[Billy Foster]

The guards I originally got from JD bolted up to the bar but the cutting surface of the guard was to low, the knife section was about 1/4″ away from it when I installed the knife. I compared the new JD guards to the old ones and there was an obvious difference between them. Mitch I could try a guard for a #5 BUT I think I am going to see if I can come up with something else since it was over $300 for the guards from JD. The sad part was TSC had the same exact guards as JD had, and the ones from JD were not even green :-).
I will look into the haybine guards and see how that goes. Geoff do you remember what model haybine those guards fit?

Billy

[Billy Foster]

$215 a piece, Ouch! It looks like they are the only “game in town”. Be cheaper to by a junker and put steel on it. thanks for the heads up on the tires Geoff and thanks for the link Gordon. I will have to look this over before I commit to anything.

[Billy Foster]

Any idea where I would look to find a tire?
Billy

[Billy Foster]

We are going. big trip for us. Still have a lot to do before we can take the time off. hoping for a window of nice weather to put up some hay before then. We have been planning everything out to be able to take this time off since winter, sure is a lot of work to take time off. Can’t wait until next year when i don’t have to go on vacation and I can relax:).

[Billy Foster]

Yea I belong to the club, maybe I should post something on their Face book page…good idea. I called my welder friend, belongs to the club as well, he is going to see if he can do something with it. He said something about brazing it as well.

[Billy Foster]

Sounds like you will be setting them all up to succeed. I am sure the LGD will accept the farm’s dogs. Our guardians don’t even bother the herding dog when he is working the sheep since they know him. Animals have such fine tuned senses yet we humans embarrass ourselves by thinking they can’t tell one person from another or one dog from another :).
good luck
Billy

[Billy Foster]

it is a JD No.4
Yes I agree repairing it would be risky. I have a friend that is a certified welder, I am going to ask him what he thinks but my experience has been that welding cast usually results in it cracking next to the weld. I am looking around for a parts mower and am thinking of contacting Macnair’s to see what they would get for the part. We are going to HPD this year so maybe I can get one from farther away.
Billy

[Billy Foster]

Hi Jen
Just to add my 2 cents
We keep a GP/Maremma male and a Maremma female, both fixed.The Male will stay behind a 2 strand twine fence, the female has learned to jump through a hot 6 wire HT fence. I feel very strongly about keeping my dogs with the sheep. As was said earlier I do not want my dogs boundary lines crossing over my property lines. I feel that I ask a lot of my neighbors by the barking our LGDs do when they are in a pasture near their homes, I do not want to have to deal with a dog fight with one of their dogs. as far as training is concerned: In my humble opinion I do not think one should really have to train a LGD. One should be purchasing/breeding the traits that allow the dog(s) to perform the task. Having said that there are ways to modify some behaviors if they are undesirable. I would only buy a pup from parents that are in a stock situation full time.
Before we got our first LGD I was concerned about the “liability” of a dog in the same context as you appear to be Jen. I have come to find that the 2 dogs that we have are very nice and almost puppy like to those that they know well. Their behavior to strange things, people, animals is to sound an alarm and approach the boundary between that thing and the flock. Some of our pastures are on the road and have people walking dogs past; the LGD will bark but more as a warning to them not because they want to “get them”. We use electro-net in the pastures and the dogs respect it very well.
The only thing I will add is the issue with young dogs playing. Some young dogs can get too playfull with fragile livestock like lambs and chickens. We are very cautious at lambing with our Male since we came to own him because of his desire to play with Chickens, the chickens always lost. If I was going to guard chickens I would try to find a pup with parents that guard chickens or an adult that does.
Hope I helped.
Billy

[Billy Foster]

The measurements I have are 4″ wide where it bolts to the mower and 14′ long. I didn’t realize you live in Bowdoin. that is about 30 minutes from me. Now I need to start looking for a part for my No.4. working on it this weekend I realized the cast piece that the bar directly bolts to and is broken. I am not sure the name of the part but it is what just about everything connects too. this may put me back a little.
Billy

[Billy Foster]

I have a friend sawing out a few for me but he doesn’t think it will be until the fall. I am looking at the clover in my field and I think it is going to start flowering pretty soon. I will need to get something sooner than latter. I have thought about using a piece of pipe but wonder if it will weigh to much.

[Billy Foster]

Leah
This is only a suggestion but you may want to rethink the method you use to control brush on your farm. Mowing is an expensive time consuming way to control brush. You may want to do some research into “targeted grazing”. We have done a lot on our place using our sheep and horses to control brush and help establish pastures. I can guaranty that we have improved some areas that were at least as bad as you have. You also may want to look into the training that Kathy Voth has been doing training cattle to graze weeds. I do not know what your herd size is but I personally would rather increase my flock (herd) size a little and have them work for me, and skim a little profit off the top, than spend money and time 2 things that are at such a commodity.

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/rx-grazing/Handbook.htm
http://www.livestockforlandscapes.com/edible.htm

Please don’t take this as my saying you should not mow with your team, I am not saying that at all. If your intent is to get out there and enjoy working with your team I say go for it. My intent is simply to share what I have had success with. If you have any questions I would be happy to explain more.

Billy

[Billy Foster]

I like the electric motor idea. Our place is off the grid and in the summer our battery bank is often at 100% before noon. In the premise of reducing off farm inputs I have started thinking about how I can use electric motors to replace gas motors. The whole rig would probably gain a few pounds because of the battery weight. I wonder if one could build a set-up that bolted to a forecart?

Billy

[Billy Foster]

It was only a few months ago and I was right in your shoes. It is amazing how something that looks so relaxing and even boring to those watching can be TERRIFYING with a hundred things going though you head to the guy with the lines in his hands. It was only December when I got a couple ponies of my own (first time teamster as well). Since then we have stock piled a few cords of tree length fire wood, disked and planted a little over an acre of Oats, plowed and disced the garden as well as many other small tasks. My point is keep using them like you are, it will be just the “same old thing” for them in no time and it will become much more relaxing for you.

Thanks for sharing.
Billy

[Billy Foster]

That IS a great day.

[Billy Foster]

That is the truth.
J-L you have realized the same thing I did. “The older I get the smarter my father was”

Billy

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