I find carpentry projects relaxing, mechanical projects educational, and fencing projects routine. I have no experience with welding projects.
Message to Jenny after test run
(said in homage to the excellent show, Clarkson’s Farm) (this contains the most melodic fence post pounding you’ll encounter)
Then this particular mix of carpentry, mechanical, and fencing projects combined into a welding project. I set off down the YouTube rabbit hole of DIY welding. 2 hours later I was convinced I could totally do this, no problem, and the cheapest wire feed flux core welder at Home Depot would be fine.
Leaning right
This gate post was bent out of shape thanks to an aggressively growing tree. I cut the bars previously connecting it all together, and now pushing it all out of place. I used a come-along to pull the post back to vertical, then put overlap metal rods on the fence rails to tie it back together with sister joints. Then used the grinder to remove splatter and numerous sharp edges.
A fine, upstanding gate
Turns out, I was right, but not about what I was convinced of. The smallest cheap Lincoln kept throwing the 20amp breaker in the shop so I moved to generator power. Then the welder was undersized for the thickness of the metal and ran into thermal overload very quickly. Each time added a twenty minute cool down period.
After this project I returned the tool and sized up the the next one. Both problems solved. The welds are all ugly, and these kind of farm applications are great learning opportunities for my hands.
All projects need interruptions. Miss Molly Tamale the new puppy was happy to oblige by getting her head stuck in this fence chasing Hay Bale the barn cat during one of the shut downs.
The other end of the cattle run needed a control gate. Maple is quieter than steel and I need calm cattle. Now there’s also a loop I bent and welded for the sliding latch to anchor against. I am inordinately proud of this whole assembly, thank you very much.
The big win at the end of these upgrades is a cattle run to reliably load cattle onto the trailer. The picture above shows where the stock trailer will back up to, this is the gate opposite the repaired gate. Now they will pass through to either pasture or trailer, at our direction. The log is there to bridge the gap when the trailer is fully backed up.
It does work. We have done the three easiest loads ever over the last week while getting the AI process done on two cows.
I was also able to convert some old bedframe steel into a dolly for a pig feeder. One afternoon of messing around and a lot of convenience added to the pig feeding process. New welding skill, for the win. Headgate attempt is next.
Kids have been experimenting with locks and dams in the pasture, they got much better water retention then I expected Leveling up skills, matching these leveled up sunrises.
2024 was our smoothest year. After 4 years of tweaking, adjusting, improving and optimizing we had the lowest ratio of labor + chores : production yet.
The biggest improvement this year has been integrating two boys (now 7&9) into dog and chicken management. It is a daily task to manage feed and water for the Livestock Guard Dogs and the Hens, as well as collecting the eggs. They are compensated per egg, so it varies by the day. They are really quite good at it and I’m proud of their efficiency in the task.
We cleared a huge range of branches on the north end of the pole barn and replaced a broken gate system. While we did the replacing, we went ahead and moved the placement of the gate to better fit our trailer access needs. Incremental improvement!
You will notice the red Packout tool storage system on the 4×4, and also in this picture in the house while I remodeled the bathroom. Huge time saver, a lot less walking back to the shop and much faster access to each tool, because it always has a home. Even for a DIY Homestead grade guy like me, this system is worth the investment for the time savings.
On the topic of organizing tools: Love getting the extension cords off shelves and workbenches. Now there is a single hanging organization system, another incremental improvement that pays dividends. When it is time to string up cables for deicing water tanks, easy access to each cable.
Family nearby replaced their wooden garage doors. They kept the wood for me and I converted them into worktop and shelving space in the shop. Nice improvement in feed & supplement storage and access for a low cost. Milk crates fit perfectly in the second level, making organization on the shelves a success. It’s a wonderful feeling when the shop is a asset to walk into, not a liability you groan and try to avoid.
While we’re in the shop, let’s talk about these Enbighten wifi electrical outlets. Originally I installed motion detecting LED panels in the shop. The idea was they would auto off when I was not in there at night. It’s a great plan, except the cats keep the lights on most nights. The shining is annoying in my bedroom window. Now I can turn them on and off from an app on my phone. Additionally, I can manage the electric fence remotely from the phone. Find a break and need to fix it? Turn the fence off. Make the repair. Turn it on. Huge time savings for electric fence maintenance, easily dozens of hours in a year. Incremental Improvement!
Since we’re looking at extension cords, diligent children, and a home remodel, check this out. There’s a green extension cord on the right side of the driveway. That 300ft of connected cable is there because the boys wanted to get our Nativity scene set up at the end of the driveway. I was in the middle of fussing with replacing trim and said “go help me by getting the power lines out there.” They knew where the cables were in the shop and ran them out without assistance. They were proud of their work, and they should be. It was a great help and gave them skin in the game as we set up the Christmas lights together.
Looking at equipment that drags gear around, sometimes you just barely manage to finish chipping wood and get the tractor in the barn while the steam is blowing out the radiator. Not a great feeling, and this is going to be some time investment to find the root cause and remedy the overheating.
Since we’re in the barn, time for hay! We haul the cattle hay around on the utility trailer. To feed the goats, we tip a bale over and cut it open, then peel hay off to toss into the feeder systems. I just like this pic of the girl and the goats playing around, so now you get to see it too.
Jenny developed an incremental improvement to this feeder from last year. She salvaged broken halves of 5 gallon buckets to make a new hay base . This prevents the tiny bits of hay from packing together and cementing the bottom of this wire arrangement and encourages more comprehensive eating of the hay.
Another Jenny concept: Affixing sheet steel on the north end of the barn. This greatly improves the storm resistance of the goat area in the winter. In the summer there’s still plenty of cross breeze to keep it from overheating. This expands the functional area of feeding hay to the goats, resulting in a healthier flock over winter.
Down at the south end, the other half of the flock has its own area. Jenny’s idea (see the theme?) was to add a passthrough gate for the farmers to farm better. Now it has a gate. Incremental improvement worth 2 minutes a night for 100 nights each winter. That’s time well spent.
You may run the numbers in your head and say “Well Robert, that took you both 3 hours to arrange and install. That’s 6 man hours. Not a good investment, that is a 2 year return to your labor!” To which I will say, “any minute saved on a daily chore is a minute farther away from frustration, annoyance and burnout. Taking 3 hours on a nice Saturday to make this a joyful experience for the family year round is worth it. Or in economics terms, the opportunity cost of our labor every night is high compared to the opportunity cost of a slow and peaceful Saturday morning. See also, that smile up in the pic.” Incremental Improvement!
A picture of a kid with a kid with another kid in the background is a good segue to some of your questions following the latest chicken processing day:
Q: “The air drying: I had not heard that needs to be done, I assume this is because you give the birds all a good rinse and just want to keep that moisture off of them for freezing?”
A: Bird skin will struggle to crisp up if it’s frozen with soggy skin. Drip/air drying helps with that. Eviscerate on the table, spray off with a hose, dunk in water in a utility sink for 10-20 minutes. After it sheds heat in the sink we move to a cooler with ice. Target is under 40f within the hour. The joints will feel stiffer when cold. Then drip/air dry for 15-20 minutes with those stiff joints. I run a big shop fan on low to keep air moving over it gently. Longer is fine too.
Q: “For bagging, you’re not using a vacuum sealer or anything, but the bags look nice and tight to the bird. Are you just dipping the bag in water to push the air out and then sealing it?”
A: I fully recommend these, We use them because Neighbor J.P. uses them because he learned to use them on a nearby pasture poultry operation. 100% success rate for both of us. texaspoultryshrinkbags.com/products/10-x-16-shrink-bags Unless the bird is over 8lb, then we size up to the turkey bag. There’s a straw that goes into the bag in the cavity of the chicken. When you dunk in 195f water the plastic begins to shrink. Remove from water. Pull the straw out and tighten zip tie completely with pliers. Let the bag dry and then label with included labels, which have excellent adhesion.
One for the road folks! There’s always some Wood to raise in 2025, Godspeed on your endeavors.
Every man should make a work space. It will be a place where he goes to work. First with his mind to design, then with his hands to build, then with his heart to judge a project complete. Here he will bind what is broken and mend what is mangled. If he is wise he will do maintenance on his machines before they need repair. He will also teach others the skills he sharpens in this place. There is a reason that every good Role Playing Game has a good work area. The aspirational hero will forge new weapons and craft protective armor, it connects to the soul of man.
If he is really blessed, it will grow into a workshop. A workspace is a place you sit, a workshop is a place you can walk. He will have workstations in the shop, designated storage, and focused lighting. Invariably he will be at one workstation and say “aaaigh, I need that tool be ready right here”. It could be a measurement tool, a screwdriver, maybe a change of blades. He will consider his situation and be sad he did not have a way to easily and conveniently put task relevant tools in reach.
There’s a cheap solution. Let me show you with some real life pictures:
Sawzall blades have a easy swap spot, Allen wrench at the end tightens a specific clamp.
The good news? For $3 at Harbor Freight, he can make a massive upgrade to his work space and workshop.
Cut off bolts, change of utility blades at the vise station.
Magnetic bars. 18 inches of working space. Screw holes on the ends. Easy install. You will notice these are placed near the corners of the workspace to be easily accessible from both sides of the corner.
Layout tools by the table saw. Putty knife at glue work space. Random wrench for…I don’t remember.
https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-magnetic-tool-holder-60433.html, no affiliate link.
Handy for securing steel chests without permanent installation requirements.When the work is over it’s good for recreational applications
Give it a try or give these as a gift. They punch way above their weight class in terms of permanent utility per dollar spent.
I used an auger to clear a post hole, stuck a cardboard sleeve 36in deep and filled it with concrete. Set an anchor for a 4×4 in there.
Then I took a 4×4, cut it to length and drilled out a socket for the bottle jack stem to sit in. This is the brace to push up on the joists to lift the roof.
That’s jacked up, man.
Then I put a 4×4 in the post anchor and aligned to the lifted post. Ran an auger drill bit through the good wood. Bind these together with threaded rod, washers and bolts.
Repeat for 3 posts, each a mildly different story that rhymes with the first.
Top beam is lifted to level
I think it worked, or at least is a solid C grade. Some of the rafters in the roof that had shivered from being unsupported came back together, so some marked improvement is in place.
Still cant keep the goats out of here though. They are persistent.
Tractors use tools that pin in place to 3 points on the back, called a 3 point hitch. Remarkably, the ancient 9n uses the same mounts and drives as category 1 tractors today. This means nearly a century of tractor tools all work together.
Meanwhile, I look at my laptop and recognize 5 different computer ports. 1 of these have been replaced with newer versions of the same port since I bought it two years ago. Engineering has changed(!)
Pulled on a trailer to be pulled on a tractor
There was a promising ad on craigslist. It had a difficult to find implement, the dirt scoop. It’s a big dumping bucket that pulls behind the tractor to scrape up earth and move it elsewhere. $150
He was recently retired and thinning out his stuff, no more horses because 30 years was enough. His wife is a decade younger and has more work to do, but he told her she could work until he was able to sell most of their things. Then they’ll switch to travel in RV all across America before settling down somewhere. It was a good conversation.
The gentleman had a high quality 6ft blade to level and grade surfaces behind the tractor, eg, can level a gravel driveway. $400.
He loaded these on the trailer with his tractor, then asked how I was going to get them off. Being new and flush with the Dunning-Kruger high, I said I would get a furniture dolly or something under it. Can’t be that heavy, right? He laughed, said hang on and drove the tractor away.
Boom lift doing yard curls
He came back with a boom lift. It is an arm that mounts to the hydraulic lift on the (back) 3pt hitch of the tractor. It makes a kind of crane out of the hydraulics.
I asked how much, he said no. I said no really, he said no it’s a gift, go use it and teach the boys how to be safe around it.
People can be a real blessing, and so I said thank you to him and then to God that night when we prayed.
…now I was confident I can get anything off this trailer, so more to come
Safety signage is an important part of any shared working space. When it’s just me in the shop, I know how to use tools safely and I don’t need to put signs up. The moment it becomes a shared workspace, safety and organization requirements change.
Recently the boys have started working in the shop to build and design (glue and glue and glue) As they continue to develop and sharpen their skills, they’ll take a bigger footprint and use more tools.
Creative development space
The big challenge is getting my co workers to clean up after themselves. Maybe I’ll get some of the signs for that later. But first…
Life lessons come early
Keep your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings. The mystery of nature must never be underappreciated.
