Train Bell Repair

Our train bell has been working well and has been a hit around the community. I drove by it one morning and all looked fine. I drove by again that afternoon, and the rope was down. Thinking it had just come undone, I swung in to take a look. Not so.

To my surprise, the vertical arm that rocked the bell had broken off. Shocked, I looked closer to discover that the 1 1/4" rod that it pivoted on was broke. I'm still not sure what to think, but I knew it had to be fixed.

Cast iron is vulnerable and hard to work with. That could have been some of the problem. Regular steal I don't think would have broken even if someone was pulling aggressively hard. The hard part was, how to reattach it in a way that didn't cause it to falter again. 

With a game plan in mind, we drilled a 1/2" hole through the rocker arm. 

Then James punched a 19/64" hole into the other side of the broken shaft on the bell.

Then we tapped it 1/2" NC threads.

Dad and I were pretty unsure how cast iron would tap. Only one way to find out. Seemed to thread in good.

Our concern is that there is not much meat to keep the arm from pivoting on the pin it was originally attached to, especially when middle school kids really get to ringing it. So we opted to put some Locktite on the threads to make sure the bolt stays tight.

Let's ranch.

It tightened up pretty good.

And we set it with a good 80 ft-lbs of torque. 

Then let little-man give her a tug. Seems to hold good and strong.

Back in Black.

Good stuff. If nothing ever broke down there would be no opportunity to fix it. I don't doubt we'll be back here again. But in the mean time, let freedom ring! Ranch on. 

Remnant

God can work with a few.

           https://youtu.be/yUEpPRnoJJQ         

Sin

 Misses the mark.

           https://youtu.be/48jxlMNFwmw         

Zach Wiese

CRL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DovPMZx_RtY

No Fear

Trust in the Father casts out all fear.

           https://youtu.be/LEXMSEafFag         

Hay Stacking

It's never too early to start thinking about winter. In ranch world, preparing for winter involves stacking hay in the barn during the summer. Before we could do that, though, we had to make a little room.

The barn is great, still standing strong 50 years after Grandpa built it. However, it has gotten cluttered. 

These back stalls have become a catchall. Wanting to stack our little square bales back here, we got to work cleaning them out. 

Once the clutter was gone, we decided to take down the last two stanchions.  

Good lumber that we'll put to use in other projects. 

Better. Now we have some room to work with.

Dad baled about 80 little bales on our first cutting of grass. Needing to just get them off the field, he loaded in the International with the farmhand and just dumped them outside the field. 

So we loaded them in the trailer and hauled them to the barn. 

When stacking on dirt, I like to put the bottom row on their side, keeps the twine in good shape and doesn't seem to spoil as much. Then stack away, going different directions with each layer, tying-in everything together tight.

Works for me.

Good stuff. We are just thankful to have some hay for the winter. Who knows what it will bring, but it's always good to have hay stacked in the barn just in case winter gets harsh. Ranch on.

Perfect Charity

Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

           https://youtu.be/zY9VnlJOMuQ         

Greed

Virtue lies in the middle.

           https://youtu.be/P8_sxFcRKSo         

Priesthood

Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.

             https://youtu.be/JEKhMa10pWE           

Father's Heart

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is an image of the Father's Heart.

           https://youtu.be/RHRgzX0CJdg         

Foster Branding II

When opportunity knocks, I take advantage of it. The Fosters were branding again, so I arranged my schedule to at least make the short-go. 

Not for the faint of heart. We were to ride out at 5:15, which meant that Chief and I leave the church at 4:30.

However, we had a rain delay and didn't leave the trailers until 6:15. 

In southeast Sheridan County, the railroad runs pretty strong. Horses out here have to get used to crossing the tracks. 

To say the least, they have been getting more rain than Johnson County. Country looks great. 

We trotted a couple miles until we hit the cow pasture. 

Then split up and started to gather. 

The wind was blowing pretty good and I lost my hat a time or two. That is one critique about cowboys that wear straw hats, the are always chasing them. I was the only one wearing a straw hat today. However, I was not the only cowboy to have my hat blow off. 

Rollin, rollin, rollin.

Eventually we all started to converge. 

And head the entire herd for the truck and branding pen. 

Once there, we mothered up for a bit.

Then headed into the pen. I hollared to Clark, "It's about to get western!" And it did. However, all the calves made it in, thanks be to God. 

Then we lit the stove and got ready to brand. 

The A team went into the pen first. 

Gerald got the cool horse of the day award. Solid bay. 

Nordforks are the branding instrument of choice around here. Work good, when applied right. Good job, Chase. 

Just ranchin'. 

This is where the cowboy rides away. 

Having a late afternoon wedding rehearsal back at the home place, I had to leave the branding shortly after noon. I am confident that they finished up just fine without me. Fun day. Definitely worth getting up in the 3:00 hour to take part of it. Grass looks good and cows look better. Must be doing something right. Ranch on, Paul and Laura. 

Money

 Put our money where our mouth is and live our faith.

           https://youtu.be/BVAueMD0pMo