" that described a device that you hook to your loader bucket of the tractor.  I took a chance and ordered it and got it hooked to the bucket of the tractor.  It is normally a two person job but have found that one person can use the Bucket Postdriver to push steel t-post into the ground.  You do have to be careful if you hit a rock.  The t-post don't have enough strength to push by the rock and you end up with a bent post.





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Handicap ramp why does it have to be moved!

Several men from our church erected a handicap ramp for a gentleman eight months ago. The fellow that lived in this rental house was wheelchair bound with ALS. He passed away two months ago and his wife moved out of the house. The owner of the property did not want the ramp to remain and asked that we remove it. Instead of dismantling it piece by piece we decided to take it apart in sections. It turned out to be more of a job than we thought.

New tractor skidding logs on the homestead

It has been two years since the logger cut the timber on the place. All the lap wood, of course, was left behind for my friend to cut and use in his stove. He has yet to get to the wooded area I am working my fence through. I decided to go ahead and clean the area for him to speed up the lap removal. This is log and hard work but it sure beats being behind a pharmacy counter all day.

Augusta National --Got a ticket on my first try

I couldn't believe it. I registered on the Augusta website for a ticket in November and was notified in January I had been selected to receive a ticket. So many people I have talked to have said they have waited and waited to get a ticket, some up to seven years. I only asked for one ticket for the Wednesday practice round but two tickets for the tournament rounds. I only snagged the practice round.

View from a Bobcat

Several months ago I decided I needed more equipment storage space. I rented a Bobcat from the local rental company and for eight hours I moved dirt, old hay, and manure. It had been fifty years since some of that stuff had seen the light of day. I chose a Bobcat since the rafters were low. In order to reach the back part of the shed I need something that was low and compact. I had to keep an eye on the rafters as I maneuvered back and forth in the shed.

Barbed wire rig (invention)

I was looking for a way to stretch four strands of barbed wire at the same time but did not want to spend a lot of money.  I have taken a woven wire unroller and modified it to stretch four strands of barbed wire at once.  I could possibly add another roll to the device to stretch five strands at once.  Watch and see this simple modification I made to the unroller, which can still be used to install woven wire fencing.

Homemade old bandsaw mill --ugly

A friend of mine and his brother invited me to go with them to look at a bandsaw sawmill in West Virginia. It was listed online and touted as an ugly bandsaw sawmill. We ended up traveling about fifty five miles away to check it out. When we arrived, the person selling it said it was on top of the ridge above his house. After taking an s-curve road to the top there set the mill. Yep it is ugly.

Massey 451 and comparison with Massey 165

Doing a review of MF 451 with its size and also comparing with an older MF 165 . Since the 451 is a compact three cylinder engine but is also a four wheel drive tractor, it is rated at 52 hp. In comparing the 451 to the older 165 it gives up about 4 hp. But having the four wheel drive should offset that small amount of horsepower.

Snow plow in March?

After a big snow storm, I was determined to upgrade my equipment. After getting the new four wheel drive tractor, I ordered a seven foot snow blade for the tractor. It is hydraulic so I don't have to get off of the tractor to change the tilt. It arrived and so now I had to hook everything up to the loader on the tractor to make sure everything works It took some tweaking but I got it to work.

Going to see friend up country

I have a friend that lives about thirty minutes away.  Most people would think that is not bad but when you see where he and his wife lives, you need to really relish the peace and quiet.  His place is between two mountain ridges and when you visit in the winter, he does not get sunshine until about noon.  It makes for a cold day when you start out at 7 a.m.  Come along for the ride to see what it is like.

University forestry students physical competition-

The local university's forestry school held their annual Timberbeast 2019 competition.  There were nine colleges and universities from a four state area.  They were from W.Va., Va., N.C., and S.C.  The competition consisted of a number of physical tasks plus some mental competition.  This was fun to attend and gave one a new perception of how the young women competed in this event.  I know one thing, there would be no way I could keep up with any of them.

Churches build handicap ramp

Four churches participated in the build of a handicap ramp for a church member that became an amputee.  The ramp was bigger than we have done in the past.  The gentleman's church supplied the material and three other churches participated in the build.  The first day we had ten men to complete the frame.  The second day there were four men to complete the structure.  It was a worthwhile project and worth all the hard work.


Click the link below to view on YouTube

Old Ford 850 tractor pulling logs

The woodcutter has an old Ford 850 he uses to pull logs and load into a dump trailer or dump truck.  The old tractor has a modified loader with an external hydraulic tank.  The old tractor is good at pulling logs out of the wooded area of the farm and would go where I would not take my tractor.  It does not have any brakes so you have to lower the blade to stop it.  It will work all day on less than five gallons of gas.

Click on the link to view video on YouTube

PEX Plumbing -- First time user

When you live on a farm and don't have a plumber that is available, you go ahead and plumb with pex the best you can.  I decided to have a cutoff valve added so if I have to disconnect my water softener then the house will continue to be supplied with water.

As long as you get all the PEX crimp clips crimped you are fine.  You will see what happens when a clip is not crimped.

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Setting Cross Brace Part 1 -- How to by yourself

This will show how I set a cross brace as a single individual.  I have used this technique for several years and it has made setting the cross brace a breeze when you work alone.  It makes the process a whole lot easier  and you don't have to guess when adding the long pin. 
This is the first of a two part series on brace post and brace wire.


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Cat 955 for clearing brush

This video is about Clearing brush with Caterpillar 955K Tract Loader. It is a big machine and makes the work so much faster.  I tried doing this with my farm tractor but it was difficult and I sure did not want to damage the tractor or loader.

Click the link below to watch on YouTube.

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Massey 451 4x4 tractor (four wheel drive) for birthday

What a birthday present.  Ever since the last big snow, I was determined to upgrade my farm tractor.  I have to push snow off of four to five driveways, and they are not small driveways.  I searched and searched and even looked at 70 hp tractors.  After looking at a couple of bigger tractors it became apparent to me that I would also have to upgrade my other implements.   After finding this tractor online, it had low hours, my wife suggested I go ahead and purchase it.

Click the link below to be taken to the video on YouTube




Massey 451 4x4 tractor (four wheel drive) for birthday

941 Cat Tract Loader first time user

This old 941 tract loader gave me the confidence that I could operate this type of machine.  This machine had a three way bucket instead of a regular bucket.  Since then I have gone on to buy an old 955 tract loader, which if you have seen my video on clearing brush.  The 941 is a smaller machine and has a 60 hp engine, compared to the 955 which is 115 hp.

The video can be viewed on YouTube by clicking the link below

Setting a cross brace by yourself--Installing Brace Wire Part 2

This video shows you which direction to run brace wire between posts.  This explains how the pressure of the wire, after being stretched, is pulling against the post.   This explains the physics of the energy being released by the stretched wire.  It make perfect sense when you think about and draw it on paper.

View the video on YouTube by clicking the link below




Setting a cross brace by yourself--Installing Brace Wire Part 2

Twenty year old crepe myrtles -- pruning and cleanup

While visiting my daughter's family this past week, she had asked me to prune her crepe myrtles in her front yard.  There were two of them to prune, so I pruned one on one day and the other the next.  This way it was not too overwhelming in cleaning up the brush.  It took about two hours for each tree but I left a pile of brush for the county to pick up and dispose.

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