Inefficiency

No wonder it takes me so long to do stuff.

Oreo and Rose

Saturday afternoon when I looked out at the pasture from the house I thought I saw a calf in the middle pasture when the cattle were in the south pasture.  Yup.  Oreo was in the middle pasture trying to figure out how to get back into the south pasture.  She and the cattle were along the seven strand section of fence and Oreo was reluctant to go back to the four strand section of fence where she apparently slipped through the fence.

I went out and opened the gate and herded her through it so she could rejoin her mother.  She is a chubby little heifer.

Heading for the gate!

In the morning as I worked on the pump and leaks, Rose and the two black heifers lay in the shade across the fence from me.   Shortly before I finished working on the pump the heifers got up and began to graze.  A little bit later Rose began to bellow.  Yup, three weeks have passed already and she was in heat again.

After a little while she got more worked up and ran around jumping and kicking.  I opened the gate to the corral and Rose ran inside thinking the bull may be there.  The two black heifers followed and I closed the gate.  They will stay in the corral until tomorrow when Rose settles down.  In the corral she won't escape, while the NE pasture has a poor section of fence that the cattle don't realize they probably could get through it they tried hard.

As the day went on it got annoying as Rose called and called for the bull.

Below Rose looks like a little angel.  Trust me, for 24 hours she is not an angel.

Below is a link for a 17 second video of Rose calling for the bull. I tried to get more and better video f her bellowing and bellowing but whenever I got closer and turned the camera on, Rose got camera shy and quit bellowing.

https://youtu.be/mrfzCPQooAo

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Water problem, fixed

I think I finished fixing the pump's leaks Saturday at noon. After what... 11 days?  Saturday morning I found the union to the pump was still leaking, the pressure tank's union had water around it but no drops, the faucet had a slow drip, and now several joints in the pipe between the pump and well were wet/leaking.  The plastic/rubber pipe going into the concrete floor was damp but not leaking.

I  replaced the faucet and that fixed that leak.  I loosened and re-tightened pressure tank union and fixed that.  I tried loosened and re-tightening the pump's union but that made it worse.  So I gave up on that union and replaced the union and pipe with a piece of black plastic pipe I cut to the correct length.  That fixed that leak as the plastic could flex where the union could not.

The leak and wet spots between the pump and well were very slow.  Because of all the elbows I am not sure I could tighten the elbows and pipes anymore.  Because the leaks are so slow I will wait and see if they stop on their own.

Its nice to have water from the faucets in the house and no longer rely on bottles and buckets for water.  After I wait a few days I will put the roof back on the pump's shed.

New leaks

No water. No car

Well... the 'no water' is not entirely correct.  I've had too much, none and some water.

In the morning I found this:

Too much water

The plastic pipe that comes up through the concrete floor appeared to have a small leak.  I guess that would explain the hose clamps around the pipe near the concrete floor. Jostling the pipe to connect to the newer pump and pipes must have 're-awoken' an old problem.

I was afraid I would have to break through the concrete to get at more of the pipe for replacement.  I took the clamps off and discovered multiple sections of plastic pipe.  The pipe barely sticks through the concrete depression.  In the plastic pipe is a ribbed plastic piece used to join the plastic pipes.  The leak appears to have come from this joint connection.

I wonder if a previous owner had a pipe problem and had to chip away the concrete and cut and patch the pipe?

As you see the pipe comes out of the concrete at an angle.  To get the plastic pipe to match up to the new pipes I had to bend it a tad.  That may have put pressure on the connection.  I replaced the short plastic pipe with a shorter more flexible rubber piece.  I made up the difference with metal pipe.  I really tightened the clamps over the rubber piece of pipe.

Things got thrown off a tad.  One of the unions was difficult to line up 100% up and down.  Right and left was not a problem as I could turn a joint to match the union match.  Up and down was not so easy as the pump was on one side and both the pressure tank and the pipe to the house on the other side.  I struggled to get a perfect union match.  In the end I replaced a piece of pipe with a sightly longer piece.

I turned the water on.  The union has a slow but steady leak.  *arrggh*  I put a can under to catch the drops and will wait till tomorrow to see if the leak self seals.

The rubber piece may be leaking.  It is slight wet around the plastic pipe in the concrete floor.  Hopefully it seals by morning.


In between working on the well and pipes the car mechanic called with bad news about my car.  The brake lines were very rusted and the lines front to back needed to be replaced as they were all one piece.  The problem area was where a plastic cover 'protected' the lines.  Salt got up under the plastic and did its work.  Thank you Minnesota and all the salt you dump on the roads over Winter.

I went over and looked at the brake lines.  They appeared to be very corroded and so fragile that they would collapse it touched.  The rest of the brake lines were good. The lines could not be cut and spliced - it was all or nothing.

New brake lines for an 1989 model are no longer sold.  I could try to find brake lines at a salvage yard.  I called several salvage yards and was told they do not sell used brake lines due to liability issues.

Even if I found replacement lines, the labor cost would run 300 to 400 hundreds dollars.  The mechanic suggested I junk the car.  That is what happened to my previous car back in 1992 - I junked that car because the brake lines needed replacing and it wasn't worth it.

I had only 146,999 miles on the car.  Junking the car is a shame because, other than underneath the car, most of the rest of the car was good.

This is only the the third car I ever owned.  I had it since 1992 - 23 years.  I have lots of great memories with this car.  When shopping for a replacement to my previous car I couldn't find a car I liked in Rochester and when visiting my friend Francis in the Twin Cities, we went car shopping one day.   I thought this Nissan Maxima was too fancy/sporty for me but he talked me into it.  My girlfriend at the time test drove the car and loved it.  I love the car and never regretted buying it.  I have a few memories of traffic tickets.  I have a memory of driving 134 mph when the Montana speed limit was "a safe and reasonable" speed back in the 90s.  And many other memories as this afternoon I mourned the passing of my car.

The mechanic said salvage yards only paid $75 for junked cars.  Only $75? That was the same salvage price my previous car sold for in 1992.  The mechanic said he had $80 in labor and would take the car in payment if I wished.  So I let the car go with great regret.

I miss my car.


Friday night's sunset:

Well problem: water. New cow and now a car problem

I have water.  Finally.  I spent the afternoon putting the pipe puzzle together.  Of the previous piping I had to remove/replace or move every piece except the pipe coming out of the pressure tank and the elbow on that pipe.  I am not sure why I even had to replace the elbow going into the black plastic pipe to the house, but I had to.

You'd think I could have left the cross piece with the four openings alone, but I had to rotate that piece because one piece of pipe was in the cross piece so tight, and the pipe was so short, the threads would have been ruined if I continued trying to get the pipe out.

It was a challenge to get everything to line up. After everything was put together and the water turned on, I had to re-do one union as the pieces didn't line up 100% and the union leaked even though it was completely screwed together.  I had to get a rock and place under the pipe going to the pressure tank to raise the pipe that last 1% for the union to be 100% together.

Not the easiest to match the high pump height, then the low tank height then the medium black plastic exit pipe height.  But I did, and with the pieces I owned.  The only piece I had to buy (other than the plastic pipe in the well) was one elbow for the pipe between the pump and the well pipe.  Another victory for my 'treasure pile'.

As you can see the pipe is more streamlined making access to the back of the shed, and the pump, easier. And I now have more room in which to place a space heater in the Winter time.

I replaced the old shutoff valve with the turn handle with a ball valve with a lever.  I think the old valve only closed the pipe 99.5% and not 100%.  I even had to replace the faucet as the previous faucet's handle broke and I didn't have just a handle that would fit that style of faucet.

Something I will have to check tomorrow is where the pipe goes into the ground (concrete).  I heard a small hiss when I opened the valve to let the water in and now I see a small amount of water around the pipe.  Some years ago it leaked in a similar manner but then quit.  My work may have re-started a leak.

The plastic pipe appears to be around a flexible metal pipe.  Right where the pipe comes out of the concrete (and perhaps where the pipe leaks?) are two metal clamps.  Why?  I don't know.  But it is an odd location to have clamps.

Tomorrow I will see if there are any leaks elsewhere.  This pump is a 1/2 hp pump, while my old pump was 1 hp.  I noticed it took longer to fill the cattle's water trough.  So far I haven't noticed much difference in the house's water pressure when running the sink faucets.


Also on my list of work on Thursday was a getting another cow. Dan came with an open cow he wanted to pasture (and to get pregnant by Buddy).  With this drought I don't have extra grass but I accepted the cow but told him: "No more!".

Dan wanted to put his ear tag on the cow so we unloaded her into the loading corral to use the head gate.  The cow had been no problem but she did not want to go anywhere near the head gate.  I still hadn't fixed the wooden gate in the ramp back when the one cow cracked it when Donna and I were spraying the cows.  I have 2 by 4s I place through the fence by the railroad ties.  The cow is huge - at least 1500 lbs.  She stands taller than Beulah.  Dan's cow backed up and snapped a 2 by 4.

I had a three more 2 by 4s nearby, but I went to the yard to get four more as we would need multiple boards with this cow.  Dan knew what I was doing but he didn't wait.  He risked breaking his arm reaching through the fence to tag the cow at that location.  He tagged the cow without getting hurt.  But he put the tag on backwards and the cow broke the three remaining 2 by 4s.

Dan went to back his stock trailer to the head gate so we could reload the cow and haul it to the middle pasture.   The cow was still excited, and at my cracked gate she had backed up.  She was trying to turn around.  Remember I said she was huge.  The railroad tie posts held but one of the 2 by 6 boards broke.  Before she could break the other 2 by 6 boards I rapped her on her head to get her to stop trying to turn around.  She stopped.  I then got her straight and then finally she moved forward past a railroad tie and I put the four boards behind her.  At this point the loading ramp is narrow enough she could not even try to turn around.

I have odds and ends of boards but I was not happy Dan didn't wait for me to come with more boards. While cattle can be hard on fences, we could have avoided damaging my fence in this case. So I am having him replace the board.

Once Dan's trailer was backed up, and I opened the head gate, out the cow ran into the trailer.

I had Dan back his trailer to the south pasture gate as I wanted to move the cattle back to the south pasture.  I called and they came running.  Once we unloaded Dan's cow the bull came over to check her out.  He was happy - another cow for his harem.


Lastly, this morning I took my car to a repair shop Donna recommended.  The brake fluid started disappearing Wednesday and I barely had any brakes left.   If it's not one thing, it's another.  No wonder I am behind on my ranch projects.

Well problem, day 8

Almost done.   I placed the pipe and foot valve in the well.  I have the pipe hooked up to the pump.  I have the pump wired.  I have tested the pump and it appears to work fine.  I ran water to clear up the rust.

What I have left: connect the pump up to the pressure tank, connect it to the pipe running to the house, and add a faucet for outside watering.  Doing this will be a puzzle exercise.  The old pump sat over the well casing as the input pipes were under the pump.  The newer pump has the input pipe on the end and the output on one side.  That limits where I can place the pump.  As a result the old piping needs to be modified as the newer pump is closer and higher than the old pump.  I can't use the main pipe as it is now too long.

Since I need to change the piping I decided to replace the pieces of pipe that are one size smaller than the main pipe and the pipe to the house.  I guess they ran out of pipe and decided to downsize the pipe in order to have enough pipe then up-size it when it got to the house black plastic pipe.

My uncles Curt and Larry know the challenges of working on the house, etc, around the ranch as they saw the challenges of the crooked walls and odd plumbing, etc. when we remodeled the house bathroom.   The well has its challenges.   The concrete well casing is uneven.  The north side is higher than the south side.  I ended up putting a board under the pump to make it more level.

The well house has a concrete floor.  It is uneven also. Before, the pressure tank had a lean.  I plan to try to make the tank level.   The electrical wire and the water pipe from the house come up through the concrete floor.  After the electrician rewired the pump house and added conduit through the pump house wall I cut off the old wire at the concrete floor.  The pipe to the house is fixed in one location.

The inside of the pump house is not that large.  Before, when accessing something in the pump house I had to take care not to hook, bend or break the pipe.  I plan to try to streamline the pipe.  We'll see how successful I will be with the parts I have.


Below is the new pipe that goes from the pump in to the well.  It is 1 1/4 in diameter and is poly pipe, or clear-coat as many call it.   The outside is blue and the inside is clear.

Buddy gets some action

Last year Buddy got with the cows June 25 and I had calves born starting April 6.  I decided to let him be with the cows on Tuesday June 23.  I was tired of hearing him bellow and moan after the cows and heifers.  Every morning between 6 am and 7 am he would be bellowing for the cows or heifers.

This morning the cows were in the east side of the south pasture - in view so that Buddy could find them immediately when released from the corral.  Buddy and the steer had some hay left in their feeder so they shouldn't be hungry.

I opened the corral gates.  Buddy and the steer walked out their part of the corral and immediately started eating the green grass along the corral fence.

I herded them out of the corral and closed the corral gates.  Instead of heading to the open middle pasture gate in order to get to the cows, Buddy and the steer took to eating the green grass in the north pasture.

I tried to herd Buddy but he concentrated on the grass and would give me the stink eye as he ate.  I tried to herd the steer but each time he would move right next to Buddy.

Even though I had a sorting stick, I picked up a fallen evergreen branch and placed it on the ground by Buddy's face.  Finally Buddy turned.  After a bit he moved to the open gate.  Once he walked through he turned around and kneeling on his front legs rubbed on the ground and then against the fence post.  I was glad the fence post was a railroad tie as the tie held up without breaking.

While Buddy rubbed against the railroad tie I tried to herd the steer over to Buddy.  Whenever I got the steer close to the open gate he would run and veer off away from the gate.  Over and over he did this.  Then one time Buddy stopped rubbing and got up and ran jumping and kicking after the steer.

*sigh*

After more herding I got Buddy back to the gate.  This time he ran through it into the middle pasture.  I tried herding the steer again but he refused to go through the gate.  I closed the gate to keep Buddy in.

By now Buddy moved over to take a dirt bath.   There is a reason he is sleek and had lost his winter fur while the cows and heifers still have some winter fur left. Buddy takes grooming to heart.

While Buddy took his dirt bath I walked to the south gate in order to open it.  Before I got to the gate Buddy finished his dirt bath  and noticed the cows in the south pasture.  He ran to the fence jumping as he ran.  I moved out of the way behind a tree.

Buddy reached the fence before I did.  He went to where the nearest cow was located.   I opened the gate and Buddy ignored me and continued whispering "Sweet nothings" to the cow.

I found one calf lying next to the fence in the middle pasture.  Somehow the calf had slipped through the fence into the middle pasture.   Most likely down where the fence is only four strands of wire.  Here the fence was seven strands and the calf couldn't get back through the fence.  I herded the calf through the open gate and it ran back to its mother.

Then the other cows noticed Buddy and came to the gate.  Panda came through the gate and walked over to Buddy and started smelling him.

"A man!  Hooray!  A man!  Hey big guy... remember me?  We had a 'thing' about a year ago and I'm ready for some more of that action."

Buddy continued whispering "Sweet nothings" to the cow across the fence.  I chased Panda back into the south pasture. (Poor Panda!)  Buddy took note and saw the gate was open and walked through it into the south pasture.  I closed the gate.  Buddy began going around to each cow smelling them and checking if they were ready for some "Buddy love".

I went back to get the steer.  He was happily eating grass where I left him.  He wasn't concerned that he was by himself.  I went to herd him through the gate but again he ran away from it.  The second time he realized Buddy wasn't around and went through the gate.  He ran jumping and kicking up his back legs. He has a big round 'hay belly' from being in the corral for so long, and ran awkwardly.

I closed the gate and walked to the south pasture gate.  The steer was standing by a fallen tree and not by the gate.  I herded him to the gate.  As I approached the gate to open it he ran along the fence down to where Beulah was nursing her calf on the other side of the fence.

No amount of coaxing could entice the steer to come back to the open gate.   If I left the gate to go herd him the cows and calves would come through.  I decided 'screw it', and let the cows and calves into the middle pasture. Again it was a case where the many wanted to be where the one was more than the one wanted to be with the many. While technically it was time for them to again be in the middle pasture, the south pasture has more grass.

After I let the cattle into the middle pasture Buddy was still checking the cows.  Someday I'll learn to interpret the faces he makes after checking out a cow.

An hour or two later I saw Buddy mount Panda and she stood there while he was thrusting. I wasn't real close but I think Panda had a smile on her face.   270 days from June 23 Panda should have a calf on April 1 (or March 31 as 2016 is a leap year).  This year Panda was the last to give birth; the next year she should be the first.

Pumps, pumps and more pumps

Still working on my well.   The neighbor with the pump wasn't available until the afternoon.  Mid afternoon he called and I went over to look at his pump.  40 years old!  Two zircs for greasing the motor.  No pressure switch. Not a 1 hp but 1/2 hp.  Even at $50 I passed.

That meant going to neighbor #2.  I had to wait again.  I got a hold of him after work.  $75 for a 12 year old pump.  But it also included a pressure tank (which I don't need as the tank is smaller than mine), some pipe and a pressure gauge.

First thing I did was remove its (little bit rusty) pressure switch and installed the one from my old pump.  My pump may have been old but the pressure switch had been replaced within the last ten years.

I removed the pump from the pressure tank and now am in the process of drilling holes in a heavy metal plate to mount the tank.  I found the plate late afternoon when I helped Donna's brother and brother-in-law unload a trailer of scrap odds and ends at the salvage/recycling yard.  I think the metal plate had been used on a railroad tie.

Tomorrow(!) if all goes well I should have water.   Well see....


While waiting for the neighbor(s) I tried to order a 5 HP pump for irrigation.  The company's web site stalled at the shipping method/rate and I had to call the company in Idaho.  The two people in this small business that could handle the shipping were both out of the office until tomorrow.

So I decided to look at other web sites/companies on pumps.  Franklin makes pumps and earlier I couldn't find any in the size I wanted.  But all of a sudden I found a 5 HP Single Phase Franklin pump.  Then at another company's web site I found another Franklin 5 HP Single Phase pump.  Another model.  Neither company sold both models and the specs on them are confusing.  And the prices were $300 apart.

I looked at the Franklin company's web site about the two models.

http://franklinwater.com/products/surface-pumps/residential/irrigation-pumps/self-priming/turf-boss/
http://franklinwater.com/products/surface-pumps/agindustrialmunicipal/centrifugal/close-coupled/d-series/

I found a 1-800 for Franklin and called them.  I was on hold for 15 or more minutes when I was told I would have to leave a voice-mail message and could no longer wait on the phone.  Why make me wait in the first place?!!!

I left a message and of course he called me back when I was at the neighbor's house.  While I thought I was clear with model numbers and my question, the answerer got my question wrong.  Both models are single phase but he thought the difference may be because one model is a three phase.    I'll have to call again on Tuesday.

Cattle and well

The guy with the pump wanted to spend Father's Day with his family so I won't get the pump until Monday.  All I did on the well on Sunday was to straighten the plastic pipe and then cut a hole in the wooden concrete well cover for the pipe to pass through.

The main thing I did on Sunday was to finish preparing the fruit tree & garden area for the three heifers to come in to eat the grass now that the NE pasture has been eaten down.  I haven't had cattle in this area for some years so I had some work to protect the trees and shrubs.   I also had planted some trees and shrub when I got them last month at the nursery sale and they needed protection.

I didn't protected the two arborvitae shrubs that are hanging on as cattle tend not to eat them.  It wasn't 15 minutes and one black heifer walked over and began to violently rubbing her face and head on the shrub.  I chased her away and got some more wire fence to protect the two shrubs.

It took this black heifer a few minutes to figure out she needed to walk around the gate to get inside.

Well problem, day 4

I thought I would have water today.  Nope.

Kyle, my well/pump guy, called early in the morning with an estimate for the submersible pump and other items and work.   $485 for just the submersible pump.  I was only half awake but that got my attention.  Kyle had three other jobs to do before he could get to my well.  That gave me think to think about it and I decided I was not to have a submersible pump.  Last year I had bought my livestock well's jet pump for less than $200.  Also two of my neighbors have used jet pumps they would sell me.

And if the submersible pump ever failed I would have to take off the roof of my shed to remove the pump from the well.  Not so with a jet pump.

The problem was my one neighbor with a pump was riding his bicycle on the Hiawatha Trail on Friday, and he and his wife were going to make a day and night of the visit and wouldn't be back until Saturday.  (I didn't learn the other neighbor had an extra pump until late in the day).

Kyle did have a heavy duty poly pipe for me.  The brass foot valve from my old setup was still good.  I also found a cap that fit in my metal well casing as it would be a good idea to seal it to prevent an animal from somehow ever getting into the pipe and water.

I also used an utility pump to pump water from the well most of the day.  Pumping quickly cleared up the rusty water from the pipes.

Yesterday when Wyatt looked at my shed's roof and the boards he told me he had a pile of old plywood he didn't plan on using.  I got some boards to use as the shed's roof.  Wyatt also had new plywood boards.  A batch of them were overheated when being made at the mill he works at and couldn't be sold.  The veneer is compromised but otherwise they are good.  He gave me one to use as the 'ceiling' in my pump's shed.  The board is an inch thick.  The thickest plywood I have ever seen.  Wyatt said the R value of the board is 11.

So I cut the board for the ceiling.  I had enough of the board left I cut the remainder into a circle and will use as a cover to the concrete casing part of the well.

I am so happy this happened in the Summer and not Spring, Fall or Winter.  That would have been much more difficult.


While I have water from my livestock well for most uses, I haven't had a shower in a long time and needed one... badly.  Friday night I used Bob and Jan's shower to clean up.   I was delayed going over to use their shower when I noticed the heifers hanging around the corral panels around the lone large hay bale I have left.  Seemed suspicious.

I have four corral panels in a square around the hay bale and the heifers pushed the corner of the square against the hay bale and were eating the hay through the corral panels.   I had to pound in the ground four metal t-posts to fix the square away from the hay bale.

I am going hiking on Saturday. Time for a break.  Sunday I hope to have the pump and water.

Well problem, day 3

Progress on the well, but not done yet.  Curt wasn't able to come over to help until after 6 pm.  That worked out well as Wyatt was home from work and able to help too.

Rather than lowering the pipe in order to cut the pump off it and then the pipe in pieces, I wanted to try lifting the pipe out of the well.  I repositioned the tractor's bucket so both the top and bottom of the bucket touched the pipe.  Then I really wrapped the chain around the pipe both at the top and bottom of the bucket. 

Curt added a rope higher up the pipe.  This rope would be used to pull the pump upright/backwards if it began to tip towards the power lines.  We also had the come-along still attached to the pipe to prevent any slippage down through the chains.

Wyatt then operated the tractor.  Curt held the rope.  I watched the pipe come out of the metal casing, then the concrete casing and then helped guide it out of the shed.

The pipe and pump were pretty stable.  I held the bottom of the pipe to prevent it from tipping sideways.  Even so with the chain at the top and bottom the sideways tipping only could go so far.  And that made lowering the pump to the ground tricky as the best way was to the side.

Wyatt positioned the bucket close to the ground and then with a tilt so that the pipe and pump were closer to the ground.  Well away from the power lines Curt released the rope.  He then removed the come-along.  Then we worked on removing the chains.  And with a short drop the pump and pipe were on the ground.

Ta-da!

I could see the problem.  There was a visible hole in one pipe where it had rusted through.  Maybe there were even more holes under the rusty gunk.

With the pipes no good I decided to also not save the pump.  Besides it looked to be a nightmare to remove the pipes from the pumps due to the rust.  And in the future if I ever wanted to remove the pipes or pump, having the pump on top makes the job difficult.

Hopefully Kyle, my well and pump guy, will come tomorrow with new pipe and a submersible pump.

I was able to measure the well's depth. The static water level is 8 and 1/2 ft deep.    The metal casing is 19 ft 8 inches deep.  The concrete casing is 10 feet deep.  I guess that when they first had a well they hand dug it to the 10 ft level and then placed the concrete rings in the ground.  Later they realized they needed a deeper and more modern well and were able to pay a well driller to push a casing into the ground.

I found out what the third pipe was for... it had a small "hook" on the bottom and fit into the faucet handle and was used to open and close it.  Why?  That it don't know.  I'll ask Kyle.

The now 'empty' pump house.

Well problem, day 2

I knew fixing the house well would be a big job.  It is turning out to be a much bigger job than I expected.  At the end of day two I got the pump "out of the shed", but not all of the pipe out of the well.  Let me explain...

I knew that I would have to take part of the shed's roof off, but I ended up taking three-fourths of the roof off when I had hope to only take half or less.  The pump ended up being under a stud and under the roof peak's stud.  There was no way to "bend" the pump and pipe to miss the studs as I pulled them up.

The pump and pipe were much heavier than I anticipated. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could pull them by hand.  I once pulled a 20 ft section of metal pipe out of a well by hand, but my pump and pipe were much heavier.  And I discovered three metal pipes in the well and not just one.  I could see two large pipes were connected to the pump.  The third small pipe appeared to be connected as I could not pull it out and the pipe came up when I lifted the pump up.

Yes, I lifted the pump and pipes by hand.  Immediately upon lifting the pump and pipes I realized I needed a tractor with loader to lift the pump and pipes out of the well.  Wyatt was still at work so until he got home and was available I decided to lift the pump up off the boards covering the well.  That way the pump would be high enough so I could wrap a chain or strap around the pipes underneath the pump.  I also could get a look at how the pipes were attached to the bottom of the pump and also see down into the well.

I always thought the well was a concrete casing.  30 inches in diameter.   When I pulled the pump up I could see better down in the well and discovered a metal well casing inside the concrete casing. It appears to be 6 inches in diameter.  The metal casing is a foot or two below the top of the concrete casing.

I had measured the well's depth many years ago when working on the pump shed.  I remembered the depth at 21 ft.  I must have measured the concrete casing depth?  Who knows how deep the casing goes and therefore how long my pipe is?

While waiting for Wyatt to drive his tractor over I readjusted the concrete blocks the pump sat on.  I then heard a "scritch... scritch... scritch... scritch..."  It sounded like metal sliding on metal.  Then silence.  I looked and the third (small) pipe was missing.  It had disappeared down the metal casing.



Well... that pipe is gone.

Because we didn't know long the pipes were, or whether they could hook anything while pulling them out, Wyatt suggested I use a come-along to pull the pipes out of the well.  We used the tractor's loader as something to hook the come-along on to pull the pipes out.

To allow me to readjust the strap on the pipes to a lower level Wyatt had a pipe clamp to hold the pipe while I released the come-along.

Then Wyatt left after bringing the tractor and tools over.  He had a hot date.

I used the come-along and when it came time to readjust it I found Wyatt's clamp wouldn't work as I had two pipes and not one.  Hmm... what to do?

My other neighbor, Curt, is a contractor so I asked him for ideas.  He had a different type of pipe clamp and we were able to use his clamp to clamp one of the two pipes.  So up we went higher and higher.  When the pump and pipe rose above the tractor's loader I chained the pipe to the loader to prevent it from tipping over.

At one point Curt mentioned a third pipe.  I looked over and saw the third pipe was coming above the boards.  Huh?  I grabbed the pipe and pulled it out before it could fall down into the well casing again.

At one point a faucet on the side of one pipe appeared and hooked on the boards over the well. Huh? What's next?!   I don't see the use of this faucet so far down in the well below the static water level. I had to rotate the pipes as we lifted them so the faucet would miss the boards and later the concrete blocks.

We were a few inches of having the pipe clear the metal casing and then we realized the pipe was really tall, really top heavy, and at a height that if it tipped to the north it may hit the power line.

Not good.

It was getting dark.

By now I realized I did not want to reuse the metal pipes even if they were good and the problem was the foot valve.  The pipes were heavy.  I asked Kyle - my well/pump guy - and he said my style of pump used two pipes in an early attempt to be a deep well pump.

If the pipes were going I also decided - as much as I like my old simple basic bomb-proof pump, it also had to go due to its weight.  I plan to get a submersible pump and plastic poly pipe.  A whole lot lighter.

So, the plan for this afternoon is for Curt to use his sawzall and cut the pump off the pipes and if need be cut the pipes into shorter sections.

Here are 20 photos of the work so far:  https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6161790662456587825?authkey=CI3FuKfz4va83QE

Well problem

This morning I discovered the house's well pump would cycle on even though no water was being used. I discovered the water appears to be draining back into the well slowly when the pump shuts off. I had closed the valve running out of the well to the house and still the water drained away.  Either the pipe in the well has a hole or the foot value went bad.  It will be a big job to pull the pump and pipe; especially as it is housed in a small building.  I may have to take the building's roof off.

I talked to Kyle, my well and pump person who is familiar with my pump to see if I was missing something else to check.  I don't want to go through all the work of pulling the pipe if there is a possibility this may not be the problem.  Nope, Kyle thought it sounds like it could be a pipe or foot valve problem.

I couldn't get to the pump Tuesday as I had to finish rebuilding a section of south pasture fence as this afternoon/evening was time to switch pastures for the cattle and the fence needed to be completed before that could happen.  I did get the fence section rebuilt by the evening and the cattle switched. Earlier I had shut the power off to the pump to stop the cycling.  I would turn the power on when I needed water.  Unfortunately by Tuesday night I lost prime.  So my water source for now is my livestock well.

If not one thing, then another.

Calf puller

Tuesday I bought a calf puller off of Craigslist.  Hopefully I will never need to use it, but it could be handy/important to have, and could save a calf's and/or cow's life.

I bought the calf puller from Ernie.  He is retired and downsizing.  He used to have forty head of cows and cared for another 80 head for others.  He said he used the calf puller a number of times over the years.

The calf puller has two hooks attached to the ratchet handle. A person attaches chains/rope to the hooks and to the calf's legs  Pull the handle one way and one hook is moved up the rod and the ratchet slides up the rod.  Pull the ratchet the other way and the other hook is moved up the rod.   The end sits against the cow's haunches and the chain across the top of the cow to keep the puller from sliding down.

The calf puller is very heavy duty and well kept.  It must be older as the rod is solid instead of being a tube and lightweight metal as most stuff is now-a-days.  At $75 it was a buy.  New calf pullers are $180 to over $200.


Ernie also gave me a box of odds and ends.  Some things (lotions? powders? etc?) I am not sure what they are for.  He gave me some pig rings and the tools for them.  After I bought the calf puller Dan was here dropping off two cows with calves and I gave him the pig stuff as I don't do pigs.  Dan's calves are Buddy's children from last year.  They look like Buddy's children.

Ernie also gave me a de-horner tool to be used on small horns.  A backup tool if I can't do the banding in the future for horn removal.  Ya know... everyone has told me after the fact that they were surprised the banding worked as they didn't think banding horns to remove them would work.  Sometimes it pays to be ignorant and willing to try something new.  Sometimes it works out.

Fixed a fence

Remember the yard fence the cattle broke twelve days ago?

I fixed it.

Ok... so it's not pretty.   The fence is so weathered and unpainted that any board I placed there would look out of place.  Someday (!) I will redo the entire yard fence.   ...After I finish the pasture and corral fence upgrades.

Trench, day 4

Lots of progress made on the trench and electrical work today.  All the conduit is in the ground and all of it is now covered.  The well, garage and tool shed are now all re-wired to use the conduit wires.

The extra wire/circuit breaker my Uncle Larry and I tried to remove during the bathroom remodel a few years ago has been re-purposed to be the circuit breaker for the well. (The extra wire has been left in the house wall and attic in case I ever need it for something else.)  Previously the well's circuit breaker was on an old pole near the well prior to the wire going from the pole to underground for the last few feet to the well.  The electrician also added a box with a circuit breaker inside the pump house.  The electrical outlet inside the pump house has been changed to be a GFCI outlet with cover.

The living room's heaters circuit breakers:  One was re-purposed to be for the garage/tool shed.  While I had an empty spot for a new 20 amp circuit breaker, the other living room heater circuit breaker was removed to make way for the new large 50 amp circuit breaker that will be for the barn and new irrigation pump.

Also solved was the mystery as to why the storage room part of the garage had electricity and the garage proper did not.  A fuse that looked normal was not.  The circuit was intact when looking at the fuse but a test showed it did not allow power to pass.

The barn will be completed tomorrow.  I didn't have corral panels up today so the few times the Joe the electrician had to work on the conduit outside the barn I distracted Buddy by talking to him and scratching his head and massive neck.  The one time I wasn't there Joe said Buddy came over and just stood there watching Joe work.

Once the barn is done the last piece of the puzzle is to re-wire from the barn to the livestock well.  To handle a 5 HP pump the electrician feels a different size of wire is needed.  As the conduit is in place from when my uncles helped wire the barn to the well, all the electrician needs to do is pull the new wire through the conduit.

Now to buy the 5 HP pump and take down all the old overhead wires.

Trench day 3, and more

The electrician was here Wednesday morning to lay the conduit.  Not too early - 9 am - as I am not an early riser.  Maybe I should have consented to 7 am as he was interrupted twice to handle other projects/emergencies.  Therefore he did not get all the conduit in place Wednesday.

He did get the conduit laid for the barn so I was able to fill in that section of the trench.  That was important as in the morning I put up a couple temporary corral panels to keep the bull and steer away while he worked.  That meant no access to water for part of the day until I filled in the trench.

The scorch marks on the conduit is from the propane torch.  He heats the conduit so he can bend it to the shape he needs.

While the electrician did place a clip on the wall to hold the conduit up, later I saw Buddy walk over and start rubbing on the conduit freeing it from the clip.  I told Buddy to stop and he did.  I added a couple of temporary holders to the conduit until the electrician can fasten it more securely.


Now a black heifer is in heat.  Unlike Rose, this heifer is confused by being in heat.  She usually stands around confused.   The other black heifer tries to mount her.  The problem is when the heifer in heat hangs around the water trough.  Buddy was trying to reach her and was straining on the fence post and gate.  Earlier I had added a piece of steel to reinforce the post by the gate. Eventually something is going to give.  I herded the heifers out of the corral and locked the gate.  I put another water trough in the NE pasture by the other well and also placed their salt blocks in the NE pasture too.  So Buddy is reduced to wandering around his part of the corral and mooing for her girls.

Later I hooked up a number of hoses into one long hose and then watered the trees along the northern fence; especially the new trees I recently planted.

Rose by one of the new trees.

Daisy hung around as I watered the trees.  Usually she stayed on the other side of the fence since the heifers were interested in her.

A field fence is no problem for Daisy to slip through.