Hobby Farms Forums / HobbyFarms.com Forum Topics / Fabulously Frugal

Land Clearing: Is it worth doing?

Plowpoint — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:50:06 GMT

On another thread I briefly mentioned that I was clearing some land to make room for more sheep. I know others on here are having a hard time finding tillable land and I am sure the topic has been brought up before...can woodlots be converted to farmland at a reasonable cost?

When I put my fencing up 2 years ago, I knew that I would eventually be clearing forest to make more way for fields. Not wanting to constantly move my fence, I built it straight through the woods and then over the past two winters, harvested the wood between my fence. With over $17,000 worth of fence up, I thought it is silly to not improve this field and get it to its full growing potential.

But how does it pencil out? Bulldozing stumps is expensive and what is my return on investment...in homesteading and farming terms...is is really worth converting forest into farmland? Here is my answer to that...

Old Gutter Chicken Water/Feeders

cweick — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 06:16:44 GMT

Just chalk insides and they are water tight.

Craigs List

gcwpapillon — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:30:10 GMT

Ok, by now, almost everyone has heard of Craigslist. Craigslist is a great place to find the things you need for a great price and it's also green.

One on my favorite sections to look at (besides the farming area) in the free section....sure you get alot of crap items, but I've seen so many free pianos, baby items, along with windows, doors, ect.

What have you found on Craigs list? My mom found a player piano with rolls for a great deal, one of our horses came from craigslist, our truck came from craigslist, mmmmmm my goat came from craigslist.

sewing patterns

Farmermom — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:26:20 GMT

Most patterns are very expensive these days (most running $11.95 to $16.95) I did pick up 2 last week when I went to the fabric store looking for a specific fabric that I needed, I couldn't get the fabric that I needed at that branch of the store I went to but they had put a small postcard type ad in my bag with the patterns for this weekend and one of the items on sale were most of the patterns I wanted/needed so I made a trip to the other branch of the store today and bought 10 patterns valued at $148.50 for $10.

The only fabric store available to me anymore is Joanns Fabrics and I have to travel a half hour in either direction to get to the nearest ones so on the rare occasions where I do go I like to make it worth my while and I was headed in that direction anyway today so I stopped on my way back thru and I think it was definately worth my while for a savings like that. Joanns has this Simplicity pattern sale once, sometimes twice a year and I couldn't believe my luck that most of the patterns on my list were included in the sale. Of the 8 that are still left on my wish list 4 weren't included in the sale anyway so I still wouldn't have been able to get those today.

Inexpensive goat feeder

Colinmarke — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:11:51 GMT

I have had goats for around 3 years. In that time I have tried to deal with the "wars of feeding time" and what to feed with. It started with deep galvanized pans..which they would stand in and no matter how many I had they would always run around thinking the food in the other was better.

So, I thought about it one day while watching them and came up with this idea.

What you need:

1- 5 foot pvc pipe 4-5 inch diameter
2- 8 inch long 2x4's or 2x6's(I had leftovers from another project)
2- 10-12 inch 2x4's
1- piece of plywood..4-5 foot long and around 8-10 inches wide.

Now, I had all of this,except the pvc so basically I was using what I had and made my plan while looking at the scraps I had.
So if you have to buy a 4x8 sheet of plywood
and 2x4's or 2x6's then the cost rises of course.

What I did.

Cut the 2x4's to 8" in length. You can adjust this to fit your barn. Don't make them to long though because the feeder will stick out to far from the wall and the goats will get in behind it and get stuck...like one of mine did!

After you have the boards cut lay them aside. Take the pvc pipe and you'll have to use a sawsall or jigsaw to cut the pipe in half. The pipe I bought had a line all the way down one side to follow, the other side was cut letting the blade from the sawsall follow the already cut part as a guide.

Once it is cut in half lay the 2x4 on the ground flat. Stand the pvc on it's end on top of the 2x4. Take a pencil/pen and mark all the way around the pvc. If your using the 2x4's make sure you center the pipe...it may look like it won't work but there is enough space. Also make sure the pipe is close to one end..but not to close.

Now that it is marked you'll need a drill and drill bit. I just dug around my toolbox until I found a drill bit that was slightly bigger that the thickness of the pvc. I think it was a 5/16" maybe a bit larger.

Now, drill holes in the pattern,drill as many as you can. To clean out the space I just used my drill and bit in an incorrect manner to finish cleaning out the space. You can use a chisel or jigsaw to clear out the slot. Then you can repeat the procedure on the other 2x4...but make sure you set it up so the slots will be the same direction.

Once you have the boards cut out you can slide them over the pvc tube and then were off to the barn with the cordless drill and some 3" woodscrews.

Inside the barn..you'll have to look before building to see if this will work. My barn has 2x4 studs and I put the feeder up and adjusted the slides(2x4's with slots) to fit in between the 2x4 studs. Then set the height and run the screw through the 2x4's into the studs. I put in 3 screws per side. Finally, to keep the pvc from sliding out when the goats decide to use it as a scratching post I took 2- 2 inch screws and ran them up from the bottom on the 2x4's,through the pvc. This will pull that notched space together and keep the pvc from moving.

I put two in my barn and they are holding up great. They have been beaten on,banged and the goat that got stuck behind it also was standing on it...she is my field testing goat. So that is where the other 2x4's and plywood come into play. I used 2x4's and mounted them onto the same studs at a downward angle and then put a piece of plywood over the top and length as a type of roof. If you want to do this I have no plan or specific way...I pretty much shot from the hip so you'll be on your own.__________________________
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Wedding Gloves

What to do w/ extra "garbage".

sleboers — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:31:01 GMT

I just switched to a new feed and I really love the bags. They have pretty goats and they just look really nice. i don't want to throw them away, but I have no other use other than stuffing other bags in them and throwing them out. While thinking about this, I also though what I could do w/ used spray bottles, twine, supplement tubs, etc. I already use twine to make a temporary fence fixer or to tie a gate shut while I look for the the chain or gate latch. What all do you guys do w/ all of the "waste".

Hobby farms should either write an article about this or make a book *hint hint*.

HF Wants To Know - Saving Energy in Winter

Community Moderator — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:25:56 GMT

The Hobby Farms editors would like to know:

"What are you doing to save energy this winter?"

What to do with a quonset?

Emeraldisle — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:18:15 GMT

We just moved to a 6 acre property in northern MN about two miles off of a major interstate. We inherited a gorgeous 35 by 80 foot quonset with a beautiful wood interior, cement floor, new shingles and siding. We have a separate building in which we plan to keep some chickens and goats, so we don't want to use the quonset for livestock. For now we are thinking that we could just use it for recreation in the winter for our children since it gets so terribly cold here, but I'm curious as to if we could install some windows and grow veggies over the winter, or convert one end of it into more of a living space which we could use as a B&B or scrapbook retreat or something, for profit. We don't have much money to put into it for now- maybe $2K. Does anyone have experience with heating these types of wooden interior quonsets in the northern winters, or with converting to a greenhouse? B/C of the recreation/living space potential I'm also interested in adding a few composting toilets but have no experience with that either. We visited a family in Ireland a few years ago who solely used composting toilets in their house and they worked great- they weren't unsightly and didn't smell at all! I greatly appreciate any advice that anyone could give to me. Thank you so much!!

Bad freezer gasket - no problem!

MrsKK — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 05:29:35 GMT

Our freezer's gasket is so bad that about a month after defrosting it, a three inch layer of ice would already be formed up in the top of the freezer. I mentioned it on the Christian Homesteader forum and a member there said they used a ratchet-type tie down strap to keep their freezer closed.

So I spent $14 at Fleet Farm to buy a tie down strap. We put it around the upper third of the freezer, then used metal screws to affix the strap on either side of the door (on the body of the freezer, not the door). The screws keep the strap in place when we open the freezer, rather than having it drop to the floor and having to fight with the strap to get it right again.

It has been on the freezer for about six weeks now and there is no frost build up whatsoever. The food is staying nicely frozen.

BTW, a new gasket for this freezer would have cost us over $150.

Cool Tricks for my new Seal a Meal- anyone else have any?

NEAlaMADhouse — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:34:35 GMT

I just got a new food vacuum sealer and I love it! One thing I learned from my Mom is that you can use it on almost anything. For example, cut a straight line across the top of a potato chip bag to remove the crinkled part and use it to re-seal the chips. The same concept works on almost any bag. We live in the middle of nowhere so we buy frozen stuff in bulk at Sam's. I just open the bag, take out what I need for dinner and re-seal the bag before re-freezing. It is like an electronic "chip clip"! Mine has a setting where you can turn off the suction so it just creates the seal...

Another tip, If you bag leftovers, you can just drop the whole bag into a pot of boiling water to reheat and serve....

Ice Cleats

Wichman — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:40:12 GMT

When it gets icy and you need more traction, try using small hex head screws in your boots.
I have an older pair of boots with good tread left, I used #6 x 3/8 hex head sheet metal screws, two screws in the heel three screws in the front. Vastly improved traction on snow and ice.
So far (1 month) they have not pulled out or caused damage to the sole. I will update in the spring.

Home Economics

dollyandcasey — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:41:25 GMT

Does anyone else feel like home ec should be reintroduced into schools? As a 20-something I can say my parents did an ok job prepping me for the real world- I can cook, clean, sow and balance a checkbook. (I can container garden, bake, install drywall and can food for the winter too. :P ) I work for as a credit fraud investigator, and as a collection agent before that, and it amazes me how many people my age are completely clueless though. It's like they've had no guidance at all! I had a 26 year old ask me today, in all sincerity, what a credit report was. Some of my best friends from high school still live with their parents because they have no idea how to use money responsibly. My coworkers in their late 20's and early 30's can't feed themselves and their children without the help of McD's and hot pockets. The one thing they have in common- no one stopped to teach them life skills. Their parents didn't make it a priority and high schools don't offer classes like home ec anymore. How many of our problems could be solved with a three month class on how to operate a stove and keep a ledger?!

20 Mule Team

cweick — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:14:56 GMT

We use it to kill fleas with. There are uses on the box, but what do you use it for.

Recycling soap slivers

TigerLilly — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:02:06 GMT

I have not thrown away a soap sliver in over 10 yrs after finding this simple little trick. When your bar of soap seems to have served its purpose, don't throw the little piece away that's left--Just wait until you're finished with using it that day & while it is still wet, slap it on to a new bar of soap. It's not much in relative terms of saving you lots of money, but it also helps reduce waste that fills up our landfills. I believe every little bit helps!

Building Hoop/Greenhouse - seeking feedback

Cowgirl Marketing — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:47:44 GMT

[font=Comic Sans MS]Found a great DIY Hoop/Greenhouse design with built-in raised beds for my hobby farm.

Seeking feedback on building orientation for windy areas (30-50+mph), foundation suggestions and any other money saving ideas I might be able to incorporate before getting started.

Single F, "Boomer" without heavy equipment or much help, so simple is great!

Thank you for the input.
Buckarette Annette[/font]

What to do with barn?

Colinmarke — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:02:07 GMT

I ve just bought 40 acres with a dairy farm on it and I am going to rasie beef. I dont know what to do with the barn because there is already a lean to for the cattle and calfs. The barn is a flat barn with 80 stalls and a pit and I would prefer not to use the pit. Just wanna an idea what to do use it for. Thanks__________________________
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moldy grass and compost.....

Colinmarke — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:26:58 GMT

i started gathering my grass when i mow and adding it to my compost. i try to let it dry out, but, there is always some that's still damp. sometimes it starts to get moldy. will this bother my compost?__________________________
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Pine cone crafts

HFfriend — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:45:09 GMT

Pine cones are a simple and abundant crafting material on many farms. What ideas do you have to incorporate pine cones into holiday crafts?

Getting rid of smoke

Dgowan — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:36:30 GMT

ANyone know the best thing to do to get rid of Cigerette smoke out of furniture??? Dresser and mattress oh and clothchairs???

Thanks

Need Info on getting out of the rat-race

Colinmarke — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:58:59 GMT

Hello fellow hobby farmers,
I'm new at this forum stuff, so bear with me. I just got word that my job is going to be terminated at the end of this month (Mar). I think this is a good time to start that goat farm I've been dreaming about. I recently bought some property in Oregon (southern)about 5 acres. I would like to get out of the big city, move to my little piece of heaven and raise goats. Can anyone give me advice on how to get started, what I should expect, what are some of the start up costs....etc.etc..
Any help/advice would be a God send.
Thanks__________________________

Cherry pitter

Colinmarke — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:49:44 GMT

I am seeking ideas about different types of cherry pitters. We are pitting volumes that make make usint a paperclip cumbersome.

Wound Dressing

Colinmarke — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 22:56:45 GMT

I read somewhere about how to make your own wound dressing, but have since forgotten where. Does anyone know how to do this, or where I can find the information?
__________________________

What to do with barn?

Colinmarke — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:18:16 GMT

Cherry pitter

Colinmarke — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:18:31 GMT

I am seeking ideas about different types of cherry pitters. We are pitting volumes that make make usint a paperclip cumbersome.
__________________________

TFTF #1 - Tie one on!

Colinmarke — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:52:08 GMT

Red Green claims duct tape is "the handyman's best friend"; if that's so, flexible nylon cable ties are the hobby farmer's best friend bar none.
I use cable ties (long, inexpensive, skinny nylon strips with a zip-type fastener at one end) to hold things together until I can perform a proper fix. Like when the bucks bashed the gates and knocked the mesh part loose from the pipe frames--cable ties to the rescue!

Or, to throw up a quick, effective, temporary windbreak for the ewes with lambs, cable-tying plastic tarps to a section of woven wire fence does the trick.

The possibilities are endless! Many people use snippets of baling wire or baling twine for temporary fixes (I've done it many times myself) but they tend to look pretty shoddy. White cable ties do the job even better and they don't create an eyesore at all.
__________________________

Tips from the Farm

Colinmarke — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:52:39 GMT

Hey, I've decided to post some of the things that we've learned (often the hard way) during several decades of hobby farm living. After I do, maybe some of you can expand on those tips--that is, post about similar "fixes" you use?
Anyway, I'll put TFTF in the Subject heading. So let's get started!
__________________________

Broilers

quickchic — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:48:17 GMT

How will I know when the Cornish rocks are Done growing?

Do people do this some place? or must I (ick) butcher them just before they to in the pot to be organic?

Free feed sources

bcbeaver — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:38:52 GMT

I've made friends with the local fruit/veggie stand, local independent grocer and bread delivery guy. Last year I paid $0 to raise 2 pigs feeding them strictly from the back door of the grocery store. This year I've got 3 pigs & 2 cows so I decided to buy some feed, it has allowed my to be a little lazy and the pigs are growing faster than on a strict scrap diet.

For some idea of what you can have for free, yesterday I got an 18 gallon rubbermaid bin full of green beans and one full of peaches, cherries, misc other veggies/fruit. Last week I got 120 lbs of blueberries one day. Once a week I bring home about 150 loaves of bread. 3 days ago I got 48 dozen corn.

My last bit of feed is lasting a very long time.

An idea to reduce dependence on fossile fuels

Wichman — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:49:27 GMT

Here's my concept:
Make landfills energy neutral.
Separate landfill materials into burnable and non burnable piles.
In an on site facility use steam powered chipper shredder to shred all burnables to the proper size (for the pellatizer).
Use the steam from the engines to manage the moisture content of the burnables.
Convert the burnables to pellets using a pellatizer with a steam engine as its power source.
Use the excess pellets to power the crawlers and bulldozers (outfitted with steam engines.
Use a small steam powered generator to provide for electricity for the landfill

Using internet sources it should take 10 lbs/hr of pellets to run the pellatizer, while producing 1200 lbs/hr of pellets.

1. reduce the amount of waste entering the landfill
2. reduce the amount of external energy (Fuel and or electricity) needed.
3. Using the pellets provides a method for handling the fuel in a more efficient manner.

I just don't have the Horsepower (read money) to start such a project:(

Cleaning eggs

Chicken Farmer — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:11:17 GMT

Use a household cleaning pad. I use the Magic Eraser and it cleans so well it can take the brown and blue colors off my Ameraucana and Rhode Island Reds eggs. No not all of it though.

Hitch Conversion Kits

Drawbar — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:56:15 GMT

Right now anyway, this forum has an ad just to the right of this reply box advertising hitch conversion kits for older tractors that do not have 3 point hitches. I checked them out and the price is pretty darn cheap. A person could actually buy an older tractor for say 1500 bucks or so, add the 500 dollar hitch conversion and have a very capable tractor on the cheap.

Tips for starting seeds indoors?

Cherie Langlois — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:41:56 GMT

Hi,

Let's think spring This year I'm hoping to get a head start by starting some seeds indoors, something I haven't attempted in years (I didn't have very good luck). Would any of you be willing to share some advice or tips on this topic? I'd be especially interested to learn what kind of set-up folks have for starting seeds indoors that's not hugely expensive. How early do you usually start your seeds? Our special circumstances: no greenhouse (yet), smallish house, little light coming through windows, indoor cats that devour anything green and living!

Thanks a bunch

Cherie

Finding GOOd clothespins

hotrodryder — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:33:46 GMT

My 14 year old dryer finally went kaput and now I am going to hang dry my clothes instead of buying a new to us one. I bought line and clothespins but the pins are really weak. I can't find ones with strong springs like my mother used to have. Anyone have any idea where I can find GOOD pins like they used to make? I prefer the ones with springs to the ones you just force over (that you used to make dolls) but would even take those over the junk ones I have now. My jeans won't stay on the line with these.

Clearing Land for agriculture

Drawbar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:39:41 GMT

For those that have plenty of woodlot and would like to clear it for agricultural activities, but find the expense of bulldozers and excavators prohibitively expensive, there are ways to clear land that my forefathers used that was highly effective. It may or may not come as a surprise, but by putting livestock on the area you want to be cleared...in the right order...can clear the area in a rather short time depending on how long you consider "short time" and how many animals you can add.

First cut the trees down with a chainsaw. Remove the bigger stems and either burn them for firewood or sell the wood for pulp to a papermill. Then fence in the area and add then add sheep as quickly as you can. As long as there are no cherry trees in the area you want cleared, the sheep will eat those leaves and brush right down.

Next add goats. The longer they are in there, they will eat the remaining brush and browse right down to next to nothing. This will take a year or so though. You can pile up and burn anything they leave behind at this point.

After the brush is pretty much cleaned up, the area will have plenty of stumps. Fence the area in and then add pigs. The pigs will help root out the stumps. For particularly troublesome stumps, toss salt onto the stumps and the pigs will root and root after the salt until the stump is gone.

Now you should have an area that starts coming up in weeds. Sheep love weeds, and they will soon graze this out. By grazing the weeds out, and from all the manure the goats, sheep and pigs have added, the soil should start to take root in grasses and legumes. Now you can add cows as you see fit and they will graze the grass.

You will be surprised how well and how fast this system works. It does take a year or so, but in the meantime you are making progress, not spending money on diesel fuel, and have some nice animals that you can consume for your own nourishment as they improve your farm. Some may scoff, but adding the right kind of livestock, at the right time, can get a lot of hard work done for you. The only down side is, bulldozers and heavy equipment can remove the rocks which animals will leave behind, but even if you chose to remove these via heavy equipment, the hours they will spend on farm, will be vastly lower then what you would have paid them to do for the entire job.

Give it a try!

Another free fertilizer

hotrodryder — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:13:36 GMT

This winter, my chickens decided my back porch was a perfect place to pass the sunny days. As they did, their poop started to cake up in a mat I have out there. It has holes about one inch in diameter and tonight when I went to knock the pellets out, I realized they are the perfect size to go in the bottom of a Jiffy pot. So, even though I didn't appreciate the problem when it happened, I do appreciate it now and have about 75 little round 1 inch by 1/2 inch poop pellets. As a matter of fact, since I won't need the mat much this summer, I intend to keep using it to pack little poo pellets from chickens, horses and goats. These are the same things people pay good money for in town so maybe this can be a little side line for our farm.

free fertilizer... sort of

wolfscout — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:18:38 GMT

I have had a koi pond for several years. In early spring, I used to remove a third of the water.. just pump it out on the ground to run across the yard.
Two years ago I started pumping it through kink-free hose to 55 gallon drums in the back of my pickup. This water has "fish fertilizer and other minerals" that really aid plants in getting that growth spurt jump in spring. And if you continue using it biweekly, you will truly see a difference in the growth.
Now, I have a setup in the truck permanent that allows me to ride my 10 acre farm and hose down my fruits and nuts during the periods of less rain and give them the added food they need to grow.
I plan to begin an aquaphonics setup very soon that will also cycle through some of this valuable water resource.

A plus of the koi pond is it's a nice place to sit at the end of the day and enjoy the running water and the fish as you "contemplate" your day's activities while enjoying the sunsets.

Clearing Land: Squence of harvesting

Drawbar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:51:18 GMT

Yesterday I started clearing a new section of forest that I hope will soon be arable land. In the past I have described how you can use animals to go from woods to field without a lot of money, but I never described how the wood harvesting should go for optimum speed. I try to do this either in the fall or in the spring when the leaves are not on the ground, but not in the winter when the snow is deep, otherwise you get high stumps.

I found out the hard way that the very first thing to do is go into the section you want cleared and cut the saplings and unharvestable dead trees down. This is the hardest part, and uses up gasoline and bar oil, but its vital. By getting all the non-harvestable wood out of the way first, you can see what you have for harvested trees. Believe me its amazing at how different the area looks. This is important because I often find a section of woods looks overwhelming before I cut the saplings and non harvestable wood, but afterwords it looks so much more doable. As I stated in another post, you can use many of these saplings to use as fence posts too.

The next step is to harvest all the hardwood trees. I do this because with the leaves off the trees, there does not seem to be as much mess to walk over when you go back and do the third step.

That third step is harvesting the soft wood trees. Because they always have their needles on (save for the hackmatack of course) it makes for a real mess out in the woods, so trying to work on top of them is a pain. I get everything else out of the way first and then work on them last. It also does one other thing. Because of all those branches and needles, the areas skyline does not change much until they are cut. Before they are cut it does not look like you did much, but once those trees are removed, it looks as if you cleared a bunch of acres overnight when in reality it took a few days.

Time wise, it takes me 2 days to clear an acre of forest of saplings, about two more days to cut all the hardwood trees, and then about a day to harvest the softwoods...for a total of 5 days at 8-10 hour days of very hard labor. Of course that is just a rough estimate of time per acre so you get an idea of how I clear forest into arable land. Piling the brush with equipment takes about 3 hours per acre, but stumping takes all day for an acre of ground.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Grandmother's Brass Bed

Drawbar — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:27:35 GMT

Any antique dealers on here?

As you guys/gals know, my grandmother recently died and I inherited her old brass bed. I am not sure why I wanted it, but I did and while I have NO intention of ever selling it, I was curious as to what it is worth.

No pictures but I can describe it.

It is navy brass by the looks (heavy) and it has patina and some tarnish on it...greenish in spots. The most intertesing part is the connections on the bed rails and side rails...they are cast brass beveled dovetails that interlock together...no bolts or screws here, and they are cast directly into the bed posts and bed rails. These are substantial dovetails...blocks about the size of your fist and pitted and teeming with rough casting marks.

The shape is rather bland...just a regular, rounded headboard with the smaller spindles having little finials in them where they attach to the head and footboards. Size on the posts are 2 inches or so, and probably 1/2 inch on the smaler spindles.

It has an old box spring on it, and while old, I am not sure if this is orginal or not. I suspect not as it is made of steel and riveted together. I suspect the brass bed came with a down filled mattress in its day, most likely suspended by rope...though there are no rope holes in the brass bed rails. These are just cast T shape affairs.

***

As I said, I have no idea why I wanted the bed, as it is not overly ornate, but being simple sheep farmers...the bed matched my grandparents exactly! Anyway my Dad said it was worthless for anything other then scrap brass, while I think it might be an antique. I mean the cast dovetails is something I have never seen before. Just curious as to what it is worth?

The Saga of the Switch

Drawbar — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:23:01 GMT

I hate cars...

I have a 2004 Ford Focus commuter car (and part time farm truck-you would not believe how well a full size ewe fits in the trunk of a Focus on the way to the slaughterhouse, but I digress). Anyway I went to pick up sheep grain and one of the tumblers in the ignition switch dropped out and bound the ignition up. So I had to have it towed home to where I could fix the ignition. That was 50 bucks for the tow and I figured another 10 bucks for the switch....

60 bucks to get my car running again! Jeesh...

Well it took me an hour and a half to drill out the old switch. Even then I had to constantly sharpen the drill bit to get it to cut in the hardened steel. But then I realized I had a problem. The key had a computer chip in it for security. I could not just hook up a toggle switch, nor place a screwdriver on the starter to fire this car up...oh no, so it was off to a dealer to get a new switch....I mean how bad could that price be, 60 bucks or so?

Well they would not change the chip out, they said I had to buy a new ignition switch and then change out the tumblers to match the key and go from there. They had one on the shelf, and so I said fine give me the switch...which they would gladly do for a staggering 160 bucks!

I told them to pound sand. I told them they could shove their 160 dollar part that only took 10 minutes to machine on some CNC mill somewhere and added one big thanks for taking a bail out from the government. That started it's own war, but as I told them, you can't tell me they have never taken government money before...oh no, make no mistake about it, Ford is no better then GM, Chysler or Toyota. So I said fine, sell me just the package of tumblers and I will buy a used switch out of a junker, change the tumblers to match my key and get my car going. No big deal...I did not need the car on the road that bad anyway. They said they could not sell tumblers that way...it came as a kit.

After another heated round of "you people are what is wrong with America", and a round of, "there is no way this cat is paying 160 bucks for a switch for a 9 thousand dollar car," I set off to find my own way to start my jalopy.

So I found a junk yard and got an indentical switch. The switch had the tumblers, but not the right combination of course. In the end I ended up machining my own tumblers on a Bridgeport, doing plenty of hand filing and got the key to work, the switch to move and the engine to fire.

Hey take that Ford Inc...how do you think Henry Ford would think of your latest practices huh? I won, I beat you at your own game...I got my car going and for a lot less then 160 bucks...Heck I machined my own tumblers.....

...that I soon realized were not case hardened and probably will wear out, dropping down into the ingnition, binding it up and keeping my car from starting just as it did two weeks before at the sheep store. After coming down off my machinist holier-then-tho high, I went to the Ford Dealership and bought the 160 dollar switch and will keep it for the inevitable failure of my cobbled up switch. :-(

But I swear this is what is wrong with America...they make crap that doesn't last and engineer it so no one can work on the darn things and have to use expensive parts from dealerships.

Tow: 50 bucks
Switch: 160 bucks
Used Switch: 10 bucks
Mileage for everything: 20 bucks (roughly)

240 dollars for one ignition switch for a 9K car! :-(

Saving Hay!

Drawbar — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:05:06 GMT

I try to figure out the easiest way to do things, but often the cheapest way and many times those two ideas are at odds with each other.

One problem I have had is hand feeding my sheep...it saves hay but ends up being a lot of work. But out of desperation, and a desire to get some bedding in their covered heavy use area, I decided to roll some bales into the covered HUA and let the sheep feed away.

Well being very dark, I found the hay lasts much, much longer when it is near the back of the covered HUA. What is happening is, since the sheep are in the dark, they are eating less then if it was out in full sun...kind of the opposite of keeping chickens in 24 hour of light to make them eat more. Yet the sheep will only get so hungary before they are compelled to eat in a not so well lit area...and even then during daylight hours.

So feeding hay in dark locations ultimately saves a lot of hay1