Load 16 ton, what do you get?

Diggin It · Mar 29, 2022

I dunno, but loading 10 ton of gravel with a shovel and rake will get you a sore back, shoulders and pretty much everything else..

Had 10 ton delivered yesterday afternoon. Needed to get it laid before the next big rain. Little blue bomber did most of the work, but there were a couple of places I could only use it to dump piles that later had to be spread and raked by hand. Hence the shovels, rakes and sore body parts.

Got it done though. Now to let the pain killers settle in.

Stuff is herd to estimate though. Figured 10 would be enough, but it looks like I could use another 5.

LittleBittyBigJohn · Mar 29, 2022

Funny timing. I just found this cover not too long ago. This guy is good!

alexpops · Mar 29, 2022

I was gonna say a fine for being overloaded, so ... another day older & deeper in debt.

wisconsitom · Mar 29, 2022

I did a lot of gravel spreading with rake and shovel. Can't remember the tonnage, but several truckloads.

Shortly after that I bought a tractor. Hey, never said I was smart!

The good news is, there have been a number of loads since.

seville009 · Mar 29, 2022

Machines make life so much easier......it's like when you're moving dirt with a loader, and one clump of dirt isn't cooperating so you get out to move it by hand and you discover it's too heavy to move manually.

Moxie 15 · Mar 29, 2022

seville009 said:
Machines make life so much easier......it's like when you're moving dirt with a loader, and one clump of dirt isn't cooperating so you get out to move it by hand and you discover it's too heavy to move manually.

This is true but made me chuckle. For the last five years I have been telling my wife I need a tractor. She always says "I know, I know!". Lately it has just come down to "If you want that I need a bigger shovel." Well recently she has had to help me roll wrapped round bales into the pasture as I have not been able to use the mud to help slide them like I could with the ice, so she is actively searching for a tractor that we can pay for.

Earlier this winter the bull caught me and proceeded to use me for a crash test dummy half way across the pasture until our Great Pyrenees got him off me and protected me while I got the heck out of there. She had a long list of reasons we could not get him butchered then. Well last week he got out of the pasture and tore up everything he could get close to including the pasture fence, the goat pen, chicken coop, dog run and equipment. He caught her side the head with his horns, pinned me against the gate leaving me battered and bruised and hit Auggie, the Great Pyrenees when he helped me. Any guesses who is going in the freezer this weekend?

Jstpssng · Mar 29, 2022

Moxie 15 said:
Earlier this winter the bull caught me and proceeded to use me for a crash test dummy half way across the pasture until our Great Pyrenees got him off me and protected me while I got the heck out of there. She had a long list of reasons we could not get him butchered then. Well last week he got out of the pasture and tore up everything he could get close to including the pasture fence, the goat pen, chicken coop, dog run and equipment. He caught her side the head with his horns, pinned me against the gate leaving me battered and bruised and hit Auggie, the Great Pyrenees when he helped me. Any guesses who is going in the freezer this weekend?

You're a lot more patient than I am. Any animal which did that to me wouldn't see another sunrise. I have no tolerance for a mean animal.

PS: I hope that you, your bride, and the dog are all OK.

Moxie 15 · Mar 29, 2022

Jstpssng said:
You're a lot more patient than I am. Any animal which did that to me wouldn't see another sunrise. I have no tolerance for a mean animal.

PS: I hope that you, your bride, and the dog are all OK.

My wife is in her 70's and I am in my 60's so we are not near as resilient as we once were, but we are okay. Auggie is 10 months old and has backed the bull down several times so was getting rather cocky about things. He is far more respectful of the bulls horns as of late.

After the bull hit my wife I got my 12 ga shotgun and loaded it with 00 buckshot. I had it against his forehead when Wifey said "Don't shoot him, it is 8:30 pm and we will have every predator on the hill down here by dawn!" And if I had of killed him I have no way to hang him so would have had to butcher him were he fell.

Jstpssng · Mar 29, 2022

Moxie 15 said:
And if I had of killed him I have no way to hang him so would have had to butcher him were he fell.

That's the kind of thing I would have thought of just after pulling the trigger...

dirttoys · Mar 29, 2022

Moxie 15 said:
This is true but made me chuckle. For the last five years I have been telling my wife I need a tractor. She always says "I know, I know!". Lately it has just come down to "If you want that I need a bigger shovel." Well recently she has had to help me roll wrapped round bales into the pasture as I have not been able to use the mud to help slide them like I could with the ice, so she is actively searching for a tractor that we can pay for.

Earlier this winter the bull caught me and proceeded to use me for a crash test dummy half way across the pasture until our Great Pyrenees got him off me and protected me while I got the heck out of there. She had a long list of reasons we could not get him butchered then. Well last week he got out of the pasture and tore up everything he could get close to including the pasture fence, the goat pen, chicken coop, dog run and equipment. He caught her side the head with his horns, pinned me against the gate leaving me battered and bruised and hit Auggie, the Great Pyrenees when he helped me. Any guesses who is going in the freezer this weekend?

You are a good sport, had cattle for years, always fed them grain everyday, if I had one I was afraid to turn my back on, it went to the sale.

I do fear somethings, but, I won't be afraid of anything I pay to feed.

Best,

ed

Doofy · Mar 29, 2022

I had a mean wife and I haven't missed her a bit. Some things you can tolerate and some things you can't.

orezok · Mar 29, 2022

The OPs story hit home. My dad who was born in 1900 and his brother got caught up in the company store coal mine saga. They never earned enough to pay off their debt and were basically indentured servants to the coal mine. One night they stuck their spare pair of shoes in their back pockets {shoes were a very valuable commodity in the depression} and snuck off down the railroad tracks. They were able to avoid the “bounty hunters”.

Citydude · Mar 29, 2022

orezok said:
The OPs story hit home. My dad who was born in 1900 and his brother got caught up in the company store coal mine saga. They never earned enough to pay off their debt and were basically indentured servants to the coal mine. One night they stuck their spare pair of shoes in their back pockets {shoes were a very valuable commodity in the depression} and snuck off down the railroad tracks. They were able to avoid the “bounty hunters”.

Good story! My Grandfather grew up in the great depression. Hated his father when they lost their farm because his father wouldn't let his mule team be used as collateral to the bank.

Larry Caldwell · Mar 29, 2022

Moxie 15 said:
This is true but made me chuckle. For the last five years I have been telling my wife I need a tractor. She always says "I know, I know!". Lately it has just come down to "If you want that I need a bigger shovel." Well recently she has had to help me roll wrapped round bales into the pasture as I have not been able to use the mud to help slide them like I could with the ice, so she is actively searching for a tractor that we can pay for.

Earlier this winter the bull caught me and proceeded to use me for a crash test dummy half way across the pasture until our Great Pyrenees got him off me and protected me while I got the heck out of there. She had a long list of reasons we could not get him butchered then. Well last week he got out of the pasture and tore up everything he could get close to including the pasture fence, the goat pen, chicken coop, dog run and equipment. He caught her side the head with his horns, pinned me against the gate leaving me battered and bruised and hit Auggie, the Great Pyrenees when he helped me. Any guesses who is going in the freezer this weekend?

What breed? Dairy bulls are dangerous, but beef bulls are generally pretty placid. I built a barn in a pasture with a Murray Gray bull once. It kept sneaking up behind me because he wanted his ears scratched. He was a BIG bull, maybe 2000 lbs., and as sweet as they come. Naturally polled, so no horns either. He still scared me 3-6 times a day. OTOH, I had a dairy farmer next door for years and NOBODY got into the pen with his Holstein bulls.

dirttoys · Mar 29, 2022

Larry Caldwell said:
What breed? Dairy bulls are dangerous, but beef bulls are generally pretty placid. I built a barn in a pasture with a Murray Gray bull once. It kept sneaking up behind me because he wanted his ears scratched. He was a BIG bull, maybe 2000 lbs., and as sweet as they come. Naturally polled, so no horns either. He still scared me 3-6 times a day. OTOH, I had a dairy farmer next door for years and NOBODY got into the pen with his Holstein bulls.

Maybe that is the delta, we had milk cows, but no bulls. Yours was much more like my experience. I always attributed it to feeding them and wrestling with them while they were little. The last bull I had, I could push him out of the feeder if he was being a hog, and not think twice about it.

Best,

ed

LouNY · Mar 29, 2022

I've been around cows most of my life,
there is no bull you can trust.
Even the most friendly one can turn instantly.
Even if they don't turn mad, they can kill you just as fast while being friendly.
Swinging that big head around for attention and crushing a person without even trying.
I have seen several normally placid and mild manner bulls get a hair up and turn mean.
I've seen quiet easy to handle bulls just fly of the handle at other people,
one of my uncles was afraid of cows and every bull we had would snort bellow and paw the ground when he was around.

Moxie 15 · Mar 29, 2022

Larry Caldwell said:
What breed? Dairy bulls are dangerous, but beef bulls are generally pretty placid. I built a barn in a pasture with a Murray Gray bull once. It kept sneaking up behind me because he wanted his ears scratched. He was a BIG bull, maybe 2000 lbs., and as sweet as they come. Naturally polled, so no horns either. He still scared me 3-6 times a day. OTOH, I had a dairy farmer next door for years and NOBODY got into the pen with his Holstein bulls.

Jersey and Ayrshire cross

JDZ735M · Mar 30, 2022

Moxie 15 said:
Any guesses who is going in the freezer this weekend?

That bull probably just needed a few more cows to keep him busy.

Jstpssng · Mar 30, 2022

Since we're on the subject of cows...
Many, many years ago I remember my uncle had a cow out in the pasture with a harness which held a long pole out in front of the animal, which obviously interfered when she walked. I was young and a lot of years have passed but it seems like it was several inches in diameter and stuck out considerably longer than the cow's length. I've always wondered wat it was for but never thought to ask him when he was alive. Does anybody know what it could have been for? My only thought was that she may have been mean.

oosik · Mar 30, 2022

Sixteen tons - what do you get. Around here - this time of year - NOTHING. Spring road restrictions will not allow a loaded gravel truck on the county roads.