My farm - Where the name "Big Rock" came from.

[4wanderingeyes]

Same here, no new pictures.

I had another thought from your older pictures, I am assuming you have a huge pile of "Big Rocks" laying around? Big city yuppies love them for their front lawns, and pay big for them. Now you dont need to sell them to each person, just find yourself a landscaper, and he will buy them from you for a decent price, and he will haul them away, and pay you some good money for them. I had a few hauled out, averaging 5 foot, by probably 3 foot, he came with a trailer, and a loader, loaded them up, gave me $250 per rock, and told me he will sell them for $1500-2000 delivered to their yard. I was more then happy with the $250 per rock, and being he had to load them, and deliver them, I had no problem with him quadrupling his money. I am sure the prices will vary on location, and the economy, but it should still give you a pocket of cash, and clear up the rock pile some.

 

[John-W-WI]

This is a giant crab in the yard of the cabin. I wish I had about 100 of these (photo from a couple weeks ago):

 

[John-W-WI]

I'm moving everything I can from the crappy garage at the cabin to the new shed. I had this diesel tank inside to hide it from prying eyes at the cabin. It's going out side (under the watchful eye of a motion activated security system) at the shed. So I sanded/wire wheeled the old paint off and painted it with "rust converter" primer. Then top coated with some white paint. We'll see how it does, but so far I'm happy with it:





I apparently didn't take any pictures of the top coat (white). The primer is black. I'll try to remember to snap a picture of the finished product.

 

[John-W-WI]

The whole family got into the fun last weekend. Jake discovered a new way to cool off:



(I would rather not talk about the length of his hair, lets just say it's an issue)

 

[John-W-WI]

Cute girl took Jake's mini-bike for a ride:

 

[John-W-WI]

After a weekend of fun, the dogs are wrecked. The long haired dog lays in the shade. The short haired dog lays in the sun:

 

[John-W-WI]

(I may have posted this before, but it's worth repeating for those that haven't seen it before)

I had some fertilizer left over from planting corn (starter fertilizer not urea) so I spread it where I'm doing some soil building this season. I take the seed tote to the local supplier, they fill it, and fill the planter/spreader directly from the tote. 1/10th the work it used to be when I used to get a buggy to haul it.

 

[John-W-WI]

After spreading the fertilizer I spread the high-tech seed mixture. Honestly I wasn't terribly concerned about the mix. I'll burn it off in mid July and plant brassicas for fall. Just looking for green manure. This mix contained buckwheat (primarily), a little rye grain, a bag of peas, and some left over beans from last year:

 

[John-W-WI]

After spreading I disced both the fertilizer and seed in. I couldn't adjust the disc to cut less, so I did my best to not set it too deep. I'm sure some of it ended up a little deep, but after a good rain (that didn't come as they predicted this weekend) I should be good to go. Unfortunately much of my plotting isn't nearly as scientific as I would like. Acreage is estimated, seed rate is estimated, and the driver can't go in a straight line. The deer never seem to mind. Trying to get everything too perfect can take the fun out of it.

 

[John-W-WI]

The 4020 sure purrs like a kitten. The disc is from the same vintage as the tractor. Kind of back to the future:

 

[John-W-WI]

Deer are the most curious creatures in the woods. I wasn't even done discing everything in and 2 deer showed up to check it out. There is nothing to eat in this field and they are heading towards the shed and dogs. They just can't stand not knowing what is going on in their world:

 

[John-W-WI]

I had several run-ins with this girl over the last week. We call her "No tail" (real original, I know). She was around (and dumb as a door stop) last fall as a yearling. Always alone. This year she is back as a 2 year old and judging from the milk sack she has a little one nearby:

 

[John-W-WI]

Interesting moth I found on a tractor tire one morning:


After I moved him he curled up in what I can only assume is some kind of defensive posture. I checked a short while later and he had left:

 

[John-W-WI]

After spreading the fertilizer and seed I sprayed down the spreader with WD-40. I put a whole gallon can in a pump up sprayer and spray anything that moves after I use it. A spreader that just had fertilizer in it is obvious, but I spray down everything now days. If it has a moving part on it and I'm done using it, it gets sprayed. REALLY helps keep things working properly. The only down side I see is that dust likes to stick to it if the oil hasn't had time to soak in / run off:

 

[John-W-WI]

So my "new way" of posting pictures didn't work very well. I re-did all of the photos. Sorry if some of you see this twice!

-John

 

[John-W-WI]

Same here, no new pictures.

I had another thought from your older pictures, I am assuming you have a huge pile of "Big Rocks" laying around? Big city yuppies love them for their front lawns, and pay big for them. Now you dont need to sell them to each person, just find yourself a landscaper, and he will buy them from you for a decent price, and he will haul them away, and pay you some good money for them. I had a few hauled out, averaging 5 foot, by probably 3 foot, he came with a trailer, and a loader, loaded them up, gave me $250 per rock, and told me he will sell them for $1500-2000 delivered to their yard. I was more then happy with the $250 per rock, and being he had to load them, and deliver them, I had no problem with him quadrupling his money. I am sure the prices will vary on location, and the economy, but it should still give you a pocket of cash, and clear up the rock pile some.

Man I wish I could find a landscaper like that. I've asked many, none of them are interested. I need someone from the Twin Cities to see them. Then they might sell?

 

[4wanderingeyes]

That would be your best bet. Take a picture of the biggest ones and post them on Facebook.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[John-W-WI]

So my ancient (2006) Polaris Ranger had a dead battery again. Last time I replaced it the cost was $90 at the dealer.

The factory battery fits in a plastic "box" that only a polaris battery will fit into.

I accidentally noticed a lawn and garden battery would fit in it just about perfectly. I just needed to make a battery tray and hold down for it.

The perks of working at a fab shop never hurt. A couple days later I had the parts and gave it a shot. Fit like a champ:



So $33 rather than $90 and I'm back in business! And the new battery has nearly twice the CCA as the factory battery.

-John

 

[Tree Spud]

After a weekend of fun, the dogs are wrecked. The long haired dog lays in the shade. The short haired dog lays in the sun:

View attachment 13373

Tired dogs are good dogs ...

 

[John-W-WI]

We spread urea on Saturday (far side is corn, near side is a buckwheat mix). Rain clouds are in the background. Perfect timing, we received a nice soaking rain for several hours that night. The corn should be happy.