Nothing Works Unless You Do!

Rick informed me that 806 gas would need a new clutch soon.  He asked if I wanted that done before or after vacation.  He was really asking when it would cash flow the best.  I said anytime would do, but he should know one thing.  When vacation time came, I would be going, no matter what-so if there was some sort of equipment failure, and he had to stay home, I would still be going.

 

The parts arrived the next week. :)

 

To put a new clutch in the 806, it first has to be "split".  They actually separate the tractor into two pieces.  In a nutshell, they take the tin off and support the tractor in the appropriate places.  Next, a series of 10 bolts are unscrewed.  At this point the tractor is split, and you can separate the two sections.  Amazing, right? 10 bolts hold that whole thing together!

 

The bell housing is exposed and they can replace the clutch.  Its been 14 years since we put a clutch in this tractor, and we replaced it with an improved version.  We have a good friend who helps guide Rick along in these projects.  It is much easier to do them at home in our own shop than take the tractor to the dealership.

 

 

 

Tin removed; jacks in place; un-bolting begins

Rick cleans up the flywheel, where the starter hooks up to start the tractor. The new clutch goes through the center.

Two pieces!

Pressure plate installed! The clutch is in between the flywheel and the pressure plate.

Done!  Rick was also going to replace some gaskets and seals while he had it in the shop.

 

Rick said the other tractor (806 diesel) would need a new clutch too, but he was going to wait until March to replace that one.  Its hard to think about spring planting and haying, but now is the time to prepare for it!  Everything needs to be ready to go when the fields are.



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Earlier this year on facebook I shared a photo of a new chore chart system.  I got the idea from pinterest, of course.  The link to that is here.  I did not have time for staining, painting and distressing of wood, so I simplified the project some.

*Family means working together*
I used a clear poly over a plain old board and stick on decals and letters to make the project faster.




The kids will start with the tags (business cards created using Avery templates and covered in clear contact paper) on the board, then move them to the hangers beneath the board as they complete them.  When they're done, they see an encouraging "Great Job!" card.  The cards to the far left are for extra points as Rick and I think of tasks we would like help doing.  The cards on the right are chores not done each day.


 

Rules and Point Chart.  Each task carries a point amount which is tallied each day.  They can earn "opportunities" like Wii time, movies, etc.


 

Another version of this type of chore board has the quote "nothing works unless you do".  That is very true for the person responsible for facilitating the points and assigning the daily chores.  The success of this new system depends on the kids about 10% and me the other 90%.  I'm going to do my best!
Stay warm!
-Terri

Farmer's Day Off

Last week, Rick and Kid #1 took a day off.  What do farmers do on their day off?  Most likely something related to farming.  This time it was the Ft. Wayne Farm Show.  For many years now Rick has made this annual trip with some other seasoned farmers.

A day off constitutes not having to work during daylight hours, so Kid #1 helped with morning chores before they left.  He did an extra day of school during Christmas break to make up for being gone.

This year I sent the camera with them.  Along with oodles of pencils, notepads, and little gadgets, they brought home a couple of snapshots.

While they did this....

I did this.

One of our team members and I did afternoon chores.  I had a sitter for the other kids, and we all enjoyed the change in pace from our regular afternoon schedule. 

Saturday night we had a great time at the Friends of 4-H dinner.  This annual fundraiser is planned, organized, and hosted by volunteers (read :4-H parents) and is always a lot of fun. Along with a excellent meal there is entertainment, games, and a silent auction.  It is so much fun to see your former fellow 4-Hers compete against each other in silly competitions...it takes you right back to fair. So take heart current 4-Hers: if you can't beat them now, there's still time!

We went home with some neat items from the auction including some movie tickets, a food stand gift certificate, local honey, and some tools.  All very useful items-and none of them will clutter up the house! Win!

These next couple of weeks will be spent doing normal chores outside, prepping for dry-up, and finishing up all the business related tasks involved with self employment.  I'm happy to say we've got our balance sheet, cash flow projection, 2014 inventory, CSP records, and W-2s done!  Now onto 1099s, our tax appointment worksheets/summary, and finally getting a year end summary to the bank. If there was one month I would trade Employer for Employee....it would be January!

Happy Tax Season!
I think I'll start planning MY day off! :)
-Terri

The Results are In!

This morning we had our annual herd check.  The vet comes out and checks the cows to see if they are pregnant.  Today we had Nick, and we had a great time.  Yes....herd checks can be fun.  We checked 118 cows (117 of ours & "Bessie") in about 2 hours.

We use a highly sophisticated system of boards and barrels and make the vet walk the plank.  This was actually Dr. Mike's idea a couple of years ago.  Before we checked them from inside the rail, guiding one cow in at a time.  The plank is much faster!

 

 

If you didn't know how a veterinarian checks a cow...you do now.  Most of the time they can tell how far along she is by feeling the size of a particular artery inside her.  If she is not that far along, they can also use their ultrasound.  They see the ultrasound picture on those glasses Nick is wearing on his head.  It's pretty interesting!

 

 



We keep record of how far along each cow is in the "blue notebook".  Here, the blue notebook is equivalent to Dairy Comp 305.

All of our breeding records are right here on this one sheet of notebook paper.  We record each cow's name under the correct column, which range from 4 months to 7 months.  We also have an "open" column.  This drives some producers nuts.  They think we ought to use the latest software program, and know exactly which day each cow is due.   Being a mother 5 times over, I have never given birth on my exact due date....cows don't either.   All we care to know is that the majority of the cows will calve in April and May, with some stragglers in June.  If you flip this page over and view it like a bar graph, you'll see that we will have some late March calves, a whole bunch in April and May, and about 15 or so in June.  Perfect!  We don't even care which cows calve when, just as long as the majority calve in the "window".   We also take note of when we put the bulls in (June 30th 2014) and when we took them out (September 28th 2014).  We don't need a software program or a breeding wheel with stickers to know when the cows were exposed to the bull and when they are going to calve.  Either they get bred-or they don't.

6 did not! That is a great number.  We are quite pleased with this year's results.  Bessie, the cow we've been babysitting for Mom and Dad, also did not get bred.  I told Mom I would ship her for them (put her on their account at the stockyard) so Dad would not be tempted to give her another chance.....

I also took some other notes.  We had a whole bunch of cows that need ear tags replaced, and I kept track of how many cows the kids have milking.  This does not include bred heifers.
Kid #1: 5
Kid #2: 5
Kid #3: 2
Kid #4: 1

All of their cows were bred this year! They are excited and hoping for heifer calves.