Welding chisel

A few weeks ago when I was out riding my bicycle I came across a couple putting a number of items next to the road in front of their property.  These were items they were giving away.   I stopped and looking and saw this...

What is it?   It is a chisel to use to remove the bead and stuff when welding.  This guy got it when he learned to weld, but doesn't weld anymore.  I took it to give to Curtis as he welds.  Curtis said he already had 5 of them and didn't want another one.  So I kept it.  It will be kind of nice to have a handle when using a chisel.

They also had a harness.  Last year when I was lifted up to trim my box elder trees, I wore a harness I borrowed from Curtis in case I fell.  I didn't fall.   So now I have a harness of my own.  I didn't take a photo of my harness, but the blog post from last year shows the harness I borrowed from Curtis.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2023/10/trimming-box-elder-trees-by-patio.html

Replaced a railroad tie

I replaced a railroad tie to fix a gate between me and the neighbor to my south.  When the cattle returned from that field earlier this year they bumped against the railroad tie as they crowded through the gate.  The railroad tie was old and decaying.  It now had a 'wobble'.  I plan on letting the cattle into that pasture soon.  So time to fix the railroad tie and gate.

Since the railroad ties are 8 1/2 ft or longer I initially thought I may just be able to reuse the railroad tie as a shorter fence post.  But I found that was not possible as the tie was now too short. Why the tie had a 'wobble' was that the tie broke off at ground level.  I got another one of my railroad ties from my pile.

Slowing me down was removing the railroad in the ground.  The deeper I went the more solid the tie was.  The tie was 30 inches in the ground.  From 20 to 30 inches deep the tie was solid.  I had to get a crowbar to help me work the tie out of the ground as I didn't want to dig a large hole around the tie.

The bottom of the bad railroad tie

We had a little rain yesterday I had to work around.  And since this project was more work than expected, meant it took me some time yesterday and some time today.   But the tie and gate are now fixed and most likely tomorrow I will let the cattle into the neighbor's field.  Each day I worked on the tie the cattle came and then stood nearby mooing at me to hurry up and let them into the neighbor's field.

Looking into the neighbor's field.

Looking into my field.   The 'new' tie was not as wide.  So I had to do a little work to be able to attach the boards across to the railroad tie.  In the right photo you can see how I added small boards to the railroad tie so the side boards could reach.

Overall look to the neighbor's field from my hayfield.

A side view of the cattle in the south pasture wanting me to let them in the neighbor's field.

Last night this was the sunset as I worked on this project.

Irrigation platform rebuilt

I got the irrigation platform rebuilt.  A good time to do it.  I'm not irrigating, the river level is low, and the weather is great.

As you can see the old platform was shot.

Before I rebuilt the platform I made steps in the side of the riverbank.  As you can see the bank is steep.  I was having trouble moving up and down on the bank and had to work hard to avoid slipping into the river.

The rebuilt platform.  It took a bit to do.  I had to come up with a new platform.  Fortunately I have a number of short boards.  And they were the right length and I didn't have to cut any.

My old platform had a few metal posts.  I moved two of them as the new platform is a little wider.   And I added two more posts in the riverbank to support this heavier platform.

The new platform is solid and wider and now it is easier to hook up the pipe that goes into the river especially as the filter on the end makes the pipe heavier and awkward to move.

How to support the platform?  Ah... the metal posts had a few holes in them.  And I had few scrap pieces of rebar that fit in the holes and was as wide as I needed.

After the platform was done I redid and moved a short simple fence from the irrigation shed to the river.  I had this fence to keep the cattle from accessing the riverbank here.  So the cattle wouldn't get to the pipe. And no need for them to be on such a steep riverbank.  And it worked over the years.  But this year a few calves got here.  Apparently they got over the log at the end of the fence.  So moved the end of the fence to where the log goes into the river.

And I spent some time removing more of the waterweed.  While irrigating I kept it away from the irrigation pipe.  But the waterweed doesn't stop growing.   It is easier now to remove more of it than in the Spring when it is colder and the water higher. 

Here is the waterweed before I started to remove some of it.

And there are some fish in the river.

Here are some smaller fish.  They are easier to see as they just below the surface of the water.

There were some water bugs walking on the river.  On occasion sometimes I heard a fish come out of the water.  Probably the fish came up to catch one of the water bugs.

And there was a dragonfly flitting about.

I'm glad I got this all done as the weather forecast is for rain over the next three days.

More tree branch trimming

I used my pole saw again to cut tree branches.  I have a tree out in the middle pasture that died.  It was a smaller tree between two other trees.   The tree looks small but to reach the top dead branches I used all 27 feet of my pole saw and barely reached the top branches.

And the wild turkeys passed through as I was working on the branches.   In the previous photos you can see the metal feeder in the background on the left side.  So the turkeys were fairly close by.

Reflector by mailbox

I find lots of stuff on the side of the road or in the ditch when I am out riding my bicycle.  I found this reflector in the ditch a few days ago.  I thought of a use for it so I carried it home on my bicycle.  The use... put it against my mailbox.   The road starts a curve at my mailbox (the photo below doesn't really capture the curve).   People go off the road on occasion.  My neighbor had to repair his fence a number of times.  He convinced the county to put 3 clearest reflectors on thin white plastic 'posts' the county pounded into the ground just beyond my mailbox.  The next year he convinced the county to add a fourth reflector on the other side of my mailbox.  The three reflectors are in the background of the photo.   Since then no people have driven off the road.   Adding this reflector instead of letting it lay in the ditch should be a plus.

Bicycle seat

This morning I finished putting my bottom bracket and chain back together.  Then I decided to look at my odds-and-ends pile of bicycle parts for a newer seat.   My current seat is very old and is getting worn out.  It may look bad but actually it is comfortable to ride.   But taking my bicycle into the bicycle shop got me thinking about my bicycle seat so in the future I don't have to justify my beat-up bicycle and don't get a sales pitch for a new one.

I went for a long bicycle ride and the newer seat seems to be fine.

Apple sauce, bicycle, air compressor

Donna dropped off 14 jars of apple sauce she made from the transparent apples.  She and her daughter got the rest of the jars.

Today I got my bicycle back.   Tuesday I had taken it into a bicycle shop to get the bottom bracket replaced.  I don't own a tool that would allow me to take the bottom bracket out of the bicycle frame.   Many decades I would have fixed the bottom bracket, but the bottom brackets these days are sealed units.  A sealed unit is good as they last a long time.  In the old days I would have to regrease, etc. the bottom bracket every few years.   The new bottom bracket cost me $20.  Add in the labor and it cost me $33 to get it fixed.  Worth it.   I got the pedals put back on this evening.  I'll put the chain back on tomorrow and go for a ride.

The old bottom bracket is on the right.  It had gotten a larger and larger wobble as I rode the past few weeks.  I think the bearings inside were disintegrating.

Jan had filled up her small utility trailer again with tree branches and I hauled them and dumped them on my tree branch pile.  Jan had an old (1977!) extra air compressor she didn't want anymore as she is cleaning her garage and getting rid of stuff.  The compressor has a seal problem.  Initially I didn't want or need the air compressor as I have a small one now, and I'm not the best at mechanical fixes.  Then Curtis stopped on his motorcycle as he was riding by and Jan and I were outside talking.  He looked at the air compressor and found a small valve I would need to replace.  I can do that.  So I took the compressor off Jan's hands.

Jan also had a few branches up high she needed to cut.  Since I have my 27 ft pole saw she asked if I could cut the branches for her.  I did.  And a number of other tall and dead branches.  Put a saw in my hand to cut branches and it is hard for me to stop.  She may end up halfway filling her utility trailer again with the branches.

Cattle across the river last week

Last week I found most of the cattle had crossed the river over to the peninsula and small island.  They had broken through a section of the fence I built this year to stop them from doing so.  Due to how the grass looked over there they apparently had been over there a number of times the previous week.  That was when I was busy cutting and baling my hay.  I saw the cattle in the pastures back then, but when I wasn't looking they snuck across the river.  What alerted me finally was one cow was doing a lot of mooing so I took time and went to look at why.  Her calf was across the river and the cow's udder was full.

Most cattle came back on their own when they saw that I saw them over there.   I had to encourage the last of them.  Then I went to look and found one calf, the smallest, on the island.  So I had to herd him back.  Since he didn't have the cows to follow over the area where the river was lower he turned right and not left.  He ended up swimming as that direction it got deeper for a bit.  But he made it on shore.   On a spot where he had to go back and forth before he found a way through the fence.

I added more wire to the fence where the cattle broke through.  So far it has held.

You can see how sleek his fur looks after swimming across the river.

Here is the cow that mooed before she was reunited with her calf.

Corral grassy weeds

Here is a photo from early August.  The grassy weeds grow up in the bare ground corral.  It does this every year.  The cattle will eat these grassy weeds and pull them out by the root, and next year we begin again after the corral get irrigated during the Summer.  This year between the rain and temperatures the grass, and trees, most stuff that grows is growing more than usual.  For whatever reason they don't grow much in the extended corral outside this corral even though that area gets irrigated as well.

The grassy weeds are taller now and these wheel tracks are overgrown.  And when I drove in the corral with the stock trailer to load the bull, the tires knocked some of the grass weeds over and down, and they are still laying down.