Marie McClaren

Podcasting has been getting better. Here's a good one with Marie. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-bYUnHkB-o&t=223s

Truck Tire Harrow

When I ranched in Montana, we had a field harrow made out of old semi-truck tires. Worked real well to knockdown cow pies from the winter and freshen up the grass for the spring. With a need for a good harrow around the ranch back home, we set out to build our own truck tire harrow.

First step was finding some used truck tires. Big Horn Tire in Buffalo hooked us up with these guys. 

Once we got them over the mountain, we lined them out and got to work. Drilling the 14 holes to bolt them together was no walk in the park.

Having an assortment of big bolts, we found enough 5/8" fasteners to get the job done.

To pull the contraption, we needed some cable. North Forty saves the day once again. 

We just drilled two holes in the front tire and looped the cable back through and clamped it down.

We had quite the time cutting the cable. Not sure how your supposed to do it without it coming unwound, but we found hose clamping the loose end before cutting it with a cutoff wheel on the grinder, kept it together. Then we spot welded the end so the wire rope would stay together and we could run it back through the next tire. Harder than we hoped, but it worked.

We connected the cable to all four front tires to get an even pull.

Then connected them to a clevis and hooked it to the drawbar. 

Giddy up.

So we fired up the 4230 to see if this dog would hunt.

Down the hill and through the gate.

I was super pleased with the way it knocked down the old stemmy weeds.

Cow pies were no match either.

Tore them up so the spring moisture can make fertilizer out of them.

Also did a beautiful job of fleshing up the perennial grasses. 

Lovely. 

With spring one day away, we thought we better waste no time getting a jump on things. Hopefully, the Good Lord will provide us with some moisture to make the grass take off. If not, we'll kick the pivot on as soon as water is in the canal. Fun stuff. I love spring. Let's ranch! 

First Calf

It was bound to happen. John and I ran out Tuesday night to check on the herd, and there she was, a new born calf. 

Just as we expected, 71 calved first. Everyone was so content, this was as close as we got that first night. 

Got a better look today. Black baldy heifer calf, full of life and welcomed into the herd. 

Pretty content in her new life on earth. 

Good mom, too. 

Fun stuff! Great way to start the season. There is little more that is music to my ears than a motherly moo out a first-calf-heifer. It means to me that she has accepted her motherhood and all will be well. Ranching peacefully. 

Ear Tags

Hopefully I'm not counting my chicks before they hatch, but I find it easier to get the ear tags written before you need them. Then they are dry and ranch ready.

I'm a Y-Tex guy. Really have never used anything else. They look good and are easy to apply. 

I bet I've had this paint marker for five years. Keep the lid on and it lasts a long time, I guess. 

I find using a separate paper or something to depresses the painter and load the ink to work better than doing it on the tag.

You almost can't make the letters too bold. This is probably even a little light. But these are calf tags and will likely get replaced with bigger ones in the next year.

Once the fronts are all dried, I like to mark the backs with the same number. Then, when you're riding up behind a calf, you also know who you're dealing with. Have to write the letters smaller, though, and close to the bottom because their ear covers the top half.

Giddy up.

Fun stuff. It's nice having them done. Now, as the calves drop, we can grab a tag and keep trucking. I'm confident we'll punch them all. Let's ranch!

Hauling Trees

Turns out that if you are going to mill trees for lumber, you want to do it while they are green and let them try as boards. So we decided we better get our logs up to the saw mill.

I was catching heck for not wearing green on St. Patty's Day, so I went and got Jim's green tractor. 

And drove it into the rectory to load up the tree we laid down this past December.

Still having the gooseneck around, Darin wheeled it in close.

One by one, we loaded them up.

Good load.

Then followed Darin up to the mill.

Buckingham's is our saw mill of choice.

Michael lined us out and left us to it.

Done.

They should get to them this month sometime. Not having a specific project in mind, I told him to cut out 12 2 x 8's and the rest 1 x 6's. Maybe we can turn them into some new sanctuary furniture. That'd be cool. Regardless, they'll likely need at least another year to dry after being milled. Time is on our side. Back to ranching. 

Water

 Flows through the Liturgy.

           https://youtu.be/SL3TBZNq_-E         

Latare

Rejoice!

           https://youtu.be/wkxlRyYmgeM         

Checking Cows

When it's cold, you don't want to take a chance on not catching a calf. Therefore, it's better to check the cows than be sorry.

Having a big Sunday in front of me, I ran out to the ranch well before the break of dawn. A good heater and good lights will get a rancher a long ways in life.

Prior to popular belief, cows don't sleep standing up. These girls are pretty content in the cold. 

Another drawback of calving in the cold, frozen water.

No problemo. 

Times two.

A sledge works good.

With a shovel to throw out the floaters. 

After three Masses and 100 miles of missionary activity, we rounded back to check the girls as the sun was going down. Look good.

Pretty content.

They like this old grass hay, but it needs a little fluffing up here and there. 

Thanks Dad. 

Life's good.

I'm having fun calving. Of course, I haven't had a calf yet. They'll come. In the meantime, we'll be keeping a close eye on the cows. Warm weather is around the corner. Snow or shine, we'll do our best to ensure a successful calf crop. Ranch on.

Blindness

 Christ is the light.

           https://youtu.be/szLgaou3uic         

Heavy Ranching

With the cows in the corral, we took time to put the final touches on the calving facility to make sure we are ranch ready. Scrambling is the last place you want to be when a calf is coming. This spring may get exciting, but not because of our lack of preparation.

For such a task as this, I called in my ranch hand, Peter. We put all the final parts and pieces of our facility together, including this new calf puller. 

Deciding to feed the cows closest to calving in pen closer to the shed, we fixed up an old round bale feeder. 

Should work. They'll make a mess, but a bit better then feeding the bale outright. 

The maternity pen was our big chore. People have been concerned how we are going to tend to the back of a cow when the chain that holds the gate closed is at the back too. Problem solved. Once she's caught and settled, tie this rope to the top and unhook the chain. I see why not.

We decided to purchase a calf puller to have on hand. The discernment came down to the classic, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Of course we have some OB chins and hooks on hand and easy to grab. 

I think so. 

In order to split pens, we had to bring in another water tank. That's about a days worth for the eight head left behind. 

So Peter and I walked the herd to pull out the top three closest candidates. 

Grandma, 71, and ole Red.

My bet, 71, black/white face, will go for first. Within 10 days.

Bring it.

This is going to be fun. It's been a while since I've kept a close eye on cows fixing to calve. I don't doubt there will be some challenges, but we're ready. I'm actually not so worried about these first calf heifers having calving problems as much as I am with them mothering up. That's what we really need to be around for. A couple days in close quarters with their calf, and they'll be ready to run. Let's find out. Ranch on.