In which tools and tractors are helpful and three hands are better than one
Today I was determined to eradicate the old fence posts that (until yesterday) were part of the barbed wire fence.
The posts themselves are fine, however, they are not the Very Tall posts I prefer to have for the perimeter fence. Also, they are all facing the wrong direction! So, out they came.
This red gadget is the t-post extractor that Jim got at the hardware store yesterday. Nifty, huh? It's SO MUCH EASIER to use this than trying to yank the posts out by hand.
Nobody else was around when I was doing this, so I used a cinderblock as a tripod for the camera to get this picture.
There were a few notable exceptions to the statement "the posts themselves are fine." Here's one of the exceptions: my neighbor Herb told me that he accidently backed the tractor over it...and then ran over it the other direction trying to get untangled from the post. Oops.
The bent posts can be hammered (mostly) straight again, but this one broke when I tried to yank it out of the ground. I wasted a few of my nicer cuss words on the broken post.
Herb saw me struggling to yank the bent posts out after I'd taken out all the un-bent posts, and he fired up his trusty tractor to come help me. Herb loves his tractor (so do I). I'd make a loop with the chain around a bent post, and then he'd lift the bucket....
(insert sound effect: whistling)
Isn't that cool?
Herb sometimes needs help hooking up attachments to the tractor, because he only has one arm. I'm happy to hop over the fence and assist, because when we're done, Herb always says, "three hands are better than one!" He makes me laugh.
He and his wife are planning to sell their place in a year or two...maybe if I keep lending a hand (or two) they won't leave?
Wrassling in the backyard of the city house was not nearly as much fun, because that yard was so tiny! Shelties love life on the farm.
The posts themselves are fine, however, they are not the Very Tall posts I prefer to have for the perimeter fence. Also, they are all facing the wrong direction! So, out they came.
This red gadget is the t-post extractor that Jim got at the hardware store yesterday. Nifty, huh? It's SO MUCH EASIER to use this than trying to yank the posts out by hand.Nobody else was around when I was doing this, so I used a cinderblock as a tripod for the camera to get this picture.
There were a few notable exceptions to the statement "the posts themselves are fine." Here's one of the exceptions: my neighbor Herb told me that he accidently backed the tractor over it...and then ran over it the other direction trying to get untangled from the post. Oops.
The bent posts can be hammered (mostly) straight again, but this one broke when I tried to yank it out of the ground. I wasted a few of my nicer cuss words on the broken post.
Herb saw me struggling to yank the bent posts out after I'd taken out all the un-bent posts, and he fired up his trusty tractor to come help me. Herb loves his tractor (so do I). I'd make a loop with the chain around a bent post, and then he'd lift the bucket....
(insert sound effect: whistling)
Isn't that cool?
Herb sometimes needs help hooking up attachments to the tractor, because he only has one arm. I'm happy to hop over the fence and assist, because when we're done, Herb always says, "three hands are better than one!" He makes me laugh.
He and his wife are planning to sell their place in a year or two...maybe if I keep lending a hand (or two) they won't leave?
Wrassling in the backyard of the city house was not nearly as much fun, because that yard was so tiny! Shelties love life on the farm.
Those fence post extractors look like they'd come in real handy and be well-worth their cost! Isn't it great to get things accomplished? ;)
ReplyDeleteI asked Jim not to get the cheapest extractor (around $11), because I've discovered that they break really easily. This one was about $30, and is quite sturdy--and is VERY easy to use. I looked at the little instruction page (about the size of a playing card) and said, well, duh. It's very simple, and it works.
ReplyDeleteIt's much more ergonomically sensible than leaning down to yank a post that is stubbornly trying to stay in place in the dirt, too!
Ackshully, it was fo-tee dollahs! Cuz Ace is the place. Still, it was worth it. Not only because you could use this t-post extractor to defuse a WMD, it keeps the money local.
ReplyDeleteWe recently got a similar little Kubota and I love it too. Looking forward to coming back and reading more.
ReplyDelete