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

[Spracne]

I was in the large power business for over 30 years and I can tell you the longer the distance between steps the less electrical charge between them.  File this under the electrical safety things you should know.

A direct result of Edison crushing Tesla.

[yoga-like_abana]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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[cfbandyman]

I mean if you're near a down line or a lightning strike you want your feet together so they are at the same voltage, or as close as possible like a bird on a power line

[KST8FAN]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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Do you have access to any old bricks?


Tom

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[star seed 7]

Salt the earth 'ji

[ben ji]

Did some actual "farm" work today spending about 30 minutes digging out an irrigation wheel that got stuck with my dad. He has no idea what he is doing and neither do I so the irrigation contractor is coming out to look at it before the harvest to make sure it doesn't break or something.

[ben ji]

Me sitting on the bracing between the wheels taking a break.

[ben ji]

I've explained in this thread before about how my dad keeps the garage door cracked at a certain level that allows the cats to get out but also keeps predators from being able to get in.

Here are some of the fresh recruits enjoying some NW KS sunshine before they spotted me.

[star seed 7]

Do the mutts get along with the cats?

[ben ji]

Do the mutts get along with the cats?

They chase the cats 

[yoga-like_abana]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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Do you have access to any old bricks?


Tom

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Yep


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[Pete]

I’ve never been able to permanently avoid spraying.

[farming_cat fan]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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Throw in a group 15 herbicide when you spray. It won't prevent you from having to spray again, but it will lengthen the interval between sprays.

[Stupid Fitz]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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Do you have access to any old bricks?


Tom

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Yep


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Make the fire bigger. Problem solved. 

[Justwin]

I have landscaping fabric and some inch and quarter lateral rock to go over.. what’s my best bet to keep grass and what not from grow in this fire pit area? Or am I just gonna have to spray it with stuff once or twice a year?


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I have had good luck with a double layer of cardboard placed down first.

I would also spray everything down with a mix of horticultural vinegar (30%), rock salt (or any kind of salt) and dish soap. Adding the salt into the spray will make it difficult for anything to grow there.

[yoga-like_abana]

I did spray that area with 45% vinegar, salt added would’ve been a good idea. I did use up about all the cardboard we had to fill our raised beds but that’s a good idea as well


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[KST8FAN]

Yeah, forget the bricks.  Looks like a lot of better ideas to just make a chemical induced dead zone.


Tom

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[ben ji]

Some additional farm pics, here is an antelope grazing on our freshly planted corn field.

[ben ji]

Some cows in our small pasture that watched sunsets with me thinking they were gonna get some sweet sweet feed.

[ben ji]

They all started looking behind me so I turned around and caught a deer coming out of our wheat field. It hopped the cattle fence then mozied down to the cattle trough to get some water.

[ben ji]

I cut down a couple of trees this spring, nothing gets a JoCo boy feeling like a man more than using a chainsaw. (Lady is included for scale)

[ben ji]

Unfortunately I'm not an enginerd and my dad sent me this picture shortly after I left. Sheesh, just go stack em back up again but better than I did.

[ben ji]

I cut down a couple of trees this spring, nothing gets a JoCo boy feeling like a man more than using a chainsaw. (Lady is included for scale)

You see those giant ones on the left which are basically just chunks off the of the tree and not split? My dad loves em, calls them "All Nighters" where he can just put one in the fire in the evening and it will burn all night.

Also most of them are from a tree that had been dead for 20+ years and were hollow in the middle/full of mice nests. They actually burn pretty nice with the hole in the middle to circulate air.

[KST8FAN]

Unfortunately I'm not an enginerd and my dad sent me this picture shortly after I left. Sheesh, just go stack em back up again but better than I did.

Are we sure a cow didn't try to jump over that pile of wood?


Tom

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[ben ji]

Paging @sys

My dad sent me this text and I guessed prairie rattler.

Can you tell by the pattern what type of rattler?  10 buttons, 10 yrs old, run over 1/3rd Mile West of farm.  Would be really hard to see in grass/weeds.