Good morning!!!!

[mkr7734]

It's been high 70's low 80's here for several days and same in forecast for next week.

Don't envy all of you with snow and cold weather. I'm running A/C on both tractors from about 10 am on every day. I'll take tee shirt weather any day!

The natural AC is working just fine on my tractor. :laughing:

 

[sodamo]

76°F and sunny here at 1250 - perspiring

Finished assembling my flail, guess I'll take a pic after break.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[daugen]

I knew I should have done it. I knew I should have let the water trickle.
but I forgot...
so my day started off with quite a surprise when I spied the water spigot in the rear of the barn leaking.
When I went to investigate under the insulation, the whole thing snapped off in my hand, the cold water shot out right into my face and down
my front, and I jumped away simply soaked. As William Bendix once said, what a revolting development this is...

and to make it worse, I got the brilliant idea of shoving a thin hitch pin into the flowing pipe and wedging it in temporarily with a piece of wood.
Fine idea, if it worked. Instead, of course..., I got another high pressure bath of cold water, right down my front again. Now I was dripping and nothing to show for it.
Enough fooling around, just turn the water off.

Out to the street and shut off the water; this is the same line that keeps breaking without a turn off. (new pipe ready to be laid)
but helpfully my plumber came right out with his son on a sunday and he capped off the pipe underground. He said he wanted to replace the whole thing with
a frost proof hydrant and I said you bet. He's due back in a week to start trenching, and will bury the gutter piping also.
but a week too late for a night that went down to 15 degrees with blustery winds.
snap

 

[KevT]

Hey Kev, That grapple looks like it will do the trick, are you welding it on or bolting?

Well I almost hate to post the pictures of what the wife and I worked on today


Yeah, we worked on getting the garden ready and tomorrow we will plant the early seeds (peas, beets, turnips, collards, etc...) Then in a month we will plant the late ones like corn.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Sorry about your troubles Drew.

 

[toppop52]

I knew I should have done it. I knew I should have let the water trickle.
but I forgot...
so my day started off with quite a surprise when I spied the water spigot in the rear of the barn leaking.
When I went to investigate under the insulation, the whole thing snapped off in my hand, the cold water shot out right into my face and down
my front, and I jumped away simply soaked. As William Bendix once said, what a revolting development this is...

and to make it worse, I got the brilliant idea of shoving a thin hitch pin into the flowing pipe and wedging it in temporarily with a piece of wood.
Fine idea, if it worked. Instead, of course..., I got another high pressure bath of cold water, right down my front again. Now I was dripping and nothing to show for it.
Enough fooling around, just turn the water off.

Out to the street and shut off the water; this is the same line that keeps breaking without a turn off. (new pipe ready to be laid)
but helpfully my plumber came right out with his son on a sunday and he capped off the pipe underground. He said he wanted to replace the whole thing with
a frost proof hydrant and I said you bet. He's due back in a week to start trenching, and will bury the gutter piping also.
but a week too late for a night that went down to 15 degrees with blustery winds.
snap

Drew, I had a frost free faucet freeze and leak through the spigot because I forgot and left a hose on it. We all do it.

 

[farmer2009]

Drew. The hydrant I dug up last week was a frost free. It has froze more than once. But I think it has been leaking and draining away for a while now.

5.5-6 inches of snow today. Still snowing some. Had to feed hay and didn't get it done before the snow got here. Here's some pics.

Like this new app. I can now upload more than one picture per post.

 

[daugen]

what was interesting with my little water problem was when I took the Gravely out with the water roller, it wasn't leaking. When I returned, I found it was. Somehow
the vibration or the water roller running over the pipe below seemed to be the final straw for the frozen pipe and it let loose. Thankfully it didn't run all night.
However when it was about 20 degrees out and I've just been soaked with 32 degree water, well I wasn't very thankful I must admit.

Just finished watching a marvelous movie Temple Grandin, came out five years ago, never saw it, about a high functioning autistic girl who grew up to design cow chutes for the US cattle industry and now half the devices out there now came from her design. Just a delightful movie, Clare Danes was amazing, and a good education on autism. And why some odd, goofy folks may be much more talented than we are...the autistic girl in the movie that constantly got teased for being weird is now a professor of animal husbandry at the Univ of Colorado. Her Mom never gave up on her and when folks gave her a chance, she excelled.

 

[sodamo]

Well Drew, you could have the start of a little skating area.
Sorry for your troubles, I bet that really felt cold.

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[sodamo]

So here is my new flail




Tomorrow I have to pu some gear oil and grease it. May get a new top link.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[txdon]

Why is a flail mower preferred over a rotary?

 

[sodamo]

Why is a flail mower preferred over a rotary?

Likely a number of opinions, but:

Doesn't hang as far back of tractor, better maneuverability
Doesn't throw stuff as much
Usually a better cut.

Maybe others will chime in.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[Alien]

@ txdon

That is a good question. I did a lot of research and looked at lots of videos.
My criteria was.

I wanted to be able to mulch up sticks and lots of bark around trees. (The bark stops grass growing.) I wanted something that I could change cutters on if necessary from Finishing (hammer blades) to reversible knives.
I opted for the hammers prefitted (good choice for me) and have been absolutely thrilled with the way they work.
The flail mower gives a much better finish than a rotary. I have used rotary on my property and whilst it chopped weeds etc it did not leave a nice finish behind it like a flail mower.
I also read comments early on in the thread from some who said that once you use a flail mower you won't use a rotary again.
In Oz they are much the same price.
Since I mowed my paddocks the grass has taken off and is growing well. The horse would not even go into one paddock as the grass was practically not existent. Now she feeds there every day.

Pros.
Much better field finish
More compact
Quieter
Mulches better and doesn't leave any windrows.
Safer, Doesn't throw out rocks etc.

Cons

I lift it when making tight turns or the skids cut grooves.
More expensive to replace blades than a rotary. Around $200 as opposed to $50


This was a big concern to me as I am a pensioner and it was an unknown as to how the hammers would wear. I needn't have worried as I have hit rocks and stumps and taken out a heap of large lantana bushes and the blades were only slightly smoothed.
I spent 15 minutes a couple of days ago and touched them up with the angle grinder and they are like new again.

My friend who has a property not far from me and uses a rotary slasher came and had a look at it working and decided that it is what he wants. He can be quite critical but he was very interested in the results.

Hope this helps.

 

[txdon]

Thanks for the info. I usually have to go over my fields 2 times with a rotary because of the tough stemmed type weeds.

 

[sodamo]

Well, Don when I bought my tractor, I don't think I knew what a flail was, but was very familiar with rotary so got one. Used the heck out of it until I got the flail and the rotary sits unused ever since. I have used both hammer and Y slicers. Think I prefer the hammers.

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[txdon]

Is this the Y slicers and hammer?
http://www.iowafarmequipment.com/FAEPhotos/fae-pmm-flail-mower-3.jpg

 

[sodamo]

My Y doesn't have the center piece only 2 blades. Hammer very similar

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[Buppies]

3in of snow and pouring now plenty to clean tomorrow and one maybe two more shots of snow before winter is over

 

[Alien]

You can get replacement hammers for around $10 each. My mower has 26.

Why are they called hammers??? I think I have the answer to that question that intrigued me.
When you stop the mower and the Mill with the hammers slows down, The hammers fall down and go bang bang bang bang as the rotation stops. Sounds like someone hammering....
Think I could be correct??

 

[RoyJackson]

2016-02-15, 0315

-10 right now...much warmer today with the high heading to 24.