Saturday, October 10, 2015

Tiller Testing





It's amazing how much things can change in just a week of not being around much. It was a nice day today and time for me to get back to work around here, however this morning I had to go check out yet another farm auction. 

There were a few minor things I was interested in but no implements on my acquire list were mentioned. A couple of implements listed might have been good for my side business but as it turned out I would have had to sit on them a while unless the price was super low. Looking at the crowd that had gathered I decided the odds of that happening were slim so I decided to just come back home and get some work done.

After almost a full week of doing very little around here and letting my Son and Mother take care of the feeding it was hard to get kick started.

I searched around looking for a new hidden egg nest and found nothing then decided to unload last weeks firewood from the trailer. Mind you I was taking some frequent breaks today.




The chickens were out almost the entire day. It seems we basically have two flocks now. Rocky appears to have about seven hens that follow him around religiously. He watches over them and leads them to eating spots and digs the ground up for them. His harem flock consists of three Reds and three Barred Rock hens that are young and one of the older Buffs. The remaining eleven hens which include most of the old hens and a few others pretty much keep to themselves and do as they please. They don't seem to be much impressed with Rocky. If they are within ear shot though and Rocky calls his harem in for something good to eat all the hens come running.

Still not getting much as far as eggs go though. Maybe two a day now for seventeen hens. I must say the hens have visibly grown a lot over this week too.




After unloading the trailer I finally got around to hooking that little 3 point tiller I bought back in May up. I then tilled the failed Pumpkin patch and was surprised how well it worked. The picture was kinda bad due to the light and the fact that it had a thick layer of cut weeds over it.  The 861 Ford worked well with the tiller. I was afraid the ground speed would be a bit too high but even with the extremely dry ground it worked it up pretty good. The slip clutch helped a lot though.

Using the 3 point tiller and the tractor I was able to till this patch up in a fraction of the time it took me with the walk behind model and I didn't even work up a sweat. I did say more than a few choice curse words while hooking the thing up though and the patch would have worked up better if we had some real moisture in it. We did get a little rain yesterday but not enough to make a dent in the hard, cracked ground.

While I didn't get a lot done at least I am back at it once again. Tomorrow is another firewood run, hopefully the last one down that way. Oh ya I got the truck fixed already. One of the metal brake lines had rusted through and another small cross over rubber line had collapsed so the truck is good to go once again.

At least this dry period is making Winter wood cutting a much easier job than usual.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!



7 comments:

  1. That tiller would be wonderful to put on my nice soft garden, I would use a plow on it first to turn it over then tear it up good with the tiller. I use an old horse disc that I made into 3pt after plowing and then use hand tillers to work it smooth.

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    1. Sf - I actually plowed that little spot back in May with the plow section I had that I tried to turn into a 3 point one bottom plow. I got the whole section plowed before the thing flipped up on me and bent the top bar. I good one or two bottom plow is on my list but they are outlandishly priced around here.

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  2. Feast of famine!! You guys are dry and I buried two different riding mowers trying to mow monster weeds after rain for a month. Luckily husband had the tractor out and was able to rescue me. Didn't get it all done but tried. Love your implements. Farm auctions have been one of my favorite things since I was a kid. I miss the Midwest but live there vicariously through your blog. Thanks for sharing. Peg in Florida

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    1. Peg - You got it right around here it's either too much to the point of over kill or nothing at all it seems. My county got put on the abnormally dry list last week now and not two months ago we were 22 inches over the yearly average in rain.

      I just don't get it.

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  3. We are past dry, we need rain really bad. Typical for this time of year... we did get a break from the heat for a week but we are now seeing 90 something again. Monday 95.. sigghhh... We worked on arches for row covers this weekend. I have a few days left off from work ...I got most of my onion sets planted but have a piece of a bag left to put out in the front garden. Kinda dreading the going back to work thing lol .... well work for pay ... I would rather work on the farm!

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    1. Texan - I am hoping we warm up a bit tomorrow and Monday with no wind. I need to do my final honey pull so I want it warm and a lack of wind so the smoke doesn't get blown away. I need to get it done this coming week or it will be too late.

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  4. Farmers around here are wrapping up the soy harvest, and starting on the corn. Fields are turned over and soon we all will settle in for a long winters nap.

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