Trying to get my ducks in a row to go to Sunbelt. TC wants me to ride down there with him, problem is he goes for the week and spends some time riding around and kicking tires whilst he's there. Dunno yet if I can get away for that long.

Of blind hogs and acorns

I mentioned several months ago that I'd dragged home a broken tedder. It sat in the weeds until about three weeks ago, when bigger brother pulled it out and did a little welding on it.

This is the "knuckle" that the wing folds back on. It was broke in half and I had my doubts about whether it would work to try and weld it back together. I am pleased to report that I was wrong.

I ran it for several hours and covered over thirty acres of very rough ground with nary a problem.


I had to buy a new driveshaft for it... the driveshaft cost more than than the tedder itself. A new tedder, depending on brand, would run anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000. A good working used one will run from $800 to $2000+, again depending on the brand.

Including the driveshaft, my gas to go get the thing, two cans of fix-a-flat for the tires and a handfull of welding rods, I have about $225 in it.

This is one rusty piece of junk that can be chalked up as a successfull Moron Project™.

Moron Project is a registered trademark of Possumblog International, LLC

This is the round baler when it's actually working... I shouldn't complain. I rolled 40 bales with it all told. Would've likely rolled 40 or 50 more had that bearing not went out. As it was, TC rolled it with Larry's JD 435.


Part of it here. I think we got thirty-two rolls off this field.

More nonsense later.

Done

Finished today. DR came over and helped me move the round bales out of the field and cover them with a big-ass tarp. I am afraid my scheme to trade the Deutz for something else has hit a snag. DR has fallen in love with it...

Finished baling squares yesterday and unloaded the last wagon this morning. All of the squares are in the dry now...

Please don't ridicule my stacking... my flunkies, lackeys and henchman pooped out on me Friday (see, I have three categories of helpers. Henchman is singular because I only have one of those. That of course, would be DR). Anyhow, I had to unload the last three wagons by myself.


This is the one I've been looking for since May.

Equipment porn and incredibly boring tales of haymaking to follow.

I gots more hay on the ground than Carter's got liver pills.

I started rolling the outside windrows yesterday. Dropped about four or five and saw smoke coming from the back of the baler. A bearing on one of the top rollers has went out. I'm just glad I saw it before I caught thee baler on fire.

Went and picked up the Ford and the square baler, along with one of my flunkies. Baled about half of what was raked and ended up with a wagon load.

DR came by and volunteered to follow me to the barn. As we were hooking the wagon to my truck I saw some people walking up the road nearby. Didn't pay any attention until we started up the road. My flunkie rode with me, with DR following in his truck.

As we turned out onto the main road, I saw the people who were walking ahead of us. It was three women who had been out jogging (or walking or whatever). As we got closer (I'm pulling two tons of hay on a four wheeled wagon, so I'm moving pretty slow) I saw that the nearest woman was wearing one of those jogging bras and spandex britches.

Y'know how there are some people who should be banned from wearing spandex? Well, let us just say that this gal ain't one of 'em. When we got real close to 'em I looked at Fry (my flunkie) and said "Check your mirror and see if DR runs off the road when he sees her."

Fry commenced to laughing because just about the time I said that, we saw DR's headlights cut over as he swerved toward the ditch..

It's amazing the boy didn't wreck.

I mowed for five hours Saturday. No rain in the forecast for the next ten days. Get up Sunday morning, check the forecast and find weather.com showing a 50% chance for Tuesday, Why in the heck couldn't they say that before I mow 30+ acres of hay? The local weather idiots are still saying 20% and I see this morning that weather.com has dropped it to 30%. I am becoming convinced that the Almanac is just about as accurate.

The '39 Ford convertible

TC and I were looking at an old car today and it reminded me of a story my dad told me twenty years ago.

I never really had a whole lot in common with my dad, but we got along fairly well when he was at home (he was a truck driver and was gone a lot). He had always been interested in cars and had actually owned a service station back in the fifties. He also had a race car and a motorcycle way back when. Growing up, I was never interested in any of those things. I was more the bookish type and didn't really care very much about cars or tractors or trucks until I was in my twenties. I was also quite an ass when I was teenager, but that's a story for another time.

Having said all of that, I saw a picture of a '39 Ford convertible in a magazine (y'know, the one with the big 'ole fat fenders?), anyhoo, I thought that it was the neatest looking car I'd ever seen. Showed the picture to my dad and told him I'd like to have a car like that someday (I think I was about fifteen at the time).

He looked at the magazine and said "I used to have a car just like that back in 1953, 'cept it was a different color."

"Really!!!! Why'd you get rid of it?"

"Train hit it."

"What? How'd that happen?"

"Car stalled on me when I was crossing the tracks, so I walked over to Sam's to see if he'd bring his tractor over to pull me off the tracks and a train came along."

He paused for a moment and then said "I'm just glad that ol' gal I was with had sense enough to get out of the car when she saw the train coming."

What makes the story even more funny to me is the fact that the conductor was a friend of my granddad and he gave daddy and his girlfriend a ride back to Dalton on the train.

I've often wondered if the wreckage of that old car is still out in the woods somewhere close to the railroad crossing, but I've never been ambitious enough to go look.

The Gehl is working again. Working very well in fact. I've finally finished rolling everything that was on the ground.

Time to start mowing again... as soon as this rain they're calling for Thursday and Friday is out of here

I'm in the middle of doing hay again.

I'm averaging three rolls per breakdown with the Gehl right now. I am really wishing I'd bought that 430 JD for 4k.....

Fun-filled details later this week.

The best way to make a small fortune in the cattle business...

is to start with a large fortune.

TC has a bull who likes to wander. He got this way because TC's neighbor who shares a fence with him won't keep a bull. I'm sure his (the nieghbors) reasoning is that he shouldn't have to, since TC's bull will jump the fence and service all of his cows. TC is very easy-going feller, but the bull has got to where he visits all the neighbors now, so it's time for him to go to that great hamburger joint in the sky.

Now, one might ask where I'm going with this...

TC is in the market for a new disc mower and is going to load up some calves this evening to take to the sale. He told me that he hated to sell any of them, except for the bull of course. I told him that he should just go load up three or four of Ted's (the neighbor without a bull) calves and take them, because after all, they're half TC's... Right?

I told him he should at least present Ted with a bill for stud services.

Chilluns say the durndest thangs

Went down to TC's yesterday to return some tools I'd borrowed the other day. His grandkids were there playing with their Tonka toys out in the yard. Grandaughter comes up to me and says "Do I look different?"

"I dunno, didya get a haircut?"

"No, I'm six!"

She followed me down to the shop, where I was looking for a spool of parachute cord to rob about eight foot off of it.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"A spool of white rope, you seen it?"

"No, whatcha need it for?"

"To fix a doo-lolly in the baler."

"What's a doo-lolly?"

"Well, sweetie, that's a technical term farmers use."

"You're a strange old man."


I don't know what bothered me worse, strange or old....

N'awlins

I'm sure it's been said by others, but dammned if New Orleans ain't looking a lot like Somalia circa 1993.

I understand that the Gummint has safety concerns, but as far as evacuating all of the poor people stranded on rooftops down there... hells bells, all they gots to do is say the word and every redneck in the southeast with a bass boat will be on the road headed south...

And I'll betcha dollars to donuts that the hicks are better armed than the looters.

Katrina

I haven't said anything about it, mainly because I don't know what to say. But WGOW , WRCB and a couple of the other radio stations are getting together a truckload of bottled water to send down and they also have a list of relief organizations up.

From WGOW's website:
Donations accepted are shrink-wrapped cases / flats of bottled drinking water ONLY! No gallon jugs, singles, etc. Monetary donations by check will be accepted... Make checks payable to: "Red Cross Louisiana Disaster Fund". Items not needed/accepted include: food, clothes, cleaning supplies.