Old Iron in Star Valley

Blog

  • Raking Alfalfa with the G and 2010

    This video is of the John Deere G and John Deere 2010 raking alfalfa. It also has some slow-motion video. Because the large baler needs to be fed so much hay, and the hay needs to be turned to dry, we rake the two rows together. Eventually it will be nice to have a twin rake that does it both in one pass. In the meantime, this is what we have–one or two tractors that rake and roll the hay together. The slow-motion of the iPhone 5s is kind of fun to watch as well.

  • Hauling Hay with the Model G

    This video shows some hay (alfalfa) being hauled with a 1950 John Deere Model G. The model G was the largest row-crop John Deere at the time, with more CI displacement than even the 4020 at 412 (vs 404, but not near the horse power). The G was replaced by the 70, which was replaced by the popular 720 and 730 series of John Deere two-cylinder tractors. The other tractor in the video is a John Deere 4020, which loaded the bales.

  • 1st Crop of Alfalfa 2014

    This video is about Harvesting the Alfalfa 1st Crop 2014. It goes from cutting the crop with a pull behind John Deere 945 MoCo Windorower (swather), Raking it with an old John Deere 2010 and side-delivery rake (retro, but when you are starting out from scratch, that’s what you have to do), and baling it with a John Deere 4640 and Hesston 4790 large square baler. Hauling with a John Deere 4230 and 1972 4020 with a front-end loader. Some of the video is shot with a Parrot AR.Drone, which, despite its lack in quality, gives some pretty neat shots.

  • Drilling with the John Deere 4640

    Discing with a John Deere 4230 with a BW disc, and drilling (planting) with a John Deere 4640 and LL-A grain drill. The drill is the device that is used to put the seed into the ground.  The harrow and the roller are there to smoothen out the ground and push down rocks, as we live in a rocky area.

    There’s also a hawk at the end that kept flying to the next wheel of the wheel line (irrigation pipe) with a mouse that it was trying to eat.

  • Calving Season Spring 2014

    It’s calving season again.  This time of year, the beef cattle have either given birth, or are close to doing so.  So far, we’ve had about 8 calves born out of a total of around 35.  They are cute little buggers when they are young.  Too bad they can’t stay that way…

    Hereford cow with her newborn calf
    Hereford cow with her newborn calf

  • Trip to Orlando FETC Conference 2014

    For the last week of January, 2014, I have been at the FETC conference in Orlando, Florida.  The end of January is a good time to go to Florida, especially when you compare it to Wyoming’s weather!  This is an educational conference that covers a wide variety of technology aspects within education.  So far, the conference has been good and informative.  I also had the opportunity to attend the most busy Apple store I’ve ever been to…

    On a side note, at home they received the largest blizzard of the winter season, with several inches of deep and heavy snow.

  • Star Light and Barn Light Photography

    Taking night photos is always fun, and produces exciting new photography.  January’s cold nights can be especially dark with a bright star-lit sky.  The only downside is–it’s cold!  It was around 5ºF when I took these photos.  Besides the fingers and camera getting cold, it was a lot of fun with desirable results.

    If you’re wondering how I was able to capture the stars–I used a Canon 5D Mark II with the ISO set higher than normal for daylight shooting, and a Canon f1.4 lens.  The 1.4 lens allows the camera to grab as much light as possible in as short of time as possible.

  • Pushing Snow with Farm King and JD 4230

    This year I purchased a snow blower to help keep the barnyard cleaned out.  The snow slides on the side of the barn to the point where it can’t slide anymore (builds up too much).  SO, with the snow blower I am able to keep it pushed out better.  It also lets me use the warmth of a cab tractor to push snow.

    This video is a time lapse that I took with the GoPro. It’s not the greatest video because it got a lot of moisture over the outer housing, and I probably shouldn’t have made it record it so fast… But, it is still kind of cool to watch anyway.

  • New Years ride on the John Deere A and 630

    Taking the tractors out for a nice winter stroll is a lot of fun–especially when you are able to take more than one out at a time!  Here’s a video I shot of the John Deere Model A and Model 630.  I was riding the A (same tractor that I restored), so the video mostly shows the 630.

  • Feeding Beef Cattle December 2013 GoPro

    Here’s a video I recorded with the GoPro mounted to the back of the feed wagon.  Sorry about the loud sounds–the GoPro is pretty bad about picking up bangs and such.

    Here we’re feeding 3×3 Alfalfa and grain hay bales to a heard of Herefords and Angus.  The wagon is being pulled by a John Deere 4020.  The cows are mostly Herefords, but the bulls are Black Angus, so it’s starting to get a mixture of both.