Livestock/General Farming photo thread READ MOD NOTE IN POST #1

againstthetide · 31-05-2013 02:28AM

Damo810 wrote: »

I wonder, will she go through an 8 foot gate?

No bother to her but you would looking for a new gate and maybe post afterwards!

just do it · 31-05-2013 01:07PM

2" limestone arriving to fill tile drains.

Laying a few inches along the bottom.

4" corrie pipe will go on top of this and then fill the drains with stone. You can see the soil structure is a few inches of peat on top of impermeable grey clay.

Muckit · 31-05-2013 01:16PM

Well God bless the work. I hope all goes well. It should help dry thing s up. How big of an area are you draining JUst do it?

nashmach · 31-05-2013 03:26PM

Fleet of 165's and 135's drawing there - I hope you weren't shovelling all that in too!

Fine job there, looks

JohnBoy · 31-05-2013 04:04PM

perfect weather for work like that, warm, not hot.

bbam · 31-05-2013 04:57PM

http://youtu.be/pMK3O00Fyo0

Mini Hay Baler..
Just got sent this link... Handy, but I'd say it would get tiresome.

just do it · 31-05-2013 06:43PM

Muckit wrote: »

Well God bless the work. I hope all goes well. It should help dry thing s up. How big of an area are you draining JUst do it?

Nothing major Muckit, 3 acres. Was completely overgrown 5yrs ago. A few goes with the topper revealed a natural kind of hump and hollow with 2 hollows leading directly to a trench. Wasn't grazed hardly since last july due to being so wet. I remember hay being saved here as a kid so looking forward to getting it back into that condition.

just do it · 31-05-2013 06:48PM

nashmach wrote: »

Fleet of 165's and 135's drawing there - I hope you weren't shovelling all that in too!

Fine job there, looks

Jeez you know your tractors! Took all day to shovel in stone for under the pipe so I don't think the rest will be done in the same fashion! Laid the pipe today as well so ready for back fill now.

Glad I did it though, was muddy in spots and pipes could have got blocked quick enough without it.

mikeoh · 31-05-2013 07:34PM

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/5930/imag0572v.jpg a few lads for next year

mikeoh · 31-05-2013 07:42PM

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9485/imag0593sg.jpg neighbours bull beat the AI man to the job!! A January calf out of pb Angus cow

delaval · 31-05-2013 07:50PM

Heading home

Muckit · 31-05-2013 07:52PM

delaval wrote: »

Heading home

Holy f**K.... how many are you milking?!?!:eek:

delaval · 31-05-2013 07:55PM

Muckit wrote: »

Holy f**K.... how many are you milking?!?!:eek:

I think there's about 80 there:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Dr. Sh1te · 31-05-2013 08:00PM

just do it wrote: »

2" limestone arriving to fill tile drains.

Laying a few inches along the bottom.
4" corrie pipe will go on top of this and then fill the drains with stone. You can see the soil structure is a few inches of peat on top of impermeable grey clay.

Just do it,

what do you do with the 'muck' that's dug up from digging the drain?

mf240 · 31-05-2013 08:04PM

Just do it would you chance a couple of them without a pipe as an experiment.

I done plenty of it without pipes and it was a success.
Make sure you bring the stone up to top of the impermeable clay.

That will make the best of land good luck with it.

pakalasa · 31-05-2013 08:05PM

Dr. Sh1te wrote: »

.....

Dr. Sh1te. Great username.
So you've a PhD in Sh1teology.:rolleyes:

Kovu · 31-05-2013 08:05PM

Dr. Sh1te wrote: »

Just do it,

what do you do with the 'muck' that's dug up from digging the drain?

Apt username for that question!

delaval · 31-05-2013 08:08PM

just do it wrote: »

2" limestone arriving to fill tile drains.

Laying a few inches along the bottom.
4" corrie pipe will go on top of this and then fill the drains with stone. You can see the soil structure is a few inches of peat on top of impermeable grey clay.

What's that implement in your hand?

Muckit · 31-05-2013 08:17PM

pakalasa wrote: »

Dr. Sh1te. Great username.
So you've a PhD in Sh1teology.:rolleyes:

Plenty of lads with that qualification!

just do it · 31-05-2013 09:20PM

Dr. Sh1te wrote: »

Just do it,

what do you do with the 'muck' that's dug up from digging the drain?

Sell it on ebay;)

Seriously, track machine will level it and it grass will grow up through it.

just do it · 31-05-2013 09:24PM

mf240 wrote: »

Just do it would you chance a couple of them without a pipe as an experiment.

I done plenty of it without pipes and it was a success.
Make sure you bring the stone up to top of the impermeable clay.

That will make the best of land good luck with it.

No way! I don't want to ever have to go at it again! I went with the corri pipe to ensure it will be a permanent job. The slope isn't great so at points it will only be 18" below the surface. Also the main tile drain is way too long to chance not having a pipe in it.

I was going to bring the stone quite close to the top as the soil from the drains is peat and I don't really want to put on top of the limestone.

AntrimGlens · 31-05-2013 10:03PM

delaval wrote: »

Heading home

thats like something outa a david attenborough documentary - "The migration of delavals milkers".

AntrimGlens · 31-05-2013 10:41PM

I left work early to try and get more of my sheep yard finished, havent got near it in months. Hopefully tomorrow will have all barriers hung on the strainers with two more strainers to concrete in. Couple of walls to build along the side of the dipper and hang the gate on the footbath and hopefully ready for dipping soon. Don't look too close at the plastering.:eek:

J DEERE · 01-06-2013 10:05AM

AntrimGlens wrote: »

I left work early to try and get more of my sheep yard finished, havent got near it in months. Hopefully tomorrow will have all barriers hung on the strainers with two more strainers to concrete in. Couple of walls to build along the side of the dipper and hang the gate on the footbath and hopefully ready for dipping soon. Don't look too close at the plastering.:eek:

fine looking set up there, should make handling very easy on man and beast

just do it · 01-06-2013 08:13PM

Now lads and lassies, are ye ready for a barrage of photos?:D A lot of chopping and changing below so I hope they match up with the descriptions.

After much thought and waiting on suitable weather I've linked up my grazing paddocks with a new 100m roadway crossing a bog section of land.

Photo 1 - Before, looking back towards the shed. It doesn't look too bad but a herd of dung beetles would poach this if they got the chance! I've pretty much kept cattle off it since last summer in order to keep the top surface intact for this job.

Photo 2 - There's an open trench either side and this is preparing the first one. It's at an angle so a lot more fill was put in than necessary to allow the tractor and dump trailer reverse in a relatively straight line

Photo 3 - Crossing made and start of road. First load of spoil on terram.

Photo 4 - From the other side. Got lucky with the terram. The Department of Communications public viewer was measuring the distance between the two crossings at 98m. The 100m literally rolled out just to the lip of the trench!

Photo 5 - A panoramic view showing the pit where the spoil is coming from only 50m away from the first crossing and start of road (how lucky is that?!), the roadway in construction and the shed in the distance.

Photo 6 - View from hill where spoil was taken showing tractor and dump trailer reversing down. Some tidy driving and machine work made this possible.

Photo 7 - Spreading the spoil and levelling the road.

Photo 8 - A young boys dream, he'd a grin on him from ear to ear

Photo 9 - End result

Photo 10 - And from the other side

Photo 11 - This is the first crossing after it was tidied up. It has a 9" corripipe at the bottom. Because the trench is wide and 6-7' deep it needed a steep bank to allow for a decent width of a roadway on top. My man used 'scraws' to build up the side and did a very tasty job.

Photo 12 - Same crossing from on top showing how steep the bank is. It's not far off vertical!

Photo 13 - The crossing at the other end which is just as deep and wide, if not deeper! Machinery will have a straight run over this crossing so could afford to have a less steep bank and lose a bit of the width on top. For all that it's still not far off vertical.

just do it · 01-06-2013 08:23PM

AntrimGlens wrote: »

I left work early to try and get more of my sheep yard finished, havent got near it in months. Hopefully tomorrow will have all barriers hung on the strainers with two more strainers to concrete in. Couple of walls to build along the side of the dipper and hang the gate on the footbath and hopefully ready for dipping soon. Don't look too close at the plastering.:eek:

I know nothing about sheep but that looks like a well thought out set up. Was it built from scratch?

Muckit · 01-06-2013 08:32PM

Great work Just do it!

It should be a great management tool for you, all going well. It might seem OTT having a roadway when in sucklers and Ai'ing while they are in the shed, but it will be handy to

Stand them off in heavy rain
Drive them back to the shed for the night if needs be
Bring them in for testing/dosing etc
move them to paddocks that are out of rotation (if you are skipping paddocks)

Often toyed with the idea myself, but if I was doing it I would like to have my cake and eat it... ie the roadway to be solid, but also growing grass on the top of it! I see one lad near here that has a laneway I suppose you would call it, more than a roadway. He pulls out 2 or 3 bullocks and they graze the run every so often. Still a one man job to bring in a group of cattle, with no ground taken out of grass.

just do it · 01-06-2013 08:54PM

Muckit wrote: »

Great work Just do it! It should be a great management tool for you, all going well. It might seem OTT having a roadway when in sucklers and Ai'ing while they are in the shed, but it will be handy to
Stand them off in heavy rain

Drive them back to the shed for the night if needs be

Bring them in for testing/dosing etc

move them to paddocks that are out of rotation (if you are skipping paddocks)

Often toyed with the idea myself, but if I was doing it I would like to have my cake and eat it... ie the roadway to be solid, but also growing grass on the top of it! I see one lad near here that has a laneway I suppose you would call it, more than a roadway. He pulls out 2 or 3 bullocks and they graze the run every so often. Still a one man job to bring in a group of cattle, with no ground taken out of grass.

There are a few more drivers:

I hope in a normal Spring to have them out as early as possible so repeaters will be brought back to yard for AI.
All paddocks now lead onto a decent roadway (grass in some sections) allowing better utilisation in poor weather. Out by day has worked well for me.
Can now get slurry and fertiliser to all the farm without having loads of hassle (hassle = job doesn't get done around here!)
This roadway opens up regular access to 55% of the grazing block of the farm
Better quality grass and a few days extra grazing each year will pay for it in no time
As the spoil was close at hand it didn't cost as much as you'd think. Digger man has another day's work for me on Tuesday so when we tot up at the end I'll have an exact figure
Tried to get away with a grass roadway which ran across similar ground close to this but it went to absolute s**t. The heavier cows or in-calf cows would sink right down to their bellies and no way could you cross with machinery
This cost ~€1,000. Better in a roadway than concrete in a slurry storage tank;)

Muckit · 01-06-2013 09:12PM

Every lad knows his own ground best. I have little doubt that that roadway will pay for itself by the end of the summer

I am possibly looking at things arseways. If you are able to utilise the rest of your ground better, it is not 'lost' ground.

From my own situation only having a few acres, I am conscious of making the best use of it all. Even building a house on the farm is out because it will take a half an acre on me!!

I was reading in the IFJ that that Niall Canning who breeds SUPER charolais cattle, especially some lovely heifers, only farms 20 acres, and 5 of that are rented. Inspiring stuff!

just do it · 01-06-2013 09:43PM

Muckit wrote: »

Every lad knows his own ground best. I have little doubt that that roadway will pay for itself by the end of the summer I am possibly looking at things arseways. If you are able to utilise the rest of your ground better, it is not 'lost' ground.

From my own situation only having a few acres, I am conscious of making the best use of it all. Even building a house on the farm is out because it will take a half an acre on me!!

I was reading in the IFJ that that Niall Canning who breeds SUPER charolais cattle, especially some lovely heifers, only farms 20 acres, and 5 of that are rented. Inspiring stuff!

Yeah I know. You'd swear reading my posts that I've an extensive ranch;). But still I've watched the place deteriorate while it was leased out and always wanted to get it up to its max potential. Getting there slowly but surely and ultimately starting to treat it more and more like a business. My goal all along is that the farm would cover a future mortgage and that is still the aim. Now to get the banks back lending, that is a bigger challenge:rolleyes:

Anyway, one thing is for sure and certain. We've similar enough set-ups and we're knocking enjoyment out of it (even if that is only on boards.ie:D)

Livestock/General Farming photo thread ***READ MOD NOTE IN POST #1***

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Livestock/General Farming photo thread READ MOD NOTE IN POST #1