Hi, I’m Mike.
On your own project list, you’ve probably got a ton of things to do to.
Somethings you can do today, and some you can’t.
I’m going to let you in on my secret, when you have those days, that you can’t seem
to get anything done.
Today on the project list, on our Wyoming life.
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My dad was one of those guys who said, if you have something to do and its going to
take you less than 5 minutes, just stop and get it done.
Otherwise who knows when you are going to get back to it.
I always thought that was good advice.
I’m not going to lie and say that I follow it all the time however.
Everyday here on the ranch I drive by, or look at something that needs done and I just
kind of keep on going about what I’m doing at the moment.
Its easy to get distracted and before you know it you are running 15 different directions
and nothing gets done.
Everyday, something has to get done around here, or else we slip into pit of work that
we will never get out of.
Today we are threatened by a storm moving in, the weather outside is going bad fast,
and by the end of this storm we are expected to have a few more, maybe even 6 more inches
of snow on the ground.
One problem that we deal with constantly is snow drifting.
The wind gets behind a snow storm and by the time its all over you can have 1 inch of snow
on the ground over here and 5 feet over there.
Of course, the snow always drifts where you don’t need it to and there are number of
ways that we can combat the drifting of snow.
One way is snow fence.
There’s multiple different types from the big snow fence that you see along the highway
to keep the snow from drifting over and closing the road, to small snow fence that you can
put up yourself and prevent snow from blowing in somewhere you don’t want it.
The ground here is frozen so putting up snow fence at this point isn’t really an option
but one thing we can do is move snow that is already starting to drift into places that
can cause problems.
Once such place that we are going to deal with today is the hay yard.
We have to be able to get hay to feed the cows every day, and if the bales drift in
it can make it quite a bit more difficult.
Our first project today is going to be moving some of the snow that is already drifting
in front of the bales, getting it out of the way in order to keep it from drifting in even
more.
We still have our John Deere 6410 tractor in the barn with the box blade on it and because
the snow is only a foot or so deep we can use it to clear out the snow in front of the
bales.
It doesn’t look like much, but blowing snow will attach itself to existing drifts and
they will grow very fast, so this bit of maintenance should pay off in the end.
We have a ton of projects on the board, and days like today leave me staring and wondering
what I can get done.
There are sheds that have been damaged by the wind this winter, that need to be rebuilt
but today is not the day to do it.
We’ve got a harrow that’s hanging out over in the hay yard that needs welded and
repaired but it wont fit in the shop and being down in the snow welding today, doesn’t
sound like a good time.
Fence needs repaired but with snow build up along fence lines, it might do us more damage
to try right now.
We have ditches to clean that are filled with snow that we can’t even see the trash.
We have a water line project to do but without a backhoe there’s no way we are going to
get through the frozen earth.
Somethings on the project list seem to sneak by, and get looked over.
For the past few weeks I have been dealing with a tractor door that doesn’t close.
You have to slam it two or three times for it to latch and its all due to a latch pin
that is out of alignment.
Its an easy fix and one that should have been done a long time ago.
One of those things that I should have stopped a fixed, but now is our chance.
The door not latching is a problem of alignment, of the door or the latch.
First thing to do is make sure the door is not sagging itself and by making sure that
all the hinges are tight we can eliminate that problem.
The pin that the latching mechanism attaches to is worn but seems to be ok and after finding
the right tools we can loosen it, and line it up correctly.
After a few adjustments it seems to be working just fine and the door closes and we can cross
it off the list, hopefully for good.
There are some items on the list that are recurring problems, like cleaning the pigs,
or even the shop which can quickly become a pig sty itself, the chicken house need clean
regularly along with barns and corrals.
And somethings never even make it on the list, like burning trash or even disconnecting trailers
from the pickup.
We used the pick up and the trailer this last weekend to move a bunch of cows around, bringing
the heifers and first-time moms closer to the barn so when they start calving we can
be in better shape to help them out.
Since then, the trailer has been on the pickup and since now, with the storm coming, I am
going to have to go to town and stock up on feed for the animals, pigs, steers and chickens,
I am going to need the pickup, without a trailer.
Our ranch pickup is a 2008 ford f350.
It’s the only pickup the ranch owns and along with the gator it gets a majority of
the work around here.
Its got about 150 thousand miles on it and we use it mostly to haul trailers or feed
and supplies for the animals.
Taking the trailer off isn’t hard, this trailer is a 20-foot-long stock trailer and
is attached to the pickup via a gooseneck hitch, attaching to ball in the bed of the
pickup.
Backing up the trailer can be a bit more of a challenge and for me was something that
took a lot of practice over the years.
Our first year on the ranch, I couldn’t back one up to save my life without taking
10 tries at getting it straight, now, I’m a little better at it, but by no means a pro.
We store our trailers in a small yard where they can all be together and after backing
the trailer into place we can first unlatch it from the pickup and then jack it up.
Which can take a while but once the trailer is clear of the pickup then its just a matter
of pulling it away, and leaving the trailer behind, clearing up the pickup for the next
task which is running to town and getting a few tons of feed for the animals.
I’m going to cut you lose for the day, but mine might
be just getting started.
I’ve got at least two trips to town ahead of me for a few tons of food and then I’m
going to head out and get a few more snow drifts cleared out before this storm really
hits.
Somedays it helps to just tackle the little things, you knock more off your list.
You feel more productive, like you have gotten more done, which you have.
Here’s to you whittling down your list, and thanks for taking a few minutes to hang
out with me today.
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This week Erin is back in the kitchen with a wonderful new surprise for you Thursday
and I’m definitely not going to miss that.
Until next time, have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.