Ask Steve Dave Farm And Cow And Ranch And Tractor And Truck Related Questions

[Spracne]

It's not necessarily an either/ore proposition.

[slackcat]

Coal is the most expensive energy source now. It’s nuts that we’re propping it up for some reason.


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This is true to my knowledge.

[slackcat]

Silage chopper

Used to milk 150 cows and put up a shitload of corn silage every year, custom cutters from Moundridge would come in and knock it out in a few days.  I shuttled silage wagons as a kid when my dad and uncle milked/farmed in partnership.  Had a three row Gehl chopper and took two weeks with good weather.  Pulled with an IH 504 gas tractor up the hills and wagons pushed going down hill.

Your family still in the milk game? Heard its not good for milk farmers out there.

Like I said, "used to milk" 150 cows. I admire dairymen because it is such a thankless job and the general population doesn't know what it takes to produce that milk product.  It is hard and never ending work but at the same time can be rewarding.

[michigancat]

Silage chopper

Used to milk 150 cows and put up a shitload of corn silage every year, custom cutters from Moundridge would come in and knock it out in a few days.  I shuttled silage wagons as a kid when my dad and uncle milked/farmed in partnership.  Had a three row Gehl chopper and took two weeks with good weather.  Pulled with an IH 504 gas tractor up the hills and wagons pushed going down hill.

Your family still in the milk game? Heard its not good for milk farmers out there.

Like I said, "used to milk" 150 cows. I admire dairymen because it is such a thankless job and the general population doesn't know what it takes to produce that milk product.  It is hard and never ending work but at the same time can be rewarding.

I think I highlighted how much it sucks crap. Gotta be the worst kind of farming

[steve dave]

I hear that large scale chicken farming is pretty awful. beef has to be the best.

[ben ji]

Why hasn't beef farming turned into factory farming the way pork/poultry has?

I mean there are feed lots but thats just finishing school.

Is it because cows are to large to keep penned up in close quarters? Cheaper to let them roam around and eat grass?

[steve dave]

Yeah, they suck crap at taking care of themselves and not dying 24/7/365 but less so than other domesticated animals so you can leave them alone for like a few days and maybe they won’t die if there’s grass and water.


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[steve dave]

They are genetically helpless though. They will start having babies as soon as they get nervous about like a snow storm or something like that. Then the babies just freeze. Buffalo will do the opposite. They will stop having babies a couple days before a storm.


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[Spracne]

Yeah, they suck crap at taking care of themselves and not dying 24/7/365 but less so than other domesticated animals so you can leave them alone for like a few days and maybe they won’t die if there’s grass and water.


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What do you do with all the cow corpses?

[steve dave]

Dead cow truck picks them up. We generally have at least one laying at the dead cow spot and sometimes like a pile of them. The real morbid stuff is when one is almost mostly dead but not all the way dead and you pick it up with a loader and dump it on the pile anyway. The dead cow truck uses the corpses for something.


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[michigancat]

I think for a while our tractor radios were on the same channel as the local dead animal patrol.

[michigancat]

I bet they all go to the tiger king

[Katpappy]

Dead cow truck picks them up. We generally have at least one laying at the dead cow spot and sometimes like a pile of them. The real morbid stuff is when one is almost mostly dead but not all the way dead and you pick it up with a loader and dump it on the pile anyway. The dead cow truck uses the corpses for something.


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They make pet food out of it.  We had a rendering plant just outside the town that I attended high school.

[ben ji]

Tom, come in here and tell everyone how rough ridin' incredible it is that my slack ass who hated cow farming my entire life retained all this critical cow farm knowledge, WOW!

I am just sitting back and enjoying SD.  Not so fond memories of the "buller pen" for the steers that had been gang rode in the main pen. Extra work getting them their own hay and silage.


Tom

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wait what???

Feedlot cattle feeding is analogous to man prison.  Same sex animals in confined space. Eventually some of the steers become everyone else's bitch.  You have to isolate them to avoid getting rode to death.


Tom

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So this afternoon I noticed a cow by the water tank that was barely standing, then later it was down and couldn't stand up. I texted my uncle to let him know and he said "Yup I walker her in, we'll put her in the corral tomorrow. Bulls were a little hard on her!"

 

Good news guyz, I saw ole 8341 out in the pasture the other day so she survived and did not end up in SD's dead cow pile.

[ben ji]

In other news I got bored today and decided to climb the big ponderosa pine in the front yard. First time in about 20 years I have climbed a tree and I made it 20-30 ft up, no regrets.

[KST8FAN]

Every time I go the farm I over promise and under deliver on what I can get done.  Like replace an old 12 x 12 barn door.  I should be able to knock that out in an afternoon.  Three Saturday's later...


Tom

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[KST8FAN]

Barn find today... i thought had lost this forever.  So next to driving when you're 10 another farm kid right of passage was putting up square bales.  Part of that tradition was getting to use a hay hook which ranked right up there with getting to carry a pocket knife.

TomDad, being resourceful,  did not see the need for some cute little red hay hook with a wood handle from the local coop.  Not when you have reebar and pipe in the scrap pile.

Sharpen that reebar to a fine point that could pierce skin and chip bone then fashion a spot welded T handle to the other end and I was in business.

It was the envy of the hay crew.


Tom

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[steve dave]

I just grabbed them by the wire and threw them around like a savage


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[steve dave]

It would take me several years to replace that door Tom. Nice job.


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[KST8FAN]

I just grabbed them by the wire and threw them around like a savage


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Never had the opp to throw wire bales.  All of ours were twine.  Weren't wire bales dense AF?  Like 75 lbs?


Tom

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[KST8FAN]

It would take me several years to replace that door Tim. Nice job.


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Kudos to Mrs 8 with the assist.


Tom

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[michigancat]

Our square baler had an accumulator behind it so it would put eight bales in a square and then the loader 4020 had an attachment with a bunch of forks that would pick them all up at once so I didn't pick up crap.

We didn't have this exact one but I think it gives you the idea.





https://www.texasfarmequipment.com/Hay_Straw_Bale_Accumulator_p/tractorbaleaccumulator.htm

[steve dave]

I just grabbed them by the wire and threw them around like a savage


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Never had the opp to throw wire bales.  All of ours were twine.  Weren't wire bales dense AF?  Like 75 lbs?


Tom

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Yes, heavy as crap. Worst part was the wire digging into your hands.


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[XocolateThundarr]

I just grabbed them by the wire and threw them around like a savage


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Never had the opp to throw wire bales.  All of ours were twine.  Weren't wire bales dense AF?  Like 75 lbs?


Tom

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Yes, heavy as crap. Worst part was the wire digging into your hands.


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Not to mention the occasional rattle snake that ended up as part of the bale.

[star seed 7]

Do they live through the baling process?