Tractor cab repair

This Summer when I was cutting my field of weed hay I drove under one of the power line towers.  I can drive the tractor though/under the towers.  I can pull a disc or baler and drive through the towers.  But pulling a haybine is different as the total width is greater.  Technically I can fit but I only have an inch or two to spare.  So normally I don't cut hay under the towers.

However, I was determined to get all the pennycress weeds and forgot about how tight a fit it was.  I ended up scraping the top part of the tractor cab.  Where the antennae comes out of the cab is a slight bump and I scraped it open before I was able to stop.  I talked with my neighbor Curtis about this and he told me the hole could be fixed with a fiberglass repair kit.  It was on my to-do list for later.

When it was still warm the end of October Curtis helped me repair the tractor cab.  First thing we discovered was that the bump over the antennae was not cracked and twisted like before, but gone.  Hmmm... I vaguely remember scraping the cab on something else....   (It's been a heck of a year!)

I spent several hours that afternoon, and several hours the next morning searching the field and pastures for the broken off piece.  Couldn't find it.

We were still able to repair the hole - it just was more work.

But we fixed it.

Okay.  So it isn't as pretty as it was before.  Next year I can do some more touchup and paint work.  The important thing is that the repair will keep water out of the cab.

Calves and trees

While they have plenty of hay to eat, the calves get bored, are mischievous, and get into trouble.   Their latest (mis)adventure is they have taken to breaking off branches of two of the new evergreen trees I recently planted.   When I looked out this morning I thought the trees looked odd.  One heifer was still there tearing branches off a tree when I walked up.  I placed a roll of wire fencing around each of the two trees.

These photos make the calves look thinner than what they actually are.

Cattle into the hayfield, and new trees

The high temperature wasn't supposed to get above freezing today, and the cattle had eaten all of their latest hay bale, so I let them into the hayfield this morning.  I think the ground was frozen enough that the cattle won't pull the grass and alfalfa pants out by their roots.  Or at least, I hope so.

The cattle were confused when I opened the gate to the hayfield.  They were all clustered next tot he middle/north pasture gate.  Eventually a few, then all, came and entered the hayfield where they spent the day.

The cows moved as they ate and the bull stood and ate.  Eventually the bull was left by himself.


Late yesterday afternoon on my bicycle ride I rode by a 5th wheel trailer sitting next to the road with 9 large trees on it.  A hand painted sign said "Free trees".  The tree roots were wrapped in burlap and wire and it appeared they had been taken out of the ground by a machine.

I rode three miles home and immediately got my pickup and drove back.  By the time I returned a family had loaded 6 of the trees in their pickup bed filling it.  The man helped me move (roll) the three remaining trees into my pickup bed.

It turns out that the ground wasn't that frozen this afternoon.  So I planted the trees along the fence in the NE pasture.  Eventually they will grow and partially block the view of the house and garage on the other side of the fence.  Two of the trees are: Serbian Spruce - Weeping.   Not sure what the other tree is.  A similar, but not identical, evergreen.

The trees appear to be 8 feet tall.

I had to roll them down a ramp to get them out of the pickup.

This hole was over half rocks and gravel.  The other two holes were dirt.

Daisy came and supervised the planting of the trees.

I had made a mistake with the first tree (half rocks/gravel hole) as I rolled the tree into the hole before removing the wire around the root ball.  I thought I would have to use the tractor to lift the tree out of the hole.  After much effort I lifted/pulled/rolled the tree out of the hole.  I removed the wire and placed the tree back in the hole.

Once I finished planting the trees it started snowing again.  An inch or so of snow is predicted.  The weather service still says we have global warming and an El Nino is forming and we will have a warm and dry Winter.

Election judge and snow

Yesterday I again volunteered as an election judge.  Along with Donna, Terry, Ted and Joan.  William didn't show but in the end we didn't need his help.  More people (50% to 60%) now cast absentee ballots but we still had plenty of people show up at the polls as election interest was high.  The number of people were steady but not overwhelming.   Once or twice people had to briefly wait for one of the six voting booths and a few times briefly no one was at the polls.

The election went smooth with no problems.  Fortunately a voter who also works at the Flathead Electric Co-op warned us the co-op had two brief planned power outages that day, once at 8:30 and and the other outage at 4:30 pm  (or as it turns out - thereabouts).   The voting machine can run on battery backup power - and it did with no problems while we did our work by flashlight the several minutes the power was off.

Again a long day as we were there before 6 am to setup before opening the polls at 7 am.  After the polls were closed at 8 pm we had the site taken down and cleaned up a little after 9 pm.  The drive back to the election department in Kalispell was slower as by now it had started snowing with lighter and heavier bands of snow during the drive.   Donna accompanied me as a second person with the election material and we were checked out and done a little before 10 pm.

The next morning I woke up to snow and below freezing temperatures.

Winter has arrived early.  We hardly had any Fall.   For the first 10 months of 2018 we had three months of above normal temperatures and seven months of below normal temperatures.  So far November is well below normal.  The weather service is promising us a warmer Winter and I hope it is true.  After all this cold weather, and the past two colder than normal Winters, we deserve a break.  Whoever stole our global warming... they need to give it back!!!

Tree stumps 20 and 21

A week ago Thursday I used the last of the weed hay to burn five rotting tree stumps.  Here are photos from the last two stumps I burned.

Stump 20

Stump 20

Stump 20 - a few days later

Stump 21

Stump 21

Stump 21 - a few days later

Both stumps

Both stumps as the fire starts

Both stumps a few days later

Hayshed gate and leaves

One hayshed gate was having problems before the calves started pushing on it and now I had to repair it.   The bottom lag bolt was loose and would come out when the gate was opened.  As the gate would brush against the ground when opened I also raised the two lag bolts a few inches higher.

I forgot to charge my drill's battery yesterday so I had to wait until today to finish the repair.  I had closed the corral gates to keep the calves in the corral using the bar to lock the two gates closed.  I forgot to also wrap the gates with a small chain.  This morning I found the calves had opened the corral gates and were in the hayshed eating hay.  I shooed the calves out of the hayshed and leaned the gate to block the entrance.  I went to put hay into their corral feeder but before I could do so the calves were at the gate again and knocked it over.  They were able to run away before the gate could fall on them.

Once I had enough hay in their corral feeder they came running.  This time I wrapped the chain on the corral gates.

The gate is now a little mismatched with the other gate but they still work together.  I may raise the other gate later as I have other projects and didn't want to take time today to raise the second gate.

Later in the afternoon I finished raking most of the yard's leaves.  This has been an off-and-on project all week.  All week before I could finish the raking it would rain, setting me back.   I had a pickup full of wet heavy leaves to dump in the pasture.  The cattle all came to watch me unload the pickup.

Tree stumps 17, 18, and 19 bonfires

A week ago Thursday I burnt the last of the weed hay and five rotting tree stumps.  Here are photos from three of those burns.

Stump 17

Stump 17

Stump 17

Stump 17 - some left the next day

Stump 17 - after another small burn still some left.  I'll have to take care of it once the rain quits.

Stump 18

Stump 18

Stump 18 - not much was above ground and not much burned.  But I am done with this stump.

Stump 19

Stump 19

Stump 19 - the next day some stump is left.

Stump 19 - after another small burn the rest of the stump is gone.

All three stumps starting to burn

Tree stump 16 bonfire

I only have a few more bonfire posts left to write.  For much of the past week it has rained off and on and therefore pretty much ended my tree stump burning for the year as most things are getting soaked.


A week ago Wednesday I burnt tree stump 16.   This was an old rotting tree stump in the middle pasture.  Since the burning of old tree stump 15 in the middle pasture went well I thought I would get rid of another weed hay bale on tree stump 16.  I also burnt another weed hay bale the same night on what remained of tree stump 12 and that burn finished that tree stump off.

The following photos are of tree stump 16.  The photos are appropriate for Halloween as some fires almost look demonic.

The next afternoon

The tree stump on Saturday afternoon after Friday's rain.  The red arrow marks what remained of the tree stump.

I lit a small fire Saturday night to keep the burn going on what remained of the stump.

The stump on Monday after Sunday's rain.  The previous small burn burnt the upper left area, and no more tree stump.