Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[farmerjan]

If you have alot of rock, I would suggest not getting an auger but getting a post driver. We have alot of rock and ledge here in this part of Va. Next to every single professional fence builder has a driver. A few have augers, but they will get torn up on the rocks AND if you go to breaking a pto shaft, it is expensive. The drivers take a little more care of your fingers to make sure they do not get in the way, but you can easily move the post a foot one way or another if you run into rock or ledge and not tear anything up. We have a driver. And there is no having to fill in holes, tamping and all that. We try to drive posts when we have had some moisture because super dry ground will cause them to occasionally get broken off it you put too much "oomph" into it. The posts here seem to stay "tighter" in the ground when driven.
Just a suggestion.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

If you have alot of rock, I would suggest not getting an auger but getting a post driver. We have alot of rock and ledge here in this part of Va. Next to every single professional fence builder has a driver. A few have augers, but they will get torn up on the rocks AND if you go to breaking a pto shaft, it is expensive. The drivers take a little more care of your fingers to make sure they do not get in the way, but you can easily move the post a foot one way or another if you run into rock or ledge and not tear anything up. We have a driver. And there is no having to fill in holes, tamping and all that. We try to drive posts when we have had some moisture because super dry ground will cause them to occasionally get broken off it you put too much "oomph" into it. The posts here seem to stay "tighter" in the ground when driven.
Just a suggestion.

Thanks! I will mention it to hubby. There seems to be a lot of rock in some areas and less in others. Still haven't figured out if the areas of less rock are just from fill dirt or what. Some areas smell strongly of horse when I was playing with the garden hose so I assume there's a lot of mostly composted horse manure. Good for the plants.

The big rocks we dug out so far would have ripped up an auger, but I think it could have handled the smaller rocks. I've got enough rocks to build a small retaining wall.

Going to try to get some garden beds going and plant the garlic and onions I bought. I'm late putting them in, but I'm hoping they will still do ok. I think I can make some row covers/shields using the old fencing to keep animals away from the plants.

Apparently I need to relocate my compost pile, because hubby wants to move the quail container from the driveway center to the side closer to the storage shipping container. Once that's moved, I think we can put a roof between the containers to have a storage zone for his boat and the tractor. Dunno when the tractor will be arriving.

 

[thistlebloom]

The tractor news is exciting!

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss Larsen Poultry Ranch,

Regarding post hole diggers / augers and post drivers, they all have advantages and disadvantages. The 3 pt hitch auger is the cheapest but not ideal for some applications, as they have no downward pressure to force themselves into the ground, Miss Babsbag complained about that and thus used a walk-behind Bobcat with a hydraulic post hole digger. You can get hydraulic post hole diggers for tractors, but they are more expensive. Here are some YouTube videos for the different types.

Senile Texas Aggie

3 pt PTO auger ("Red Tool House")

front hydraulic auger ("Messick's")

post driver ("Stoney Ridge Farmer")

 

[farmerjan]

Leave it to @Senile_Texas_Aggie to come up with some good videos on stuff. We have a shaver driver. Yes it is loud, and it does a good job. Ours does the same...levels side to side, lean forward or back. The good thing is that if the tractor is not sitting level, you level the driver and the post will go in straight. I had to smile at the nice level ground they were driving in..... boy if only........... I bet we don't have 100 feet of straight flat ground like that. At least not for pasture. Anything that nice is crop ground..... the hills and rocks are for pasture!!!!!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Yeah, it's nice watching YouTube videos to learn stuff, but they don't seem to ever show how it works on a slope. Probably too much cussing to show it on a public forum, lol. I had a heck of a time getting the t post ties on, even with the little tool when the post wasn't perfectly vertical and the wire was pulled down the slope.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Feeling a bit frustrated with lack of progress on the property, but it's hard to stay motivated when I get home after dark. Going to try to make a point to keep the tv off when I get home tonight to get some stuff done instead of getting sucked into the comfy couch and relaxing in front of the TV. Quail need butchering, cages need cleaning, tree branches need to be chopped up and moved, compost pile needs to be moved, firewood needs to be brought in, and inside chores need to get done too.

I'm hoping we can get some outside stuff done tonight and then finish the floor in the master bedroom. I know hubby is frustrated how slow it's going together, but I am trying to be careful of the pattern on the planks as I don't want to have the pattern repeat right next to itself. So, I numbered the patterns and have tracked the planks I put down so no repeats so far. We stopped Sunday one plank shy of the doorway; once that is cut to make the transition we just have a nice easy rectangle area to finish. I want to get the baseboard cut and installed before we move furniture in.

After baseboard is installed will bug him to upgrade the outlets and light switches, and install overhead can lights.

 

[Nao57]

Hello all, I finally decided to create a journal. I currently live in Placer County, CA in a house on .31 acres with my significant other. I am an accountant and he is an electrician. Together we have 2 cats, 7 rabbits, turkeys, chickens, coturnix quail, button quail, and a dog. The cats currently live with us but the other animals have been moved to our folks' places while we work on the house to get it ready to sell.

We want to buy a property with 10 or more acres so we have space for all the animals and hobbies we dream of having. We have been searching for a while but finally found a property that looks great, the only catch is the seller doesn't want any contingencies, so we need to sell before we can offer. If that falls through, there are a few other properties we have looked at, but this is the only one (MAJOR fixer) with all utilities and a house in our price range.

My goal is to eventually be mostly self sufficient. I can raise and butcher poultry and rabbits, and have helped butcher a pig (BF raised them for 4H). I like to garden but previously did not have a
dedicated space for a vegetable garden. If we get our acreage I will be planting an orchard too.

The orchard idea is nice. It does take some time, but its amazing to count on free food every year.

 

[Bruce]

Ooh, a FREE tractor! That would be nice.

If you have alot of rock, I would suggest not getting an auger but getting a post driver.

Depends a lot on the rock. Not going to pound a post, metal or wood, into ledge. And if you hit a big rock you don't know if it is that and moving the post a foot or so would help since it COULD be ledge. The guys had to drill 5 of the 6 holes for the screw anchors for my upcoming solar ground mount.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Got some stuff done last night but not as much as we wanted. Floor wasn't finished.

Ordered the plant cuttings and rootstock, for shipping in Dec-Jan. Got a confirmation email so hopefully will get info on ship date soon. I ordered a gazillion plants, I hope I can keep them alive. I tried to be good but there were so many tempting plants. I ordered 4 peach rootstock as hubby loves peaches. Really hoping I can get a few different kinds of scion wood once the rootstock is settled to get different peaches so we can have a long season. I ordered 2 cherry tree rootstock, and I might be able to snag a scion from my parent's trees, they grow a ton of cherries if we keep up on the trees. They are due for a trim this dormant season, I think they haven't been trimmed for several years and the production shows it.

Not going to list all the plants here but will take pics and list once they arrive.