Back barn lot still kinda tractor accessible.

I am on a spraying marathon.  NO other chores on farm are allowed to interrupt the eradication of noxious weeds. My tractor is only four feet wide and I thought I might be able to get it through the first gate into the back barn lot.  I made it with inches to spare on each side and sprayed the little spit of land.  I used a whole piece of one inch plywood when I made that bridge, it is exactly four feet wide.  I drove the tractor over it with the tires hanging off of each side.  I sprayed the whole barn lot.  There is a hill just across from the stream and it made it very hard to line up on the bridge to make it back across.  I need to put the box blade back on and chew into the hillside to make the lot more tractor friendly.  But that cannot happen until the spraying is completed. 

Second gate into back barn lot.

I got the entire barn lot sprayed and a small amount of the four acre weed plot. 
I did manage to find our wild honeybee hive.  One of them ended up in a hole in our walnut tree in the barn lot.  I still think there is one more wild hive somewhere on the place yet undiscovered.  The weeds are dying.  Another 100 gallons of spray on the ground, total used so far 225 gallons.

Honeybee hive found!

Sprayer up and going.

Another burn pile up in smoke.

I had this plan, go outside and just lift the spray tank up with my quick connect 3 point hitch, wire in some power and spray.  It was a great plan, flawed but a great plan. I tried to lift the tank and the quick hitch would not lower enough.  I lifted the tank onto the bottom two points then realized I needed to raise the upper hook on the three point.  It was stuck and took some work and choice words.  I got it in the correct position and tightened and then the tank would not fit.  The pump kept hitting the quick hitch.  I had to take the quick hitch off and manually put the tank on, after I reattached the quick hitch upper hook back into its original position.  I did manage to start the couch burn pile on fire.  Annmarie was tired of the eyesore and I was tired of hearing about it.  The wind switched directions away from the house so we would not fill up with smoke.  Thirty minutes later it was a small pile of ashes.  I had to fill the tank with water and mess around with the nozzles and valves for another hour before I could make the sprayer work correctly.  I only had two joints and the pressure valve leak, all of them were fixable.  I managed to spray 100 gallons of 2-4-D today for a total of 125 gallons.  I am going to try and keep track of how much spray I use this year.  I have a lot more spraying to accomplish. 

We had another baby lamb two days ago!  The sheep are multiplying at an amazing rate.  I have 15 of them lined up for local customers.  My mother still has the last two living chickens at her house.  They are very big about 8 inches high already.  I need to get them out into the coop as the new babies should be here on Monday. 

Double yolker!

I finally finished my stretch of days at various jobs and it is time to spray some weeds.  I am not opposed to herbicides it is just that getting ready to spray is always an ordeal.  Everything always magically breaks down over the winter.  This winter was no exception, stuff was broken.  I could not start the mule.  So off to town to buy a new battery.  It is not so simple as just putting a new battery into the slot.  I had to pour acid into the various cells, wait one hour and then charge the battery.  I installed the new battery and could not get the mule to start at all.  There were two flat tires and some animal had rubbed the brake light off the underside of the mule.  I could not get the mule into neutral.  I had to drag the mule out with the tractor and a chain.  Once I got the mule out in the open I was able to get it out of gear and mess with the shifter till the neutral switch was correctly aligned so the starter would kick in.

  Once I got it running I pumped up all four tires and then drove it over to the house to fill it up with gas.  I left it running while I filled it up with fuel.  I went down and filled the tank up with water and then spent another hour cleaning spray nozzles and making adjustments.  Once that was all done I was ready to spray!  I filled the tank 1/2 full and added some 2-4-D, 8 cups and 150 ml of surfactant.  Unfortunately, about five minutes into spraying I realized my back was getting wet.  I looked back and there was a crack across the whole upper third of the tank.  It was toast.  I finished spraying and the next day went looking for a new tank.  D and B had one 25 gallon tank left, so I scooped it up. At home I pulled it out of the box.  It was not the same tank, mine had the pump mounted on top and three holes drilled.  This new one only had the fill hole on top and one exit hole on the bottom of the tank.  It had the pump mounted to the long side of the tank.  I was going to have to make a ton of modifications and hope the pump worked mounted sideways.  I had seen a 3 point 55 gallon sprayer at D and B.  It was calling my name! I consulted the boss and back into town I went.

They had a floor model set up and it was missing a Y valve so I could add a wand, which was absent also.  There was no inline filter set up.  I spent 1.5 hours finding the correct fittings to add the necessary pieces and then waited 30 minutes to get the boxed sprayer loaded.  I had to go back into the store and get a pin for the hitch because it did not come with one.   I went home and promptly tore into it and installed the Y valve and wand setup.  Next I put on the inline filter and ran out of daylight.  I figured I would get it all finished the next morning. 

Barn lot crossing going in.

Water snake hiding under rock.

Yesterday I spent the day working on the barn lot crossing.  I spent five hours on the tractor moving dirt.  I got the culvert into place then braced it with rocks at the base and then slowly started piling dirt up from the right side.  Every few loads of dirt I would drive the tractor out onto the pile and compact it down.  I had to keep getting off the tractor and piling up rocks on the side to keep the dirt in the correct spot.  I eventually ran out of rocks to pile next to the dirt.  I did managed to finally get enough dirt into the middle that I could drive to the other side!  I need to put on my rubber boots and wade out into the water and get those rocks upstream.  I also have a few loose rocks over in my sheep compost pile that can go over here.  After that I will have to go onto the back hillside and start picking rocks.  I figure another three days just to get this finished.  Once it is done I will dig out the stream and add some gravel to the bank to fill in the low spot.  We will be able to drive across the culvert and avoid all water crossings.  It will make the stream that much better.  I found a few friends as I was relocating rocks. 

The horses are going to love it as they will not have to get their feet wet to cross the stream any more.  I had another chicken die, a teenage buff orpington.  I do not know why that breed and why that age group is dying off.  It makes no sense. 
I called around today looking for used railroad ties to make the new cow corral.  There are none to be had in Pendleton.  I found some in Hermiston at Payless lumber for $16/each, an entire semi truck load.  I am going over on Tuesday to pickup at least 30.  I need 30 for the corral and about 15 more for fencing.  It is painful but if I don’t do it know I might not get another shot at it till the end of summer.  I am also looking into renting a backhoe for a day to finish the irrigation pond.  I broke the earthen dam and flooded the pit I was working on so there is no other recourse. 

Salamanders hiding under rock.

culvert getting maneuvered into place.

Today I went to my favorite place, the scrap metal yard.  I spent 90 minutes getting a chunk of culvert.  When I realized I was getting the culvert for the low low price of $0.30/lb I asked for a second piece of culvert for the barn lot!  We will be able to fix the bridge by installing a nice big culvert and backfilling.  There will be no need to drive through the front spring any more.  This will allow me to narrow the stream and fill in along the edges.  The scrap yard guy free cut the rusty pipe with a torch in a perfect line!  It was impressive.  I even complimented him on a job well done.  I snagged about 300 pounds of rolled wire and some loose chain also.  The best part was each culvert only cost about $90, an incredible price.  I am hoping the cows use the culverts instead of walking through the water.  Tomorrow I have a bunch of honey do chores.  I am hoping to make some time for ditch digging. 

Barn lot culvert in place just need to back fill.

Lower culvert in place.  Still needs some more dirt added but I can drive over with tractor!