Faith & Family on the Farm: The new addition...

It took a ton of logistical planning, including 4 people to do chores and 2 people to care for the kids, for us to make a quick trip to Pennsylvania to pick up our new purchase.

We’ve been looking for a vintage Ford truck. Earlier this year I had plans of picking one up, and even showing it at the Don Boak benefit car show at Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers.

So, here it is, folks!
(You might have to use your imagination. A little black paint... some tires... an engine would help…..)

No, it is not a John Deere! However, it matches that one yellow rim on the tractor quite nicely!

…yeah, I know. It’s not my truck. It’s Hustler Bale Unroller. Reality kicked in and our responsible selves won over our desire to reward ourselves for hard work.

The closest dealership that carries these is located in northwest Pennsylvania. We made arrangements with our friends who farm there, had the machine delivered to their farm and picked it up on Saturday. We negotiated the price as best as we could, gaining an extra 5% off retail (for %15 total) if we paid in full ahead of time. So we got to pick up a new machine, visit with old friends, and enjoy some time off.

If you know these folks, you know we had a great visit! Our 4.5 hours seemed like mere minutes.

In the winter of 2003 into 2004 we owned 1 tractor with a set of bales tines on the back. It didn’t even have a loader. To feed the cows hay in the winter we would roll the hay out by hand. We milked at 10am and 10pm then, to accommodate Rick’s job, so around midnight each night we would go out and roll enough hay out for the next day. It was a lot of work. A LOT. When the snow got deep for a time, we borrowed a skid steer and lined up bales of hay in a small paddock. We used round bale feeders and polytape to feed the cows one row at a time. The problem with the round bale feeders is the mess the cows make when they congregate around a bale feeder. Remember, at this time we only had 1 tractor for our line of equipment. We couldn’t afford to create more work. So we started rollin’ them out again.

In November of 2004 we scraped together every last penny we could spare and bought a DML bale unroller. The relief that thing brought is almost unexplainable. It was the best $4500.00 we spent and the first piece of equipment we bought with cash. Winter was much more tolerable with the bale unroller.

Our old Bale feeder.

Now, 10 years later, it needs some serious repair. The chain that unrolls the bale is British Standard Chain. British Standard Chain is a custom-order only item that requires 4 months for delivery, and total repair costs were going to be around $2000.00 As is, the DML can only unroll off of one side now, and let’s just say you operate it with as much care as possible.

The thought of getting rid of that first bale unroller was almost unbearable. I know-it’s a piece of equipment, just a hunk of metal. But if you rolled out as many bales of hay as I did that first winter, you’d understand why I feel that way. So let’s just say it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. We’ll keep it as a back-up, and then when the chain breaks we’ll take it to the scrapyard. It wouldn’t be ethical to sell a machine that requires that much effort to get it repaired, anyway. British Standard Chain….really?

My e-devotional this week included a verse from Proverbs 24:27
Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.
(we should carry out our work in proper order)

Growing up we were often reminded that “the barn will build the house”. The verse in my email was conformation that we did the right thing. While it would have been more fun to drive home a “new-to-me” truck, not having to roll out bales by hand when the chain breaks on the old machine sounds way more appealing.

Here are some other snapshots of our quick trip: