Finally, after 3 winters, Little Sprouts Farm will not be prone to losses through power failures! We found a good backup generator!
After lots of consideration, I came up with a list of wants about the generator:
1. diesel - engines last longer, overall efficiency higher (more power per gallon of fuel), we store diesel, but not gasoline,
2. easy to move - the kind with 4 little wheels just wont work off a concrete floor
3. at least 5KW
4. electric or manual starter
5. reasonably new
6. under $3000
We found one that matched all these criteria on Craigslist (farmers best friend) located in Bend. It is a brand new, never started Titan diesel portable generator, 5KW constant, electric start selling for $2K. We couldnt pass it up!
So we headed to bend. Unfortunately between here Medford and Bend was a rather nasty snowstorm. We ended up driving 30 MPH for about 100 miles in the blowing snow. Prudence encouraged us to spend the night and let the weather clear. I am a big believer in good tires! The tires we have on the yukon pulled right through inches of snow with a trailer in tow.
We did pass a total of 3 serious accidents on the way there and back... 2 of them rolled off the road.
Nevertheless, we made it fine, and the new generator cranked up perfectly on the first pull. All that is left is to rig up a connection to the breaker box so that we can easily plug it in and make out own power when it inevitably goes dark here.
Follow along our adventure as we make the transition from corporate city life to the world of natural farming. Each day brings a new experience and brings us to a deeper understanding about the life and spirit that made America great. At our farm we do our best to give the animals we raise a natural, free, happy, stressfree lifestyle. Our mission is to learn and share how to manage a farming operation that is both profitable and humane.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Collecting leaves and acorns
We finally got our gator vacuum running today. it is a combination of a debris loader, empty feed bags, wooden frame, window screen, platform, all mounted on a gator. First tests today are promising!
My plan is to use this to collect leaves and acorns for feed, loading directly into the feed bags for easy storage. If all goes well this will be a great use for old feed bags.
You can't sees too well in these pics, but the window screen covers one wooden frame. The other wooden frame is just a square open frame. To load out.. You pull the big end of the bad through the open frame, gold it over, set the second frame (with window screen attached) and use a couple if c clamps to hold it in place. Then you place the outlet of the debris loader into the small end if the bag and your it tight.
The suction if the debris loader in impressive! It picks up leaves, sticks , acorns, pretty much anything!
Having it all on the gator makes it ready to go into pastured and yards without leaving tire tracks.
My plan is to use this to collect leaves and acorns for feed, loading directly into the feed bags for easy storage. If all goes well this will be a great use for old feed bags.
You can't sees too well in these pics, but the window screen covers one wooden frame. The other wooden frame is just a square open frame. To load out.. You pull the big end of the bad through the open frame, gold it over, set the second frame (with window screen attached) and use a couple if c clamps to hold it in place. Then you place the outlet of the debris loader into the small end if the bag and your it tight.
The suction if the debris loader in impressive! It picks up leaves, sticks , acorns, pretty much anything!
Having it all on the gator makes it ready to go into pastured and yards without leaving tire tracks.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Turkey roost improvement
With the turkeys fully grown now...it became clear that the roost in the orchard was too small. It was filled with turkeys each night but write so few foisted on the ground, our roof, our old tv antenna, etc.
To alleviate the overcrowding, we took down the side roost of last years roost in the pasture, and added it to the new roost. That gives about 50 extra feet of roosting space. We hung it under the roof so that it its higher than the main area.
Hopefully this will make for happier turkeys!
To alleviate the overcrowding, we took down the side roost of last years roost in the pasture, and added it to the new roost. That gives about 50 extra feet of roosting space. We hung it under the roof so that it its higher than the main area.
Hopefully this will make for happier turkeys!
Backing a four wheel trailer
Is not easy! We tried to move the new egg mobile to a more permanent location, and wow thats tough!
The egg mobile is built on a car frame, so the front wheels turn with the hitch. That changes all the rules about backing, and a few about going forward.
After trying to back it up just a hundred feet, we gave up and decided forward was better. I managed to pull it out to the street and around to the front yard corner. Even that was a challenge! If the front wheels get turned the seen to take forever to straighten.
From more on.. The egg mobile goes only forward!
The chicks seemed to enjoy their ride though:)
The egg mobile is built on a car frame, so the front wheels turn with the hitch. That changes all the rules about backing, and a few about going forward.
After trying to back it up just a hundred feet, we gave up and decided forward was better. I managed to pull it out to the street and around to the front yard corner. Even that was a challenge! If the front wheels get turned the seen to take forever to straighten.
From more on.. The egg mobile goes only forward!
The chicks seemed to enjoy their ride though:)
Accident claims lives of some chicks
Sad. We lost about 25 of the layer chicks. now the flock is about 200.
It appears that during a brief winter storm, a gust of wind blew open the tarp covering the ventilation window and trained in a large splash of water. The next day we discovered a pile of cold soaked chicks, mostly already gone.
I cannot express enough the sadness we feel when such an accident claims lives, even little lives. All of our animals are precious, part of gods creation entrusted to us. It is heartbreaking to lose some.
It appears that during a brief winter storm, a gust of wind blew open the tarp covering the ventilation window and trained in a large splash of water. The next day we discovered a pile of cold soaked chicks, mostly already gone.
I cannot express enough the sadness we feel when such an accident claims lives, even little lives. All of our animals are precious, part of gods creation entrusted to us. It is heartbreaking to lose some.
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