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Thursday, July 28, 2016

Lovely day for making hay - raking

Cut the hay on tuesday, tedded it on wednesday and this morning, and then raked it this afternoon.  It looks great.
Love the look of raked hay.  Photo doesn't do it justice!
 I do love the look of raked hay.  This is orchard grass hay; it dries into a blue-green color that is part of the reason that it's so popular.  Everyone is convinced that greener hay is better hay, and this stuff is very green dried.   The seed for this grass spiked this year because of last years drought in the area - orchard grass seed is usually about 50% of the cost of alfalfa, but this year it was the same, so I didn't buy any for my reseeding - I just planted alfalfa   Same price, more calories and food value per acre.  Why not?
The speed rake (red thing behind the tractor) is very efficient
 In my area powered rakes, or rake-tedder combos, are pretty popular.  I've found that this 8 week speed rake works very well for picking up virtually all of the grass, and my only complaint with it is that sometimes it's hard to get a smooth windrow out of it.  if the grass is particularly thick in an area it can get kinda bunched up, but care in operating gives you that consistent row that you want so your baler can be run at the same speed down.
After I rousted the calf - mom in distance
 I spotted a calf in the long grass at the side of the field, and when I was driving back I wanted to make sure that it was with momma, so I rousted it, and at that point noticed I was on a cows radar screen.  She was maybe 500' away, but you could see her perk up when i got close to the calf, and she trotted over to make sure that I wasn't bothering her baby.  I wasn't, and they turned and joined the rest of the herd, who tends to migrate to the far end of their pasture every evening.
Reunion!
The cow in question is a herford cow, and she's been very good about calving every year, and has been a good mother.  No problems with her calves, no good weight.  this one is a little bull, so I made a note that I'd have to round it up and band it pretty soon here.  My cow herd has grown by 9 steers and 6 heifers this year.

the hay that I'm cutting here will be used primarily to feed the cows and their calves over the winter.  My first cutting put 1800 bales in the barn.  this second cutting should be a little less - perhaps 1200 bales, and then the third cutting, sometime in august, should put me over the top for my goal of 4200 bales in the barn.


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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Making hay, crown of thorns, pup

Weather looking good for hay; doing my 2nd cutting today.  Takes me about 7 hours of tractor time to cut the hay, about 3 hours per pass for tedding.  

Found some fence wire where it shouldn't be; not sure how it got there, but the mower found it, and made what looks like a crown of thorns
the wire

the part of the mower it wrapped around
the pup, enjoying the farm dog life
When I get a new pup I try to spend as much time as I can with it in the first six months.  For me, that's most of my waking moments.  So this pup got to ride in the cab of the tractor, and then swim in the river when I soaked my shirt, and the back into the cab.  I've never owned a border collie before, so it's interesting to see the differences between this pup and the airedale pup that I'm raising it with.
It's a pretty intelligent dog, and "soft" - tone of voice is pretty effective for correction.  Very different than an airedale, where you sometimes have to physically intervene to get them to stop doing something - like killing a littermate, or dragging the cat off with puppy enthusiasm.

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Friday, July 22, 2016

Puppy update

The taken pup is t he one on the left.  

Update 7-23-2016:  The toppenish police department retrieved the pup and I picked it up last night.  The pup is happy to be back with its little friend after a week-long adventure.
  The man who took the dog "thought that it was a stray" and intended to keep it.  He didn't contact anyone about the dog or ask about it at the auction.  The police department said that since there's no footage of him opening the trailer that they're be a problem at trial, and honestly I'm just glad to have the dog back, so I think this will end it.
  And I'm going to get a tag for the pup and have him microchipped.

This is a followup to a previous post

A helpful person on the internet was able to figure out that the last 3 digits in the license plate; 23N  the 2 and 3 are pretty clear, the N is probable.

Turns out that someone at the auction knows who the owner of the truck is and provided the deputy investigating this with the name, address and phone number of that person.  I don't know that the owner of the truck is the person who was driving it that day, but it's a great lead.

The deputy is on her way over to the auction yard now, and I suspect that there will be some movement in the case in the next day or two.

Fingers crossed.
at 1 comment:

Puppy update

The taken pup is t he one on the left.  

Update 7-23-2016:  The toppenish police department retrieved the pup and I picked it up last night.  The pup is happy to be back with its little friend after a week-long adventure.

This is a followup to a previous post

A helpful person on the internet was able to figure out that the last 3 digits in the license plate; 23N  the 2 and 3 are pretty clear, the N is probable.

Turns out that someone at the auction knows who the owner of the truck is and provided the deputy investigating this with the name, address and phone number of that person.  I don't know that the owner of the truck is the person who was driving it that day, but it's a great lead.

The deputy is on her way over to the auction yard now, and I suspect that there will be some movement in the case in the next day or two.

Fingers crossed.
at 1 comment:

Monday, July 18, 2016

Making the grade

So after making mistakes with previous tillage (which I talk about in this blog entry) I'm using a land-leveling device to make my field smooth and level.
The green and yellow thing is the land level device
So you plow up your land to loosen the soil and make it easier to scrape and move.  There's a laser on a tripod that isn't visible in the photo (it's a few hundred feet away) and there's a laser receiver on the top of the post (you can see a cord going up to it.  When the device sees that you are going above or below the laser it'll adjust the blade and basically what you do is drive in circles until the ground is level, and then move on.
broken and welded laser reciever post
 The post that holds the laser receiver broke, (you can see it broken in the picture with the tractor) and I had to bring it in and weld it.  I had a piece of rebar laying around, so used it to reinforce the original pipe.  This pic is before painted it.  My welding skills are farm-capable but not pretty.
the next problem I had was a hydraulic leak on the leveling cylinder.  Wasn't sure what the problem was, so took the whole thing apart and inspected it.  The valve is pretty interesting.  Just a pair of electromagnets, and inside the valve there's a little metal tab that slides back or forth based on the magnet.
since I wasn't sure where the problem was, i had the whole thing apart, but it turned out that it was an O ring failure
you can see the rubber o ring bulging out in the picture above.  the post that the electromagnet mounts on got loose, unscrewed a little, and  the pressure of the fluid forced the O ring out and eventually broke it.
this device works pretty well as long as you're dealing with a difference in elevation of about 16".  Bigger than that and the receptor on the blade loses contact with the laser and the blade freezes in the last position.  So I dealt with that by doing smaller moves.
to level 5 with a + or - 6" diffrence took about 20 hours of tractor time.  That seems like a lot, but this only has to be done once - EVER - so while it's a little slower than I would like, it's done.  I was able to see the level the next time it rained - the water didn't pool anywhere, just made a very flat pool when it rained hard, and then soaked in straight down.

I'm using it to make level fields, but it can be used to make two-axis grades by adjusting the sending laser.  So you can have a field that is flat in one direction but has a slope in another.

The operation was relatively easy, and I'm pretty happy with the final result.  The fields are flat and smooth.

I have a few hundred yards of composted manure that I'll be dumping on this field and then using this same laser level device to spread it evenly over the entire area.  I'll put down 1" of manure using the same laser technique as with dirt.

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Sunday, July 17, 2016

Lost or had a puppy stolen, and then got internet pitchforked!


So I posted the following on an internet site in the hope of getting some help with this:

I need the plate of this truck
I had a puppy in a stock trailer behind my truck, and either someone let it out or it got out itself. About an hour after I parked, at 13:47:41 the pup ran out from under my truck to the nearest person, and at 1:48:01 over to the feet of the guy who picked it up and put it into his truck.
When I came out and found the pup gone I checked with the auction office, had them do an announcement, called the police, called the human society, and finally remembered i had the dashcam footage, which explained what happened.
So I need the plate to help get my pup back. any help appreciated.
Sorry about being a dufus and posting long videos. i would cut it down to size if I could figure out how to do it.

Pretty straightforward, and the license plate of the truck of the person who took the pup is visible.  Posted that late last night, and woke up to the following:

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[–]WorldTravelBucket 4 points  
It looks like the high yesterday in Toppenish, WA (where the video was taken - I found it by searching for this building) was 82 degrees. I'm not sure how hot it gets in the shade/sun, but that may be why the dog got out.
[–]coastdweller69 -2 points  
The puppy isn't livestock and doesn't belong in a stock trailer.
It is not ok to keep a puppy in the bottom floor of a double decker pig transporter in 80 degree plus heat for over an hour.
[–]GonemuddinLifted F250 6.7l diesel, ITrue X3 camera 5 points  
Wait, wait....wait.... let me get this straight. You put a puppy in a trailer on the back of your truck while driving.... then you left said puppy in the trailer in a parking lot... in the summer time... and are upset it ran away and was taken?
So first off I want to say (if I have all these facts right), you are a complete and total scumbag. Secondly I want to say that what you did is a crime in most states depending on if the trailer was enclosed or not.
[–]GonemuddinLifted F250 6.7l diesel, ITrue X3 camera -1 points  
Transporting animals in a stock trailer = legal
Leaving animals in the heat inside a locked trailer = illegal
[–]DammitDan 1 point  
It's still a locked stock trailer, and I fail to see why it matters whether the trailer is moving or not.
[–]GonemuddinLifted F250 6.7l diesel, ITrue X3 camera 1 point  
Because kiddo, I am going to give you a real quick run down on the difference between livestock and horses and a puppy. A Stock trailer is meant for livestock and horses. Even then, you don't leave the animal in the trailer for a long time in the summer sun. Unlike a dog, a horse has sweat glands which help it cool much much much easier than a dog. It also is much larger and can handle much more stress than a dog. Same goes to cattle (minus the sweat glands part).
The moving issue is because if the dog is small enough to slip out in a parking lot, that means it can walk out while you're driving.
You are an idiot and the kind of person that doesn't deserve to own an animal.
Edit: I am just going to assume you 1) dont own livestock or horses 2) dont have a stock trailer and/or 3) dont care about animal safety. So I am just ending the argument here, where I can't say anymore to your stupidity.
[–]DammitDan 2 points  
First off, the dog wasn't in the summer sun, because he was in the shade of the trailer.
Second, how hot is too hot for a dog? If you know so much about dogs, you should be able to give at least a ballpark answer to that.
[–]CaptainDiptoad -1 points  
100% would have taken the puppy aswell
[–]i_have_severe 5 points  
You left your dog in a stock trailer in the middle of some south/mid western state in the middle of summer for well over an hour? Yeah, I don't care about you or you getting your dog back. I hope you're blacklisted from all dog adoption places.
[–]DammitDan -1 points  
Better in the shade of the stock trailer than outside in direct sunlight.
[–]i_have_severe -1 points  
Better neither.
[–]DammitDan -1 points  
How hot do you think is too hot for a dog to be outside?
[–]i_have_severe -3 points  
How stupid do you have to be to not realize maybe it's not okay to bake a dog in a stock trailer or to have them in direct sunlight? It's not an either or. Go back to debating your dumbass friends.
[–]DammitDan 1 point  
How the fuck are they going to bake in a stock trailer? The trailer provides shade.
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
Your profession has nothing to do with it.
Answers by Dan? That was clear covering.
Was I siding? Absolutely and I would in person and it wouldn't be a good day for you at all.
I'd be in your face asking what the fuck is wrong with you and hoping you'd have excuses.
You shouldn't have animals as your hobby will get you in trouble.
[–]DammitDan 2 points  
How hot is too hot for a dog to be outside in shade?
[–]coastdweller69 2 points  
But you're not sorry for being a doofus PUPPY KILLING scumbag dipshit moron fuckhead dilhole micropenis asshole for leaving a puppy alone in a auction lot for that length of time though eh?
That puppy is alive and is better off not under your care.
This is a grade A fuck head.
It is not ok to keep a puppy in the bottom of a double decker pig hauler in 80 degree plus heat for over an hour and it magically break out of it's locked compartment and run away.
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
How do you know the PUPPY KILLING Scumbag Dipshit Moron Fuckhead Dilhole Micropenis Asshole did have water and food available?
See, speculation works both ways and is irrelevant.
Its a livestock trailer, not a puppy trailer and an hour in 80+ heat at the bottom of a livestock trailer is not where a puppy should be contained
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
Zero? You mean the OP being a 0.
So the OP posts video showing the puppy not being cared for. Claims ignorance (As you have) how the puppy got away from an enclosed vehicle in 82 degree heat and you're presuming innocence? wut?
You have no point other than to troll every comment with a positive view of an obvious scumbag which makes you connected to this PUPPY KILLING PRICK.
That's the real difference.
[–]coastdweller69 0 points  
/u/DammitDan claimed arrogance by posting: I still don't understand how he is a scumbag! What the fuck did he do wrong? And how is he a puppy killer? Are you still assuming he wasn't feeding him or something?
I get it, you don't. That's the difference.
This is what puppy killers do, they think they're livestock, contain them (Very badly) in the bottom compartment of a double decker pig hauler in 80 degree heat for over an hour and then ask for help finding their puppy when obviously someone who cared more about the puppy saved the puppy.
Hobby farmers don't see a difference from hobby livestock farming and a puppy in a livestock trailer. If you need any more information about why the OP is a douche you're intending to be ignorant.
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
an theory
I've got an theory? I'm going entirely by what you posted, what you wrote and you're saying I have "an theory"?
You're fucking nervous because you're a fucking douchebag. Attempt to dox? I'm holding back.
HappyPaws knows about ya and you don't want to meet me to for me to clarify how badly you're handling your canine. It's not a pig, and doesn't belong in a livestock trailer ill cared for.
[–]DammitDan 2 points  
What don't I get? If you get it, why can't you articulate it into a complete thought?
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
Articulated obvious shit: It is not ok to keep a puppy in a unlocked compartment of a double decker pig hauler in 80 degree plus heat for over an hour without supervision.
You don't seem to be able to read an articulated concept let alone understand any sort of common sense.
[–]Valensiakol [score hidden]  
I get it, you don't. That's the difference.
God damn, you're a dense one. That isn't how reality works.
[–]coastdweller69 0 points  
The puppy isn't livestock and doesn't belong in a stock trailer.
Post the specs of your trailer cowboy.
[–]coastdweller69 1 point  
There is a difference between idiotic ranting and doing something about it.
The video has been submitted to the local agencies that provide support for careless owners of pets and livestock.
[–]Valensiakol 3 points  
Repeatedly posting PUPPY KILLING Scumbag Dipshit Moron Fuckhead Dilhole Micropenis Asshole in this thread and reuploading OP's video with the same thing in the title and description fits the bill of idiotic ranting, especially when you're making just as speculative and baseless statements as you just accused another person of doing.
As well, this video is not enough evidence of anything to affect OP so good luck with your pointless report, keyboard warrior.
I'm all for taking proper care of animals but Christ, grow the fuck up. People like you give a bad name to people but who care who aren't also overreacting fools.
[–]coastdweller69 -1 points  
PUPPY KILLING Scumbag Dipshit Moron Fuckhead Dilhole Micropenis Asshole
Thanks for repeating that, helps the OP
If you don't like a message repeated (Which is the only way nimrods will hear a message) then put me on ignore.
Got it, you're sensitive to repeating, swearing, troubles in your youth it's ok. Substituting your parenting skills with my behaviour isn't going to change that the OP doesn't know how to care for his pets.
[–]Valensiakol 3 points  
What the hell are you on about? It has nothing to do with being sensitive to swearing. I swear all the fucking time. I'm pointing out that you sound like an autistic imbecile when you keep repeating something a ten year old wannabe edgelord on 4chan might think sounds good.
I mean, you didn't even attempt a rational educational post at first, you just jumped right into the retarded shit some batshit crazy loon would start screaming at the kid on the other side of the McDonalds counter for putting too much ketchup on your quarter-pounder.
And what's this about substituting parenting skills with your behavior? What the fuck does that even mean? I don't even have kids, you dumb twat. And if you think your irrational, emotionally-unhinged ranting is going to change how OP cares for his pets, you're just as insane as you come across.
[–]coastdweller69 [score hidden]  
You only understand what you type lol.
[–]DammitDan 2 points  
For having an animal a trailer that is specifically designed for animals on a mild day? What do you expect the authorities to do with that report besides laugh at it and toss it in the trash?
[–]DammitDan 1 point  
Hopefully they just make sure the puppy is ok and check the collar to contact you.
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[You'll find the original post/thread here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Roadcam/comments/4t8sgo/usa_need_help_with_plate_to_get_my_puppy_back/)

at 5 comments: