Old Iron in Star Valley

Category: Personal

  • December 14th Update

    It’s now December 14th, 2021, and there is still no snow on the ground (as of when I went and fed). I had to do that insert as when I started to write this it finally started to come down. But anyway, this year has been pretty unusual for it being nearly mid-December. The other odd thing is that it was quite muddy. Usually by this time it’s been so cold for so long you couldn’t imagine seeing mud on the ground.

    Anyway, I really just wanted an excuse to do a quick post and post a few photos from today. I’m **trying** to update the blog more frequently.

    Here are some photos of the John Deere 630 with the 3×4 large square bale, as well as my German Shepherd Tristan, and a random portrait iPhone portrait mode of an old Hereford.

    Feeding Cattle with the 630 and trusty German Shepherd
  • Winter Is Knocking

    Winter Is Knocking

    One thing about living in Star Valley–as the saying goes, we’re not sure if we’ll get summer, but we’ve never missed a winter. This year seemed unusually hot and smoky, but when it comes time switch to fall, it always tends to go right into winter. We’ve received a few light dustings of snow already, but I don’t think it will be very long until the snow is here to stay.

    With the change to winter also brings a few changes on the farm. Though we still work on and tinker on tractors, not having a heated shop and the lack of daylight makes it a little harder and somewhat less desirable. Instead of working in the fields we turn to the chores of feeding the cattle on a daily basis (photos and videos to come, I’m sure) and having to move and shovel snow. However, winter also brings the winter activities of snowmobiling and other winter sports. This year I’ve also purchased a Timbersled (a track for my dirt bike), so that should be fun and a new adventure as well.

    The photo above is a photo of a Farmall Model A. I’m not exactly sure of the year, but it is a tractor that is currently being used as a decoration on my uncle’s farm on my mother’s side in Etna, Wyoming.

    If you’ve been following the past few blog posts or YouTube videos, you’ve seen pictures and videos of the Farmall B. The Farmall A is basically the same tractor, but in a different configuration. Where the A has a wide front, the B has a narrow front and a slightly wider rear end.

  • John Deere MT Update

    John Deere MT Update

    The John Deere MT that we picked up has been a fun little tractor. However, although it looks nice on the outside, it still has a lot of work to do before it will be a good and reliable tractor. The biggest item with it at the moment is the transmission. When I first picked it up, the transmission housing was rusted and the back axle was seized when placed in gear. Upon draining the housing, it was about half oil and half water. Sadly, it hadn’t been drained out in years and years and condensation eventually overtook oil content.

    Due to this, the bearings in the transmission housing were rusted, and even though we freed it up and replaced the oil, they still needed to be replaced to make it function properly.

    Fortunately, the MT is a pretty easy tractor to work on and split (separate the front from the back). I’ve got all the parts I need, so hopefully I’ll be able to get them swapped out and replaced pretty quickly this weekend. I’m sure I’ll have some more YouTube videos of it running once I do. 🙂

  • 2020 Year In Review

    First off, sorry for not posting in such a long time. I guess time just slips by quickly…

    I’d like to state a few highlights from 2020 as well. As is the case for pretty much every person on the planet–2020 was definitely a year one will never forget. For myself, this was no exception. Some of the bigger items of 2020 are as follows:

    Covid 2019. This is probably the thing that rocked most peoples world the most. Where I work for a K-12 school district, COVID-19 altered things in a way that will change education forever. It forced people to use technology and practices that they wouldn’t normally do (such as videoconferencing). It shown the world that it is possible to work from home & lower the Co2 footprint. It gave schools new funds for replacing technology–even if the technology didn’t necessarily need to be replaced… I have to say though, I loved being able to work from home and would definitely do that full time if I was able to do so…

    Grandma. Another big change that affected me personally was the loss of my grandmother, Doreen. She was very beloved lady that affected the lives of so many around her. Her loss is felt every day, and she will forever be missed. Please see this post here.

    Tip. It’s hard to express the loss of a creature that is nearly with you 24/7. As a farm boy, one can best describe the relationship between a man and his dog as a form of symbiotic relationship. His loss was especially hard for me, and something I have yet to recover from…

    Tristan. Tristan is the new puppy we picked up. Although he will never replace Tip, I have enjoyed having another puppy around. He is also a full-blooded German Shepherd with a lot of personality. He’s still in his puppy stages, so he is definitely a handful… But we do love him. 🙂

    Tractors. I told myself I wasn’t going to get any more tractors this year. Of course that didn’t end up being the case… I ended up getting three. The year still has one more week to go too… We ended up picking up a John Deere 5020 in the spring (pretty cool machine and one I’ve always wanted, so it was hard to pass up), as well as a more recently a John Deere 430 with a loader, tire chains, box scraper, and loader–what can I say, the price was right). We also picked up a little Farmall model B. The B was also at the right price, and will make a fun little tractor to the slowly growing Farmall collection…

    Night on the mountain. I went on a nice bike ride with two of my cousins and a friend of one of my cousins. It was a good ride up Bald Mountain–one I hadn’t been on before. It was a fun ride, but we ended up running into troubles and had to spend the night on the mountain. That was definitely a learning experience for sure… Staying on a mountain when you aren’t prepared for it isn’t exactly something I’d recommend. Spending the night outdoors when it gets down below 40 degrees with nothing but a t-shirt and riding jersey on isn’t exactly something I’d recommend. Fortunately everything turned out okay though in the end.

    Coming out. This is a hard one to write, as it’s not exactly something I like to advertise. However, since no one really reads my blog, I don’t think hardly anyone will see it anyway. That being said, 2020 is the year that I came out to much of the family and our closest friends. It’s not something I would have ever chosen for myself, nor something that has been an easy thing to go through–but it is who I am, so it deserves a spot on the list. I have been with my partner for over ten years now, and most of my accomplishments that you see here on this website were the combined effort of the two of us; something I wouldn’t have been able to have accomplished without him.

    So there you have it. That’s 2020 in a nutshell. Here’s to the unknowns of 2021…

  • Hauling Hay over the Past Decade

    This video is a compilation of videos taken over the past decade of us hauling hay in Star Valley, Wyoming. “Haying season” has typically been a very integral part of life in Star Valley–especially during its agricultural past. It’s interesting looking back seeing how things have changed, both in the equipment used, types of bales, and quality of recorded video.

    The equipment shown is as fallows: 1972 John Deere 4020 PowerShift
    1964 John Deere 3020 PowerShift
    John Deere 4020 PowerShift Front-Wheel Assist (FWA)
    John Deere 4230
    1960 John Deere 730 Diesel
    1959 John Deere 630
    1949 John Deere BW All-Fuel (AF)
    1997 Ford F-250 7.3 L Power Stroke
    2001 Ford F-350 7.3 L Power Stroke

    We currently use 4x4x8 large square-bales. Previously, we used 3x3x8 large square bales. The 4×4 bales are much nicer to haul and work with… Previous to the 3×3 bales, we used little square bales. Sadly I don’t have anything in terms of video footage. During that time we used a farm-hand 8 pack accumulator with 8-pack grapples on the 3020 and 4020 FWA. The ’72 4020 was purchased after that era.

  • Planting Grain Hay Spring 2019

    I’m a little late with this one, but here’s some video footage of when we planted grain hay this spring. We planted using a John Deere 4640 and John Deere LL-A grain drill. The crop is a three-way grain hay crop (used for cattle feed) that we cut and baled.

  • Feeding with the 630, December 15 2019

    It’s winter time again. And with that, feeding the beef cattle. In this video I am feeding the cattle with a John Deere 630. Dad loaded the bale on the 3020 Diesel PowerShift, as well as brought a little more hay out (alfalfa) to supplement the bale where the weather was so cold (it was below zero f while feeding).

    The hay is a three-way mixture of barley, oats, and peas, which the cattle quite enjoy.

  • 1947 John Deere A Engine Rebuild

    I recently rebuilt the engine on the 1947 A. I changed out the head and block, plus put new high-compression pistons in it.

    This video shows a few photos, plus the first few drives with the newly rebuilt engine. The newer high-compression pistons sure make a big difference!

    Special thanks to Jerry’s Machine & Engine Parts of Idaho Falls, Idaho, for their work with the new head and block.

  • Peregrine falcon Nearly Takes Out Drone

    I was flying my drone (DJI Mavic Air) up a canyon to get some nice shots of the beautiful mountains. While I was reviewing the footage, I was surprised to see a Peregrine falcon had decided at the last moment to not try to have the drone for lunch. I’d say they both got pretty lucky!

    I as fortunate, however, to get some footage of such a beautiful animal!

     

  • John Deere 730 Diesel

    The 730 Diesel is a pretty impressive machine. It was Deere’s largest row-crop two-cylinder, and also happened to be the last series to feature the two-cylinder before their introduction of the “New Generation” machines in 1960. The 730 was about the same size as the 3010, which according to Deere literature at the time, was its direct replacement.

    Driving a 730 Diesel is unlike any other machine, before or since (with the exception of the 720). This particular machine is a direct-drive electric start. The 720, which was a near-identical model before it, had more pony engine starters than electric starters. The Pony, or cranking engine, was a small gas engine that you would start up first, which would then be used to turn over the large diesel engine. The electric starters were large 24 volt starting systems.

    Since not everyone will have an opportunity to drive a 730 Diesel, I thought I’d share this video to replicate the experience as well as I can.