[Does’ Leap]

Like most of you, I have too many things to do and not enough time. I aspire to work smart. I am constantly trying to refine different systems of our farm to make them work more smoothly.
Here are a few things I do:

• I ride a bike around the farm instead of walking;
• I have 2 classes of grass-eating livestock: goats and horses. Goats get a fresh paddock of grass every 12 hrs. Horses follow behind goats (in a net fence). This means less labor fencing, moving water lines, and trekking to different parts of the farm (i.e. pick up the goats and drop off the horses). It also enables the goats to top graze the best of the grass and have the horses clean-up.
• I do not harness horses unless I need them. Instead they are in a dry lot outside the barn during the day (pastured at night) – easy to grab and harness.
• I do 1 farmer’s market and wholesale deliveries one day a week in Burlington, VT. Anyone outside the radius of Burlington who wants our products needs to pick them up at the farmer’s market. We also do not sell off the farm. We found dealing with visitors/customers really throws off our rhythm.
• My wife and I have our own areas of the farm that we deal with. We are able to help each out but specialize in our area.
• Instead of leading our 4 horses, I ride one and pony the rest. Our farm is pretty spread out and trotting the horses around saves a lot of time.

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Donn Hewes 35479 wrote:

600 in one day! I wish.

That was the most we have done in a day. We had 200 ready to bale Saturday but I am at the Farmer’s Market all day so it had to wait until Sunday. It was a dawn ’till dusk affair with a good size crew picking up bales out of the field. We left the last two wagons in the barn on Sunday night and stacked them yesterday.

George

[Does’ Leap]

We baled 600 yesterday and have another 60 or so left to bale today. That will be the last of our first cut. We have one meadow that is ready for second cut……The never ending cycle:eek:. I feel lucky to have this ideal June weather.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Nice weather indeed….. We have 250 in the barn and will have another 600 after this stretch of weather.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Neal, one minor suggestion is to make sure you chamfer your pole. It might just be the picture, but those edges look pretty sharp. It is inevitable that your horse will hit your pole at some point and you want it smooth.

Good luck.

George

[Does’ Leap]

In order to get the gears out you have to free the bearing from the right hand (driver’s right) side of the shaft and pull the shaft out to the left, correct? If so, how did you get the bearing off the shaft? I have been fighting with it for several hours and I am ready to torch it off:mad:! Any input would be appreciated.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Hey Mitch:

Got it. Thanks for elaborating. I mow with an “easy cut” system now and I can expect it to mow through some cut grass, but not much. After I mow my fields clockwise I go around in the opposite direction for a pass or two to finish it off. In this case there is no path for my inner shoe made by the grassboard. I just keep my fingers crossed and mow, but I often have to stop and clear a jam. Interesting that the Amish mow this way. I am near completion on a different mower with a haybine set-up and stub guards. Interesting to see how it does in already cut grass compared with my current mower. Hope you dry out and get some decent weather.

George

[Does’ Leap]

@mitchmaine 35306 wrote:

the amish don’t seem to like them. the ohio amish anyway. i asked why and the answer was that the hay didn’t make as well flipped on top out at the end. it requires a few pea guards at the heel of the cutter bar to cut through when you wander out into the mown hay. i tried it one summer and it worked ok, but in the end i went and put my old swarthboard back on. it was a metal replacement that we bought a long time ago and still works well even when rusty.

Hi Mitch:

When you mention the Amish not liking “them” do you mean the metal grass boards? What do you mean “the hay doesn’t make so well”? What are “pea guards” same as stub guards? Sorry to come across as obtuse, but I want to read your input on this and can’t make heads or tales of your post.

George

[Does’ Leap]

I am intrigued by the Kosch grassboard. Do they work well? I like the look of the two rods and the bottom sweep. My current grassboard is wood and I have an adjustable sweep for short, medium and tall grass. It works well, but took some welding and fussing. I need another for my new mower.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Michael and Donn:

We have had a similar arrangement (i.e. work for rent) on our farm for the past 2.5 years and it has been working well. It sounds like a great opportunity. Michael, if you are in Vermont’s Current Use program you will be able to exclude the yurt and 2 acres provided the person/s works on your farm and you receive no income in rent.

Good luck.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Carl:

I have been shipping logs to Canada and most truckers are reluctant to take a straight truck up there. I shipped a couple of straight-truck loads across the border this winter and will try to persuade my trucker to do it again. We had to widen our driveway this spring to accommodate a larger tri-axle grain truck and I can now get a log truck and trailer up (a fringe benefit). When I asked the fellow who trucks my logs if he would still take a straight truck up for me now that I widened my driveway he told me to “stop playing around with your goats and finish the load!” He is actually a nice guy and is very tolerant of my spread-out landings. I’ll see what he can do.

Thanks for the advice.

George

[Does’ Leap]

@highway 35202 wrote:

Do you need any help with the NOFA workshop? Please let me know if there is something we can do. Would you like a DAPNet presence there?

Ed:

Good speaking with you yesterday. Per our conversation, I would welcome any/all help and/or suggestions as well as a DAPNet presence. As the date approaches (late September, I think?), I will start a thread and get some feedback.

George

[Does’ Leap]

Jen:

Sadly our GP died this past winter. During the summer of 2011, we had our first predator loss ever – 5 goats to coyotes. After that, we bought a 1.5 year-old female Maremma. Based on my limited experience with the 2 breeds, I think the Maremma is the better guard animal hands-down.

To your questions….we have no containment fence for the dogs, they are free to roam. We have started putting the Maremma in the net fence with the goats, but not always. We have not had a problem with wandering. A good dog will never “wander”. She might do a little patrolling, but she is always close to the herd. Regarding aggression, we worked with the GP a lot as a puppy establishing our dominance. We often took his food away and put him on his back if he growled (which was often). He eventually stopped and submitted. These guard dogs are like no other – fiercely independent and relatively intractable. Basically you need to establish yourself as alpha and let them do there thing (sound contradictory?). One thing to consider is that our GP killed over a dozen chickens as an older pup. I have a friend who has lost dozens to his Maremma pup. Both eventually stopped.

George

[Does’ Leap]

@Riverbound 35033 wrote:

I consider myself to be somewhat of a pro at the art of patience/WD-40/heat/leverage/hammer/swear. I’ve got two that have got me stymied right now though.

Brain, the only thing absent from the above description is PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil. This product is not “the answer” but a useful tool in the arsenal against seized-up objects and much more effective than WD 40. Also, I assume your “heat” is not propane or even MAPP, but oxyacetylene. There is “heat” and there is “HEAT!”

Good luck.

George

[Does’ Leap]

We baled on Sunday and the hay looks good. We cut Thurday and tedded once that same day, 2x Friday, once Saturday, and once Sunday. We raked around noon and started baling by 2. There were some heavier bales, but most is nice and dry. I am always surprised by how long first cut takes to dry compared to second cut. I have often made the mistake of baling first cut too early b/c I overestimated how dry it is. Those stems really hold moisture.
[IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0f7P2CktqFw/T7tq0BnLnjI/AAAAAAAABUM/P3uYbUB4Ufs/s902/P1030811.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f_38BmaYEIk/T7trYm9ZmhI/AAAAAAAABVc/zcbp3bkc0Ws/s547/P1030815-001.JPG[/IMG]

[Author]

Posts