Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[rachels.haven]

Sounds like you had a good day and may have a friend to make your "house work" less drudgery.

In regards to hay, if you do decide to come up, let me know your plan, what price you would ask to make it worth it, and the quantity you'd need me to buy to make it worth it/pay and I'd probably buy all I had room for at the time, but don't bend over backwards or stress out to do it. It would really smart and burn, but I can technically afford the $37/100lbs place on paper along with a healthy dose of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp to keep critters from starving.
(Though to date the most I've paid so far is $12.50/bale, and I wouldn't feel even remotely okay about paying the expensive place that much until we finish our mortgage again, plus, my hay guy says they are scalpers and advises almost anywhere else unless they've bought it all already and I don't have a choice. I agree with his assessment. Buying up all the area's hay and storing it in semis until everyone runs out then reselling it at 3-4x the price mid-late winter is unethical).

 

[Bruce]

Get all Jan can bring and sell the extra to the rich horse people, at a decent profit of course

 

[rachels.haven]

That's what some people do. I'd probably just sit on it for a while, maybe rotate my store if it was too much to use by second cutting time, and I have a chance at that if we are really only going to be using a bale/day from now on. (Loft holds about 200, ground floor a little more than 50, much more if I make it, wings on pallets with tarps is unexplored as far as capacity goes, and garage temporarily holds 200 for receiving deliveries pending husband being okay with his car being booted out for a week or so since we share it, otherwise it's half that). Honestly I'm starting to feel like learning to organize and inventory a while of human food wouldn't be a terrible idea either since I love my family more than my goats. Oh, the lessons of hay...

 

[farmerjan]

I commented on a couple posts and just saw the time. Have to get down the hill and get a shower and some sleep to go back to test the herd again in the morning. Will try to make a better post in the morning.... Did get the hay pretty much all turned over today that I had raked yesterday and it was pretty decent except for the one field that has heavy tree growth along the one side and it is very shaded this time of year. Should have tedded it out, but got it rolled over and the wet/green stuff will get rolled on the outside of the roll so it won't mold inside. It was a nice afternoon and will have most all day tomorrow to dry more so it won't be too bad. The rest that I turned over was pretty decent; drier than I thought it would be so it will be fine.
Tomorrow I will test, then go tedd out the hay he cut yesterday down near the stone house....then rake it on Wed. He cut the rest of that field today and about half the big orchard grass field because they are definitely calling for rain to come in by Sat from that latest tropical storm in the gulf that is supposed to turn into a hurricane and hit the LA coast on wed/thurs???? So he wants to make sure we can get all this up..... I will tedd that out Wed and get it raked on Thursday. It will all get baled by Friday eve....
There are some sq bales he said I need to go get at a couple of fields to take up to the nurse cow barn for the winter, that came off the baler and didn't make it on the wagon... a couple he said are a little "heavy" so have a green spot in them, that will probably mold. I will see how bad they are, and then might feed some out in the manger now so it won't mold... or set it on edge to dry more... and it can always be used for feed/bedding for them to pick through and lay on.
That will help me get the bull in and hopefully get him moved tomorrow.... heifers are probably going to the dairy the end of this week. Going to move 5 other heifers up there to get bred later this fall; when we move a bull back in there after the 6 bred heifers calve.... Things just aren't getting done... but he said that he wants to get some stuff moved around this weekend.... OF course.... since we want to do the stuff in the kitchen.... we'll see. Deb did say that if something changes, we will just plan it like the following weekend.... she understands that sometimes things on the farm come up.... Maybe we can work at least one day at it..... Some depends on the weather... DS did say that the heifers HAVE to come off the cows so they get a little time off before they start to calve again. They are all in very GOOD body condition so I suspect that the calves are not getting much milk anyway and the cows have basically weaned them off on their own.

Got to get going.... hope to have a little more time tomorrow.....

 

[farmerjan]

Taking a few minutes to catch up on some posts.... Tested the herd this morning, will do all the computer work in a little while. Going down to see about getting that hay tedded out. Won't take but an hour if that.... but wanted to make sure all the dew etc was dried off it. It was SOOOOO foggy this morning for awhile, I am sure it had the ground pretty wet too. Quite breezy now, sun is out but still feels cool.
After I go do the tedding, I am going to see if the bull will come in and run him down the road to the neighbors where he is going to hopefully get their 2 cows bred and hopefully not breed the jersey meaning the AI took this time.... but will be there for cleanup breeding if she didn't take to the AI. Then come back here and get the computer work done for the farm and get the samples packed. Maybe it will warm up enough to get another coat of paint on the baseboard heater panels. Plus I have that nut roller thing from the neighbor, so want to get out and get some of the walnuts collected if possible.
No other farms scheduled this week..... until Saturday.... uh oh.... forgot about him. He is supposed to be an afternoon herd too.... we schedule month to month and I didn't look at the calendar when Deb said about working on the Kitchen..... well, we'll see when things get closer.... have to confirm it so things might change.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Do you think hurricane/tropical storm Delta will have time to get to Virginia by Saturday?

 

[farmerjan]

@Senile_Texas_Aggie ; the forecast is saying that we will be getting rain by Saturday. That is what we are going by. That said, we are getting along pretty well with the hay. I tedded out the hay yesterday that he had cut on Sunday in the one field because it was very thick. Then on Monday, he cut the rest of that field like the center 1/3 of the field in order to stagger out the baling since the owner is due a couple wagon loads. He did not get any last year when DS broke his hip and we did not get a 2nd cutting that could be sq baled. Neighbors rolled it for us. We get all first cutting, then he gets at least 100 bales second for his 2 horses. Then DS went and mowed about 1/2-2/3 of the big orchard grass field. He should have mowed it all too. But I was not in charge. Today, I tedded out the stuff he cut Monday eve.... and retedded the thick stuff to make sure it was getting dried out. It was a beautiful day yesterday (tues) and even nicer today.... sunny, very dry no humidity, and a breeze. The big field was much lighter/shorter and it was pretty dry already, but the tedding really did the job. The heavier smaller field was of course very green after I tedded the "center part" and the outside thick stuff still had some green spots but was drying nice. Then I went up and got the 4600 ford and the long wheel rake, and came down and raked the "outside part" of the small field in order to get it up off the ground and the wind to blow through it more to make sure it would be dry enough.... then I raked the whole big field that had been mowed (minus the "center third" that he didn't mow)..... and it was fully dry but one little spot under a couple of trees.

So he sq baled a wagon for the owner.... dropped another 50 sq bales on the ground for another guy who was going to pick it up so no handling for us.... and then sq baled a wagon load of the orchard grass from the big field. Then he got called into work, it was about 6 pm; there was a big tree that had come down across the road and he had to take the loader up and get it off the road. Tomorrow the VDOT guys will have to go up and cut it up and what ever all else they have to do; but it had to be gotten off the road. So I guess that ended the hay baling this evening. Tomorrow I will go and rake the center part of the little field, and there were a couple spots that I didn't rake today because of the close quarters, I would have been running overtop the already raked hay.... so since he got it mostly all baled I will go through and catch any that I missed or left for him to get plus the hay in the center that I will rake tomorrow. He will bale another wagon load for the owner. They are going to unload the wagon tonight so we have the wagon to bale on tomorrow. Once the wagons are full, he will roll the rest.... some johnson grass and weeds along the outside rows that we can't sell so it will get rolled, and fed to our cows. They like the johnson grass well enough, and can just waste the weeds and stuff and it will just add back into the ground as organic matter in the fields that we feed this winter.

It has been 2 pretty productive days. Yesterday after I did that tedding, I went and got the bull in and moved him to the neighbors. I had backed up near the gate so I could open the gate, get the bull and whoever else wanted to go in, into the catch pen and little barn; then I was just going to sort back out the cows and put him in the barn and load him. But I had the feed in buckets in the back of the trailer, so opened the door took one bucket into the barn to put in the feed bunk, and in the meantime a couple of cows and the calves came down and went in the barn with me. The bull walked around the back of the trailer, put his head in the trailer for the feed still in there.... I tapped him up near his shoulder, to get him to back up and turn around and go in the pen.... he very nicely just walked up on the trailer instead and turned around and looked at me as I just took the buckets of feed out and closed the door . Could not have been easier!!!!! So I put the buckets of feed left in the can up there.... left the pen open for the cows to come back out when they cleaned up the feed.... and took the bull up the road a couple miles and backed in to their gate and let him off. Of course their couple of cows had to come and do the head butting/pushing/I'm the boss thing..... then they all went off and grazed. When I went by today a couple times on my way back and forth, he was grazing one time and they were all laying down under the tree the other time. He is such a good dispositioned easy going bull..... I really really hope that he catches the cows as they have not been able to get them bred.... they don't grain them but they are fat as pigs on just grass.....Keeping my fingers crossed..... for them really, as I know that they really would like a couple calves.... although these are kinda pets; they ride them and have a yoke and use them for a little cart too.... so they aren't going anywhere any time soon. But it would be really nice if they would breed and give them back something more. Plus the jersey will be due to come back in heat in another week if we did not get her AI.....
He will have a real "vacation" here.... Then will come back in about 6/8 weeks or so and go with the girls at the nurse cow field..... Got 6 or 7 due this fall, plus the 2 jerseys, the other heifers will be going within a week to the dairy, and then there will be another 5/6 heifers to come up here to be bred too. All of them are beef , maybe 1 or 2 are dairy/beef cross, I think. Not happy that they didn't get up to be bred in June/July for spring calves next year.... but they were not where I could get them moved by myself.

There were 2 heifers getting out at the "main farm" we call doug's.... got them in and 2 others and moved them to the nurse cow field this evening. Can't keep dealing with them getting out along the road. They are ds and should have been bred already.... but not where they were easily accessible and he had been too busy to get them moved around to the barn. They got moved about 2 weeks ago, and then kept getting out.... so are now in the nurse cow pasture where we put problem cows. If they go over this fencing, they will go on the trailer and go to the sale. Have to move the other 5/6 or so up there for the winter too, to get bred. There are 2 more that are skittish, and I am hoping that he will sell them as bred heifers so I don't have to deal with their attitudes down the road. Although, sometimes getting bred does slow them down and makes them more agreeable. But if they don't get a better attitude, they will go.

So the day went well and got alot done. Nothing at the house, but I didn't expect to. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the 2nd coat of paint on the baseboard panels since I won't have to spend nearly so much time on the tractor. If I can get that done I will be happy. Plus, I never did get the plants planted yet.... they are in plastic bags and I wet the roots so they all look pretty much okay. I am going to plant the peonies in a couple of tubs that we get the molasses licks in... got a couple with cracked bottoms so the water will drain well.... then I can decide where to plant them next year.
Irises and rest of the dsaylillies will get stuck in the ground for the winter and then next yhear I will make decisions on things as I decide the idea of fencing too....

Oh, I also went and looked at the fruit trees and made a new count with the ones up in the back of the brushy area that was a fence line years ago..... There are going to be somewhere around 30 to be moved all together...and that is all the ones that look to still be alive.... there are a couple that appear totally dead but I might see an dig them anyway.... definitely going to need them to be dug with a machine of some sort.... That is just too many for me to dig byu hand.....HOLY COW...... I cannot imagine that. I did get the stakes @ Lowe's.... not expensive for 2 /12 packs....of course never thought I would need more than that.... It does look like they are about 10 maybe 15 feet apart.... so I am going to mark 15 and then try to get all the same type ones near each other for cross pollination. They are going to need some severe pruning I am afraid....

My Sat afternoon farm called and wanted to change it to Sunday afternoon as one of them has a wedding to go to Sat.... said that if Sunday wasn't convenient that they could do Friday morning or Monday.... I opted for Friday morning....they don't start til 5 so not so bad.... no set up of equipment.....that will get them done...have the owner sampler farm that I am going to call tomorrow, and maybe be able to drop off the meters for them to get it done sometime so that I can pick them up the first part of the week since I will not be using them and I will be faikrly close to go drop them off; and leave me the weekend pretty free....all according to what ds wants to do with cattle now. Maybe I will take the dairy heifers up on Friday after I get done testing and all that.... Get them out of the field and then he can move the other heifers up there that will need to be there to get bred. I am considering moving my 2 jerseys too, to the dairy for the year.... I really don't have the time to fool with them and calves; if I find a dr to do the knees, will be rather limited through the winter, and I know that they will not get fed the way they should with extra calves on them. They will get hay and all, but will not get the grain and all they should get.... I hate to do it, but it might be best for this year. Plus he can breed them AI, to jerseys or guernseys, so would have a possibility of heifer calves the next year. I am thinking this is the best case scenario. I'm thinking on it seriously.

Let's see what else..... guess that is it for now. Hoping tomorrow will give me some time here at the house....

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday eve. Another great day weather wise....sunny and lt breeze again, must have hit mid-upper 70's.... I raked the hay left in the little field in the center part. Tedded down one row and up another but it was dry so didn't do the rest, just raked it. Made some nice rows, got all the outside parts finished raking that I hadn't done so juct cleaned up the field. This afternoon ds got another couple of wagons filled and dropped another 50 or so on the ground for the guy who now owns that place. He is very pleased with the hay. We have been fortunate, it has made some really nice hay and the drying weather has been perfect the last week so the hay is really nice. I have about 6-8 bales on the truck where there were a few green spots from under the trees.... will take them up to the nurse cow barn. So, what is left on the ground he will finish up by rolling tomorrow. Got all the wagons in the barns so far. There is some johnson grass left in the orchard grass big field along the one side. He was going to maybe sq bale another 50 bales then finish it by rolling. Going to unload a couple of wagons into the bank barn that we store some hay in.... will try to put 4-500 sq bales in and then it will be like our reserve. Cleaned the barn out last year when sq bales were hard to find. Also gave up one customer and had another that moved so about 800 sq bales we don't have a home for... but I would rather have it in the barn as reserve than to get down to nothing like it was. The barn did need cleaning out, but it is not a good feeling to not have some cushion of hay to fall back on.

The little field has made 400 so far and if he rolls the rest, it will be the equivalent of probably another 100-150. The big field (2/3) made about 250/300 so far, with another 100-200 to make that will probably be rolled. It was not near as tall, not as much growth as it was cut later than the little field earlier this year. But that little field makes one "hellacious" amount of hay. Always has.... It is only about 4 acres I guess, and makes 2/3 of what the big 10 acre field of orchard grass makes. The deer spend too much time in the big field too.... seen as many as 10-15 out there eating at a time.

So I got a call, that the 2 heifers had been in heat yesterday, wed., and the bull bred them.... but today he went through the electric.... it is on a solar powered charger, and then across a fence to another neighbors because those heifers have all been in heat and they were up there....making all sorts of promises and enticing the bull. Although they were not directly "against" the fence the bull was in, they were within sight and sound and smell.... so he went over. This is a good friend... but he was not wanting to get the heifers bred until later in Nov...... I told him that we can see about getting him out or he can just stay if he wants him to breed them.... The good thing is he is an easy calving bull, and very easy breeder on the heifers, that is what we use him for. He is going to make whatever decision and I will go get him out or he can stay for a couple months....NOT IN THE PLANS.....never have had a problem with him before... but I guess with 20 heifers walking the fenceline, inviting him over......hopefully there 2 did get bred and will settle.... now have to wait for next week and PRAY that I got the jersey settled AI since he is not there for the cleanup.....

I did get the fronts and end pieces of the baseboard panels repainted today.... so only will have to flip them over and do the edges and the part of the backs that will show a little when it is put together...... that I cannot do when I do the fronts.... then all that remains is the tops here in the house.

Got the peonies planted in the tubs and the reblooming irises in the corner of the porch/house where it was rocky down 6-8 inches since they don't want to be planted down in the dirt.... the rest of the daylillies will get done tomorrow I hope, so that this coming rain will settle them in. I treated myself to 6 daffodil bulbs that are a ruffled kind that I will stick in the ground near the porch..... for spring blooms. Don't know if there are other daffodils or what here; will see in the spring. Will get them in tomorrow. Then that is about it for the plants except for the rose that I will move after it gets done blooming and a frost gets the leaves.

Would like to get the stakes in after the rain so that the ground is softer..... Haven't heard back from the guy at the "edible landscaping place" yet about consulting for the pruning and such, for moving them.

Have to get the sample bottles in the racks I take in the barns and put in the truck for tomorrow morning. Did not get a response from the farm that does owner sampler so will not be taking the meters tomorrow.

Used the nut roller thing and it works like a charm. REALLY NEAT !!!!!!! Did about a 5 gal bucket in about 5 minutes. Want to try to get a bunch done tomorrow. I see where Ace Hardware is supposed to have them in stock, so will stop by there tomorrow on my way home from testing to see if I can get my own. I don't mind borrowing, but she will want to do more of hers too. Then plans to work on the kitchen on Saturday.... I need to get a few things out of there, couple of baskets of clothes I brought in off the clothesline that I see no reason to take down the hill to "put away" and then bring right back up here. Need to bring the plastic tote up to put them in. Got another couple of baskets full to bring up to wash....
Floor sanding guy had something go out on his sander and has been waiting on a part. Let me know that he got it today and will be going to finish working on the floor that he was working on when it broke down. Said normally he gets the parts in 2-3 days but it has taken nearly 2 weeks. I said I well understood breakdowns... and that middle or end of next week was fine. He apologized for not getting here sooner. I said we have been busy with hay .... so he asked if we sold hay, he has a half dozen head of cattle and raises some beef for his family and his folks... so that started a discussion and looks like he will want about 15-20 rolls of hay. Said it doesn't have to be super good hay, just decent. So this may turn out to be a better deal since I can trade it out in hay and then when I sell a steer/ pay my son that way....since I have quite a few more head this year than I had, I am not going to take advantage of just taking the hay for my time as I will be using up alot of that "earned hay" this winter with all the cattle I have to eat hay.... but I can get a better deal since our hay "cost", of making it is a little less than what we get for it so I will get it at "cost" and can value it at what we normally sell it for. So I will contact him and see if he can take it right out of the field now.... and if he has a way to transport it... and all that. Then we can just sell it and load it right out of the field, and not have to handle it, move and store it then load it.... If he is selling this right out of the field at $40 a roll... 20 rolls would be 800 and the sanding is 850...that would be good. Maybe might have to deliver if he has a tractor there to unload.... it's not far so wouldn't cost much extra.... I will see. DS said to find out.
DS was being very civil and agreeable and we talked for nearly 20 minutes this eve. Said I did a very nice job of raking..... I will take the compliments when I get them. And yes, I may be a little vain, but I do a pretty good job of raking hay. The sq baler is making some nice bales now, they are packed well and all since he had it worked on this early spring. I told him they were nice bales.

Going to go ahead and trade the discbine in on a new one. The plan was to trade this fall/winter.... well the price is going up in Dec and right now we can get a 2% discount on a current model. Plus they offered $12,000 trade in.... it is running good after the work but there are other things that will need replacing next year.... 5 yrs is about the limit with the amount of hay that we cut.....then it starts costing a fair amount to start doing work on it..... a new one costs over $27,000 and will be going up in Dec to nearly $29,000..... so we are going to have to be in the hole for $15,000..... but it will be new and will have the same insurance coverage. Still that's another $3,000+ a year payment for the next 5 years. We will just about be able to make the payment with the sale of the sq bales each year....gotta sell 1,000 @5.00 to make the payment and pay for the fuel and twine and wear and tear on the tractors/rake/tedder/baler, etc.....

And we continue to do this "why"......

Time to head down the hill and get a shower, get some sleep so I can get up @ 3:45 to go to work....at least all my "haying work" is done.... all he has to do is finish baling what is left.....

 

[farmerjan]

Friday eve. Getting cloudier all day and cooler. I got up at 3:30 a.m. and went and tested the farm. They have a partial "bag" for the 9 ft bagger we are going to use next week for the corn chopping.... corn is ready and needs to get chopped and put in the bag for silage before it gets too dry. So I called ds and he said to bring it home and he will determine if it will be long enough. Then went by the Ace hardware, and they had a nut "roller" but it is the medium size one and I need the big one. Then came home to the new house. Brought the samples in the house and made some lunch as it was about 11 by then. Then packed the samples but I didn't have the strapping tape or the shipping labels here so was going to have to go down the hill. In the meantime, a guy who came by when I was raking last week, who has a tree trimming business, and was asking about ds making hay on his "lot in the subdivision" where we make a bunch else, called. I had mentioned needing some work done since I still haven't heard from the guy who had the kidney stone surgery....and that I wanted a price. He also put me on the list of places to "dump chips" when they do shredding of brush and stuff.... So he came by and I showed him what I was wanting done, and he gave me a price.... $1500 which I thought was high but there is alot of little piddly things that I want done besides the boxwoods.....I told him when he got here that I was trying to get estimates so I had an idea of how to budget and that getting the stuff done in the house was a priority. So I thanked him and said that I was not ready to do it but it gave me an idea of what I was looking at.... and he said they would be in the area next week or so to do a job and I said I would still be glad to have some wood ships dumped and he said that was great. So I may get some of the chips before I get the other stuff taken down.
Planning now on getting the boxwoods cut off at the ground level due to the concerns about the septic line. Then see what to do with the stumps.....
I don't like chainsaws... but maybe the battery one would be easier to handle and I could start to work on some of it myself???? DS could do alot of it but he just doesn't want to take down the boxwoods....

I di manage to get the edges all painted on the baseboard heater panels painted this afternoon. It wasn't real warm, but I really wanted that project done. Now all I have to do is the tops and all inside the house....That means some heat pretty soon.
Got the package of daffodil bulbs planted.
Finally got the 7-8 bales of hay unloaded up at the barn... a couple have wet/green spots and will be somewhat moldy but I will use them for bedding.
Went down the hill and got the strapping tape and the shipping labels since I will be doing most of that here at the new house. Landlord was there and came over and said that he heard some rumors that I might be moving....did I buy the fulwilder place? I said yes, but that I hadn't said anything yet because it was going to be a bit before I could move as it needed work... he said oh, it looks pretty good and I said structually it was sound but that it needed work inside, the bathroom tub needed replacing, the plaster ceilings upstairs had partially fallen down when there had been a leak, and some other stuff.... I said that since he had told me that he needed at least 30 day notice, when I was more able to determine when I might be able to move that I was going to give him at least a 60 day notice....but that I really wasn't sure how fast the work was going to get done. He said well, I am glad for you and to just let him know.... and if I knew anyone who was looking for a place to rent to keep it in mind. I am not going to worry about it and I wish that I could stay because of the quiet here, but practicality demands that I have my own place and pay less in the meantime....with no BS restrictions like the chickens.....I did not give him any kind of a possible move out as I don't want to be crowded. Told him that I didn't want to commit to a time frame that I didn't know if I could keep and that it wouldn't be fair if I was unable to move out.... he said he wouldn't be that way and make me move... and I said well, if you had someone else to move in, then it could get dicey.... so that I was not going to give him a date until I knew more of what I was looking at.
So the cat's out of the bag... but I figured I was going to tell him that I had bought it with the Nov rent payment, and that I wasn't sure of a moving out date...

DS got all the hay baled, and wound up doing it as sq bales as he had a another person want at least 100 and then he put another 125 in a cattle trailer so it is all up and all in under cover as of 7 pm this evening. He is going to get some of it unloaded into the bank barn where we rent... and then he will sq bale all the other orchard grass and roll all the rest of the mixed grass fields we have yet to make.

I also got all the walnuts "rolled" and picked up from the one tree next to the "drive in area"; and dumped in a pile for future getting the hulls off. My knees were letting me know that I had been on them too long too.... but at least that part of the lawn is clean. About 10 or more 5 gallon buckets full from the one tree. Didn't even get started in the back where the big tree is.... and there will be more to come down out of this tree but the majority are off. Will have to find a flat place and drive over them with the truck to get the nuts out of the big green hulls. I need a pull behind wagon for the tractor/mower so I don't have to carry the nuts back by the bucketful.... a nice dump trailer so that I can use it for garden work too....

So time to head down the hill. I am tired. Don't know what time Deb is getting in this evening, I will talk to her tomorrow morning and see how her weekend is looking and if she still wants to do the kitchen countertop.... going to have to find a nut roller thing as I will be doing alot of nuts and I know she needs it back to do more at her place. Don't know how long she is going to stay here at the farm, as she said something about working more from here with the "remote work" . Don't want to take advantage of the use of the roller.... and I am going to have to get a couple of farms on the schedule for next week too so can't predict when I am going to be able to use it either. Guess I will just order one.
I can bring in the baseboard heater panels tomorrow and put them all in the bedroom for now. Rather get them inside and them just put them down when the sanding gets done. No sense in them sitting out on the porch getting all damp again. Nuts!!! I meant to move that cabinet into the carport that I had washed out.... maybe it won't be raining in the morning... supposed to be very scattered until the bulk of the hurricane remnants arrive and pass through on Sat night through Monday....

 

[thistlebloom]

Jan, I am wondering what the dimensions of those boxwoods are? How big around are the trunks?
I have taken out a lot of trees and huge shrubs. If I lived close I'd love to tackle them for you. I use loppers and a folding pruning saw to reduce the height and bulk, then saw through the trunks since they are usually too big dimensionally for the loppers. I do have a chainsaw, but usually the hand tools are enough and almost as quick.
One thing about boxwoods is that they have a shallow root system.

Dh helped me on a job where we had to remove a row of old arborvitae along a driveway. He used his engine hoist and they popped right out of the ground. We were surprised at how easy they came out. We expected more of a struggle.