Ralph, good video as always.  You've got some big sky, as the saying goes.  And always interesting to me to see swathed crops...have never seen it done around here (1700 miles southeast of you).

Gene, ditto on the nice shop floor!  And on spending a lot of time finishing projects.  But sure is nice to have a good facility, and to have it done right.

Charlie, let me know when you'd like me to drop off a couple of cats.  

Dean Vinson
Saint Paris, Ohio

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!MORE CATS!!!.  Nice offer. Dean. but I have to decline. The ones I have go through a 22 lb. bag of Purina in a week or less.  I might be accused of running a not for profit farm here.  The bad part is that I like the little critters.  Here is a shot of the three little orphans who lost their Mama three or four weeks ago.  I believe the big fella with them is their Daddy or at least one of them.  You know how that goes.

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WNY is beginning to look a bit like winter.  There was a trace of snow on the ground the last two mornings.  High yesterday of 35 F and low the last two nights of 23.  We are looking for 50 again on Thanksgiving so there is still hope.

Getting a few outside jobs done.  Went and bought two new batteries last week.  One was for my 95 Chev ck 20 that I plow with.  I have been stretching the old one by keeping a maintainer on it the last two winters.  Otherwise it would be dead in a week or so without running.  Now it started going dead in a couple of weeks even in warm weather without the trickle.  Seemed smart to replace it now rather than on a January day a 0 +- degrees. The other was for my ,66 International Cub.  That one has not taken a charge in a year or more so I have used a jumper pack whenever I needed to move it.  I kept saying that whenever I go to the battery place where I buy Blems for about 1/2 price I would buy the Cub one, but not making a special trip.  Last week was the week and so far both start up fine.  The next day (also 70 degrees) I moved things around so I could get the truck to the plow and put it on.  I hope that is ready to go now except it needs to be topped up with Dex Cool anti freeze. I will have to buy some as I cannot locate the gallon I think I already have.  Also cannot remember using the stuff up.  When I don't need it , there it will be.

Lots more to say but have to go wake the Mrs. and construct some pancakes for breakfast.

Charlie

Ralph, good video as always.  You've got some big sky, as the saying goes.  And always interesting to me to see swathed crops...have never seen it done around here (1700 miles southeast of you).

Gene, ditto on the nice shop floor!  And on spending a lot of time finishing projects.  But sure is nice to have a good facility, and to have it done right.

Charlie, let me know when you'd like me to drop off a couple of cats.  

Dean Vinson
Saint Paris, Ohio

Hi Dean. The ground is frozen now and gradually turning white. My three tom cats could use some company even though they are well fed and living in the barn.

This from the two of us...............................................



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Best Wishes for a great Thanksgiving day.



Charlie

Thanksgiving over and Christmas on the way. It will be a brown Christmas, not white, unless the weather changes. Most of the snow we got has melted although my farm seems to be holding on to it's snow. Checked on my flax swaths this afternoon and the photo shows they are far from harvestable having snow still on them. I am thinking maybe late April they will be ready.
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I won't be shocked if the price of natural gas is raised because the suppliers are not selling enough, Ralph.  You know how that goes.  Sell a lot in a cold winter, shortage makes the price go up.  Sold out our contracted quantity and had to buy more on the open market the suppliers say.  Warm winter price is raised because suppliers are not selling enough to make the expected profit.  Now how do I know we are in the wrong business.

Strangely enough, I still have a happy and green Geranium living by my back deck on December 8.  Been meaning to take a dated picture of that plant.  I have seen our temp. at 22 deg. F three or four different nights and plenty of thick frost.  No measurable snow here yet.  Just a trace twice that I have seen.  With Dec. being this mild it might be wise to go far south for the next two or three months.  May not see Spring weather until July of 2016.

I am seeing something this year that is new to me.  A farmer on the other side of town combined  probably a couple hundred acres or more of corn a week and 1/2 ago then baled all of the cornstalks in large wrapped round bales.  Every time I go by I want to take a picture of them but do not have my camera along.  A lot of bales out there as the fields are dotted with them.  Do they have some value as cattle feed in winter?

Charlie

I am seeing something this year that is new to me.  A farmer on the other side of town combined  probably a couple hundred acres or more of corn a week and 1/2 ago then baled all of the cornstalks in large wrapped round bales.  Every time I go by I want to take a picture of them but do not have my camera along.  A lot of bales out there as the fields are dotted with them.  Do they have some value as cattle feed in winter?

Charlie

Can't say Charlie. There are only a couple of guys grow a field of corn here and they leave it stand for the winter. Gradually turn the cattle into the field and they eat most of the corn. The standing crop provides some shelter from the wind. I wouldn't think the harvested stalks have much food value but I could be wrong.

Charlie, I likewise have seen some round-baled cornstalks this fall, and don't recall seeing them before either.  I was wondering if they'd be used for bedding in some winter pasture or pen or something, but there sure are a bunch of them.

Okay, Google just pointed me to this site:  http://ocj.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DLivestock275.pdf.

Dean
Saint Paris, Ohio

That is a good bit of research, Dean.  Thank you.  Now we are all a little better informed.  As with any fairly new program I hope it is not learned in the future that harmful effects happen as a result of the diet change.  Only time will tell.

Charlie

Yes raking and baling corn stalks has become pretty common. There is a lot of residual value left in the fodder. What cattle and sheep don't eat becomes bedding. A win-win product.


Took a few pictures of the big red oak trees I am cutting up. Really big trees about 28 inches diameter and 27 feet long Lots of big blocks many over 200 pounds. spent about 5 hours with the chain saw on Wednesday and think I may overdone it. Been under the weather since Wednesday afternoon.

last pictures are from my east lawn.



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Gene

Wow, green grass. I have not seen that in a while Gene. I bet those blocks of oak have a lot more btus of heat in them than the poplar we cut here.
Ground frozen good and solid here and a few inches of snow cover everywhere. We just turned cold here a couple of days ago with lows near 0F. Not bad as long as the wind stays down and the sun shines. I uploaded a new hammer mill video to youtube. Some recent work with the Cockshutt 50 running some oats through the hammer mill on a cool November day.
[video=youtube;KOP73XmuA_A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOP73XmuA_A[/video]

Charlie, just kidding about the cats, although I do need to get the population under control.  Still haven't managed to hold onto the mother cat long enough to get her into a carrier and off to the vet to be spayed, and one of her five kittens from last summer thus far remains un-caught and un-spayed, plus there's one other semi-wild barn cat that showed up a while ago.  Just yesterday my wife found a cute little calico kitten lost back in the woods, friendly as can be but hungry and eager to be rescued, which raises the cat population to an even dozen.  We named her Twelve.  

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Ralph, very interesting video, as always.  (Although those scenes of crossing over the running belt gave me the willies...)   The 50 sounds great.  Is that a Buda engine, like in the 40?

Gene, that's some beautiful oak...wish my woods had a lot more good trees instead of all the osage orange.  That stuff is good firewood but troublesome in about all respects and doesn't make for a pretty or healthy woods.  I wish I could be taking advantage of this warm weather to be out clearing some more of it, but my chainsaw is at the repair shop... last weekend I beat it up by forgetting that I had it in the bucket of the Kubota when I started to use the bucket to shove the ends in on a big bonfire.  Only took me a minute to remember, but it was already banged up and a little scorched by then.  Fortunately didn't suffer any permanent damage, I don't think.

Happy Christmas to you gentlemen,

Dean

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Nice to see you have a little snow there Dean. I hear snow is in short supply in most of the states. We have less than normal here but its enough. A little cool at -20F here this morning.
No worries about stepping over that running belt in the video, although I know to those that are not familiar with the operation it looks dangerous. That is an endless rubber belt with no lacing or other sharp objects on it to catch clothing.
The 50 and 40 had pretty much the same Buda engine. Just a 230 in the smaller tractor and a 273 in the 50 . More power than the job needed but the 50 doesn't get much exercise these days except for this job.

Thanks, Ralph--that photo of mine with the snow is from last winter, though, just seemed like a good one to post today.  Current weather here is way warm for the season, continuing the pattern we've had most of December.  No freezing temps in the forecast until New Year's Day, and even then it looks dry so who knows when we'll see much snow.  I'm always glad to see winter (for a while), but my wife's family is on their way up for the afternoon so it's sure convenient to not have to deal with ice and snow on the roads right now.

Dean
Saint Paris, Ohio

Ohio weather has had a big turnaround. Went from mid 60's last week and clear weather to heavy rain and flooding Saturday night and all day Sunday. Temperature just a little above freezing. Still raining at noon on Monday. Not a nice change. Wet ground and windy conditions make doing anything outdoors unpleasant..

Water on Sunday morning had mostly covered the front hay field with torrents of water through the tiles at the end of the driveway. The extra gravel and concrete has held the gravel in place.

Been a little under the weather the last few days. Had another hospital appointment last Tuesday at Ohio State hospital. Still no cause for my problems, but actually seem to be getting a little better. My pre Christmas cold has mostly cleared up, and able to get around better.

Gene