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Post By SFM in KY
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Post By SFM in KY
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Post By bja105
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Post By SFM in KY
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Post By oneokie
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02/04/14, 09:53 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 9,129
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Putting a contract out on Murphy
For anyone interested, I'm putting out a contract on Murphy! Muddy now, more rain predicted, locally heavy, making feeding even more of a problem and the tractor just died ... in the middle of the barn door/entry! 
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02/04/14, 09:59 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: IN
Posts: 4,537
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This is why I keep extra pairs of white socks in the pickup and at the farm. Good luck with the tractor.
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02/04/14, 10:06 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 9,129
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bret
Good luck with the tractor.
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I hope it's nothing serious but DH is the 'mechanic' on the farm. I am not, never have been. Grew up with a team of horses and they were my area of expertise ... not the tractors or pickups.
But a 'management' decision has just been made. Priority #1 now is getting the Haflinger mare fitted for a work harness and getting the hay skid finished. It's been on a back burner now since last year and I am done with *my* projects being less important than everyone else's. If I have to do the feeding, I'm going to have a horse to do it with! End of story! When nothing else runs on the farm, the Haflinger mare and I will!
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02/04/14, 11:30 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Western PA, USA
Posts: 620
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Do you have a sled big enough to haul your feed? A garden wagon? We got a harness and collar for our Haflinger, what an adventure! I practiced ahead of time on firewood, so that when deer season came, I could use him to haul my deer out of the woods. That was the only useful thing any of our horses did, ever! I also found that when spooked, he could drag three logs and me through a hedgerow realy fast.
I have been stressing to my family that in this weather, or anytime, we can't just hope that everything works. We need a backup plan for everything.
The haybales are close enough to the pasture that we can roll them in if the tractor breaks.
The stock tank has two heaters in it, one unplugged as backup. If the first breaks and the water freezes, we can just plug in the second instead of having to break the ice.
An electric heater is set up and waiting if the furnace breaks.
Salt is ready for tomorrow's ice, because once the ice hits the driveway, it is too late to go shopping.
In the summer, I have to reming the kids that just because the chickens have enough water for today, top it off! You never know what might go wrong tomorrow.
Hearing about your breakdown has me wondering what I am overlooking. There is always something we miss.
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02/04/14, 11:48 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 9,129
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bja105
Do you have a sled big enough to haul your feed? A garden wagon? We got a harness and collar for our Haflinger, what an adventure!
Hearing about your breakdown has me wondering what I am overlooking. There is always something we miss.
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I can guarantee that there is always something you miss. Grew up on a ranch and have spent most of my life living in rural areas and no matter how well prepared you think you are, there will always be *something* ...
Had a small toboggan type sled with a hayrack but when we got the tractor, DH assured me we wouldn't need the Haflinger and the sled got dismantled to repair something else. Harness was jury-rigged as well, an old buggy harness that doesn't really fit all that well and good only for very light work. I've been trying to get the mare hauled over to the Amish harnessmaker for a year now, to get her fitted for a collar and get an actual work harness for her ... as well as a bigger hay sled. Here, something on skids will work year around better than anything on wheels because almost all of the farm is on a hillside.
Dolly is about as bomb-proof as a horse can be ... Amish trained single and double ... I've hauled the toboggan to feed with (pre-tractor days) and firewood ... she doesn't spook and if things go wrong she stops and eats until someone sorts the problem out.
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02/04/14, 01:00 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,197
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Murphy is quickly heading south.... just left me my first burst pipe just in time for the first rain and thunderstorm since I don't know when. Nothing like working in wet red clay beneath a cold rain with brand new tools purchased just for the occasion. Who needs a kodak moment when i got these red stains all over as mementos? Only had to redo it three times (pretty good for me, actually). Now I can work on getting the feeling back in my hands during the 3 hour wait to test it out. Not sure how I will know it is fixed in the downpour.
Dolly is precious.  what a lovely work- around for you
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02/04/14, 02:45 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Southeastern VA
Posts: 1,050
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bja105
Do you have a sled big enough to haul your feed? A garden wagon? We got a harness and collar for our Haflinger, what an adventure! I practiced ahead of time on firewood, so that when deer season came, I could use him to haul my deer out of the woods. That was the only useful thing any of our horses did, ever! I also found that when spooked, he could drag three logs and me through a hedgerow realy fast.
I have been stressing to my family that in this weather, or anytime, we can't just hope that everything works. We need a backup plan for everything.
The haybales are close enough to the pasture that we can roll them in if the tractor breaks.
The stock tank has two heaters in it, one unplugged as backup. If the first breaks and the water freezes, we can just plug in the second instead of having to break the ice.
An electric heater is set up and waiting if the furnace breaks.
Salt is ready for tomorrow's ice, because once the ice hits the driveway, it is too late to go shopping.
In the summer, I have to reming the kids that just because the chickens have enough water for today, top it off! You never know what might go wrong tomorrow.
Hearing about your breakdown has me wondering what I am overlooking. There is always something we miss.
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Good luck with the storm!!!
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02/04/14, 03:02 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: N.E. OK
Posts: 2,292
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all this slamming of murphy... he is gonna get his feelers hurt. waaahhh. 
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02/04/14, 03:44 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: SE Oklahoma
Posts: 2,005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SFM in KY
For anyone interested, I'm putting out a contract on Murphy! Muddy now, more rain predicted, locally heavy, making feeding even more of a problem and the tractor just died ... in the middle of the barn door/entry!
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Sounds like the average day here. Could be worse, much worse. Just don't crawl under the bed to hide from Murphy, odds are that the bed will collapse on top of you.
Hope things get better for you soon.
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