Gate change, etc.

Tuesday morning a Winter storm is coming.  I have my corral fence to complete.  What do I do?  Instead of digging more holes for railroad ties I decided this morning to switch gates in the corral fence I am building.  While the current 12 ft gate is wide enough to drive my tractor through when carrying a large hay bale into that part of the corral, I find I really have to watch out I don't hit my fence.  I have a 14 ft gate and decided now - before I build the fence - is the time to switch gates.

12 ft gate  (bent where Buddy pushed against it in an effort to sniff a couple of cows in pre-heat on the other side).

The problem with the 14 ft gate was that most of the rails on one end of the gate were not attached to the frame.  It is an old gate I bought as part of a group.  My neighbor Curtis has a welder and he welded the rails back to the frame.  He even welded a chain to the frame that I can use to run through an eye bolt to hold the gate shut.

Naturally the gate's hinges would be in a different place so swapping the gates wasn't as simple as 'swapping the gates'.  But eventually I got it done.

Because the 14 ft gate is longer that meant I had to move by two feet the existing railroad tie on the other end.  I got that done before dark.

The previous day I had dug a hole for the railroad tie for the next section.  I had to fill in that hole and dig a new hole two feet over.  I got that done before dark.

I put a railroad tie in the hole and filled the dirt back in.  It was dark when I finished.  Tomorrow I will check to see if I did it right.


I also did a side job earlier.  I noticed I hadn't placed a 'resting post' for a previous gate I worked on this Fall.  So I found a short broken railroad tie piece and dug it into the ground.  This is for a 16 ft gate.  The gate is long and heavy, and over time gravity would otherwise pull one end down closer to the ground.

This evening's sunset.  (I couldn't decide which photo I liked better so I included both).