Bluegrass build... one step at a time.

[EddieWalker]

Sounds like a heck of a trip!!!! Congrats on all your new toys. I'm really curious to see how your tractor does pulling that dirt pan, or do you have something bigger in 4 wheel drive to do that?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Wow! :thumbsup:

 

[Dadnatron]

I'm late to the party as usual, but welcome and very nice place you have bought.

Am I understanding you are 80, or just planning for when you are 80?

That was quite the road trip to Dallas. My friend hired some people who came in with some very large equipment to grade his runway strip. I don't know how wide their land plane was, but they got about 50 acres worth done in a few days. You might find that if you have your place "heavy disked", it might help your tractor pull that thing. If the soil is soft enough, you might be fine.

Anyway, interesting thread. The aerial view shows the small pond, won't this be good enough for the horses? I'm horse ignorant...

Kyle...

Nope, I'm not 80, but I'm planning on taking care of my place at 80 therefore I want to do it as well as I can, with that in mind so I want to use this next 30+ years well.

I thought about hiring someone, and they certainly could have done the job faster than could I. However, I bought this place to make it my own. Not to hire it out to be my own. So, with that in mind, along with the finances involved, I am trying to do as much as I can, myself. Mostly for the fun and challenge of it, but also for the money savings. I put $8700 on the table for these dirt movers, but I have no doubt, that should the day arrive that I need or want to sell them, that I will be able to recoup a large portion of that. And I will have had the privilege to have used them on my place in the mean time. And... when its all said and done, it will be how I made it, good or bad. And that... makes me happy.

As far as the pond, no, I don't want my horses in/around the pond. When all is said and done, there will be approximately 8-10 paddocks and pastures on the place. All of varying sizes. Each will need its own water supply. This is one reason I toss around the thought of buying a trencher. Add in water to the barns, house, and any appropriate outbuildings, ie shop. And it adds up to a lot of trenching over time. Nothing will be completed quickly. My main concern at this point is renovation of the old tobacco barn and a couple paddocks by the barn fenced. If I get this done by next July1 or so, I'll be able to put my horses on my own property and put that boarding money into the place.

 

[murphy1244]

That is one purty barn you have. Love reading these type of threads. I could at least dream.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

That barn is huge and has a lot of character.

Yes you will be able to recoup most of your money on those implements.

I look forward to your progress. Will you put an RV or something to stay in?

 

[Tough Luck]

That barn was used to fire-cure tobacco. I love the smell of the smoke coming from those in the Fall. I don't get to see them in use very often anymore...only when I travel up I-24 in West Ky during this time or the year.

 

[Dadnatron]

Wife decided to drive the truck to take her friends to breakfast. Why... a 11mpg monstrosity diesel for breakfast... you'd have to know her.

Anyway, She called me and said 'It won't start'. Me, being in another town at that moment, said "I told you there was a check engine light." She said 'Well, it drove to the restaurant just fine. But now it won't start and won't go into gear.' Apparently she got a jump, but couldn't get it into gear.

I was about 3 hours away, and didn't fancy my truck sitting in a parking lot, so I took headed out. I had recently purchased FOR THIS VERY REASON, an OBD2 scanner. I knew the check engine light was on, and that I didn't see anything amiss.

Jumped it, saw the lights were extremely dim. Ran a scan, saw charging at 9.2v., stuck a voltmeter on the battery and saw that while running, the voltage was ticking down moment by moment, and knew that the alternator was bad.

Dropped a new one in, and all lights off and charging normally.

One thing though. When I was in the middle of all this, I checked a battery, and saw a big drop in amperage during cranking over. Do you know whether a 'partially charged' battery will drop amperage like that, when cranking the engine? I know typically a 'good battery' won't drop below 10amps. But this one hit 4.x. I don't know whether I have a/both batteries going bad as well. I decided to ignore it until I get a chance to insure it is fully charged with a working alternator.

 

[Sysop]

That is the proper course. Ensure the batteries are charged fully before load testing. Any autoparts store would do the same.

 

[Dadnatron]

My 'found rock indicator' went off while digging a road ditch with a blade. Cost $97 to get a replacement connector. But they had one in stock so I wasn't down for long.

 

[Dadnatron]

I'm really curious to see how your tractor does pulling that dirt pan, or do you have something bigger in 4 wheel drive to do that?

This 5100e 100hp MFWD pulls this 6.5cu yd dirtpan just fine. As long as I don't jam the blade deep in the ground too quickly, which is unfortunately easy to do. I purchased 2 different types of hydraulic cylinder clip on stops, neither of which worked for me.

The pan pulls easily and dumps/spreads extremely well.