Got a few minutes seat time this afternoon

[Gary Fowler]

Brother in law wanted some sorghum fodder from a syrup mill to use for compost so I took my 20 foot trailer over to the mill which was about 40 miles away, loaded it up and brought it home. I used some old scrap lumber and made a side board frame about 12" high and we mounded up the trailer from there.
I had an idea to put two chains in the floor of the trailer and lay some post, boards etc across the chains about every 18" to use it to drag out the fodder when we got home. It worked like a charm. Took the P7010 and hooked the two chains together with a tow strap and strap to the FEL and backed slowly backward. Got my BIL to remove the boards from the fodder as it rolled back off the trailer. He got all but one and I found it when I was pushing the pile up to cover it with dirt. All the fodder came off except may a tub full that I raked off with a board. We are hoping to compost it over the winter and use it in the garden for organic matter next spring. It is already pretty moldy and going thru a heat (steaming pretty good) so we will see what happens.
It took me about 10 minutes to break out some dirt from our dirt pile and cover the large pile of cane fodder at least a foot thick with dirt. Those microbes should work good in the absence of light and air.

 

[creekbend]

Well done. That was an innovative method to unload the fodder. :thumbsup:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Yeah, it even surprised me when it all came rolling off in one big glob. It sure helped that the cane fodder was all interlocked. It was ready to make strandboard if I could have pressed it an glued it. The guy had a hard time getting it to stay in the loader when picking it up, it just wanted to roll up and down in the pile.
This is a first time using this for compost so I hope it works ok. The soil here sure needs some organic matter in it. We save leaves, grass, old hay etc to put in the gardens to give it some texture and help it hold moisture.

 

[Reyer Farms]

Cool hope it does it for you. Is sugar cane around your parts?

 

[LBrown59]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/118658-todays-seat-time.html
Would have been a good place to post this. too.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Cool hope it does it for you. Is sugar cane around your parts?

There are a few syrup mills operating in the area using ribbon cane. This one uses a hybrid sorghum from Kentucky that is supposedly sweeter than old fashioned sorghum although they also use some of that also. They use an old mill from 1929 that has been modified to use with PTO on a tractor. There was a write up in the paper about it and we went down and watched them cook off the final batch for the year. They usually do it the 2nd week in October but this year they delayed it by a week so the whole family could participate. All the kids (12 IIRC) 7 boys, 5 girls and all the grandkids join the parents in a week long get together to harvest the cane and cook off the syrup. We are going to get some of the hybrid seed this spring and plant some of our own, maybe take it down to have them run it thru the crusher for the juice. The concentrator is wood fired just like it has been for many decades.

 

[Gary Fowler]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/118658-todays-seat-time.html
Would have been a good place to post this. too.

I like to post some of my stuff that is done with my LS to the LS forum for LS owners AND THOSE who take the time to scroll to the bottom of the list to find it. Even though I also have Kubota machines, I get a little tired of the same old my Kubota is better than your JD and vice versa all the time.

 

[vwnotrunning]

where's the video!

 

[Gary Fowler]

First off, I wouldn t know where to start posting a video, best I can do is photos occassionally. I have to thank those folks that carry a camera around to snap off a photos of the most mundane chores, but alas, I rarely have a camera with me to document those 5 minute chores.
I was just speaking with my brother in law a few days ago about wishing I had some photos of the place when we bought it when it was grown up in weeds and sweetgum saplings, fencing falling down, none draining pot holes etc. We have spent a lot of time and money whipping the elements to get the place looking good and we do get compliments from our neighbors on how good it looks now. Photos of all this would be nice to remember it all, but we mostly are too busy working to take photos. I do try to take some when I make a repair or add some useful items to the tractors.

 

[rwork]

Gary, I've got an old 4x8 trailer for hauling brush and such, and I keep a sheet of plywood with a hole drilled in the tail end, with a short length of rope attached. Load it up with brush, grab the rope and drag 'er out! Now that I've got a grapple, I use my larger trailer, and unload in one or two bites.