Monday, December 15, 2014

Kinda at a Crossroad





This change in my Mother's marital status has kinda put me in a bit of pickle as to which way I need to go now. Long term it really changes nothing as I had never planned on using their property or possessions in any of my final goals but they did play heavily in the short term.

For instance the Summer pasture and more importantly hay baling. I am not currently in a position to cut, rake and bale my fields on my own because I haven't been able to find and/or afford the small tractor equipment to do so. The original agreement I made was that we would pay off the place and allow my Mother's worthless old nags to live here and give her control of the pasture and hay field for the nags and sheep use. Our sheep would be run with her's and taken care of by the same pasture and field while they took care of the hay baling and would pay for barn maintenance while we paid for liability/accident insurance on the stock and full insurance on the buildings etc.

My original plan was to then focus on getting the planting and ground maintenance side of small tractor implements in place. Hence I bought a blade, post hole digger, brush hog, wagon and am currently restoring a one bottom plow with a manure spreader waiting it's turn.

I could switch gears at this point and attempt to find an old sickle mower, rake and baler and focus more heavily on hay production or look for a disc and focus on crop production like pumpkins and such. The plus side is the neighbors would be more than happy to take care of the baling for us (with a small fee of course) especially if I let em bale and leave em to pick up myself. Technically that cost would then have to be shouldered by my Mother under our agreement especially if she wants to feed her useless nags. However if I managed to find a suitable sickle mower and rake I could drastically cut the small fee down too by doing that part myself.

Keep in mind the final plan is to be able to do both. Once the horses are out of the picture the hay field provides a fairly nice surplus that I eventually plan to add to the production budget. As it stands now I could easily sell hay right out of my loft all year long and I eventually want that income to help make this adventure as profitable as possible. So switching gears at this point does not jeopardize or deviate from the final goal.

At this point I am leaning more towards continuing on with the planting and land maintenance rout and letting my Mother sort out the hay situation until I can finally move those horses off the place. Or more probably finally add them to the soil down in the pasture.  Then taking the proceeds from sheep sales and sinking that money into hay equipment and perhaps another small tractor down the road a few years. I am thinking I need a small Farmall series or maybe another old Ford with a front bucket to go with the 8N.

Either road has it's advantages but the disc avenue will be much cheaper right now and the hay proceeds are not currently on my balance sheet anyway nor will they be in the next few years.

The last problem is that this agreement goes out the window if the decline/collapse pace quickens. From a sustainable standpoint if we have to swing the entire Small-Hold into full production and sustainable survival mode those horses become either food, trade goods or transportation and I don't need all four of em for either. One might make the transition to a useful member of the place but only one. The donkey at least is useful as she sits and I doubt she makes it more than another year or so anyway, of course I been saying that for five years now.

So there are advantages and disadvantages to each avenue. As I said I am leaning towards continuing on and getting a small disc while seeing how the hay situation manages itself at least for a year or so. If the collapse happens sooner rather than later well I suppose I can cross that bridge when I get to it. I imagine the crop production would be more of a priority then anyway.

Decisions, Decisions...

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!




21 comments:

  1. You may need those horses to pull your farm implements & wagon if fuel becomes hard to come by or very overpriced ... or are you planning on hitchin' up a team of sheep? :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hobo - There is one that might, very slight might, be big enough to plow some but realistically that would require training and equipment. A lot of training that I certainly do not have the skills for. Not just any old riding horse can be harnessed up and made to plow. My opinion it would be far easier to convert a gasoline tractor to run on methane than set yourself up and train a horse to plow. In the very long run it is of course possible we might have to go back to that but I doubt in my lifetime even if we collapsed today.

      Also if we sunk that far that quickly you kinda have to look at the payout. With the lack of skills and cost to get into it and the learning curve I doubt an untrained old nag would even put out enough energy to keep itself fed in the end.

      Now a small cart and donkey set up would definitely pay out dividends I think.

      Delete
    2. Add to what you said that horses (versus oxen) need higher quality forage. A horse is about as small of an animal as can live off grass and still make a go off it. The Indians, and Mongols, did feed there horses normal grassland fodder, and their horses are often referred to as ponies. It took a lot more of a sophisticated of a society than people realize to make the large plow horse (versus mule) a good idea.

      Delete
    3. Russ - Ya many people don't realize just how much fodder it takes to keep a horse. Also the smaller horses tended to get used up really fast once they started pulling a plow. It isn't easy on them at all and with the training if you don't get several years out of them it comes out to a net loss of energy. One of the nags is absolutely huge and might actually be able to pull a plow but even she is getting up there in age. Ina collapse situation with these horses our best bet would be to turn em loose or slaughter them and till our fields by hand over trying to feed em.

      Delete
  2. I think I'd go with what you're planning. The hay making only happens once or twice a year so I think I'd get someone else to do it. I only raked mine this year, but that still saved a bit of money and it means you can get it drier faster as you choose when to do it. I'm lucky, I've got one of my dads tractors on "permanent" loan! So the cost to me is pretty low!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev - I agree. We did actually cut the Alfalfa field four times this last year though. If I can pick up a sickle mower or a rake cheap I might go ahead and do it but I think my first priority should be a disc.

      Delete
    2. I believe Kev Alviti is correct. Your plan seems sound, based on what you have & what you know right now. Flexibility will always be key, of course, but you must start somewhere.

      Delete
  3. Facing similar questions here what with the mother in law in her golden years as they say and not knowing what will happen to the surrounding farm land. It is all being abused by drive by chemical farmers now so it could only get better. I have a tractor that won't run but a horse that will, lol! He is a draft horse and I have a small plow so he might be plowing this spring. When I wasn't working, I had enough time to cut all my hay with a scythe and put it up loose, it was a real job but it is possible. I think I would train calves as oxen if I had it to do over as we have them at work and they are a lot less trouble than horses and probably taste better if bad goes to worse. Probably adding a small gas tank to a tractor so that it could be warmed up on gasoline then switched to alcohol after it is warmed up would work well. So much to think about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sf - The question of animal power v. tractor is one I wrestled with a long time. Finally I decided at my experience level and size of my farm if liquid fuel totally disappeared and I could not make a go of alcohol or methane conversions then hand work would be my best option over keeping draft animals. If I had a place say three times larger then animals might become more attractive. I would more than likely shoot for a donkey and cart option to help with gathering wood and the honey production and just cultivate my garden and crop sections by hand. It would be a lot of work but I would not have that huge cost of draft animal fodder hanging over my head either.

      Delete
    2. I completely agree with you on that one. With 5 acres here a draught animal would eat more that there fair share. Hand all the way, if times were hard then anyone expecting a handout would have to go an earn it with some sweat first! I've got two of most gardening tools but I might get another set as well yet. Second hand spades and forka don't cost much and take up little space but if we had to cultivate big areas then it would be all gands to the pump.

      Delete
    3. Thats a great typo ive just left. If was meant to say "all hands to the pump". Stupid predictive text!

      Delete
    4. LOL well all gands might be fitting too :)

      Delete
  4. Can I make a completely off the wall suggestion? I have a 1950's David Bradley Walking Tractor that I picked up for under $500. It came with a Cycle Bar, small hay rake, a Sulky to ride on, A single bottom plow, a small disk and lastly a small saw mill attachment. These things were designed for small land holds. I did put a newer B&S engine on it and did quite a bit of restoration on the tractor it self and the attachments, but I love this thing and I use it a lot. Like I said it is a completely off the wall suggestion.

    Carl in the UP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon - Not off the wall at all. I have actually thought about getting one a time or two. They can be really useful and I actually have used a couple of different types like the one you mentioned. In fact I started one up and moved it a few feet out of the way over at the old farm not but a few weeks ago. The trouble is around here at least the ones I have seen working the people selling think they are made out of GOLD or something. Honestly too the walk behind would be a bit small for most of my needs dealing with hay. It would be fine for my little 3 acre Alfalfa field but I am afraid it would be way too small for the 15 acre field in the back.

      Believe me though if I come across one with the right price I would certainly buy it.

      Delete
    2. Yep, folks up here think they are Gold are well. I bought mine about 6 years ago in Wisconsin. If you can find one that has a Sulky or you can find a sulky by itself, it allow you ride behind the unit so you don't have to walk. I can cut a 5 acre field in about an hour and a half and not walk at all. The only problem is tight corners are somewhat tricky..

      Carl

      Delete
  5. You are so right about a donkey being the perfect draft animal for a small hold. Donkeys have an undeserved bad reputation. Once a person realizes a donkey is not a long eared horse and must be treated/trained a little differently, AND if you truly like your donkey they are wonderful animals and willing workers. There are 50 million donkeys working in third world countries today. In a lot of pictures I have seen of these donkeys they are working at liberty. Pound for pound a donkey will out work a horse any day. They very rarely injure themselves and stay fit on rough feed. Finding work collars to fit them can be a problem, I had mine custom made but that may not be an option when TSHTF. I have had donkeys of all sizes for 20 years and out of all the farm animals I have had I love my donkeys the best.
    Leslie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leslie - The donkey we have here was originally used to halter break colts. She is feeling the work now late in her life though and can now barely move her head but she is certainly a character. She guards the sheep to a point and hates dogs but most of all she dislikes me. Not because I ever did anything to her but because when she sees me coming to feed her or take care of her she knows the routine has been changed for some reason and she dislikes change. When it is cold and wet like now we leave her in the barn over night and the next morning is about the only time she is happy to see me.

      Delete
    2. Well bless you for taking good care of this old girl, even though she doesn't like you. So many of these guys who have worked and earned their retirement get thrown away when they get too old to work. At least she was used to halter break and not as a roper. A good guard donkey is worth it's weight in gold. Not all of them will guard. I have a small herd of goats to keep the brush down on my hillside pastures and neither of my retired jennets would care if the coyotes killed them all.
      Leslie

      Delete
    3. Leslie - I am not so sure she is guarding the sheep so much as the fact that she just hates anything doglike and the coyotes count :) Anytime there is a coyote or dog near the pasture she will face off with it although she doesn't chase em like she used to. She just seems to naturally end up close to the sheep when grazing so it kinda works out.

      The Jenna is easy to take care of and easy to feed. It comes down to numbers with me mostly and allowing an old retired Donkey around really costs very little although we do have to give this one Beet pulp so that's an added expense. With horses it's a bit more of a problem. They are very costly to keep.

      Delete
  6. How quickly you think the collapse will come may play a part too. If you think less than a year, that's one thing - if longer, that's another...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TB - Yes that has some bearing. Personally though I think a lot of older small tractor stuff might come available more after a collapse. A lot of people are not going to make it even out here when the checks stop.

      Delete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.