Farm Journal -Cider Hill Farms

[CCF]

FARM JOURNAL #1

Work has finally started after a long winter's nap on the farm. Over the past few days, we have been cleaning out the barns, and thoroughly inspecting & servicing each piece of machinery. Plowing & manure spreading will start here within the next few days, and planting will shortly follow. Also, we have been repairing the farmyard from damage from the winter season, as many branches and dead leaves blow down from the trees around the farm after large snowstorm. Below are some pictures of what we have been doing down on the farm recently.

Farmall A & John Deere hay rake parked outside one of the barns:

Adding dirt down over a drainage pipe, placed to eliminate road washout:

Our three main tillage implements parked near the pond:

We put aside all funds earned from snow blowing with the John Deere 4310 last winter, and sold off a few pieces of seldom used machinery to buy this Caterpillar excavator. Ever since we have purchased the excavator, it has been used for at least 8 hours 6 out of the 7 days of the week:

Cleaning up some of the debris washed out into the roads from spring rain showers & snowstorms:

Creating a new road for the wood chip trucks to drive up:

Filling up the John Deere 9420T. Here's a few for you green fans:

Some of our equipment is being temporarily stored in the barn until the rest of the machinery is parked for the night:

John Deere 772B road grader:

Loading up some dirt to be used for fill:

John Deere 320 skid steer on flatbed:

Some views of the inside of our second barn:

Our Flower fields are coming along quite nicely. Flowers tend to sell well in this area:

Heading out to the field with the John Deere 9420T & John Deer 2700:

Our two tillage rigs parked & ready to rip up some ground:

IH 5288 heading out to the field. Here's a few for you red fans:

Plowing up a field recently cleared last year:

Now that all the farm chores are done, we are going to the Case Ih dealer to try to pick out a manure spreader for the farm:

That's all for this week, hope you all enjoyed. Next week's Farm Journal will focus on Tilling & our visit to the Case Ih dealer. Next week's journal will be written by a guest writer.

[JC]

Cracking journal CCF. 

[FB]

nice work timothy :)

[Lord Ferguson]

I say Tim... that's simply brilliant mate - can't wait for next week - I just love those pics - 1:16 is the way to go for me - I think I will have to do a Massey Farm when the weather warms ups here a little - although I have no implements at the moment 

Thanks for posting them Tim - you've made my day matey  - keep it up 

Oh... and get at LEAST ONE Massey 

[civilpek]

very nice pics there some are unreal realistic, you should have entered the farming kit competition

[CCF]

very nice pics there some are unreal realistic, you should have entered the farming kit competition

Really think so Civilpeck?

Oh... and get at LEAST ONE Massey 

Saw that one coming!

[smallclaas]

Some good stuf there CCF. Nice to see how it's done over the pond

[THEBRITFARMER]

Nice photos Tim, and some cracking looking kit as well. 

[civilpek]

Really think so Civilpeck?

Saw that one coming!

ya defidently

[jdc]

Good models in a very realistic setting. Nice tale too. 

[SPN]

That outdoor diorama brings back memories from a verrrrrrrrryy long time ago!

Most excellent Dude!

[Tractorman810]

very nice pics tim,looks like a nice little collection you have there

[NewHolland2]

Brilliant mate......You've been busy...... :)

[Pingu]

Nice work well done

[Mattias71]

Looks really nice, good work then! 

[MJB1]

quite a varied bit of kit to see , lets just hope the driver of the cabbless deere doesnt have too much dust from it's tracked cousin when disking 

[CCF]

Thanks all for your kind words, what was I thinking not posting my 16th farm journals here? Anyway, I have made the decision that this year, every few journals, a guest writer will write the journal for that week. If you are interested in creatively writing a farm journal, then let me know, it would be an honour to have some of you have a little fun writing up a few of these! :)

[CCF]

FARM JOURNAL #2

Field work has finally started down on the farm . We recently took a trip to the local Case IH dealer here in town. We were checking out the used lot and saw a 04? Case IH STX 500 Quad Track w/ low hours (644). Another great tractor was there was a 76? Case 1570 Stars and Stripes tractor. The main reason we went to the dealer was to look for a good manure spreader. The  farmer down the street's Gehl Scavenger broke down we decided to get a new Case IH tandem axle manure spreader. This way, we will have our own manure spreader, so we will not have to worry about getting it stuck. As soon as we hauled the Case Ih manure spreader home, we hooked it up to the 5288 and started spreading manure. Rain is expected most of this week, so we may or may not get plowing done. We are looking forward to the rain, as it should make the disking job more easier with a cabless tractor.  Here is a few shots of some of the action going on here, sorry about the lack of photos.

Some nice finds at the dealer: A Case Ih STX500 & Case 1570 Spirit Of 76':

Pulling up to the farm with our new manure spreader. One of our employees is busy mowing the upper portion of the grass field.

Fillin' up with fresh manure, delivered just the day before:

Headin' out to spread:

Making a second pass:

I would like to thank the guest writer of this week Dan Nowland of TTT for writing this Farm Journal.

That's all for now folks! Next week's journal will involve Tilling up the fields, and preparing them for planting the following week.

[THEBRITFARMER]

Good little write up there Tim Nice tractors and machinery also

[CCF]

FARM JOURNAL #3

The last few days at the farm have been quite productive. With heavy rain showers earlier this week, we were able to plow and disk the main field without any problems. The only problem the rain caused was flooding, as we had not finished cleaning out a part of our drainage system. With the rain, the pond has already been filling up, and we are able to dig it deeper now that it has rained  because of the softer dirt. Now that the tilling is done, we should have more time for expnading the pond, and other smaller farm projects. Here's what we have been up to:

Cleaning up the plugged part of the drainage system:

After the rain, some of the wildflowers have started to bloom:

Taking the 4995 mower out for a spin to make sure that the mechanical parts all function properly. The first hay cutting should not be long now:

Here is a view of the farm not seen too often. This is the farm's tractor boneyard, way out in the trails in back of the farm. Two of the three tractors that are present here are the 2 out of the 3 that had originally started the farm ( John Deere utility & Mineapolis Moline) . The last tractor that started the farm is the IH600, which still is in service with the farm:

Extending the pond with the Excavator:

Getter er' done with the JD 9420T & IH 600:

Resting after a hard and long day of tilling:

Nothing like the site of a tilled field:

That's all for now folks! Next Journal will focus on planting, and some smaller farm chores. Here is next week's preview picture:

[JC]

Great stuff again Tim. 

[FB]

nice work Timothy, did you enjoy it ;)

[THEBRITFARMER]

Excellent pics Tim  :)

[MJB1]

looking good ccf , you need to get those oldies in the bone yard up & running again mate.

it does look strange having a working type pis with no drivers though \

did you mean for us to do the write ups for your pics tim ?

[Old Ford]

looking gr8 CCF, makes me want to dig up my garden. must be nice having an area like that. :)