The Official Farming Thread...

[SpaceBus]

I think Glenda and I are going to watch fireworks tonight in Cookeville. I'll take a day off of my "diet" today so I can enjoy a good old fashioned burger, and some chips.

I wrestled in a few matches in Cookeville. Not to say it's particularly close to your area, but I graduated high school in Clarksville TN. Only lived there for three years while my step father was stationed at Fort Campbell. We considered buying property in East TN before settling on Maine.

 

[Sagebrush33]

Been shopping for mowers but haven't found anything used.

Seems to be quite a few here in NY.....

 

[Mastermind]

I'm looking out for a used sickle bar mower

There are few things more frustrating than a sickle bar mower. I mowed too many acres for a couple of years before I rid myself of that damn thing!!!

 

[SpaceBus]

There are few things more frustrating than a sickle bar mower. I mowed too many acres for a couple of years before I rid myself of that damn thing!!!

Yes, that seems to be the case from what I've read about them, but my tractor is the limiting factor here. From what I've gleaned from reading about haying around the internet and this thread a sickle bar mower or drum mower is what I'll be capable of using. The drum mowers are crazy expensive so I figured starting small with a sickle bar isn't a bad thing. There are small Italian made baling equipment that would work for the property size we have now. Eventually I would like to buy a 50+ acre wood lot a bit more inland and harvest the timber and convert some to pasture. In that scenario I would likely buy 70+ HP machine and hay equipment and build a barn to store it all on site.

 

[SpaceBus]

Seems to be quite a few here in NY.....

That's a long trip for a used mower.

 

[Sagebrush33]

That's a long trip for a used mower.

Sure is. If ya found one in the Plattsburgh area, or even a little further north, it wouldn't be that bad.

 

[JimBear]

There are few things more frustrating than a sickle bar mower. I mowed too many acres for a couple of years before I rid myself of that damn thing!!!

Truth, Lol. When things are dry & smooth they work great, throw some rocks, ant hills, damp under growth, worn guards & point rows into the equation & things can get really frustrating.

When the CRP program first came out & that stuff was supposed to be mowed every year Dad decided we going to start mowing CRP. We started out with a pair of 9’ New Holland’s, mowing around 400 acres plus his 150 acres hay, in about 5 years time we were mowing 1500 acres with those same 9 footers & a 15’ batwing, some of which had never been mowed since it was seeded. Bumble bees, hornets, yellow jackets, Honey Locust, ant hills, rocks, ditches, kitchen appliances, furniture, abandoned wells, concrete blocks & old equipment buried in the under growth. It was a good time...

 

[Mastermind]

Truth, Lol. When things are dry & smooth they work great, throw some rocks, ant hills, damp under growth, worn guards & point rows into the equation & things can get really frustrating.

When the CRP program first came out & that stuff was supposed to be mowed every year Dad decided we going to start mowing CRP. We started out with a pair of 9’ New Holland’s, mowing around 400 acres plus his 150 acres hay, in about 5 years time we were mowing 1500 acres with those same 9 footers & a 15’ batwing, some of which had never been mowed since it was seeded. Bumble bees, hornets, yellow jackets, Honey Locust, ant hills, rocks, ditches, kitchen appliances, furniture, abandoned wells, concrete blocks & old equipment buried in the under growth. It was a good time...

I used a 7' New Holland. It was a good machine, and cut well.....until I found a rat's nest, or anything like that. I did learn to clear a jam usually without getting off the tractor, but that meant backing up a few times.....

You ain't mowing if you're going backwards. LOL

 

[Sagebrush33]

Bumble bees, hornets, yellow jackets, Honey Locust, ant hills, rocks, ditches, kitchen appliances, furniture, abandoned wells, concrete blocks & old equipment buried in the under growth. It was a good time...

Ouch! I can only imagine. I've been using a metal brush/grass blade on my trimmer here for the messily 51/2 acres I'm on.
No fun finding lost treasures.

 

[JimBear]

You ain't mowing if you're going backwards. LOL

TRUTH

 

[Mastermind]

Ouch! I can only imagine. I've been using a metal brush/grass blade on my trimmer here for the messily 51/2 acres I'm on.
No fun finding lost treasures.

I ran over a concrete piling once in a field. Had been poured in a sonotube. Now who in the hell just drops off a 4' section of concrete that's 12" in diameter in the middle of a field?

A dumb ass....that's who.

 

[Sagebrush33]

I ran over a concrete piling once in a field. Had been poured in a sonotube. Now who in the hell just drops off a 4' section of concrete that's 12" in diameter in the middle of a field?

A dumb ass....that's who.

Strangest I've found so far is a shopping cart. At least it was next to an old chicken coop foundation.
I dragged it down to my garage. Figuring I can dice it up and use some of the grating, for something.

 

[SpaceBus]

Now that we are getting a few more alpacas I'm looking into a livestock/horse trailer. Are they hard to find everywhere? The New England Craigslist postings are pretty thin for trailers in general. There are a few small wheelchair buses that look like they may work instead.

 

[JimBear]

Now that we are getting a few more alpacas I'm looking into a livestock/horse trailer. Are they hard to find everywhere? The New England Craigslist postings are pretty thin for trailers in general. There are a few small wheelchair buses that look like they may work instead.

There seem to be several for sale around here, lots of 16’ bumper hitches.

 

[SpaceBus]

There seem to be several for sale around here, lots of 16’ bumper hitches.

I'm looking for a bumper pull in the 12-16' range. Seems to be more of them in NC where I used to live as well. Sometimes I wish we had bought property in ETN instead, a lot of things would be much easier.

 

[Hedgerow]

Now THAT’S an arm roast...
6 lbs of glorious beef..

Larry was a good steer.. I made sure to sprinkle him weekly with pesticide and roundup so I could make more money before eating him..

 

[Sagebrush33]

View attachment 300627

Now THAT’S an arm roast...
6 lbs of glorious beef..

Larry was a good steer.. I made sure to sprinkle him weekly with pesticide and roundup so I could make more money before eating him..

You name yer food?
LOL just bustin yer gnards,
Like mine were when I named my saw. Not by you but a bunch of members here.

Edit/add on: BTW, Larry looks delicious.

 

[SpaceBus]

How many here slaughter/butcher their own meat? I've only done chickens and fish. Thinking about adding rabbits next year.

 

[Mastermind]

I ate Wooly Bully one year. He was a fine steer that loved attention. I had him and ol Sir Loin both as young bulls to see which one was gonna make the best bull. Obviously, Wooly Bully lost.

 

[legdelimber]

Any of you fun lovin' mfer's grilling today? Just got mine washed up. Any of you have nothing to do today jump in the car and get over here. I got plenty of foods!
View attachment 300601

I stepped out onto the front porch, just after dark last night. Cicadas are finally getting noisy in my area, fireworks popping.
Air was full of wood smoke, grilled meat and burnt powder.
Closed my eyes for a moment and it almost felt like I wasn't in the big city.