How'd it go today?

After work this morning, packing to head out for another music festival...not working this one, just enjoying.8)
 
Thats cool.

There is an art to stacking small squares.

Dad used to hire high school kids to stack hay for him. When they left for the day dad would re stack them.

After while he quit hiring anyone to do it.


I will buy a small load of big squares once in a while to stack in the barn. Each flake weighs thirty pounds or so, makes it nice for pitching hay.
 
Have a good time Dave.

Jim I do all the hay(small time as it is) around my place. I move/stack every bale. Having help, helps me physically but the leaning tower of bales it makes drives me batty. Years ago now the last time I had any help I had stacks fall over. When I stack them I never need any braces and they never fall over. So I begrudgingly do it all myself.
 
This year I've got my most hay but I've had the most cooperation with the weather. I've also been quite busy with chimneys so it's been nice to pick away at it. I find 100 bales/day to be just about right. Lol.
 
You would get a laugh out of this Jim.

I've got ads up to sell hayout of the field. A real good field price. I've sold a 100 to one person and someone's supposed to come today for 50. But one guy gets ahold of me and he's asking me all sorts of questions about the hay and whatnot, finally he says, 'yah I need about 10-15'. Uh huh? What are you feeding, gerbils? Anyways he says he'll get back to me on it.

Yesterday he texts me he's loading up the flatdeck and getting his sons(plural) and they'll be coming for fifteen bales. I'm all like wtf? Flatdeck, helpers for fifteen bales? Mind you I've already talked to him on the phone and he knows they are small squares. Anyways late last night he texts me something had come up for him so he wouldn't be coming for the hay. Big loss to the farm sales iknow. Fifteen small squares? What do you do with that?
 
Dont over do it!


Grandpa used to talk about making hay the old way, and Dad got into that some when he was a kid.

Damn hard work. They would mow it, buck it then pitch it into a wagon. Then haul it to a loose stack somewhere.

It got easier with an Overshot, but you still had to make a stack.


Grandpa used to say that when round balers moved into this country the bellies got bigger on the ranchers......but their backs healed up.

Round bales made it possible for ranchers to stay at ranching longer than otherwise possible.
 
I'm trying not to overdo it and to become a grumpy old farmer.

I've got a add up for a cheap in the field price and the question I get right away is if I load them. Frigging noobs, the ad reads 'field price of'. Sure I'll sell you hay cheap and then load it too? I've made the point over and over again. $5.00/bale out of the field $7.00/bale out of the shed. For 100 or more. Otherwise I upcharge .50/bale for under 100. Nuisance charge. Lol.
 
It's cheap even locally. Although prices are down a bit because the first cut has come late for most and so everyone has lots of hay. I'm still about a buck to two cheaper than everyone else, I just want them gone and cut my haying costs. My small squares are pretty light this year too. My farmers no idiot, smaller bales equal more money when you're on by the bale. Lol.

If I sell what I want I'll come out slightly ahead and pack 300 free bales away for myself off of this cut. If I have to put it all in the shed(what hasn't sold) I'll flog it at $7/bale and come out quite aways up on the hay.
 
Nothing exciting today. Trim back a maple from a backyard deck. Nice to make one trip with cart. Topped up the f350, had two other prunes stacked and coleslawed in it, trying to figure what to do with it aince my free dump site wants $50 a ton now. :(
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Note the new cs355t. :)

Had two bushes to cut down for an old friend and then 6 8 or so inch stumps and one 22 inch stump to grind. Finally had a full day of no rain.
 
Ran a grass cutter on steep ground with lots of vines yesterday for five or six hours. As soon as I took the cutter off at day's end I started getting an excruciating pain in my side that you pivot from when cutting. The discomfort became very unbearable. Made it back to my shop feeling close to passing out. When I got home I tried a cold patch you stick on and ice, but no improvement. Ibuprofen helped for about twenty minutes then later wouldn't do anything at all. The only thing that helped was going in the shower and blasting my side with very hot water, which would bring some relief. I figured heat was a good thing so I covered my side with an electric blanket and tried to sleep. I had get up three times and did the shower treatment again. I finally got some rest and feeling much better this morning. Guess I overdid it with the cutter. Man that hurt something terrible, the pain wrapping around all the way to my stomach. Strange...
 
It was a deep throbbing, Jim, it seemed like it was kind of matching the pulses from the cutter engine that I could still hear in my mind. Probably just abused the muscles. The pain would subside after the hot water, go back to being a slight dull ache, then it would get going again and start to radiate around to my stomach and I knew it was turning bad again. I wondered if it might be a kidney stone or something, I hear that's bad, but I'm sure it was from the exertion running that cutter through nasty vines all day.
 
A kidney stone will eventually feel like somebody jamming a hot knife into your lower back. It sucks out all your strength and will to live. I truly hope that isn't it.
 
Thanks. No, I don't think that was the problem, the pain just where you swing a cutter from. If a kidney stone is worse as you describe, I sure don't want to experience it.
 
Ha, I tried the position thing. Laying on my side that ached was the worst, but the only position that seems to help a little was laying on the other side with my right arm extended up, the pain was on the right side. An uncomfortable way to try and sleep though. I guess the muscles were all twisted up or something. The heat seems to make them relax or numbed somehow for a time..
 
Maybe, but my wife would get pissed if I had to fill up the tub three times. She complains about the gas bill enough already, ha. I think a shower was good because i could direct as hot as possible right at the spot, and moving around the shower head on a hose was kind of massage like comfortable.
 
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