Ideas for new barn and property.

[Denny Clayton]

Wow, you could hold 4 cubfests, in that barn, at the same time! Ed

..........and LOTS of Cubs!

[beaconlight]

All the rest aside you have never said what you and the bride dream of. That would have a bearing on my suggestions.
My Grand Father Mc Court always said[b Don't have a hobby you have to feed [/b]
You seem to have that taken care of with we like to ride but don't have want to own horses. Further all the advice of contracts, LLC's and liability insurance has the ring of truth. As good as it is to be nice it just doesn't work out in this world unless done properly.
I volunteer for a food bank. I use my pickup to go to a central point to get produce as well as canned food and what ever. When I pull up in front of the place to unload some of the people on line waiting to be served want to take pity on the old man unloading the truck and help. If they get hurt (real or imaginary) the food bank is in deep dodo. If I get hurt, one of the other volunteers or the paid staff the insurance covers us. Here I am an 80 year old geezer slinging 50 lb sacks of produce and I can't let 20, 30 or 40 year olds help me. I can see the reasoning and look at it this is cheaper than going to a gym for me. Which leads me to my Grand Father Sorensen "Use it or loose it" was one of his sayings. I only knew one Great Grand Father. 'He didn't say much but hes made neat toys for the kids in the family. He made fishing poles and cut fish from wooden orange crates. He fashioned the fish to the poles with string. He carved little baskets for the girls from peach pits. Again what do you two want to accomplish with the property?

[Stanton]

Well, Thackery, I agree, that is a big prospect to consider. Whatever you decide to do with it, let us know.

[Rob in NH]

you could section off one hell of a work shop in that place.

[Thackery]

To bring this project up to date.
I have rented 5 of the acres to the same farmer that I already do business with.
Cut up several fallen trees, cleaned up all the trash left from the renters, took a truck load of scrap in for $110.
I got a bunch of seat time clearing brush and grading the inside of the barn.
We have chicks coming tomorrow, which Is a strange time of year to get them started but we really miss our home grown eggs. And the insulated rooms in the barn will actually make growing up these chicks easier than in the past.
I have moved my 3 Cubs in and about 1/2 of the implements and parts.
I split wood inside while the blizzard was going on the day after Christmas.(doors open of course).
I built a place to hang all my ladders on an inside wall. A couple more wall hangers for spare 2x4s, spare gates, and fencing materials.
I removed a wire fence from the area to be farmed. My Grandson Jack helped me roll seversl hundred feet of barb wire on a cable spool. He rolled the spool across the ground and I kept the wire taught. He really did a great job helping with little encouragement. By the way Jack is 6. He is a real trooper and likes to help.
The snow has everything covered so the outside work is on hold for now.
Im going to do some eletrical work to allow for turning all the barn lights on with a remote. The darn light switches are all over the place. We will also be working to convert 2 horse stalls into chicken coops.
Candace and I made a list of what is to be planted in each of the three gardens. One of which is behind the new barn.
That is all for now. Keep those suggestions and questions coming I appreciate every input.
Thackery

[Scrivet]

.......I got a bunch of seat time clearing brush and grading the inside of the barn........

You know it's a BIG barn when you have to clear the brush from inside the barn.

.....I split wood inside while the blizzard was going on the day after Christmas.(doors open of course)........

I'm all for safety but I think you would have to make several trips into town for more fuel to reload before you would come close to gassing yourself in there.

It's nice to have all that space but you can be the test case to see if the old adage about stuff filling the available space comes true. Thanks for the description of what you have done/are planning. It's interesting reading.

[Stanton]

...We have chicks coming tomorrow, which Is a strange time of year to get them started but we really miss our home grown eggs. And the insulated rooms in the barn will actually make growing up these chicks easier than in the past.

That means you might be enjoying fresh, brown eggs by Easter.

...My Grandson Jack helped me roll seversl hundred feet of barb wire on a cable spool. He rolled the spool across the ground and I kept the write taught. He really did a great job helping with little encouragement. By the way Jack is 6. He is a real trooper and likes to help.

What a blessing that is! Jack will remember helping you for the rest of his life. Continue building those good memories. Sounds like the barn planning is slowly transforming into reality. I'll echo Scrivet, thanks for keeping us updated.

[beaconlight]

Sounds as if you and your bride have it pretty well in hand with what to do with the new barn and property. Renting to the same farmer is good for both you and for him too.

[Thackery]

Candace got a call early this morning that the chicks had arrived at the post office.
She had them warming by the wood stove when I got home. She was really worried about them being warm enough down at the barn. We had all the preparations ready for chick brooding at the barn, so a few minutes of verifying temperatures and the 25 Hubbard Golden Comets were picking at food and drinking.
I sure hope that eggs by Easter will come to be. Most of these birds will stay with us and some will go to other families after they mature.
Thackery

[Thackery]

We received the chicks on Jan. 3rd. they all survived the trip and we got them settled into the new barn. The insulated rooms are great, I can keep my home made brooder in the 90 degree range with 2 heat lamps and it only varies by about 5 degrees depending on the outside temperature.
Checked on them again this morning, all doing well and I can see feathers starting to poke out on their wings. I bet the chicks have nearly doubled in size in 3 days. So far no losses which is great. We usually lose 1 out of the 25 before they fully mature.
My next chicken project is to convert 2 of the horse stalls into one big chicken stall/coop. I have to remove one of the partitions from between stalls and chicken wire the top of the area as well as make the entire area critter proof.
I was analyzing the project last night and figured out that I can reuse the partition planks for replanking the hay wagon that came with the barn.
The wagon is a bit big for a Cub but as long as I keep it on the flat ground it should come in handy for many chores.
Nothing better than finding that one projects cast offs lend themselves to another project.
There was a pile of useable lumber in the barn that will come in handy in the future as well.
I got a flat on one of the rears of the loader Cub, probably picked up something while clearing the fence. Does a rear have a tube??? I guess I never thought about it before. I plugged one leak but the tire is still not holding air and I'm not hearing anything. I'll get a bottle of soap water to find it. but if I there is a tube than a plug kit is not going to cut it.
That's the update for now.
Thackery

[Barnyard]

Doug, there are some rear tires that are tubeless but a lot still have a tube in them.

[Thackery]

Bill, Is there a way to tell without dismounting?

Thanks, Thackery

[Gary Dotson]

Doug, just look at your valve stem, if it has a knurled screwed on the valve, against the rim, it has a tube in it. Most of them have tubes, by the way. Back in the day, pretty much all tractor tires were tube type.

[Thackery]

Thanks, I'll take a look, I think what you are describing is what I have.
Bummer, that's 2 out of 12 tires that need dismounted, tubed, remounted.
I already had to take a front off of the Lo-Boy to put on the regular Cub because it is leaking around the tube stem.

Thanks for the help.

[Thackery]

Update: pulled all the fence into the barn in big sections with the 53 Cub.
Folded up all the fence so that it go in for scrap.
Trimmed all the branches from the perimeter fence lines so that the farmer could get as much ground as possible.
Any wood with decent size got stacked up for the firewood pile by the splitter. All the branches went to the ever growing burn pile.
The chicks that came Feb. 3 are all growing well. I bet they have tripled in size.
Two of the horse stalls are on the way to becoming one big chicken coop area.
Cordless tools are a blessing working around a big area.
Gathered up all the fence posts, T-posts etc. I have over 50 spare (to be used later) T-post gathered now.
The neighbor across the road is glad to see the place getting cleaned up.
Thackery