[AT] Tap - tap - tap ... blow - blow...

[Gene Dotson]

    Farmer;
    The lathe I bought is a 5 inch Atlas. Seems to be in decent ahape. The 
seller used it for 40 years. Only have the basic tools for it and all the 
change gears and no manual, so will have to figure the speeds and feeds on 
my own.
    Had to replace a tire on the pickup because of a damaged tread edge. Was 
warranted, but still cost over $84.00 to replace it. Bought a tire that has 
about 75 percent tread left. Can use it for a spare on the truck or the 
goose neck trailer.
    Got my little patch of soybeans done last Wednesday. They did okay 
considering the weeds I didn't get sprayed. the elevator was full and 
couldn't take them, so parked the wagon in the barn. May just leave then 
there till the price goes up more. I windrowed the straw behind the combine 
and raked it today. Going to bale it and see if it will sell.
    Baled some hay last Monday for a guy. Probably the prettiest Hay I have 
seen for a while. This field was the roughest field I had ever worked on. 
Couldn't keep a load on the wagon at all. Got 2 loads loaded finally and 
took of the rear chute and started baling some more on the ground. Got too 
late and couldn't get it finished, then rained most of the day Tuesday.
    Guy farming the farm to the west of me came in the other day with 3 new 
John Deere combines and cut the 160 acres there in about 2 hours. Had 2 big 
NEW International tractors pulling 1400 bushel grain carts to load the 4 
semis. This figures to about 1 1/3 acres per minute, about what I cut in 1 
hour. Machinery cost ratio is probably much higher though.

            Gene



>
>    I wanted to make the fall swap meet this year but it was not to be... I
> have some stuff I would like to sell rather than scrap out even though it
> may well be worth more as scrap. If I do scrap it I will likely give it to 
> a
> local scout group if they are still doing a scrap drive as a fund-raiser.
> Diana and I do plan to be at the Tri-State Christmas dinner again at Fort
> Recovery OH.
>    I have been busy getting a little dab of hay baled now that we have
> finally had some rain. We are still about 10" short but stuff is growing
> fairly fast now. I mowed, raked and baled with my S-MTA Farmall. The mower
> for most of it was a John Deere #5. The rake is an old Co-op PTO rake that
> uses 3 little wheels across the back. I suspect it dates back to at least
> the 1950's. It is orange and black. Son Scott bought it at an auction of 
> an
> old farmer. It was bought new but the guy didn't like it at all. It is a
> little different to use and requires care in making sharp right turns. One
> little wheel (driver's side) is mounted solid and the other two caster. It
> reaches way out on the passenger side but barely as far as the tractor on
> the driver's side. The guy had barely used it and parked it in the tool 
> shed
> and left it sitting for years and years. When we got it all of the rake
> teeth were still flat across the tips and were not rounded at all. They 
> are
> now beginning to wear round. Scott bought it for $5. It is different but 
> not
> that hard to adapt to. The baler is an IHC twine tie (I forget the number
> right now).
>    We piled 51 bales of orchard grass on one of the pick-ups and took them
> to the auction at Knightstown IN on US-40 this morning just to see what it
> would do. It was the first time I ever sold hay for more than $3 a bale. 
> It
> sold for $5.75 a bale. Prices ranged from about $1.40 (baled cornstalks) 
> to
> about $8 for some really pretty bright green alfalfa.
>    I had some former pasture ground that I rolled up with my Vermeer round
> baler. It is either a 504 or a 405, I forget which. It is supposed to be a
> 4'x5' bale but a little over 4' tall is about all I put in most of them.
> Someone asked me about that hay today and I described it as "rolled up 
> green
> stuff".  :-)
>    If the weather holds up warm I could maybe get another small cutting 
> off
> of the lots but I want to get them sprayed with 2-4-D yet this fall since
> they no longer allow spraying it in the early spring and then foraging any
> of it according to my spray guy's book. I also want to feed it and lime it 
> a
> bit.
>    I see you bought a truck tire. I need to buy a pair of new front ones
> for the old 1966 IHC Loadstar 1600. The ones on it are getting too weather
> checked to keep running.
>    What kind of lathe did you buy?
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> "farmer"
>
> When you reach the end of your rope
> tie a knot and hang on...
>
> Francis Robinson
> Central Indiana, USA
> robinson at svs.net
>
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