Muck around the calves' feeder

The weather is changing. It snowed overnight last night.  Temperature overnight and today was at or above freezing and the snow is wet.  The forecast predicts a cold front arriving starting Saturday and our overnight lows will be below zero.   The wet snow will turn to ice.  So I shoveled snow today around the backyard and off some of the driveway.  Too much to shovel in one day.  I shoveled snow off the hay bales outside the hayshed.  I still have 10 bales sitting outside the hayshed.  It will be nice when those bales are eaten up and gone.

I also shoveled the muck away from the calves' feeder.  I'm trying to not let it build up like before.  It looks like the feeder is sitting in a bowl, but that is because the higher area is due to the snow and ice.  The ground is level in this area.  The calves' body heat melts the snow and ice where they stand when eating.

Tool breakdowns

A few Saturdays ago I had a day of tool breakdowns.   My pickup has mudflaps. 

A few Saturdays ago I discovered the right mudflap was gone.  I wasn't keen on the mudflaps as they advertised where the pickup was bought.  But I left them on.  With one mudflap gone - and missing - I removed the other mudflap.  It was a job to do.  The two bolts holding the mudflap bar to the bumper was rusted solid.  Finally after a lot of effort I got this mudflap off.

Then I turned to the water trough's pump and pipes.  I have a cobbled together set of pipes that go from the valve on high down to the water trough.  That way the way the water flows into the trough nicely and doesn't splash out.  

Well.. with the cold weather one of the pipe fittings started to leak.  Maybe tightening the pipes would fix the leak.   Nope.   I had to take the pipe fitting off the valve.  That was easy.  Maybe why the leak happened.  But to remove the bad pipe from the other pipes... it was a problem.  The fittings didn't want to unscrew.  Just like the bolts on the mudflaps.

I thought I would use my propane torch to heat up and loosen the fittings.  But the torch would not light.  Even when I tried to use a cigarette lighter to light a fire, a fire would not stay lit.  So I put the pipes in my vise.  I still couldn't unscrew the pipes.  I tried harder and... I broke the vise.  What?!

I finally unscrew the pipe fittings.  I had to put two pipe wrenches on the two sections and between standing on the wrenches, and then using a hammer against one of the wrenches I finally unscrewed the two pipe fittings.  Thankfully the pipe wrenches did not break.  The thread on one pipe fitting was ruined, but I didn't care.  I think the end of the thread was already bad where it had screwed into the valve and that is why it now leaked.

I bought a new pipe fitting and the leak is now gone.  I am a little leery about the pipes filling the trough.  As you can see in a previous photo I had previously wrapped a wire around the pipes and attached it to the fence rail. That is because the cattle push on things.  I don't want them to break the pipes.  After I fixed the leak the pipe fittings now seem to be further away from the rail.  I'll have to come up with something new to hold the pipe in place against the cattle's pushing on them.  Because the cattle like to break things.  A few days ago I discovered they had broken one of the cross boards in the long wooden feeder in the corral.  The cross boards are to protect the long sides of the feeder when the cattle push against them when eating hay.

The propane torch.  I ended up buying a new pipe with a lighter.  It appeared the old lighter had quit working.  Well.. the new pipe and lighter didn't work.  No propane would come out of the bottle when the pipe and lighter was screwed into it.  Today I took the bad pipe and lighter back to Walmart and bought a new pipe with lighter.  I'll see if that works tomorrow.

The broken vise.  I showed it to Curtis.  He said he could weld it back together.   And he did.  Then when I put the vise back together the bar that goes across would not fit into the welded piece.   So I gave the entire vise to Curtis and he made it work.  So now my vise is working again.

One of the brake cables on my bicycle broke yesterday.  It should be a 10 minute fix as I have extra cables.  The brake cable housing was also bad.  I have an extra housing.  But the newer cable did not want to go into and then through the housing.  After working on the problem - and even drilling the housing's ends to have larger openings - I finally got it to work.  I also tried to true my bicycle wheels as each wheel has a slight wobble.  The wheel's spokes didn't want to turn.  *argh!*   What's next?  The wheels are better, but not 100% true.  Maybe next year I will buy new wheels.  I'll see.  Hours later I was done and was able to ride to Walmart to take back my propane's pipe with lighter to exchange it.

The bad propane torch.

The two pieces of the broken vise.

The bad pipe fitting (on the right side of the photo).

The welded and fixed vise.

The completely fixed vise. Curtis welded the cross bar on the right side.  Otherwise, before, the bar was held into place by two nobs inside the opening.  One of the nobs broke when the larger piece broke.  So Curtis welded the cross bar into place once he was able to get the cross bar to fit into the welded opening.

More walnuts

This afternoon I pruned some branches off my large walnut tree.  I like branches that grow out, not up where they can block higher branches.  When around the tree I found four more walnuts, two on the tree and two on the ground.  I figured I would, even after spending all that time last Fall picking the walnuts off the tree.

Of the walnuts I had picked earlier I have eaten two-thirds of them.  I had put the walnuts in three 16 ounce former cool whip containers.  I have a little less than one container left.  I have a handful or two of walnuts first thing each morning after I get up out of bed,  So far no mold has occurred on the walnuts.

Hayne the bull and the mineral tub

Today I figured out who is responsible for pushing the cut tree logs around the pasture, and who pushed the salt feeder in the north pasture from its place behind two metal posts and over to the hayfield fence.   Haynes!

Today I had the Haynes and the cows in the main corral while I eventually hauled out another large hay bale for them into the middle pasture.  We had a little snow overnight and before I hauled the bale out I shoveled the snow off the backyard.  While I did that Haynes pushed over, and then around the corral, the tub with the mineral supplements the cows were licking.  I went and up-righted the tub and then went back to shoveling snow.  Haynes then knocked the tub over and pushed it around.   This time I waited a little, and for Haynes to walk away a little distance, while before up-righting the tub again.  After I left the corral Haynes knocked the tub over again and pushed it around.  This time I got a camera and took photos, then let him be.  It was pointless for me to up-right the tub until Haynes REALLY got tired of playing with the tub.  That was a long time.

The tub initially weighed 250 pounds.  It might be down to 230 pounds now due to the cows licking the mineral supplement.  Not easy - for me - to move around.  Haynes... no problem.  That must be why the large metal hay feeders end up moved - even with lots of hay still in them.

I also put out another large hay bale for the calves.   Their feeder sits in the same spot since their part of the corral is smaller.  Over the Winter the area becomes a bowl for the feeder to sit in.  That is because the calves poop as they eat.  The manure sits on the snow and then freezes.  Then several feet to about a yard around the feeder the ground becomes muck when melting occurs.  Muck that is hard for me to walk in.  Muck of water, manure, and spillover hay. Thankfully it doesn't make it inside the feeder.  Today I spent some time with a shovel clearing this area out from the feeder to the rim of frozen manure and snow.  It was some effort to do so.  Hopefully this not being such a mess will last a while.

Willow tree

No signs of the beaver(s) the last few months.   In December I did see two other animals along the shore below me.  Not sure what they were.  Muskrats, or minks? 

Here is a photo of the last willow tree the beaver(s) didn't get earlier.  And one photo of the tree they did get.

Mountain bicycle

Year ago I bought a mountain bicycle as a backup bicycle.  I rarely ride it as I prefer my road bicycle.   I'm now going through withdrawal symptoms from bicycling while I wait for my new bicycle tires.   Donna suggested I ride my mountain bicycle.  I got the bicycle out of the garage.  I hadn't ridden the bicycle in so long the tires were flat.  I filled them with air and rode the bicycle. Because it is a mountain bicycle I only ride it a few miles each day.  But this helps while I wait for my new bicycle tires.

Weaning the steer calves

This afternoon I started to wean the two steer calves.  They were born last June and July.  I had planned for the weaning to start the end of this month; but while most of my cows are overweight, the calves' mothers are normal to thin.  So time to start weaning now.

It easier to start the weaning now because today it was time for another hay bale, and I had let the cows and calves into the corral for a little hay in the morning before I put out a large hay bale this afternoon.  Donna came over to help me by handling the gate as I herded the cows.  Initially I handled a gate as the cows and bulls wanted out of the corral to go to the hay bale when I approached the gate to come into the corral.  I made sure the calves didn't get out past the gate.  Then Donna handled the gate while I herded the calves into the south corral to be with the heifer calves.

Job done quickly.  Now let the calling for the mommas begin.

Steer calves the other day.

Cattle, hay bale, and snow

Yesterday I put out another hay bale for my "Divas".  I put the bale in another part of the north pasture.   That way the left over / uneaten hay and manure gets spread around the field and is not in just one spot.

I took the photos today.

You can see the size of the area I cleared.  Enough for a few bales before I have to clear another area.   The cattle push the feeder around even with all the hay inside.  Originally the feeder started on the right side of the hay now on the ground.

The cattle like to eat.  One day later this is all that is left of the hay bale.

Apparently the cows like to rub against this little tree.

The steer calves drinking from the river.

Bicycle tire problems

The last day of 2022 I had two flat tires on my bicycle.  In the morning when three and a half miles from home.  I patched my tube as it was a very small puncture. I didn't see anything in or on the tire.  Later in the afternoon on a 19 mile ride I got a flat three and a half miles from home on a different road.  Again a small puncture.  This time I checked and checked the bicycle tire in case the flat was caused by a small wire that came through and was in the tire.  I didn't find anything.  I rubbed and rubbed the area inside the tire.

No more flats.  But the tire now started to distort side to side in one spot.  Okay... but still rideable.   Every day I checked the tire.  After so many days it looked like the tire was wearing through in one spot.   Time for a new tire before I get another flat. 

I didn't have a spare tire and had to go to Walmart to buy one.  My bicycle is old and the rims are still 27 inches, not the 700 C tires bicycles have now.

Some older road bikes (mid 1980's and earlier) used 27-inch tires; these were used on most of the "10-speed" bikes that many of us grew up with. These are NOT the same as the 700C tires found on modern road bikes. Very few, if any, modern bikes are manufactured using the 27-inch tire size, but replacement tires, inner tubes, and wheels are still available for those older bikes.

27-inch tires come in common widths of 1-1/8 inch, 1-1/4 inch, and 1-3/8 inch for some older hybrid and cyclocross bikes.

27-inch and 700C tires are close enough in size that the inner tubes are compatible; i.e. you can use a 27-inch inner tube in a 700C tire, and vice-versa. However, you can NOT use a 27-inch tire on a 700C wheel, and vice-versa.

Walmart had one 27 inch tire although I had to look to find it at the back of the shelf.   Saturday I put the tire on my bicycle and rode Saturday and Sunday.  This afternoon when I rode, a half mile from home, my tire seemed to be rubbing against my brake.  I stopped and looked and saw the tire was starting to come off the rim.  I thought I could ride back home to fix it.  I didn't make it as the tube blew before I got home.

At home I got a new tube and put it and the tire back on the bicycle.  When I filled the tire with air the tire started to come off the rim again.  It turns out the tire had separated in one spot from the metal wire inside the tire that goes around the tire, and this is what holds the tire onto the rim.

I tried and tried different methods on making the tire stay on the rim.  Nothing worked.  I had to give up.  I took the tire back to Walmart and got my money back. The tire was defective.  I looked again and still no 27 inch tires.  I had an employee scan and look on his scanner as to when new tires would come to Walmart.  He said - maybe - January 27.

I went to Target.  Only 700C tires.  I went to the sporting goods store that also sells and repairs bicycles.  I only found 700C tires.  I asked an employee and was told they don't stock 27 inch tires.  They could order one for me, but this time of year, who knows when one would arrive.

If one has to order, I can do that using Amazon.   I just did.  The tires (I bought two) should arrive January 18.   Now I just have to survive with no bicycling available for me for nine days.  For me it will be hard to do so.

2022 bicycle miles

I rode 6275 miles on my bicycle in 2022.  This is less than the 7120 miles I rode in 2021.  So I am riding less miles.   The last day of riding was a challenge as I got two flat tires on my bicycle.  In the morning and then in the afternoon.  I didn't find the cause, but since the two small punctures were in the same location, maybe a small wire entered the tire and I didn't see it to remove it after the first flat.   After the second flat I really checked the tire and found nothing.   I rode 10 miles today and no flats.  So maybe I got rid of the cause for the flats.  I hope so.