Tractors...

Put a top link on mine last spring. Been real happy with it, I think you'll find it handy!

 

Home Depot had a 4 pack of these for $25.00

 

Oops. I meant Lowes... Senior moment.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Master-Forge-WATERPROOF-4-BOX-UTILITY-CRATE/5015780955

 

Had some ash-borer beetle attacked trees down, and some rotten cherries. Couple went into the brook. Neighbor takes the logs to the processor and lets me borrow his chipper. I burn whatever is left. Finished grabbing what I could from it this morning.

 

Gypsy Moths have played hell along the ridgelines in my area the last 3-4 years. Hearing chainsaws running when outside is extremely common. In fact I hear one running up on the ridge someplace right now, LOL. I dropped a killed off White oak out at the end of the driveway yesterday that was standing near power lines. I need to get out there today and get it bucked up.







My collection of unsplit rounds to be split is growing again which is a good thing. I'm down to less than a cord of firewood right now.

 

The foreign bugs are killing our forests and its sad. It's like every year we learn about a new type getting decimated. I guess what will be left standing and grow back will be stronger than ever. Looks like you know what you are doing with those ropes! I just cut and run

 

@woods

I wish we still had Chestnuts. Lots of folks playing with manmade modified variants but not real progress that I can see. Now and then I'll run into a scrub chestnut in the wild that survived long enough to produce a few nuts before dying. Give me hope that eventually nature will modify them enough to grow into maturity again.

I've gotten fair over the past several years at rigging to assist making certain hazard trees go along with the plan, so far anyway. Plus I stare at them for awhile (as in repeatedly, for weeks, months, sometimes a year) pondering the least likely way to screw it up. Hahaha.

 

I know it’s not a tractor. But we all love equipment. And making more room for the tractors! Having a blast this weekend with this unit.

 

It’s a beauty for sure.

 

That's the tractor I wish I had I love my tractor but I want a skid steer and a mini-ex real bad. I have the land and use case for them, but I do not have the budget for them right now. One day!

 

Same here!

 

The ol' boy has been working hard lately with all the scrap I've been hauling. I took him about 1/2 mile away to a neighbor's house to pick up a few 20' long angle iron pieces. The family rode in the bucket and helped maneuver the pieces around. Fun little trip. I also picked up this 15T chain fall from work that was being scrapped. I don't understand why. I'm going to try and sell it though.

 

I have a few neighbors, and my FIL before he died ran some real old tractors, big old cabbed cases is what is basically left around me. I love seeing them running! Thanks for the pictures.

 

Got the driveway back together yesterday. I spread a fresh load of about 15-18 yards to clean up after a huge trenching job this winter. Use the york rake to get things about 85%. Then I like the land plane to get any bumps and push some down force on things. Then a quick touch up rake and we are off. There is some improvements I can still do here, and I need a tiny bit more for one area off camera, but overall, happy with how it came out. Once some traffic is on it this week Ill touch it up for the weekend as our season kicks off Saturday.

 

Oooo I like those. Might be time to use my Lowes gift card.....

 

Thanks!

 

Project pasture reseed has taken off, unintentionally. Spitballed an idea/request past my neighbor about his manure pile. I ask if I could buy a few manure spreader loads for my pasture as the soil is in dire need of some organic material. He blew me away by offering me the whole pile (12+ loads through my small spreader) so now I’m scrambling to get all the ducks in a row. Picked up my dads Ford 3000 diesel to run the spreader and drag the harrow as it’s smaller and much more maneuverable than my bigger Farmall 400, plus the PTO is spoken for on the 400 for the loader hydraulic pump.
Many more pics to come off this little spur of the moment project. Bonus in the image is dads big tractor, his IH 856.

 

After 15 yrs its time to get new shoes.

 

It's been a busy week with the tractor. The more I run this little Ford, the more I like it. It's about the perfect size for my property, the Farmall 400 is overkill but it'll never go due to its sentimental value. Got dad's Ford off the trailer on Wednesday, hooked up a 3pt spring tooth harrow and started ripping up the pasture. Didn't have the best results because the soil was so dry, but I got a start at least. Day was cut short by rain, which ended up helping. It rained from about 2pm through the night, then cleared up just before sunrise. Thursday was much better, the rain loosened up the soil enough to make a good dent in it. The harrow worked much better.

Here's some pictures and a video from the two days. Next step will be spreading some wood chips that have been piled up for a few years to add some organics, and some manure from a neighbor and friend, who happens to be the local school bus driver.

https://youtube.com/shorts/sPsgxTVEEPU?feature=share


The Ford at the end of day 1.


The progress from the first day. Not as good as I'd hoped.


Day 2 after the rain, which helped immensely in breaking up the soil.


And the finished product of breaking ground. Now on to spreading and seeding.

 

I got all the wood split and filled a couple IBC cages. Lots more wood is split in a pile yet, I need more IBC cages as the little woodshed is already full.






Upgraded from the sketchy clamp-on forks I borrowed from a neighbor to real pallet forks. Much nicer and the tractor handles the load better as it brings it closer to the pivot point. Plus you know... when there is a project to be done that's as good of an excuse as any to buy more stuff.

 

Yeah....I miss my Tractor.
Had a mid size John Deere with the front end loader and four wheel drive.
It being my first real tractor and I had no idea how much I was going to use it.
I bought it mainly to cut the grass at our two places on the South Llano River and to do various other jobs.
Turned out there were a Shitload of other uses!!

 

It use to be that the threads in my Watch list would go bold when there were unread messages. Now all of them are Bold and stay that way. Did I miss something? Am I doing something wrong?

 

Got her back and took a look at what he authorized to be done... You can see the new parts... I am still annoyed for him but he is happy so I am just thankful I made the cut of people who can still use it.

 

Made some forks that bolted on my John Deer Bucket.
Worked like a champ.
I wasnt lifting anything real heavy and built them for a purpose load.
However....you could build them much stronger if your load weight needed more support.

 

I almost bought a lightly used one of these when I was shopping this spring. They do look sharp!

 

A few days late but I got a little more work done on the pasture reseeding project. I got the manure spreader drug up from the back 40, and had to ether seat the bead. Lots of fun if you've never done it. To test the spreader and tractor combo out, I did progressively heavier loads of wood chips to get rid of them. The tractor performed flawlessly, but I found the weak points of the spreader. I broke a feeder bar, likely due to the feed bar chain being mistimed from one side to the other. The drive chain off of the PTO was also loose as could be. A trip to Ace for some bolts and all was well. I was able to get the entire rest of the wood chip pile that has been the bane of my yard for the last few years spread on the pasture. Next will be a few loads of the neighbor's manure and seeding. Here's the pictures and videos. Enjoy!

https://youtube.com/shorts/ou2nqDXDSOM?feature=share
Seating the bead. My son was impressed and startled.


The first light load of wood chips to test out the spreader.




The damage found to the spreader.

https://youtube.com/shorts/FgRJa9Xk_28?feature=share
The loading process.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9TqIOoglOZo?feature=share
Running the spreader.


And finally, all the wood chips are gone...


The pasture after spreading all the chips. Hopefully this will help keep some long-term organics in the soil to help retain moisture and help new grasses grow.

 

Found some mud... First time in 13 years I've gotten a tractor so stuck I couldn't get out under the tractors own steam.

... after getting out of the muck.



And 13 years ago cleaning out a stream. I found a soft spot.

 

Good tractors.. I do not recommend our local service group... #fuckloves