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Today's job was a little bit of residential forestry mulching, forgot to take any before pictures but I did get a couple of after, hope everyone has a good upcoming holiday weekend, God bless, Charlie.

Okay you win.

Look where you are located.

My post was in response to Mossroads post about additional fees and taxes above the actual price of the kw hours used, I didn't mention having a problem with the source which happens to be coal, but I do think a $37.00 per month access/customer charge per meter is a bit much, it equals $ 111.00...

Natural gas fluctuates and while low today it might be as high as a giraffe's bunghole tomorrow, coal is usually contracted out in multi-year deals which is a known fixed cost.

Natural gas can be great, it's about the only thing that kept my ex-employer afloat when they saw that they could run the gas turbines drastically cheaper than a bio-mass plant, but still nowhere as cheap as coal. I'm sure that certain renewables in certain areas are reasonable such as Hydro at...

Here is one for you, I have a water well for my cattle and last month I used 80kw for $6.56 charge, but then tack on a $37.00 access charge from the co-op and miscellaneous state and county taxes that bill totaled out to be $51.36 for the month for less than $7.00 worth of electricity use.

You can find anything out there on the internet to backup/support any cause that there is, but the truth will be in the mailbox in your monthly power bill, the company I retired from did it due to pressure from the do-gooder's, mandated no more coal and went with a mix of customer owned solar...

And most of the do-gooder's who put NO MORE COAL signs in their yards are squealing the loudest because they failed to listen to people telling them the true cost of green energy.

Also Post #42 has all the numbers that you wanted information on RPM's before and after the pulley swap

Yeah, it's not a high capacity machine but I do believe it's well worth the $6k that you can get them for, and it's well made. Mine paid for itself within 2 months of me purchasing it, and you aren't in debt $25-30k . The only thing I can"t figure is why in the world wouldn't the company set...

While I was swapping the pulleys this morning I snapped a couple of pictures of the grease nipple extension.

Alright so I swapped my pulley's this morning, prior to the swap I was getting a reading of 1115 rpm's on the drum pulley, after the swap I was getting a reading of 1970 rpm's on the drum pulley, for an increase of 855 rpm's, all readings were at wide open on the machine which is 2400 rpm's...

You don't need to drain whatever oil is left in the gearbox, just pump a bunch of grease in it and check it yearly when you do your Spring maintenance on the slip clutch, PTO shaft , etc, it will be good for the life of the gearbox.

The last sentence sounds like the best idea, the only better idea would be for them to be loaded with all of the owners stuff and never look back after crossing the state line.

If I decide to do it I will get a RPM tach and see what it is before and after swapping the pulley's, but it makes sense once you think about it. Thanks for the tutorial, it's always good to listen to someone who has done it, you ought to make a Youtube video, I bet it would get some views. Charlie.

If there are any farmers around you, you can bet that they know how to do it and can show you so you can do it in the future, as it really is a simple procedure once you see it.

Well for starters I have to buy an RPM tach to see what it is, but I should be able to figure out how to swap the pulley's , I just need to take the cover off and look it over.

So out of curiosity how much trouble is it to swap the pulley's, I'm guessing it's pretty simple/straight forward.

I emailed them at the email address that I gave you in an earlier post and they sent it to me. I don't know why, but none of them seem to come with the owners manual, but they sent me a PDF of the owners manual right away when I asked for it.

According to my owners manual you are just under max rpms which is 2100.

Alright try this email address as it is the one that I have gotten all my responses from. service@raymondy.com Now you got me wanting to swap the pulleys on mine to see what happens. 😁

Sorry, I have no idea, I just hooked it up and have run it on low flow on my Kubota SVL 75-2 which is a little over 17 GPM . Not real sure why they haven't responded to you as they have always responded to me in a timely manner. What e-mail address are you sending your questions to?

Different strokes for different folks, either way the new filter has to be filled with fuel, I like to see it full .

Good info above, the only thing I would do different is fill the new filter full of diesel fuel before installing it.

I do believe the post office in Graham is a modular building.

1 quart per acre used to work like a champ for me, always smoked the targeted grasses that I was after.

I used to use 1 quart per acre at 20 gallons of water per acre, have a John Blue pump that compensates for MPH to keep the output at 20 gallons per acre, spraying with a PTO pump and figuring MPH takes a little trial and error, but when I did spray with a PTO pump I had it figured on that...

Both have a post office but only one has a mini mart/gas station and a Dollar General, lol.

I live between Brooker and Gainesville off of 231, about 20 miles South of Lake Butler, this job was over near Archer.

I honestly don't know what the story is, but that would stand to reason, if I get some more work there I will see if I can get the story on it, I'd really like to know.

I never knew that there was a bed of bricks under a pitcher's mound, always thought it was just raised mound, learn something new everyday.

More fence line/property line clearing at a big old abandoned house and acreage, only surprises were a little bit of old fence wire and some big flint rocks, if you look close you can see the sea shells that have been hidden inside the rock till I hit it with the forestry mower. This place was...

But you still give up your bed space that you wanted to keep. ;) It's tit for tat, I find uses for both gooseneck and bumper pull trailers that I own.

August of 2023. I just looked at their website and it looks like the same trailer optioned like mine is about $8800 today, so a slight price increase but still a really good deal IMO.

2-8k axles with 17.5 super single tires instead of 2-7k axles with 16" tires , and also a spare 17.5 tire on a steel wheel.

I looked back at the sales receipt with all the upgrades this 22' Kaufman tilt deck was $8160.00 out the door from their South Carolina factory.

Exactly how mine works, piece of cake, gravity will work when other things fail.

I wouldn't trade my manual tilt for a golden egg, it works like a champ and when I need it to, and if put up for sale tomorrow it would sell before the end of the day.

Surely there is a herbicide that would control it isn't there?

That's interesting I have never seen any type of tree stump that could survive the straight roundup treatment when applied around the cambium layer right after cutting, but I have never seen one of these down here in the deep South, you learn something everyday.

I use used hydraulic fluid mixed in with diesel fuel and roll it on with a paint roller, it work best to let it set out in the sun on a good warm day and the boards will really soak up the mixture.

Kaufman makes a nice tilt deck trailer, very affordable when compared to some of the other brands, I bought a 22' with upgraded 8k axles and 17.5 super single tires with a spare for a hair over $8k two years ago.

The possibility exist that there could be a generation of young people who cannot backup a trailer without this type of technology because they never learned, just think about a manual transmission.

That is the very same grapple that I ordered from MTL and use on my skidsteer, I believe you will be well pleased.

In my opinion there are only 2 things that are better about a bumper pull. 1. It leaves the bed of your truck open to haul tools, materials, coolers, etc. 2. A bumper pull trailer will follow or track the tow vehicle closer than a gooseneck will, making it a good choice where you don't have the...

You are probably right, but for some reason I took it to mean trailer weight.

I pulled a 16'gooseneck stock trailer all over the place with a 1992 Chevrolet K-1500 and never had a problem, that's what I had back in those days. My current gooseneck trailer is a 25+5 Gatormade deckover that is heavy built with 14" I beams for the frame and it only weighs a little over 7k...

Yes sir lucked up and saw the 3 bolt clamp sticking up, not sure how as thick as it was but I did, I'll take those blessings any way they come lol, and you are spot on, if I would have wadded all that up, it would have shut me down for a bit, hope it's cool weather up in your neck of the woods...

Think power company down guys, one end attached to the pole overhead and the other end attached to an anchor screwed into the ground lol. 😁

That's how I have always done it, I actually thought that if a moisture probe was used that's how everyone did it. If it reads higher than I like I just wait an hour and try another one, sometimes that's all it takes, if I know rain is coming I might push it a little but my preference is to roll...

That looks like pure old guy wire, it is tough stuff.

It's a brand new one that the outfit that I buy fertilizer from let's some of us use to put out fertilizer, I wish it was mine, but I am looking at buying a used one for myself and my neighbor so we would have access to anytime we need it, we will split the cost.

Well been busy fertilizing hay fields but got that finished and was able to squeeze in a property/fence line clearing job, it had stringy scrub oaks by the thousands which made it a little tougher than normal, but I got it done and only found a little bit of guy wire and barb wire, in one of...

Instead of windrow testing why don't you roll one and probe the bale right after it comes out of the roller, I'm not trying to be a know it all , just curious.

Thanks for following up and letting us know what you found, that's rare around here, also congratulations on figuring it out.

22-26% wouldn't concern me about burning my barn down but I probably would be storing it outside since it's not likely to be #1 horse hay, just gonna be cow hay, but cows got to eat to.

And that is a good thing.

I use an MTL grapple on my skid steer and when I say use I mean use hard and it hasn't missed a beat in the 3 years that I have had it, think it was about $ 2300.00, it's very well built.

They are also pretty good about sending you a PDF that you can download.

I despise a flipping rat, they can do some serious damage in a very short period of time.

Funny the difference in folks, I never realized so many people would want to add them to a trailer, I hate them , it seems I always have one going bad on one of my trucks, had two batteries die on two different trucks in the last two weeks. They can't be over a year old as they were all replaced...

I immediately started laughing when I read your response as I can't count the times that I have turned a nice shirt into a work shirt by just doing something as simple as loading a roll of hay for someone on the way out somewhere, only to realize that I had brushed up against some grease off of...

Better pricing up North, off road $ 3.27 per gallon delivered from bulk supplier, that includes federal tax.

Those teeth look just like the ones that are on my drum mulchers, quadco's or quad cutters I believe are what they are called, so far they seem pretty tough on wood and brush, not so much on steel and rock :oops: . If a person doesn't account for maintenance of equipment in this business they...

When I work in some areas West of me they have flint rock but probably nothing like what you have to deal with, now cinder blocks seem to be a dime a dozen on many of the jobsites I find myself on, but I pretty much obliterate them when I hit them. I envy you being able to get blades for $25...

Back to finish up removing some more trees for one of my customers, these were large enough that I used the mulching head, once I finished that it was on to some property line clearing a trail for the owner to access the property, had to work around a few fallen trees/logs that owner will remove...

Looking good.

Well between hay baling and cows I had let a job that needed doing for a lady set on the back burner , but she hasn't been in a hurry, so after hauling yearlings to the market and getting 91 rolls of hay baled I jumped on her project today. I strictly used the forestry mower today but will go...

Lou, Who makes that trailer?

Well I have been waiting for a 3 day window for a while and today was supposed to start 3 days of 24% chance so I cut one of my fields down and flipped it, well about 6 PM the weather changed to 96% and I got about 1/4" of rain on it, so no luck putting up hay that ain't been rained on down in...

Sometimes the man who spends the least, wind's up paying the most.

😁

Well so far so good on this older diesel I bought, I have been towing my skidsteer with it 3-4 days per week and seems to get about 12 mpg loaded and about 17 unloaded, while my 6.0 chevy gas truck got about 8 loaded and 13-14 unloaded and I wouldn't hesitate to hook it to any load I pull as it...

I'm pretty sure that's what this customer is going to do here.

Finished it today , it rained the last two hours I worked, makes me thankful for a enclosed cab machine.

Glad you enjoy the pictures, some days I don't even think about taking pictures until I'm done or on the way home.

Looks like you are getting it done.

That's what this was an Egret, we just call them cow birds.

Yes, so far so good.

Been working on a 59 acre planted pine parcel, lots of downed trees from last year's hurricanes, so that slows me down a little. I had something happen today that I never had happen before, there were cow birds all around me all day but one had a real bad day, there was an old sprayer lid disc...

One thing that might help you is when you rake your hay, don't use the full width of your rake and make smaller windrows, you will have to make more trips up and down the field but the windrows will be smaller/shorter.

Yeah those sweet ones seem to always get away, the one thing I have learned is sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot and pull the trigger which basically goes against everything I was ever taught. I missed one to, was actually first one to call on it and told the lady I would take...

I found me a 2006 Chevrolet 2500 HD with the LBZ Duramax engine and 6 speed Allison and it was still bone stock which is exactly what I wanted, didn't get a 3500 flatbed but this will do just fine for what my needs.

Makes sense now. I have a Kaufman gravity hydraulic tilt deck 16' tilt and 6' fixed with 2-8k axles and 17.5 super single tires that has 13,600 lbs of deck capacity and I believe you wouldn't have any trouble loading your low profile snowblower tractors on.

We had a saying painted on the wall at the lineman's bull pen that said "If it can happen it will happen".

Curious what kind of low profile tractors you have, I have never seen a tractor that was to low to load via mega ramps and dovetail.

I've had very little problems getting it established, although IMHO it is quicker to take in the fall of the year when weeds and other grasses are on the decline and are not competing with it, planting this time of year will require keeping the weeds mowed so it doesn't get shaded out. I can get...

More or less, but Bahia will grow just about anywhere as long as it can get a little water along and along until it gets established, once established it is extremely drought tolerant.

This week I have been doing a little tractor work, bush hogging a 12 acre area and the customer wanted a couple of different areas tilled up and 2 different types of bahia planted, so I took care of that to and rolled the seed in with my small roller, now he just needs some rain as it is...

Are the cylinders long enough to let down anymore? the wings can only go as far as the hydraulic cylinder will let them.

It will be good for the rest of this year, but if not maintained or sprayed will be back needing attention within 2 years. I have some customers who are really good about maintaining the areas that I have cleared for them but most will be asking me if it's always this hot out here and are the...

Thanks for the tip, mine has continued to be troublefree but I don't slack on maintenance and no telling how many cartridges of grease that I have gone through, I grease non stop, but you are correct when something goes wrong it's probably not going to be cheap to fix.

Absolutely fine, it has had zero problems knock on wood.

A picture or two from a couple of different jobs this week, one forestry mowing an overgrown driveway/property line for a new customer and the other was mulching a property line in a really tight place due to customer only wanting vines and small brush removed, it's warming up down here in...

I keep seeing it posted in this thread about not being able to get out of the skidsteer if the bucket or attachment is raised and while that may be true with some brands, but there are 2 brands that have overhead roll up doors and you can exit the cab no matter what the position of the loader...

I do one kind of work with my tractors and another with my skid steer, they both have their place and are as a whole polar opposite.The places I put this skid steer I would never put my tractors.

Yes sir, God has a plan for every one of us, sometimes we just have to slow down and listen, have a good week.

Whatever you do look at the Kaufman 22' tilt deck, I believe mine is 14' tilt & 8' fixed or 16' & 6' one of the two you will have a hard time finding more trailer for the money.

Been watching an auction tonight and have seen plenty of enclosed cab CTL's with less than 1000 hrs going from $29k-40k, it's getting cheaper to get in this game.

Let me know how the other teeth work out for you. Mine also had the 2 grease fittings on each end of the drum outside and accessible, not sure why they didn't do the same with the third on the top bearing, but it's much better now since I relocated it by adding a remote grease hose.

Just missed a 2017 3500 Duramax with a flatbed yesterday off of Marketplace for $9k, the lady said it ran but had an emissions light come on and she was tired of it and was going to buy a gas truck, I was the first one to message her and told her I wanted it and would be there in just a little...

I bought a new SS when I got started , new forestry mower and new grapple which ran me about $75k. I already had a 3/4 ton truck, gooseneck and equipment trailer to haul and pull it with, I have since bought a tilt deck trailer and a small mulching head for my business and am currently looking...

Some customers are like clockwork and I can count on hearing from them yearly and they recommend me to their friends which is new work for me, I also have a friend who drills wells and he meets with new people moving into our area needing a water well drilled and lot's of them want work done and...

Yes sir that's all it takes once it's been cleaned up and it makes for a really nice area.

Some of them keep it cleaned up and some don't, when I leave it can be kept up with a tractor and bush hog, I encourage the people with bamboo to spray it when it comes out after about a month. Some do nothing and stay inside in the A/C and call me to come once or twice a year.

Going back and fixing something from a year ago is called making things right, that's probably why you have an abundance of work and a good name in your industry.

Kinda been looking for an older model 3/4 or 1 ton diesel truck, I would prefer a Duramax and would love to find an 06-07 model but they are pretty scarce and pretty pricey when you find one so I may wind up with an 01-05 or possibly a Ford 6.0 if it's been studded and bullet proofed. What have...

Today's job more forestry mowing to give this customer more accessibility to his property.

A little Saturday morning job for an out of town customer, clearing for shooting lanes, making roads/trails on his piece of hunting property.

I run into them occasionally but none on this job that I saw, one place that I mow every year is full of cottonmouth moccasins, you can count on 4 or 5 encounters which is usually bad for them. As far as one getting in the cab, it hasn't happened yet and if it does he can have it, it's way to...

This morning's job was a thick wooded hillside full of bamboo and vines that was pretty slick in places as well as steep, pictures don't really do it justice, it was pretty challenging but the customer is very happy and I am as well to be done with that thick bamboo.

Did you get the low flow model or the hi-flow model? I have a Kubota SVL-75-2 with hi-flow but HF on this model is only right at 30 GPM which is 5 GPM short of the minimum requirement for the HF model so I figured I would be better off with the low flow model. So far no real complaints other...

Some jobs you are in and out every few minutes moving things and piling them where they are visible and out of the way, this job just had lots of hidden stuff, old tarp's fence wire, pipe, concrete, etc but I generally try to look places over before I start but some of these places you just...

Well I jumped on a couple of forestry mowing jobs today, got both of them cleaned up pretty good, both of these were pretty rough with cypress knees, fell logs and wire but I made it, hope everyone has a good week.

When I see that moisture on my tires I know I'm in for a waiting game, the sun may be doing it's job on the top side but that grass on the bottom is pulling moisture from that damp soil and it's just a waiting game.

I wouldn't be scared to drive over the drain field but I wouldn't be driving over the tank on purpose, most tank lids are only 2" thick.

Yes he had, when it came to farming, cows, horses etc he always had the answers I needed, I try to help my now grown boys out without being asked and like him without saying to much about it, time is precious and you are spot on about us being the older folks now.

Without a doubt the stump jumper is flexing everytime you hit the bolt, take a good bottle jack and jack it up on the stump jumper as close to the bolt hole as you can get it, then hit the bolt with a brass pin or whatever driver that you have and it will come right out. Many years ago I was in...

It's a hair wet ain't it, glad you found that shed antler before it found on of your tires.

I live about 40-50 miles North of the OP and you wouldn't even think of building an underground home in this part of Florida due to the water table, and while it is dry right now, the whole very little rainfall statement is unusual and I can assure him that will soon change as it will start...

Before I retired I operated a lot of hi line bucket trucks and other equipment on some terrible ROW's and I was most impressed with tri-axle trucks with the air boss system , I have gone as far as I could quite a few times and then aired down and crawled on down the ROW to the next pole all day...

I think I am going to try to pick one up when I see one on Marketplace or one of these equipment auctions.

It's always good to be able to give the customer options.

I spread it with my bucket but I have been thinking about getting a land plane to do the final grading on these driveways, I bet your blade with the wheels would do a great job.

Finished out the week with about a 900' limerock driveway I put down around 125 tons +/- of material and built up a slight hump up at the hard road to help keep the water from washing down the driveway.

Hope you heal up quickly, thankfully the lord isn't through with you on this earth and it wasn't your time.

People ask me all the time how big of a tree can you cut with that forestry mower, here is a softwood stump where I cut it down after I ground it down to ground level, I didn't have a tape measure with me but my boot is a size 12, hardwood trees a little less than half that size and those...

I cut the vines with my forestry mower usually about 8' high and let them die and rot , there are places down here where the vines are so tangled and thick that I would be there forever trying to pull them out but I'm kind of like you if the customer want's to spend the money I usually use my...

It worked, nice hi line ROW. Welcome to the forum.

I do take it with me most of the time especially when what I am cutting in is to thick to see what all is in there, there are almost always fell tree logs to move. I finished up this job today with one final dumpster and some additional forestry mowing.

I'm usually able to cut it out with bolt cutters, wire cutters , end snips, etc, but every now and then it's a torch. You are going to get in hidden stuff it's inevitable but you do learn to look for signs to help minimize it.

Been working on a property line clearing job which turned into a property cleanup, I have filled three 20 yard dumpster with nothing but junk, wire, metal, trash, old boats and an old hogpen, I should finish tomorrow with any luck.

My 7 year old granddaughter was baptized this morning and I said to myself what more can a man ask for.

Most especially number 2. You would be surprised at the people who will argue that point when I tell them that's the reason I use a bumper pull to get into some of the pig trails I have to get down.

That looks like a nice trailer and with it being made out of aluminum it should give you more deck capacity and solve some of the corrosion issue's ya'll have up there from salt.

I used a 20' equipment trailer with two 7k axles for a long time but my SS with forestry mower had it maxxed out so I went with a Kaufman 22' tilt deck trailers and upgraded to the 8k axles and 17.5 super single tires for about 8k and will probably never go back to a trailer with ramps for the...

Roundup ready corn seed put most rolling cultivators in the bushes down in these parts, I sold a 4 row set that I had but kept my 2 row set for gardening, as someone else said once you have them adjusted properly let the hide go with the hair and don't look back till you get to the other end.

Grease is cheap , do it often and use more than a nickle's worth when you do.

I have those exact same feelings about some of the people coming to Florida. 😁

Seems like I always end up working on something right in the dirt LOL.

Been working on invasive tree removal for a customer, China berry and Camphor trees, got them piled in piles to be burned later, a guy with a sawmill came and picked up the large logs and said both are beautiful wood, who would have thought it.

Belts are one of those things that can surprise you as to how long they will last being all cracked and thread bearing, I remember when I first started seeing serpentine belts on early 90's Chevrolet trucks and upfront I thought it would be a terrible idea for everything to run off of one belt...

You do nice neat work with those two implements.

When my baler monitor reads 14% I don't bale unless I know rain is coming, because it will be in the mid 20's down here in this humid environment the next day and if you have native crabgrass in the mix with it being so stemmy every other grass type in the field can be dry and the crabgrass will...

I put my own limerock driveway over 20 years ago and it is still in pretty good shape today, I have had several potholes develop in it due to heavy traffic during rainy weather, but the key to keeping a limerock driveway in good shape is when you see a pothole developing is to fill it so it...

Thank you Mr Back road, to be honest I know it comes from a limerock pit or quarry and they dig it with a dragline, but I imagine it's just a regional thing as to what it is called, I have also heard it called road base because every highway down in these parts has it under it and it's cheaper...

Got back around to building the customer a limerock driveway today and filled a sinkhole that was about 10' deep, I packed it really tight so hopefully it won't open back up, I forgot to get a before picture but I finished out the week by getting everything done that I had committed to and that...

Thank you the customer was very pleased with the change.

I get it and you are right it's not all about me but there are a lot of people like me that use their loader's everyday to make life easier and some task's doable, as a boy we row crop farmed and did everything with the 3 point hitch but my dad finally saw the light and we got a tractor with a...

I have a Gatormade 25+5 gooseneck deckover with 2- 10k Lippert axles and never had 1 problem.

Me to until I need one which is about everyday.

If it was planted pines like the new improved fast growing slash pines the stumps will usually be rotten in 2-3 years if they have had a little dirt thrown to them, when figuring on dragging it the heavier your drag is the better it will move dirt to level out the rutted areas.

I didn't really want a Chinese mulcher either but everything I read about the Raytree brand said they were solid and with good company support over here and so far that has been the case, I have reached out to them via email twice and have received a response within 12 hours and they sent me an...

$475.00 per 10 wheeler dump truck load $550 for a semi load which is about 10 more tons, problem is you can't always get the semi into some of these places.

New job today , customer bought a place and wanted the brush encroaching the driveway cut back and some azaleas and sago palms mulched and lots of tree and vine infested areas in the backyard cleaned up and finally some woods on the back of his property mulched/ forestry mowed, got it all done ...

Another vote for conveyor belt, I got a partial roll of used conveyor belt from a coal power plant and put a piece on one of my bush hog mowers probably 15 years ago and while it has frayed at the edges a little bit it is still working like a champ.

A big portion of my place is woods and creek bottoms, I fix fence all the time, it's never ending.

You already have the CTL , you would be amazed what you can do with one, I guarantee you that you would enjoy it.

I gave right at $7k for this one but it has carbide teeth on the bottom of the blade carrier to help with mulching and I got it with a big piston hi flow motor, so they can be had cheaper, this one is an MTL and it has been flawless, Rut Manufacturing makes good stuff as well as many other...

I use my forestry mower on my skidsteer, just did this job this morning for a customer, he is having a new fence built and needed the property line cleared, I can cut stuff about 10' off the ground.

Back to cleaning up the other 2 sides of this customers property for a new fence to be built, I finished this job today and will go to another mulching/cleanup tomorrow and Thursday.

It did and I did, if I remember correctly there were 136 rolls and it's under the barn.

Back to skidsteer work mulching out next to an old fence line for a new fence and a little cleanup next to the customer's house.

My old daddy was a hog hunter and he had a Plott hound named Sam that got his leg bone shattered by a big boar hog and the bone was split and the leg was not savable so he and I amputated Sam's left front leg nearly to his shoulder and he sewed the skin back and it healed up well. I figured Sam...

Got it all rolled this afternoon, wound up with 138 rolls off of this 25 acre field, it took all 7 days to get it dry, I think if I do this again this coming up winter I might try what LHF 2019 suggested and tedd it gently right after cutting to help speed the process of drying, I don't think it...

Yep the 2 for $5 Mcdonalds ad has about made me quit browsing as you can't get shed of it for anymore than about 30 seconds.

Got about 1/3 of it rolled today in some of the thinner areas it was on the verge of getting a little drier than I wanted which would have been more like straw if I waited but it turned out pretty good with 44 rolls, I think I can get the rest between tomorrow and Friday.

We have the ability to get 4 hay cuttings if the weather cooperates, BUT it rarely does so it's normally 3 and I try to wait and no till drill in the oats after the first frost so they are not competing with the existing grass as much, I believe I drilled these oats in the first week of December...

This field has a mix of Bahia grass and coastal Bermuda already established , so after the oats are rolled it will get sprayed in a few weeks for the weeds that will be showing then fertilized and cut in about 6 weeks weather permitting.

Yes sir I am for the most part a one man show so I have to try to make every lick count, and you are 100% right about the big round bales being less work than the small squares.

I have to do two into one because if I did three into one the middle one wouldn't get flipped, it would just get the two outsides piled on top of it and in places it would want to wad up on me because it's so thick. Some of it will be ready tomorrow but I think I will have to wait till Thursday...

Got these oats up in windows today, they are drying well, right on schedule.

I put the oats up in windows today, they are drying really well getting them flipped today should help get everything that was on the bottom up to the sun to finish the drying process.

Looking good, better late than never on the pictures 😁 .

Mower/Conditioner is what we use, would have rather cut them with just a straight disc mower, but you use what you have.

Just a matter of preference I suppose, if I didn't have this 7 plus day window of good weather I would definitely run the tedder over it, but in the past I have had good luck flipping it with a rake and it drying well, I will have to watch it over the next few days to see if it pays off to keep...

Yep I'm counting on those 7 days to get this dry.

It takes a little luck and some cooperative weather to get a spring oats crop put up.

I try to cut them in the milk stage if the weather allows, I believe it's different in other parts of the country, some want to cut them in the boot stage, but seeing those seed heads in the roll is what sells down here.

Some bearings are easy, others make you wonder what a designer/engineer was thinking when they designed it.

I posted this in my skidsteer thread but figured it might be more appropriate here, supposed to have good weather for the next week, gonna need it to get these dry without running a tedder through it.

We cut the oats that I planted in December they were pretty tall in most places , it's supposed to be good weather for the next week, let's see how it plays out. Charlie.

There is not a bearing on my Vermeer 504 that hasn't been replaced, the worst part is if I don't catch the ones on the roller tubes quick enough it flares the end of the tube and it's shot, and that's $750.00 a pop.

I could write a book on having non-greasable bearings on a hay baler go out while baling hay, it's a wonder I haven't burnt a baler up in the field. I bought an IR thermometer to shoot the bearings in the hayfield after baling for a while but even that doesn't always work as well as you would...

I haven't looked into them yet, but was told they were readily available through a company out of Canada, but I suspect that you are right and are probably available right here in the US, they are also available through the manufacturer.

Been working on changing bearings on baler on and off for 2 weeks,after completion ran it for about 5 minutes and heard that dreaded sound of a different bearing going bad, so it is ordered and hopefully that will do it, glad it did it under the barn and not in the field as I would have never...

I thought I would update this thread now that I have used this mulcher on a couple of jobs, it has done a really good job so far, the one thing I have learned is don't take to big of a bite on larger logs/trees or you will hang it up and shutdown your progress but I am learning and am pretty...

More work over by the lake, found an old 6 cylinder engine while cleaning up the scrap metal pile that I found the other day and found some barb wire with the mulcher while cleaning out an old fence line, took down several trees and made brush piles that I will burn at a later date.

I clear all kinds of thick properties with my skidsteer and forestry mower, most people are amazed at the transformation of their property, I have a thread over in Owning/Operating called pictures from a skidsteer mowing contractor if you would like to see some pictures over the last couple of...

I treated my tilt deck trailer this morning.

It usually takes about 5 or 6 days to get dry enough to put up, I haven't had any problems with it shattering but I don't put a tedder on it either or I believe it would knock all the seed heads off which makes it less appealing to horse people. I try to cut it when the seeds are in the milk...

I am about 99% sure that that is aluminum decking off of a flatbed semi trailer, at least that is what I took it to be.

That beats wood decking everytime, probably considerably lighter as well, which is good for trailer capacity.

Yes sir, I will sell some providing I get it put up dry and will keep some for my own cows, I haven't seen anything in a bale that will put weight on cows/yearlings like oats do, the last time I did this even horse people were buying it like crazy, I was sold out within 2 weeks of getting it baled.

Well today was a little weed spraying in one of my coastal Bermuda hay fields and then back to the Vermeer baler bearing project, finally me and my neighbor got all the belts back on and ran it about 10 minutes and started hearing a squealing sound and wouldn't you know one of the drive chain...

We called them a Cole distributor, I had 2 of them set up on an old Pittsburg frame with a chain and a drive wheel, they were on top of the frame and the 2 Cole planters were on the back and we would side dress as we planted, I still have the frame and the 2 Cole fertilize distributor hoppers...

Here is the key to one of my diesel tanks under my old pole barn, hidden in plain sight. :D

I use used tractor hydraulic fluid mixed with diesel fuel and have had good luck on trailer decks, I re-decked my gooseneck last year because I failed to treat the deck with the diesel mix but as fate would have it I treated it this morning and plan on doing my tilt deck tomorrow , but the best...

Good luck, I don't think you will be disappointed for what you are planning on using it for.