Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Bruce]

DH talked to Baymule's son about tractors and he advised not to get the rocker type forward and back transmission.

Did he say why? My Mahindra has that type and I like it. I can ease forward and backward with barely a movement of my foot.

Found the picture of the antique school desk!

Very nice! Stand up desk with a seat. Don't forget to get an inkwell for that hole, I doubt they made the desk with a cupholder.

I go into my room and collapse. Another Ridgetop day is ending

I bet. Good thing you don't know Jack about anything on your farm

 

[farmerjan]

That old desk was designed to have another directly behind it... they were made that way to prevent having separate desks and seats.... but maybe I am saying something that you were kiddingly saying tongue in cheek about a stand up desk.

 

[Baymule]

Did he say why? My Mahindra has that type and I like it. I can ease forward and backward with barely a movement of my foot

Because he has a bad knee and it is difficult for him to bend it back.

 

[Ridgetop]

Very nice! Stand up desk with a seat. Don't forget to get an inkwell for that hole, I doubt they made the desk with a cupholder.

What?! No cup holder?! You mean kids actually went to school to learn instead of just fooling around? Yes, I know the desks were all attached together. Didn't naughty little boys (like Penrod) dip girls' pigtails into their inkwells? Does that age me talking about Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories?

Went down today to the barn with DS1, DGD1, Robert, and DS2. We tagged, docked, vaxed, and moved everyone into the larger pen with the creep. No crazy Ridgetop fiasco, everything went easily and quickly. If only everything would go that way.

4 of the 5 ewes in the barn with lambs were tagged Excellent #5. The lambs are all sired by Moyboy who had such a large percentage of #5 daughters. I decided to tag and dock both of Snowflake's twin ram lambs since she was judged as just about perfect by the evaluator in July. I will register them and may decide to take them to a show. If not and we eat them, I am only out a couple of ear tags. LOL

DS2 is a very good judge of sheep and he said that he liked both of Snowflake's ram lambs and also several of the other ewe lambs. One in particular he really liked is both a daughter and a granddaughter of Moyboy. Her grandmother is 8040 who was a really nice ewe. I am thrilled that BL12 had such a nice daughter since she is the only daughter I had out of 8040 before she died. B12 is a #5 Excellent.

DGD1 is a big help with catching the lambs and bringing them out for shots, etc. Robert stood in the barn holding his Josie carrot and watching. He almost got run over by a ewe only once. LOL DS2 said to put him in one of the jugs to be safe, but I figured he would play with the dirty hay and eat poop. It would build immunity, but his mother might not like it. Towards the end of the job he got bored and complained that he wanted to go feed Josie his carrot. Pretty good for only 9 months old. When we finished DS2 took him and DGD1 to feed Josie.

Now that the jugs are empty, we can clean them out and lime them. We need to get ready for the next batch of lambs who are due to arrive in November. 7088 is definitely pregnant and is due on 10/30 according to my notes. She is the first one to lamb. I am not sure whether or not to move the ewes that are due into the jugs yet. I might just pen them in a communal pen and let them lamb together then move them into jugs once they have their lambs. They are easier to catch in the small jugs to vax, etc. Once we are in Texas I can let them pasture lamb on grass then move them into jugs.

I read an article about a farmer in one of the really cold northern states that lambs November through January. He turns his barn into a communal lambing pen then move the ewes and their lambs into jugs situate around the sides of the barn after they lamb. He says it is an easier method, and he feels it is better for the ewes to be with their flock when lambing. I can't take the chance on "pasture lambing" since my pasture is on such a severe slope. The lambs will roll to the bottom of the gully (happened once), the ewe might get cast (happened once), or they disappear into the gully bottom and we have to go find them and carry them uphill (happened a lot of times). We are getting too old to do this anymore. I mean too much in our prime!

 

[Ridgetop]

Because he has a bad knee and it is difficult for him to bend it back.

I think Layne also said that that type of transmission change wears out faster. Not sure, but DH has decided not to get that type because he his bad leg is the one he has to use for that pedal.

 

[Mike CHS]

I think Layne also said that that type of transmission change wears out faster. Not sure, but DH has decided not to get that type because he his bad leg is the one he has to use for that pedal.

I wish I had thought about that while you were here as we could have let him drive ours to see how it worked for him.

 

[Ridgetop]

He tried a Kubota with the rocker type pedal - just sitting in the cab. We will keep looking at different manufacturers for a tractor, DH and DS1 looked at John Deere and Kioti (sp?) and another one. I was not with them.

 

[Margali]

We have a New Holland dealer near us. The cab was roomy and my 6'2" had enough leg room. Dominic liked it cause the 55hp had a jump seat.

 

[Bruce]

That old desk was designed to have another directly behind it... they were made that way to prevent having separate desks and seats.... but maybe I am saying something that you were kiddingly saying tongue in cheek about a stand up desk.

No, actually I said what I thought was the case!

I wonder how many kids annoyed their up front neighbor by kicking their desk and thus the seat of the classmate.

I think Layne also said that that type of transmission change wears out faster

I don't think the rocker pedal vs twin pedals has any effect on the transmission, it is just another way of doing the linkage from pedal(s) to transmission.

Transmission types are Hydrostatic, Geared (like your usual manual transmission), Shuttle shift, Power shuttle. Given DH has a bad leg, he would probably want a hyrdo or power shuttle as no clutching is involved when going between forward and reverse. Still need to clutch to change gear range (mine has L-N-M-N-H, I almost always have it in Medium) and at least in the case of my Mahindra, start the tractor and to engage/disengage the PTO

 

[SageHill]

He tried a Kubota with the rocker type pedal - just sitting in the cab. We will keep looking at different manufacturers for a tractor, DH and DS1 looked at John Deere and Kioti (sp?) and another one. I was not with them.

Good he got to try other types. I've got a Kubota and love it - it doesn't take much - but if he's got a bad knee then that would be a good reason not to go with the rocker.