hi I'm Mike over the past few weeks we've been concentrating on the building
of the high tunnel but this week we're going to take a little break from that
project and get you into the loop on a brand new tool that we've just received
here on the ranch our BCS two-wheeled tractor stick around
because today we're going to put it to work on the project list on our wyoming
life
welcome back to the project list each week we have projects piling up some
weeks more than others and to be honest over the last couple weeks I've felt a
little bit overwhelmed we managed to squeeze in a little vacation but when
you come back everything's still here waiting for you on the horizon let's see
we have branding coming up soon this weekend in fact if the weather holds out
for us we also have hang just around the bend and that'll keep us busy for at
least a couple weeks we hope that you're able to come along with us for all of it
so please subscribe and join us as we explore the ranch life and escape the
ordinary I almost forgot we have the high tunnel another big project that's
still not completed we have finished framing out both the end walls and start
achieving them as well screwing each one in place then cutting off the excess and
moving on to the next fighting the wind and the weather the whole way I can't
say it's been a lot of fun lately one thing that has been fun has been getting
a new tool on the ranch and before we left for vacation we received our BCS
two-wheel tractor now the original plan was for Aaron to unveil it in the
gardens using the tiller with the precision depth roller or the rotary
plow to create raised beds and she's still going to be doing that coming up
in future videos but today we have an excuse to get it out and get it ready
and put it to work BCS two-wheel tractors are all gear driven commercial
quality machines that powered dozens of PTO implements for all kinds of seasonal
tasks like tilling preparing seed beds mowing clearing snow chipping wood
splitting logs pumping water and a whole lot more
along with our BCS we received four pto driven implements a pressure washer a
tiller and precision roller a rotary plow and a flail mower which is what
we're going to be using today BCS has many different models of tractors
available and the decision of which tractor you need is based on the
implements that you plan on using with it ours is the model 749 featuring three
forward gears and three reverse gears it also has ended
wheel brakes for increased maneuverability and because we got to
flail more as well we needed a machine that could handle a higher torque and
the 749 has a hydro mechanical wet clutch that is much more difficult to
overheat as it's cooled by circulating oil instead of air controls for the BCS
can be a little intimidating but it's not any harder to run than a
standard rototiller and it gives you a ton more versatility today we'll be
concentrating on the Bladerunner 75 flail mower it's 30 inches wide and it's
heavy duty it features rotating Y blades that
basically pulverize whatever your mowing and can tackle everything from grass to
brush to vines and even saplings Aaron's gonna be using this tool to clear up
gardens but for now we're gonna use it to clean Corral's and prepare for
branding and the first thing we need to do is get the tool on to the BCS I found
that doing this can be a little bit tricky but having your implement at the
same height really helps and a block under it props it up and we're able to
slide the flail mower onto the bcs tractor after it's in place the pin is
put down and we're ready to go easy peasy lemon squeezy the crank on
the top of the mower can adjust your height either up or down from 4 inches
to 1/2 inch then it's time to fire up the tractor
the engine is a Honda GX 390 with about 12 horsepower controlling the tractor is
done with the easy to reach hand controls pull it over the brush selector
on the right along with a differential lock the middle is your gear shift and
PTO switch and on the left your parking brake in your kill switch you can also
adjust the handlebar height to whichever height you need to make it comfortable
for you to look with and the handlebars also swing off
in both directions allowing you to work to the side of the machine if you have
to one of the first impressions that I get from the tractor is that it's pretty
smooth it's not as bouncy as tillers that I've used in the past but the proof
is in the pudding as they say and it's time to test it out by the well house
I'd call that a successful test I will say that if you're used to running a
rototiller there is a bit of a learning curve here and I'm gonna take my time
and get used to it let's head into the Corral's and get
tomalak the sorting alley is a light test but it works well for practice
getting used to turning and maneuvering the machine and getting it close to but
not too close to the edge the BCS with the attachment weighs almost 350 pounds
so getting it out of a tight spot can be a little bit of a chore now it's time
for a bit tougher test weaves that have grown up to over three feet tall thanks
to the moisture that we've gotten lately
one great feature of the BCS is the ability to turn the handle and the
controls to be able to suit your environment working along this fence
line the handlebars touch the fence but that's easily fixed
the Brandon Corral itself needs some attention too and although the flail
mower doesn't get right along the fence it still does a great job of knocking
down the bigger grass and the brush that the mower probably wouldn't be able to
handle
but we need a real test and after searching a bit
I find it out by Aaron's apple orchard clover that's grown to over four feet
tall
this thing's pretty fun but it does take some getting used to steering with the
hand brakes can be a little bit challenging but once you get used to it
it really helps the Machine move in and out of tight quarters
so that things a little bit more fun than I then I thought it was going to be
the good thing is that you get a little bit exercise walking behind it so we're
gonna have a lot more coming from the BCS tractor as we go through all of our
implements Aaron gets out to work in the garden she's going to show you more
features and some more really cool things that can do branding is hopefully
this weekend and I hope that you can join us Sunday as we livestream the
entire branding experience just like we did last year it was a lot of fun and I
hope you're going to be able to be there at least for a little bit it's
livestream week so allow me to invite you to join us Thursday night 7:00 p.m.
mountain time as we get a chance to sit down and take some questions and keep
you up-to-date on the channel itself the ranch and everything in between
please subscribe and if you haven't done so and if you have I want to thank you
for being a part of our community era and I are amazed every day every comment
every email and even those that come up to us and thank us it's very humbling
and I want to thank you for that we'll see you again soon hopefully on Thursday
night and until then have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming
life