To run a smallholding you need to spend money and if you want to do it on a shoestring you need an army of volunteer helpers.
We dont have the army of people, we get visitors but then they are here on holiday so 99% of the work falls to me and Martin.
We dont mind after all this is our lifestyle choice.
Here are some recent purchases
We got a baler old but working it will do us fine, I have managed to download a manual off the internet.
This is a windrow, it puts all the dry cut grass in a row for the baler to along and pick up.
This is a tedder it tosses and turns the cut grass to help it dry ready for baling
a crane that works off the tractor its surprising how many times we need to lift really heavy things and if there is just you two oldies it can be a struggle.
A field roller we were looking for one earlier this year to flatten the ruts in the ground were the buffalo had been grazing and couldnt find one, then when Martin went to see the baler the fella also had a field roller, good result.
Cattle crush, we have had to buy this in new as we needed an extra wide one for the buffalo to get in even extra wide is going to be a squeeze for them, but vets dont like to treat or do TB testing on them without the restrains of a crush, one swing of those horned heads could cause some damage.
I dont blame the vets one bit, animals are unpredictable and sick or injured animals are even worse.
So its been a few weeks of spending but its all needed
Martin has been out since early this morning before the sun breaks through and heats things up, cutting the field we to take hay off.
We've been looking at equipment recently ourselves, so I can definitely relate to this post. The haying equipment is a tremendous asset! Great choices.
ReplyDeleteWow more steps to closer to your goals, I love you share your journey.
ReplyDeleteI take my hat off to you and Martin, you are extremely committed. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHopefully a good hay year. My dear farmer would have been in his element - there hasn't been a year like this for years. So good luck for a massive hay crop. I shall have to imagine the wonderful smell.
ReplyDeleteBrought up on a farm, so of your buys are what we used to have, BOY !!! did we think Dad was the dogs do-dahs when he bought the first combine harvester in our area !! I still remember how those stooks of corn and wheat, cut and grazed your arms lol
ReplyDeleteTilly
Great purchases Dawn. I especially like the field equipment.
ReplyDeleteOnce again you amaze with what you take on. Best wishes for what is ahead.
ReplyDeleteGood purchases - making your own small-bale hay will be much better than having to struggle with large-bale stuff. You have certainly got some good labour-saving devices there. We always struggled with fencing as we did everything by hand (post knocking by hand is a killer).
ReplyDeleteHope your hay is all done and dusted before the threatened storm this weekend.
Hi, Dawn. I've just found this when I followed a link from Sooze's blog and I hope it's OK to follow. It looks extremely interesting. J x
ReplyDeleteGood on you for keeping the old equipment going. Like people and houses, a little regular care goes a long way! My hubbie mows our pastures with a pull behind mower that he thinks is "fifty or sixty years old". Whatever. It does the job
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