Making do

[PyroDon]

We have all had times when we needed to do things with out the proper tool for the job . my most recent case came today . I had our fields baled sadly the only person who would do it put it up on large round bales. With all the ice and snow lately our normally accessable grazing is locked in ice . Having ran out of small bails I had to figure out how to move the large round bale . I dont currently haave a bale spear for the tractor ( this will change very soon) besides the tractor is also locked in a block of ice. My first thought was to roll the bale unto a tarp and pull the tarp with our jeep . Yeap you guessed it I now have a tarp with no eyelets and a few rips . I went back toward the house to get the chainsaw and cut the bale into chunks I could deal with . On the way I saw the truck hood we use as a sled and to bring up firewood Duh! I dragged it out to the bale and managed to roll the bale on it and off we went. might not have been the right tool but it worked quite well . I may even build a mobil round bale feeder along the same lines . Mouse was greatful for some fresh hay
What things have you had to make do with.

[Spinner]

Just about everything I do is "make do". I don't have very many specialty tools, but I manage to get a lot done anyway. One example is a tree limb that was blocking my satellite reception. I didn't have a saw to remove the limb. I discovered that it take 8 shot gun slugs to blow a 4" limb off a tree. It helps to have a brick tied to the end of a rope, loop it over the limb, then tie the rope to the trailer hitch of a truck and have it pulled tight. LOL

[PyroDon]

Originally Posted by Spinner

Just about everything I do is "make do". I don't have very many specialty tools, but I manage to get a lot done anyway. One example is a tree limb that was blocking my satellite reception. I didn't have a saw to remove the limb. I discovered that it take 8 shot gun slugs to blow a 4" limb off a tree. It helps to have a brick tied to the end of a rope, loop it over the limb, then tie the rope to the trailer hitch of a truck and have it pulled tight. LOL

Think a saw would have been cheaper not near as much fun though

[Chas in Me]

Originally Posted by Spinner

Just about everything I do is "make do". I don't have very many specialty tools, but I manage to get a lot done anyway. One example is a tree limb that was blocking my satellite reception. I didn't have a saw to remove the limb. I discovered that it take 8 shot gun slugs to blow a 4" limb off a tree. It helps to have a brick tied to the end of a rope, loop it over the limb, then tie the rope to the trailer hitch of a truck and have it pulled tight. LOL

ROFLMAO!!

[tinknal]

I built a rack on a hood once and used a snomobile to haul firewood with it.

[PyroDon]

Originally Posted by RevJack

Making due is just part of life for me. Ive done the hood for a sled thing it does work!

Ive gotten odd looks sometimes because I use a rope and a set of pullys to move large things around.

I once used a dozen sch40 4" pipe to move a shed everyone told me I couldnt move. A jack, some 4x4s and the pipe, along with the rope and pullys, I moved it about 500 feet and reset it where I wanted it. Slow, but it worked.

oh, the hood you used for the hay works fine on wet grass too for the same jobs, hay or firewood.

works well over mud too but not all hoods are created equal the best was off an old studibaker but it finaly wore through . the 62 ford hood works decent but sure miss the curves on the older hoods.

[farminghandyman]

Our house was moved on planks and well pipe, back in 1910, with a team of horses,
it was moved about 100 yards, (it was on the homestead quarter but my grandfather bought the quarter beside it and it had a well, so when they proved up on the homestead they moved the house over to where it sets to day,)

[poorboy]

usta just throw a chain around the large bales lock the front hubs and away you go, skids pretty good without anything under it.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by poorboy

usta just throw a chain around the large bales lock the front hubs and away you go, skids pretty good without anything under it.

I was just going to post along the same lines. My neighbor just throws a chain around the bale and off he goes down the town road. Just saw the same neighbor retrieve his horse that had run away. He was in his minivan. There he was in the driver seat driveing down the road hanging on to a long rope that was attached to his horse. I don't blame him though. The horse was more than a mile away from home and it was COLD outside.

Heather

[happycat]

Originally Posted by Spinner

Just about everything I do is "make do". I don't have very many specialty tools, but I manage to get a lot done anyway. One example is a tree limb that was blocking my satellite reception. I didn't have a saw to remove the limb. I discovered that it take 8 shot gun slugs to blow a 4" limb off a tree. It helps to have a brick tied to the end of a rope, loop it over the limb, then tie the rope to the trailer hitch of a truck and have it pulled tight. LOL

I think you should have made a movie of that

The hood is a very clever idea, a giant sled.

[oz in SC]

What is all that white stuff????

[jen74145]

Ha ha, Spinner is my hero!

[PyroDon]

Originally Posted by oz in SC

What is all that white stuff????

Its one of those nasty four letter words , Snow!!
got about 4 inches on top of our remaining ice

[sullen]

Originally Posted by Up North

Just saw the same neighbor retrieve his horse that had run away. He was in his minivan. There he was in the driver seat driveing down the road hanging on to a long rope that was attached to his horse. I don't blame him though. The horse was more than a mile away from home and it was COLD outside.

Heather

We have done that. Used to have a horse that would run miles away.

[gccrook]

Originally Posted by PyroDon

Its one of those nasty four letter words , Snow!!
got about 4 inches on top of our remaining ice

Whoa there. WE needed that nasty stuff. This is the best form of moisture we have had for a long time. Without this snow, I would not have any decent pasture come spring, and I'm already low on hay. You guys in the SE have had a little more precipitation than we have, but we all still need it. It will greatly help the wheat farmers this year. Winter wheat loves to be covered in snow for a while. It also has been melting really slow which is great.

BTW, I love your method for moving those bales. Excellent!

[HermitJohn]

Yep, car hoods are useful. Have used them as engine skids and used one to move a dead horse that wasnt going to hold together just dragging it with a chain.

By way friend had bearing fail on two axle 16ft trailer when hauling hay. Axle then caught and bent bigtime. He was out on hiway and called me. The trailer would come home empty with one axle after we removed the badly bent one, but there was 4 big bales of hay to get home. Well he had an old tumblebug type thing that would load via mechanical leverage (no hydraulics) one big bale and had rubber tires. He hadnt used it in years. Took that and hauled bales home one at a time with pickup. More hassle than a bale spear on a tractor for regular use, but in this case way too far to drive a tractor and no way to get bale up on a trailer without a tractor. If I had to deal with big bales of hay, would try to find one of these just to keep around for emergencies if nothing else. I mean even a jeep or small pickup can pull it. And really not that bad to use full time if you just have to move the occasional bale.

[tinknal]

Ya know Don, if you had full grown horses they could pull thier own hay bales..............

[Jim S.]

RevJack, I did that with the pipe and a shed! Neighbor said it'd never work, I got up early one Saturday and had it moved before he even woke up! All by myself. So there, neighbor. Pbbbt! Heh. He was amazed.

Neighbor has two rebar with big eyes bent into one end. He has a chain that connects those eyes. Goes out to the bale, drives one rebar into each end, hooks the chain over his hitch ball, and rolls it out there (we usually have no snow to slide it on). Then he cuts the plastic twine off the bale.

Oz, I'm in southern TN just across the border from AL, and we got 2" this morning. But the rain moved in about 6 a.m. and it started melting. Snapped a pic of the goats out in it. You Yankees will hoot at this....area got 1-2" and schools closed, businesses opened 2 hours late, etc. No plows in Alabama, where I work. Average annual snowfall is 1 inch...so we just had ours for the year! Trip in was fine today...made record time with no school and glut of cars. But I have driven on solid ice roads too, once I cross the state line. TN uses brine, so our roads are clear.

UNDER EDIT: Coworker just told me people in her neighborhood were up at 3 a.m. making snowballs! Heheheh. They knew rain would be coming by 5 a.m. All snow is now gone.

[PyroDon]

Originally Posted by tinknal

Ya know Don, if you had full grown horses they could pull thier own hay bales..............

Are ya pickin on Mighty Mouse Actually if it werent for the Ice I might have had him pull it . He pulled the truck it came off of . They are a lot stronger than they look .
The wife wants a belgem foal we just dont have the fence for one yet .

[Steve L.]

My Dad uses an old truck frame as a 'stoneboat' for his round bales. Hauls four or five on it.