Tractor test and tree branch cut

Friday we had a nice sunny warm(ish) day and I drove my tractor around to test my new clutch cable fix.  Everything works fine.  No problems.  Good thing as I ended up putting out a large hay bale Saturday evening.  Saturday morning the cattle had woke me up when they stood in the hayfield near the house in order to moo at the house and me to tell me the hayfield has been eaten down.

This evening after I put out the hay bale I opened a smaller gate and let the cattle into the pasture to get to the hay bale.  All the cattle quickly went past me through the gate.  All but the youngest calf.  She didn't want to go near me.  The cattle went to the west side of the pasture and the hay bale.  The calf went back and forth along the fence.  When it got near the gate it went back and away before coming back to the fence on the other side of the gate. It would call out to the other cattle.  So I waited.  And waited. And waited and waited. It got dark.  Finally the calf approached the gate as she realized going through the gate as I stood there was the only way she was going to be able to join the other cattle.  She moved quick.  When I said, "See... it's ok to come through the gate when I'm standing here.", the calf bolted and ran to join the cattle and left me behind.

Friday after testing the tractor I decided to work on cutting a broken tree branch.  This is a branch that broke down back on the beginning of July this year.  The tractor was useful as the branch is high enough that otherwise I would need an extension ladder to reach the branch in order to cut it.

Below is how the branch looks like now.  Various times over the Summer I used a handsaw to cut off the side branches on the downed branch.

I put the tractor's loader up next to the branch.  Then I climbed up on the loader's arm and then into the loader bucket.  Then using a handsaw ( I didn't have gas for my chainsaw) I cut the branch.  The branch is thick.  I was partway through the branch when the handsaw's handle broke apart in my hand.  I had to climb down off the tractor's bucket and go get another handsaw.  

This time I eventually was able to safely cut off the branch.  That was another reason I cut the branch slowly.  Because I was right near the branch, and the tractor's bucket was a bit lower than the branch and right next to it, I didn't want the branch to fall on or against the bucket.  The branch is big and thick and long.  I didn't want the branch to hit the bucket.  It could either pin me in the bucket or knock me out of it.  You know I'm starting to get old when I start thinking about bad outcomes that could hurt me.

I cut the branch in a way that I expected it to fall away from the bucket.  Because the branch had split they were two sections.  One part of the branch went down to the ground.  The other part went out and up.  You can see in the previous photo the out-and-up part was slowly dieing over the Summer.  I got both parts to fall away from the tractor's bucket.  The out-and-up part went down first.  The second part went down next.  It broke off the branch below it. The end of the second part fell and landed on my fence.  So I will have to fix the fence later.  And clean up the cut branches.

There were also some dead branch limbs a bit higher than the branch I cut.  While up there I cut a few of them off.  The rest I left as time had passed and it was starting to get late. The dead branch limbs I left are higher up and out of the way and it is not essential I have to cut them off.