Labour Saving and General Guntering

ruwithme

Having watched a couple of farming you tubers in recent days, land rollers got mentioned & water in them maybe freezing over the winter & them cracking the barrel in a real hard frost if the barrel wasn't drained early in the winter.

Don't know how common this is,but my father put used engine oil in the roller here in the past & never needed to concern with draining it every season end.

Reggie.

ruwithme wrote: »

Having watched a couple of farming you tubers in recent days, land rollers got mentioned & water in them maybe freezing over the winter & them cracking the barrel in a real hard frost if the barrel wasn't drained early in the winter.

Don't know how common this is,but my father put used engine oil in the roller here in the past & never needed to concern with draining it every season end.

Or at least put in antifreeze

Sharpyshoot

Anti freeze trumps engine oil.

rushvalley

ruwithme wrote: »

Having watched a couple of farming you tubers in recent days, land rollers got mentioned & water in them maybe freezing over the winter & them cracking the barrel in a real hard frost if the barrel wasn't drained early in the winter.

Don't know how common this is,but my father put used engine oil in the roller here in the past & never needed to concern with draining it every season end.

Our roller is full of waste oil too, don't have to worry about frost

wrangler

rushvalley wrote: »

Our roller is full of waste oil too, don't have to worry about frost

My roller is full of only water since 1985 ,

emaherx

wrangler wrote: »

My roller is full of only water since 1985 ,

Similar here. The oil filled roller sounds like a potential environmental disaster down the road.

patsy_mccabe

emaherx wrote: »

Similar here. The oil filled roller sounds like a potential environmental disaster down the road.

Plus, if you want to reduce weight in the roller by letting out oil, how do you do that?

DBK1

emaherx wrote: »

Similar here. The oil filled roller sounds like a potential environmental disaster down the road.

That’d be my thoughts as well.

I have mine about 90% full of water so that if it freezes there’s room for expansion. The local soccer club used to borrow it every year before the winter to roll the pitches. I hooked it up to the lift arms one spring and knew the tractor wasn’t as light out front as it would normally be so I said I better check it. One side full to the neck and the other side empty. I started filling the empty side and the water started coming out the centre. Had to pull it all apart and weld up the centre of one barrell.

I questioned the lad from the soccer club and he told me when they got it they wanted it as heavy as possible so filled it to the top. They never let any back out when finished and never told me what they done.

They didn’t get the loan of it any more.

Wildsurfer

emaherx wrote: »

Similar here. The oil filled roller sounds like a potential environmental disaster down the road.

The kowloon bridge was an environmental disaster. A roller full of oil not so much.

wrangler

DBK1 wrote: »

That’d be my thoughts as well.

I have mine about 90% full of water so that if it freezes there’s room for expansion. The local soccer club used to borrow it every year before the winter to roll the pitches. I hooked it up to the lift arms one spring and knew the tractor wasn’t as light out front as it would normally be so I said I better check it. One side full to the neck and the other side empty. I started filling the empty side and the water started coming out the centre. Had to pull it all apart and weld up the centre of one barrell.

I questioned the lad from the soccer club and he told me when they got it they wanted it as heavy as possible so filled it to the top. They never let any back out when finished and never told me what they done.

They didn’t get the loan of it any more.

Never a borrower or lender be

emaherx

Wildsurfer wrote: »

The kowloon bridge was an environmental disaster. A roller full of oil not so much.

It's hardly great though is it? especially if everyone did it. Sooner or later the rollers will leak.

DBK1

wrangler wrote: »

Never a borrower or lender be

When it’s for a local sports club or the like where lots of people get a benefit you like to try do a bit to help them out but lesson learned.

ruwithme

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Plus, if you want to reduce weight in the roller by letting out oil, how do you do that?

If your rollers too heavy patsy, your grounds not yet fit for rolling,so stay out of it til it is.farmer's nowadays,many don't have the patience of lads gone before us in the job.

wrangler

ruwithme wrote: »

If your rollers too heavy patsy, your grounds not yet fit for rolling,so stay out of it til it is.farmer's nowadays,many don't have the patience of lads gone before us in the job.

Agreed, rollers even if they're full are harmless, A roller weighs 2.5 ton spread over 8ft, where as a tractor is 4 ton plus on 15 inch wide wheels

vincenzolorenzo

emaherx wrote: »

Similar here. The oil filled roller sounds like a potential environmental disaster down the road.

Oil also lighter than water. Would have thought a gap at the top of the water level would be more than enough to stop it cracking

patsy_mccabe

ruwithme wrote: »

If your rollers too heavy patsy, your grounds not yet fit for rolling,so stay out of it til it is.farmer's nowadays,many don't have the patience of lads gone before us in the job.

So a light rolling at reseeding is what? I don't have a roller, by the way, only a chain harrow. Rollers compact the ground.

Kevhog1988

DBK1 wrote: »

When it’s for a local sports club or the like where lots of people get a benefit you like to try do a bit to help them out but lesson learned.

Anything like that its nearly easier to do it yourself than borrow someone the machine.

Grueller

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

Anything like that its nearly easier to do it yourself than borrow someone the machine.

Same as. Local soccer club here get me to roll the pitch every spring. Its only over the road and I do it after the supper some evening. Rather that than giving out the tractor and roller.

minerleague

In terms of labour saving has any suckler/drystock farmer here fenced off a passageway for moving cattle with posts and wire but no stone? long narrow farm here and to get cows and calves to yard I put up white cord and pigtails to make temporary passage, works ok but when older cows
realize going all the way to yard they tend to stop and bunch up and sometimes bust out, also takes a bit off time putting up and taking down. Would ground turn to mush without stone? ( only be using rarely) or is it a waste of ground ?

mr.stonewall

minerleague wrote: »

In terms of labour saving has any suckler/drystock farmer here fenced off a passageway for moving cattle with posts and wire but no stone? long narrow farm here and to get cows and calves to yard I put up white cord and pigtails to make temporary passage, works ok but when older cows
realize going all the way to yard they tend to stop and bunch up and sometimes bust out, also takes a bit off time putting up and taking down. Would ground turn to mush without stone? ( only be using rarely) or is it a waste of ground ?

Roadways are never a waste of ground. They are a necessity, the time save moving cattle huge and cattle get into the hang of being moved as it the fresh grass at the end of the trip. I'm on an ex dairy farm it's a pleasure. Still putting in short extensions every year. Lucky to have slig on the farm.
So handy as it really becomes a one man job. Even access for machinery is great,

What about doing a bit of the roadway which gets the heavy traffic and a few of the softer spots and then do a small bit every year. Roads that dont get much traffic, grow grass and in wet weather it is handy to graze a few on it without damage.

minerleague

mr.stonewall wrote: »

Roadways are never a waste of ground. They are a necessity, the time save moving cattle huge and cattle get into the hang of being moved as it the fresh grass at the end of the trip. I'm on an ex dairy farm it's a pleasure. Still putting in short extensions every year. Lucky to have slig on the farm.
So handy as it really becomes a one man job. Even access for machinery is great,

What about doing a bit of the roadway which gets the heavy traffic and a few of the softer spots and then do a small bit every year. Roads that dont get much traffic, grow grass and in wet weather it is handy to graze a few on it without damage.

Yes that would be the idea, lock the cows on it in dry weather for an hour to graze any grass, and stone a section from the yard every year. Think I'll put it in ( herd test coming up soon )

patsy_mccabe

mr.stonewall wrote: »

Roadways are never a waste of ground. They are a necessity, the time save moving cattle huge and cattle get into the hang of being moved as it the fresh grass at the end of the trip. I'm on an ex dairy farm it's a pleasure. Still putting in short extensions every year. Lucky to have slig on the farm.
So handy as it really becomes a one man job. Even access for machinery is great,

What about doing a bit of the roadway which gets the heavy traffic and a few of the softer spots and then do a small bit every year. Roads that dont get much traffic, grow grass and in wet weather it is handy to graze a few on it without damage.

No, I've done just that and it works a treat. Pigtails are left there permanently. I can get cows and sucklers into a pen in the corner of the field that way no bother. It's about 20 feet wide and I just treat it like a long narrow paddock. I leave it to graze on the day I want it, like next Tuesday when I have my Herd Test.

wrangler

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

No, I've done just that and it works a treat. Pigtails are left there permanently. I can get cows and sucklers into a pen in the corner of the field that way no bother. It's about 20 feet wide and I just treat it like a long narrow paddock. I leave it to graze on the day I want it, like next Tuesday when I have my Herd Test.

A sheep farmer in the north has similar, a great job, treats them as a paddock too

patsy_mccabe

minerleague wrote: »

In terms of labour saving has any suckler/drystock farmer here fenced off a passageway for moving cattle with posts and wire but no stone? long narrow farm here and to get cows and calves to yard I put up white cord and pigtails to make temporary passage, works ok but when older cows
realize going all the way to yard they tend to stop and bunch up and sometimes bust out, also takes a bit off time putting up and taking down. Would ground turn to mush without stone? ( only be using rarely) or is it a waste of ground ?

No, I've done just that and it works a treat. Pigtails are left there permanently. I can get cows and sucklers into a pen in the corner of the field that way no bother. It's about 20 feet wide and I just treat it like a long narrow paddock. I leave it to graze on the day I want it, like next Tuesday when I have my Herd Test.

(Sorry, I replied to the wrong post above)

Aravo

minerleague wrote: »

In terms of labour saving has any suckler/drystock farmer here fenced off a passageway for moving cattle with posts and wire but no stone? long narrow farm here and to get cows and calves to yard I put up white cord and pigtails to make temporary passage, works ok but when older cows
realize going all the way to yard they tend to stop and bunch up and sometimes bust out, also takes a bit off time putting up and taking down. Would ground turn to mush without stone? ( only be using rarely) or is it a waste of ground ?

Have some corridors created here with post and electric fence. Have another bit to do here, it's main purpose is for EASILY moving cattle for test or dosing. Otherwise it's generally a nightmare.
They can also be grazed. No silage taken from these areas.

minerleague

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

No, I've done just that and it works a treat. Pigtails are left there permanently. I can get cows and sucklers into a pen in the corner of the field that way no bother. It's about 20 feet wide and I just treat it like a long narrow paddock. I leave it to graze on the day I want it, like next Tuesday when I have my Herd Test.

(Sorry, I replied to the wrong post above)

Thanks to everyone who responded, I'm guessing at 20 feet wide its wide enough to graze but narrow enough for 1 person to herd cattle forward. Would you be able to move 1 cow for AI at that width? an finally do you move machinery along these green corridors ( slurry + silage traffic )

roosterman71

minerleague wrote: »

Would you be able to move 1 cow for AI at that width?

Yeah you should. Maybe bring a few though together so you aren't splitting a single animal from the herd

minerleague wrote: »

an finally do you move machinery along these green corridors ( slurry + silage traffic )

I wouldn't unless it was very dry. Traffic will eventually break the crust and you'd be left with tracks from the wheels. If it's anyway wet it would turn to muck very quickly

patsy_mccabe

minerleague wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who responded, I'm guessing at 20 feet wide its wide enough to graze but narrow enough for 1 person to herd cattle forward. Would you be able to move 1 cow for AI at that width? an finally do you move machinery along these green corridors ( slurry + silage traffic )

I'll measure it later. Land is dry and only used for grazing. Only traffic on it is tractor with fertiliser spreader. topper etc.

Just measured it there on Google Earth. It's shown 30feet and runs for 170 yards. Mine is a little wide, but I used an upright in the pen to attach it to. 20 feet should be better.

Markcheese

Wildsurfer wrote: »

The kowloon bridge was an environmental disaster. A roller full of oil not so much.

You're right ,tis all relative ,
I know of someone who had a tank of oil leak into his well , he thought it was an environmental disaster , a very expensive one ...

Thoughts on this as if it works it could save me a few headaches - namely having anything to do with my nemesis, a petrol water pump that refuses to work 100% of the time I really need it.

I often see farmers asking how to pump water, my own issue is often the sources of water on my farm are in low spots with no flow, ponds, lakes etc. If something lower tech works then I'd rather not be dicking around with engines, solar, or windmills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHJUl5wl9WI&t=3s

If the above gets water out of a pond or lake, the next question I'd have is would it then drive a ram pump to pump water uphill?