it works :O)

 

Here is the finished product of the tractor trailer hitch thingy I made. 

 

 

And here is the hitch at work :O)  just showing it off here. No real test yet on rather it will handle any true weight.

 

Just another closer view of it. Looks pretty slick even if I do say so myself :O)

 

First load , I actually hauled three. My farmer buddy told me I could have as much manure as I wanted. Its just shy of two miles one way to go over to his place.

 

Hooked back up and its holding so far, Hadn't moved at this point so it was still a fifty fifty deal lol   Bounced it out of the pasture and down the road back to my place. Not a problem at all. 

 

Here is two loads on the big garden plot.  On the last load I really heaped it on there, wasn't any room left and it was stacked high. It made it back home too :O)

 

Unfortunately, The hydraulic lift on the dump trailer doesn't work. Its actually a 12 volt motor pump and the electric motor is shot so I am going to make a hydraulic hose that will hook onto the cylinder and hook up to the tractors hydraulic system.   As you can see in the picture there is a shovel in the trailer, yes it was unloaded with the shovel.  :O/ That will be fixed soon....

 

Put the tiller on after leveling out the piles and tilled it. Its looking really good :O)  Its tilled to a depth of around 12 inches.  Things should grow pretty good.

 

Here is the pile of manure, I don't think I'm going to run out anytime soon lol got to watch out for a few rocks and once in a while there is a piece or two of twine but not bad at all. I think I picked out 3 pieces of twine about 2 ft long out of the three loads. There was about 5 or 6 rocks in there too.  Like I said, not bad at all.  One year at another place I put a garden in and got some manure from someone else and I fought twine every year after that. The first time I tilled it I had to stop and cut twine for about two hours to get it cleaned out. It was ridiculous..  

 

So that's what I did for the afternoon today :O)  It kind of funny though, started out this day with  snow on the ground and ended it with working the garden with sunshine and no snow. It didn't take long for it to melt that's for sure.  when I drove by my neibors house a mile down the road his kids had gotten out and made a snow man this morning. It was a pretty good sized one and each time I drove by it was smaller and smaller lol by 5 pm it was just one snow ball about the size of a soccer ball.  Frosty didn't make it I'm sorry to say lol  

 

  Well that was my day, hope I didn't bore you all too much.  Hope you all had a good Easter :O)  take care and be safe all.

march 27 2016

I stayed up late last night, flipping through the tv channels and not much else lol  I hadn't watched the news in  a couple of days so needless to say when I finally got up this morning at 11 am :O) I looked out the door and you can imagine my surprise when I saw this lol

 

 

 

 

In other news, I haven't been doing much since wens, I had to have a colonoscopy :O(  wasn't that  bad honestly. The prepping to do it is the worst in my book. I woke up early thurs morning to snow that day as well but mom and I still went. Mom went with me because they wouldn't let me drive after wards.  While I was under I also had a skin tag bruise thingy removed form my leg as well. That's what has been slowing me down and hurting the last few days .  It was alittle more of a cut than I anticipated lol  went from about a inch in size to about 4 inches long.  Was a bit more of a problem than what the doctor even thought.  Its healing fine though but it is sore... 

 

  So I have just been tinkering around alittle her and there, nothing very serious. Was kinda trying to organize the shop some more, might as well give up on that lol  I was going to get the tractor out today and redo the moat in front of the house where I put the porch but now with the snow melting that's not a option until it dry's up. So I think I will work on the three point hitch Trailer hitch that I am making for the tractor.

 

 

It started life out as a hitch on a pickup, a few modifications and its for the tractor :O)

will be posting pics soon when its finished.

 

  I had a full house there yesterday for a while,  my uncle and ex aunt, lol long story. stopped by unexpectedly and then my nephew and his wife stopped by, we all sat around here and had a good visit.  sure doesn't take many people to fill my 700 sq ft house up lol  anyone else would have stopped there would of been a seating problem. :O) 

 

Nephew and I are going to Menard's one of these days pretty soon, Im going to buy some pvc pipe and fitting to build a chicken tractor. At least that way I can get my chickens out of their hair :O)  and have some here too :O)  Still needing to build the chicken house, been procrastinating to much I guess lol

 

I made some bread yesterday too, I actually made some for me and to take some up to my aunt and uncle but with all of the company none made it up to their house ooops. I will be making some more today to take up to them though :O) Its been quite a while since I had made any. Was nice to smell it baking in the oven again :O) 

 

 

I found this metal sunflower in the iron trash pile at work the otherday, its a little beat up and squeaky when the wind blows but I like it :O)  Fits right in around here with all the other beat up squeaky and old stuff lol

 

This is just another pic of the porch, I had taken the cut off ends of the support posts and made bracing out of them for the porch. I rather like the look it has now.  :O)  its hard to see them in this pic but if you look close you can. 

 

well its noon now, time to get some pants on lol  and do something constructive (or destructive )  sometimes its both :O)     So I will talk to you after while :O)  Be safe all.

Crazy weather

 

 

 

Its been windy here, I mean really windy..  we had gusts of 55 mph at times.  I was sitting here in the house and a few times I was wondering if it was a good idea to build the porch on the house.  Then, I was sitting here and I smelled smoke, was thinking that there must of been a really dim witted person out there some where burning pastures. Come to find out it was a huge fire down by Pratt that was out of control.  last I heard it had burned more than 100 sq miles.  There was a lot of smoke and even some ash in the air and I'm like 150 miles from there. 

 

 It was 81 degrees here also, but in western ks they are having a blizzard and in the north east they were having sever thunderstorms with hail and possible tornado.  Crazy weather...

 

  I haven't been up to much, just mostly work. I did start building the three point trailer hitch thingy so I can move trailers around easier.  Mainly I'm making it so I can pull my dump trailer around. Will make it a lot easier to go get manure for the garden. Still need to do that.

  I put the inner tube in the trailer tire finally, it just about kicked my butt.  It was almost just as bad as trying to fix a lawn mower tire.   Greased the bearings so I guess its ready to go.

 

  well, its late and I have a big day tomorrow so I will say goodnight :O)  be safe all and I will talk to you all again soon. 



Well Sh#t!!

Yesterday while putting the tin on the porch it was alittle misty, I had the phone in my pocket while working on it.  The screen has been busted for along time now but the phone still worked fine, well most of the time. But I guess the humidity got to it because now the screen is all scrambled and doing weird stuff. So yes, I'm am headed off to the store to get another one.  It has been rather peaceful though lol.  The bad thing is I have to pay for the phone out of pocket :O( 

 

 

So that will hurt the checking account, rather be spending the money on the my place or putting it in the savings account.  You would think that with as many phones that get lost broken or whatever, they would be a lot cheaper.

 

In other news :O)  I found this old forge in the junk iron pile at work the other day.  It needs some work to get it going again, the gear box that drives the blower is seized. If I cant get it freed up then I will add it to my junk iron pile lol The bowl is cracked but I can weld it to fix that problem.

 

 

A pic of the getting close to finished porch roof. Got some braces to put on, one more runner board, ect ect ect to finish it up lol Its getting there and it showered this morning and it was dry under the porch so it does what its supposed to do :O)

 

Heres the picture of some of the wood that I had split up a while back. The trailer on the right is full as well.

 

another view of the porch, now for some concrete..

 

 

So things are coming along, slow at times but progress is being made on the place :O)  I really need to get after making the chicken house and pen, I really do.   Theres just only so much time in the day and I have only so much gumption as well lol 

Heading to town to get another phone so you all  take care and be safe :O)

 

 



dreary day

   Woke up so a dreary wet morning, kinda hazy. Doing laundry, washing dishes, cleaned the litter box :O( I really need to teach the cat to use the toilet as a toilet instead of a play toy.  Waiting for it to clear off so I can start working on the porch. Might be just a day of working inside though. We can use the rain.
  Went to the bar last night and ate  supper with mom and uncle, was a nice visit. Mom took off and we stayed behind talking to the owner, got to talking about the things that used to be in town and whats all changed in just the years that we have been around here.  I didn't realize just how much our little town has changed.  Then we got to telling funny stories about things that we have done in our past. Had some really good laughs, been awhile since I have laughed that hard or long :O)

Got a lot of things I could be doing but haven't gotten that far.. Mostly just doing house work first then I will go out to the shop. I need to go look for some iron to make a three point hitch trailer ball thingy for the tractor so I can just back up to the trailers I have around here and hook up and move them. will be a lot easier doing it that way than backing the pickup up and getting out 2 or three times to get it into position.  I will also use the tractor and my dump bed trailer to go get some manure for the garden, really have to get that done soon..

  Will be going into town after while as well, mom bought a light fixture for her living room ceiling, need to install it for her.  It will sure brighten it up in there, odd that they never put one in when they built the place. 
  Well, better get up and going again. Just wanted to say hi :O)  talk later and be safe all.

oh yea, they have been burning pastures around here, last night they had a huge pasture fire going (under control) I could see it as soon as I left the bar last night. It was just west of my house about 1 mile. It looked really cool. I have no idea why I didn't take a picture and share it with you all. Next time. 

Porch addition pics

X marks the spot. No, no treasures at these x's :O)  Just going to be post holes for the porch.

 

 

Figured I would toss in a before pic with no porch yet, I have been wanting this porch for some time now :O)  Its going to be nice. 26' by 12'  Room for the big grill, lawn chairs and a porch swing :O)

 

Ok, back to the porch construction.  I ordered 12' posts but they gave me 14 footers.  at least they wasn't 10 footers lol

 

It was rather dark when I got done getting them standing up straight and braced, poured some quik creet in the bottom of the holes too.  I tamped the dirt back in around them the next day. I was worried about them all day too, the wind was blowing like 40 mph at times. I went home that day wondering if they would still be standing up straight. They was :O) 

 

A friend came over and helped me put up the cross boards, thank fully :O)  that would have been a major pain in the butt.   Thanks buddy :O)

 

Cut off the extra 3 feet of post. And yes, I used the chain saw lol   I know, ladders and chainsaws usually make for a bad scenario but it turned out okay.

 

I came home yesterday (wens) and put up the rafter boards, wasn't quite as windy but windy enough.

 

all the rafters in place :O)  Taking shape....

 

Came home tonight and started putting up the cross boards that the tin will be screwed too. got three put up and it got dark on me. Will have to put the other two up tomorrow  evening. Sure glad its staying light longer now and Sunday we turn our clocks ahead a hour too I believe. 

  I was up on the rafters tonight putting screws in and I slipped alittle. Talk about the sphincter muscle tighten up lol   I'm coming to the realization that I'm not as agile as I once was lol  Not to long ago it wouldn't have bothered me but anymore I think about stuff like that. guess I am getting old :O)  Oh well, time marches on waiting for no one but catching up with all.

 

Okay lol  here's my random bizarre picture of this post, was blading on of my roads and came across this.  There was another beer can not too far away too.  Anyway, thought it was funny, don't know if some one posed it that way or what..

 

So that's what I have been up too lately, really looking forward to the porch being done. Get the roof on and I will be doing the dirt work then pouring the concrete. Thought about making a wood deck but I would like to enclose it eventually and make it bug proof. It wouldn't be very bug proof if I used wood for the deck so its going to be concrete.

So with that I will say Be safe all :O) Talk to you all again soon :O)

Hi all :O)

Its been awhile and I have been up to quite abit. I thought I had some pictures of all the wood I have been splitting but I don't at this time. Will have to take some and post them later, remember back a few posts ago when I took the pictures of all the logs laying around the yard? well I have split them all up (mostly all )  and have it stacked on pallets (3 of them) that's a cord and a half by the way :O) And then I filled the wood trailer to the top of the side boards. The trailer is 10 ft by 6 ft by 5 ft tall. so its about a cord and a half in there. Needless to say I have plenty of wood. I still have about two cords to split yet.  

  The weather has been really decent here, got a couple of snows and alittle cold weather. Its more like spring than winter. Probably not a good thing. 

 

  As you can see I have all the gates up now, these gates are up temporarily though. I bought a old grain bin and I am going to move it home soon. Its 15 ft across and the gate system I was going to build was only going to be a 14 ft opening so yes lol there was going to be a problem. So it actually back to the drawing board to come up with a functioning gate opening. 

You can also see that there is no porch on the house too. But that is about to change :O)

 

 

One day at work I had to dig out a culvert end that some trucks had smashed shut :O/ It was so packed that I couldn't hardly get a shovel to go into the ground. As you can see I got creative :O)  It was easy enough getting up there like that to dig the end out but going back down and under where it belongs took some reverse thinking.  

 

 

This is a picture of my incinerator for trash, It looks like a jet engine to me. Thought it was pretty cool looking.  The flames were shooting out the chimney about 7 ft.

 

I finally have my very own anvil   yay. its heavy....  Did I mention that its really heavy? :O) It came out of a actual black smith shop, its over 100 yrs old.  Its been rather abused but its still a great find. Unfortunately, the accessories was no where to be found so I'm on the hunt for them and if nothing else I will make some.  It will be a lot easier now to make my knifes and anything else that I want to make :O)  I all ready have a forge so its all coming together.

 

The other day I took a bunch of tires to the trash transfer station that I had collected off my route at work. I always visit with the guy in charge of the place and listen to his stories or what ever he wants to talk about so that way when I go to the "honey hole" metal pile he doesn't ever complain :O) but anyway, I found this little skillet in the pile, I also found a pressure canner, its just like the one I already have except the brands different.  I have to buy the wire basket inside it and I need to get a steam vent weight. Its in great shape so I'm happy. Save me from having to buy another at full price.  Now I can can stuff fast with having two of them.

 

according to the Internet this skillet is a antique. Its in really great shape.

 

Went to a training program today at work so it was a easy day except for trying to stay awake while the guy talked talked and talked some more lol  anyway, I got home and I tore the county truck apart looking for a dead mouse, it was nasty!! It was clear up in the dash where I couldn't hardly get to it. Nasty :O(  Got everything put back together but wasn't ready to go inside yet so I put the plow of the tractor. Its actually not a standard plow, I I made it from some old machinery a few yrs back to turn potatoes out of the ground easier.  there a picture of it lower down.  It might rain tonight so I plowed and probably this weekend I am going to get some cow manure to put on it. Then I can till it all in and be ready to plant the garden soon :O)  I'm going all out this year on critter prevention. Going to build a temporary fence and might even electrify it as well. I WANT SOME SWEET CORN THIS YEAR lol     SO here's a pic of the plowed garden plot (s) Yes it was dark when I got done.

 

This is the plow I made, used to be a hitch pull behind but I converted it to a three point setup. I had another plow shear to put on it so I could plow out two rows of potatoes but I'm not sure where its at. I don't know if it made the move or not. It really works great though.

 

And tadaa   Its the tin for the porch and the lean too that Iam getting ready to build. :O)

 

here is the lumber and two more pieces of tin.  The porch will be 25 ft  x 12 ft on the front of the house.  The lean too will be 28 ft by 12 ft on the side of the storage shed.   A person can never have enough storage space. The bigger it is the more crap you drag home lol 

 

While plowing the garden I came up with a few bonus potaoes that I missed last fall :O)  I had home made fries with my left over pork chop tonight for supper :O)

 

And my bizzare find, Its a horse skull. Not sure of the story behind this but I found it in a ditch on my route.  Its crazy the stuff that I find on my route. It amazes me what people will toss in the road ditches instead of taking the crap to the landfill or the appropriate place to dispose of the stuff.   I did find a big coil of copper wire one day and Im not complaining about that though :O)

 

Well all, I ran out of things to tell you about. Plus I am tired and ready to go to sleep.  Been along day.  Will talk to you all again soon  :O)

Be safe all..