Big Barn’s Retirement Farm Shop

[Big Barn]

ddbackhoe: That’s a very good question. As the title says this is my RETIREMENT shop. No inspectors or employees to deal with. Just me and the mice

I don’t do any work for payment. The projects I undertake are completed (or not) in the time frame of my choosing.

That being said, the “inner” office is rarely occupied but I suppose it could be used as a lounge area for friends if I ever make make any.

 

[Big Barn]

I can't find a arbor press to save my life around here.

I was fortunate to find mine on eBay. Near new for less than the price of a lighter weight import. I’ve NEVER seen a used quality one locally as I don’t live in an industrial area.

 

[ovrszd]

I can't find a arbor press to save my life around here.

You can use mine anytime Murph.

 

[murphy1244]

Re: Big Barn痴 Retirement Farm Shop

You can use mine anytime Murph.

Bwhhahahhahaha Can your drone drop it off????

 

[ovrszd]

Re: Big Barn痴 Retirement Farm Shop

Bwhhahahhahaha Can your drone drop it off????

One of these days, out of the blue, I might stop by. Ya never know my friend.

 

[TMGT]

I like that magnetic chuck deal, I was able to get a Dake 1 1/2B awhile back, also have a Greenerd 3JR arbor press with stand that needs some reapirs.
The Greenerd came from an old DeWalt repair facility and came with a bunch of interesting adaptors.

Here's a pic of the Greenerd, it's still waiting to be worked on.

 

[Big Barn]

Adjacent to my “main” shop is my parts room. Mostly fasteners and supplies as all the bigger spare parts and accessories were sold with the tractors and implements along with their respective parts books and service manuals.








Trust me when I say “no matter HOW much sh*t you have on hand, you will still need to pick up something you don’t have”

 

[ovrszd]

I agree Terry.

You have more dollars worth of steel shelving than I have in hardware, tools, etc.

Not to get nosey, just trying to get a grip on your situation. Feel free to ignore. Can you describe how you got to this point?? Was it an AG operation for example?

 

[Big Barn]

No secrets here, Richard.

I was born on the farm. A vegetable grow/pack/ship operation good sized for our area but smaller than minuscule by even then California standards.

In 1990 I was done dealing with marketing board bureaucracy, labor shortages and general BS.

I took a giant leap and DOWNSIZED giving up rental acreage and selling off a small fleet of trucks and equipment incidental to vegetable production.

I retained the home farm, a few tractors and tillage equipment and proceeded to become possibly the Turf Producers International’s SMALLEST producer/member. My intention was to do EVERYTHING myself and not have to rely on anyone. The theory was lower sales-stress but more money in my pocket at the end of the day.

Luckily this adventure played out well. With my wife looking after the office, I was able to do everything else myself.

My wife passed away unexpectedly in 2004 and at age 53 with a 3 year old child I knew I had to change again. I knew I wouldn’t be able to devote the time needed to my daughter if I continued my current work schedule but at the same time I was reluctant to give up the business I had built up.

Selling the business was out of the question because of my poor business model of “doing everything myself”. Good for making money, but pretty dumb in the long run.

With the help of a consultant I was able to restructure the farm business and take production out of the equation and utilize contract growers. Today the business is basically a depot and sales office overseen by my operations manager. I was blessed with the opportunity to take early retirement to raise my daughter. ( who turned 18 today)


Ironically all my years in farming I was never able to have the shop I dreamed of. Never able to organize things the way I wanted. Whenever something broke down, time was never taken to prep a weld or even primer when done. Time was of the essence. Tools and parts were left strewn in the doorway. Drove me crazy....

The shop I depict in this thread is NOTHING like my farming days. It is truly a retirement shop.

 

[ovrszd]

Great story Terry. The freedom to make the choices/changes you described is one of the things that makes this country great.

By "Turf Producer" do you mean sod?? My Niece's husband has a family sod farm. They don't do any of the laying process. Just grow, cut and sell to contractors.

A farmer that has idle time to detail his organization isn't farming to their potential. If they were those details would fall thru the cracks just as yours did. I have a good lifetime friend who with his two Sons farms 25K acres of corn/beans. Multi Millions of dollars of equipment. Totally inadequate and unorganized shop.

Happy Birthday to your daughter!!!! She's a very Blessed girl.