New Guy From MN

[NLS1]

Hello everyone, my name is Dan and I live in the Twin Cities, MN.

I own and operate a lawn and snow service and we have been in business since the summer of 2006.

We recently bought a Kubota M135x that we use in the winter.

I am now in the beginning stages of putting it to work in the summer, and will have lots of questions!

I am 32, married with 4 kids and love this great country!

So there you have it, and thanks for the great forum and help.

I am also willing to help you all with anything that I can in return!

Dan

 

[Muhammad]

Welcome to TBN.

 

[RoyJackson]

Welcome to TBN!!!

 

[rambler]

I'm south of you in New Ulm, farming.

Been an interesting 12 months or so hasn't it? Too much rain last spring, no rain at all this fall, no snow, and despite a bit of rain a couple weeks ago very very dry for this time of year.

I presume you are on a contract situation, you get paid a set fee for snow removal or lawn mowing for the year, otherwise there has been no business at all for you since July!

Neighbor of mine is a real go-getter personality, he does a lawn/snow business, he's about going nuts with little to do.....

I've not put the snow blower on the tractor her on the farm, have not removed snow at all this winter. That is just unheard of.

A 135, you aren't small-scale.

--->Paul

 

[NLS1]

Hey thanks everyone! I appreciate the welcome, I have been watching this site for awhile off and on, and I can tell that you are all a good bunch!

 

[NLS1]

I'm south of you in New Ulm, farming.

Been an interesting 12 months or so hasn't it? Too much rain last spring, no rain at all this fall, no snow, and despite a bit of rain a couple weeks ago very very dry for this time of year.

I presume you are on a contract situation, you get paid a set fee for snow removal or lawn mowing for the year, otherwise there has been no business at all for you since July!

Neighbor of mine is a real go-getter personality, he does a lawn/snow business, he's about going nuts with little to do.....

I've not put the snow blower on the tractor her on the farm, have not removed snow at all this winter. That is just unheard of.

A 135, you aren't small-scale.

--->Paul

Hey thanks Paul!

Good to know another local here!

Yeah it sure has been a weird year!

Fortunately most of our stuff is contract for the winter, which has certainly off set last year. Of course the bummer is going to be next year as everyone will remember the easy winter and forget the record setting 10-11 season :confused2: oh well it is a risk and gamble for each half of the equation.

The bulk of our summer work is weekly mowing and some landscaping, so hopefully we will get enough rain soon to help the grass and all the other plants.

Was last spring hard for you? Wasn't it swampy everywhere? How did you manage?

Another question, for all you folks, I am looking to get into municipal type work doing field mowing, rough cut mowing for the cities, counties, townships, etc. What are the best forum sections for that? Any particular word for the search function that I should use or threads off the top of your heads that I can read?

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to a long and glorious relationship here!

Dan

 

[rambler]

Was last spring hard for you? Wasn't it swampy everywhere? How did you manage?

I've put in over 30,000 feet of tile in the past 3 years on my small farm, dad had a lot of tile put in to start with, but he only had tile from one low spot to the next. I'm adding on to get damp areas to drain out. The ground here is yellow clay, and we have a very high water table, as well as typically very wet springs. This year was the 3rd time in a 1/2 century the ditch through my farm stopped running.

We had record rainfall in spring into July, I'm not the only one who said it can stop raining and won't hurt at all... We found out different, as in the middle of July, it stopped raining, we got less than a 1/2 inch total until a couple weeks ago that over an inch rainfall - you got more snow out of it, down here it was mostly rain.

So, we probably had reight at average rainfall for 2011. 95% of it came in the first 6 months....

So yes, it was a difficult spring, but I'm kinda used to fighting with mud, and the tile I put in certainly has paid for itself in a hurry, perhaps 10% of my farm would have had little to no crop from the flooding - instead I got it all planted and only suffered a 25-33% decrease on those acres.

I have another 40 acre field lined up to get more tile this coming fall, probably another 10-15,000 feet will sure help that field out.

--->Paul

 

[NLS1]

I've put in over 30,000 feet of tile in the past 3 years on my small farm, dad had a lot of tile put in to start with, but he only had tile from one low spot to the next. I'm adding on to get damp areas to drain out. The ground here is yellow clay, and we have a very high water table, as well as typically very wet springs. This year was the 3rd time in a 1/2 century the ditch through my farm stopped running.

We had record rainfall in spring into July, I'm not the only one who said it can stop raining and won't hurt at all... We found out different, as in the middle of July, it stopped raining, we got less than a 1/2 inch total until a couple weeks ago that over an inch rainfall - you got more snow out of it, down here it was mostly rain.

So, we probably had reight at average rainfall for 2011. 95% of it came in the first 6 months....

So yes, it was a difficult spring, but I'm kinda used to fighting with mud, and the tile I put in certainly has paid for itself in a hurry, perhaps 10% of my farm would have had little to no crop from the flooding - instead I got it all planted and only suffered a 25-33% decrease on those acres.

I have another 40 acre field lined up to get more tile this coming fall, probably another 10-15,000 feet will sure help that field out.

--->Paul

Wow, what a challenge you guys that farm must have to put up with year after year, I don't know as I would have the will to keep at it.

All that tile must be quite the operation. How is it installed?

Dan

 

[creekbend]

Welcome aboard.

 

[NLS1]

Welcome aboard.

Thanks! Good to be here!

Dan