Don't drink coffee with no elf on a shelf. (Dec coffee thread)

[pony express]

Tougne in cheek, I reported suspicious activity to the boss.   

Only made better by the fact I really didn't like her.

Now you're probably gonna have to cover her shifts!

Hope that shoulder gets to feeling better soon, Slim.

Back in the cattle business again. Prices have been a little lower recently, so today I bought 8 heifers. Hopefully, prices will be through the roof again in about 2 years, when I start having some calves to sell.

[litl rooster]

Hogs are dirt cheap around here. But seems heifers and cow/calf pairs remain about normal.

[pony express]

Well, I wouldn't say these were cheap, but more reasonable than a year or two ago. Hogs will stay cheap as long as Cargill, and the other pork giants control the market. They own most of what they need from birth to slaughter to the store shelf. At least so far, nobody has done "factory farming" with beef.

[Advertising]

[litl rooster]

Well, I wouldn't say these were cheap, but more reasonable than a year or two ago. Hogs will stay cheap as long as Cargill, and the other pork giants control the market. They own most of what they need from birth to slaughter to the store shelf. At least so far, nobody has done "factory farming" with beef.

Yes they do - like pork n poultry it’s contracted. I have been involved  with that type of programs, just has a cowboy not owner.


Morning the colder air has moved in... so i’ve got the coffee and hot water for coco on.



I don’t own a FIT, however i use my Iphone and track my steps everyday. I have not been doing good thru the summer. A good day would have been 2000 steps. Kind of weak.  I started therapy and my energy level has increased and i am able to do a little more activity after my woork out. So now i have gone from 2000 and or less to 4500 to yesterdays 6000 steps. This is not by any means fantastic. However it is a great improvment.  This is all with my oxygen pack strapped to my back too. I get strange looks and had a gun shop owner get a little nervous when i asked my wife to turn the volume up on it while it was on my back. He calmed down when i told him what she was doing. Another story. I attribute the extra weight though to making additional walking and movements more strenuous. 

We are going to finish our family shopping today. I will sneak out Friday and get mine finished.  Then maybe some seafood for dinner today.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Morning y'all.
Thanks fer the coffee.

Got 2" of sn*w yesterday. Up north 7+".

'Tis -6 and partly sunny. Beard was frosty when I got back from walking the dog. High of 22.

Slim

[The Trinity Kid]

Morning all.

30 and foggy here, headed for 45 with high clouds. 

Going to head out with a friend this afternoon and get a truckload or two of oak before the wood cutting permits expire at the end of the month.

--TK

[litl rooster]

Todays funny

[The Trinity Kid]

Got about a cord or so of good oak before dark today.  I don't know what the weight rating on a Ford Ranger is, but it's somewhere less than one cord of oak.

--TK

[pony express]

Got about a cord or so of good oak before dark today.  I don't know what the weight rating on a Ford Ranger is, but it's somewhere less than one cord of oak.

--TK

I'd say "Somewhat less" would be somewhat of an understatement!   Never had a ranger, but I can tell you that if you fill the bed of a Dodge Dakota a bit over level full with green oak, the drive home will be "interesting".

Yes they do - like pork n poultry it’s contracted. I have been involved  with that type of programs, just has a cowboy not owner.

Yeah, I'm sure there's a little of that, but for the most part, at least for now, cattle are mostly owned by independents, not much "vertical integration". I'm planning on building up a herd to keep me busy when I retire in about 5 years and 4 1/2 months(but who's counting). Had as many as 70-75 head before the big "D" about 15 years ago, but that's a lot of work on this place, would either have to rent pasture or rent hay ground, and both are hard to come by around here.

[Major 2]

Rangers Short Wheel Base about 1000lbs , extra cab around 900 lbs
I've had a 94 SWB & 2002 EC ....hay & feed mostly , but I did tote a Ford 300CDI straight 6 long block to the rebuilding machine shop in the short wheel base to & back assembled once... no issues.

 put 197,000 on the 2002 and it still ran great and used no oil .... sold it to a neighbor ranch, they still use it .

[Silver Creek Slim]

Morning y'all.
Coffee is hot.

Dusting overnight.

'Tis 19 and overcast. WC 10. High of 23.

Slim

[litl rooster]

Thank you for coffee- my monday.




Cord wood from google. I could not remember 3rd deminsion

One full cordA full cord is a large amount of wood. It measures four feet high by four feet wide by eight feet long (4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.) and has a volume of 128 cubic feet. The amount of solid wood in a cord varies depending on the size of the pieces, but for firewood it averages about 85 cubic feet.

That number is hard to get in a modern full size truck without sideboards. Clever stacking and heavy springs might help though.  We burn so little we just buy it from one of the log dogs in area. Usually the guy with the wood powered truck.

[pony express]

I think that for a full size, 8' wide bed truck, about 1/2 cord if you fill it level full. Middle section of the floor is about 4X8, but the bed sides are less than 2ft high, with the area around the wheel wells making up the difference. But since the ranger bed is smaller length and width, it's have to be piled up pretty full to get 1/2 cord. In my younger years, I used to sell a little wood, I had a '53 Chevy 1 ton flatbed don't remember the dimensions of the bed, but I had made sideboards about 28-30 in high that would hold 1 cord when stacked level full.

[Delmonico]

I think a common term for a 1/2 cord is a face cord and is often thought to be a cord.

[Delmonico]

Ok, face cord is 1/3rd volume and would weigh around 1200 to 1400 
pounds if oak.  A hefty load for a Ranger.   Also sometimes called a Rick.

[litl rooster]

Brrrrrrrrrr cold here this morning... been dragging my butt hoping the Sun would start warming up things.


Coffee and water on the boil is up!




Hickory and Pecan around here for BBQ  OAK for heat and BBQ both

[pony express]

How much is in that "face cord" would depend on how long you cut the wood. 16" wood would get you 1/3, but 24" would make 1/2. A "rick" could be any amount depending on how far apart the end posts or trees are.

For firewood here I burn all sorts of trash wood, results of clearing fencerows or overgrown pasture. Stove is full of elm right now. When it gets real cold I'll try to get mostly oak or thorny locust. Locust burns pretty hot, but tends to make a lot of sparks every time you open the stove door and a rush of air hits it. Rarely burn hickory, unless it's from saplings because I don't have a log splitter, or sycamore, except for dropped dead limbs. Both are hard to split, and sycamore seems to produce more ashes than heat.

[litl rooster]

Ha... sycamore good for bonfires.
It is a tree not common in this area but plentiful in Virginia.



Just got into the 40’s here, i hauled hot water outside to give all the animals till theirs thaw out

[Silver Creek Slim]

Morning y'all.
Thanks fer the coffee.

The sticks/logs of a face cord are usually 16" long. Therefore, a face cord is usually 1/3 of a full cord.

I burn any hardwood that is available, but mostly oak. Black locust is also good because of its density, but is produces a lot more ash than oak. BTW, burning popple produces pregnancy. 

Got 3/4" of sn*w overnight.

'Tis 22 and overcast. High of 25.

Slim

[litl rooster]

I don’t want to be pregnant