Texas Fall/Winter thread!

Western · Feb 26, 2013

Sam, If you continue West up 199 past Azle to La Junta, there was a guy selling 55 gallon barrels on the right, he's been there for 10 years, but has had a "for sale" sign up on the property. If he isn't there, there is another guy about 2 miles North of Springtown that has a couple hundred, on the right side of the road as well.

Looks like another "breezy" day, I wont be putting up tin today that's for sure!

jinman · Feb 26, 2013

txdon said:
Thanks John, the wind is still roaring outside. I'm going now to take a quick drive over to where the fire was just to make sure.....the wind was blowing so hard while we were there that a little whiff of smoke could go undetected for a while.

Don, I'd say that you dodged a bullet yesterday, but since you posted about your electric fence encounter, maybe you just got grazed by the bullet. I hope your hand calms down soon. The nerves surely got a big surprise from that electric fence. I'm sure glad that on the south side of my house is big open area that would provide a great firebreak if anyone here ever set the woods on fire.

jinman · Feb 26, 2013

sbyars said:
Jim, what would you take for one of those clean barrels? Are the 55 gal, 35 gal or what? I am looking to convert one into a wood burning stove with the adapter they sell at Tractor Supply. I think it is made by US Stove Company. Moving to Hugo, OK in a couple of months, but still in Lakeside, Tx off Hwy 199 near Lake Worth currently.
Sam

Sam, I'd be happy to let you have one of those 50 gal barrels for $5, but you'll probably spend twice to three times that much just driving from your area up here and back home. It turns out that my brother was wrong about one of them containing oil. All three barrels were empty, but they all have been sitting in the dirt, so the bottoms are beginning to rust, especially around the lip that digs into the ground. They are all labelled New Holland 15W40 oil, so they must have come from a NH dealer somewhere who bought in bulk. I can always find uses for a barrel, but if you really want one of these, I'll part with one of them.

BTW: As Dennis pointed out, there are lots of people selling barrels. Another place is north of Decatur on Hwy 287 behind the Rest Area beside Cow Camp Steakhouse. The guy there sells both plastic and metal barrels. I have no idea what he charges, but I'd think $10 would be a big price. I think the sources Dennis pointed out could be your best bet. With the price of fuel, even paying a bit more close to home makes sense.

texasjohn · Feb 26, 2013

I watch Craig's list. have gotten numerous FREE barrels that way.

foreman Etexas · Feb 26, 2013

Been having to drive the fence's everyday to keep trees off it,so cows don't get out. Me and the oldest boy filled the back of the toyota up with limbs just from the hay meadow. I got the drag out on the places the hogs torn up,expecting another rain,well it rain for 2min.then nothing else..

Baseball sign ups yesterday,my 11yr old and youngest turning 4 in march gets to play this year,my boys growing up fast.

Western · Feb 26, 2013

Bird said:
I see the problem, Dennis. It's not a Kubota.

Bird, funny you say that, they are now recommending I use the 9,000# Kubota skid steer for my remaining time They said it is the one the Texas Forest service uses?

Bird · Feb 26, 2013

Dennis, I was only half kidding.:laughing:

bindian · Feb 26, 2013

Western said:
Bird, funny you say that, they are now recommending I use the 9,000# Kubota skid steer for my remaining time They said it is the one the Texas Forest service uses?

Dennis,
WHAT? Use a skid steer? That is outrageous.
hugs, Brandi

Western · Feb 26, 2013

bindian said:
Dennis,
WHAT? Use a skid steer? That is outrageous.
hugs, Brandi

:laughing: Thats what I thought too!, but after looking on the "net" it seems it is quite common! dont know if it would work on a Texas black oak cemented on red clay, but they swear by it. "They said" it pushes down and cuts the roots, then push it over....sounds easy enough:laughing:

Western · Feb 27, 2013

Brandi!! This little Kubota SVL75 is incredible!! I accomplished more in an hour and a half than I did with 5 hrs on the excavator! This skid steer at 75hp dug out the largest trees left and never strained. I had to dig around the base forcing the bucked under to cut the roots, then just pushed'm over:thumbsup: If I needed one for work, I wouldn't think twice spending the $$ for one, talk about a powerful, versatile machine.

I have operated a few Bobcats and IMO this thing is a Cadillac, much bigger than it looks at just over 9000#. The SVL 90 has to be a monster.

I am tickled and "in love":laughing:

tree behind the machine measure 28"

pacerron · Feb 27, 2013

View attachment 305695

bindian said:
Dennis,
WHAT? Use a skid steer? That is outrageous.
hugs, Brandi

Western · Feb 27, 2013

All roughed in, now to smooth it and start a garden!:thumbsup: A little windy today, but otherwise a beautiful day out.

jinman · Feb 28, 2013

As your picture shows, you are gonna tear up lots more dirt with a skid steer. The wide bucket would have been much more work if the surface soil had been dry and hard. My neighbor had 24" dia tree that I took down with my tractor in just 15 minutes work. Around the base of the tree, there were several big rocks. I popped the rocks out and cut some roots under the ball. Then I pushed about 8' up on the trunk and rocked it back and forth a bit. That big tree just slowly came over until its top was touching the ground. At that point, all I had to do was put my bucket under the root ball and curl. The root ball popped out and I pushed the tree to a location where my neighbor's son could cut it up with a chainsaw. The toothbar sure came in handy on the rocks and roots. Having a toothbar and plenty of breakout curl power on the bucket is very handy. Still, a wide bucket digs a lot more dirt than a 24" wide bucket on a TLB or excavator.

BTW: I've never used those Kubota skid steers, but both you and RDrancher have had very good luck with them.

Western said:
All roughed in, now to smooth it and start a garden!:thumbsup: A little windy today, but otherwise a beautiful day out.

Western · Feb 28, 2013

Jim,
Your right on the "damage" that can be done with the big bucket, they didn't have the smaller 3 toothed grubber, which would have been perfect!

If this was anything other than a garden spot that is going to be tilled, it may have been a major problem, but I wasn't even worried about "surface destruction" in this case:laughing: I wanted to remove as much root as possible so I wouldn't have to constantly deal with sink holes later. Theoretically I should have been able to dig under one side and push'm over.. BTW the skidsteer far outweighed the Excavator in pounds and hp, huge difference.

Western · Mar 2, 2013

Day started off cold, 27* at my house. Wind chill in the low 20's

I went to Lake Texoma fishing, colder there:laughing: but I caught fish:thumbsup: Texoma is about 5' low, even with Dallas just starting to pump water again because of the Zebra Mussels. Article here if anyone is interested. Zebra mussels in Texoma lead to seasonal pumping debate | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth

My "days work"

Bird · Mar 2, 2013

I haven't been out in a boat on Texoma since one trip in 1978 when I didn't catch a thing. But when I was in high school some buddies & I used to go up there, camp overnight on the islands and run a trotline for catfish. And the last time I did that was when I took my younger brothers up there to do that in 1962. We always put the boat in at Loe's Highport.

Western · Mar 2, 2013

Islands are still there Bird! Don't know if they still allow camping, but during summer holidays, they are covered with people drinking, playing volley ball and..er going topless:shocked:

bindian · Mar 3, 2013

Mini Track Loaders cost about twice what a mini excavator costs to rent. A big, big mess it makes. My 12 inch bucket makes about 75% less mess than my 24 inch bucket. What Dennis did could have been done with any dozer!
While Dennis was making a big mess, I was out making $91.66 an hour. I had to remove the thumb and the 24 inch bucket to use my 12 inch bucket. Nice, precise, and surgical.

Dennis would have been up the creek if his stumps were next to a building like mine were Saturday. All the while I was digging next to the building, I was dreaming of my own 8 metric ton excavator with boom swing.

hugs, Brandi