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How deep is that hydrant Jim? I like hydrants in a pit the best, but only two of our are in pits. Enough course gravel to take the drain back helps.

They are all 6 feet deep Richard.

What's the temps been like to freeze it 6' down? That's sounding like AK weather.

Ed

Wet soil and 30 below for a couple weeks will freeze to 6 feet.

Its pretty dry up here normally, so we are usually safe at 6 feet, 7 feet under a road.....but I have seen it freeze to that depth a few times.



The freeze up Saturday was not nearly that deep. Maybe only a foot once the water stopped flowing.

Jim, the 'book", is most freeze is just as the pipe comes near the ground level. We have two waterers with large pits under them, two without.

Here, dry soil gets the blame for pipes freezing, the clay content causes cracks as the soils shrink, and crack open.

Yeah Jim, hauling them over to Glasgow tomorrow. They always have a good feeder special the first week of February.


I imagine your buyer is fairly close on price. You know by the time you factor in sales commission, trucking, etc., he's not too far off. But the market has perked a little....

Where do you guys weigh?


It was dead calm and 20F this morning at 6AM, around 8 I see a big ass cloud coming from the west. About an hour later the wind, a little rain and 40F showed up.... Felt like summer!

Just looked at the weather history and we went from 20F up to 47F in an hour. If you can believe that....

Went up $10 a hundred here last week.

Always just weigh at the sale barn.

Seriously thinking about getting a scale though. We have been selling rancher to rancher and it would be nice to have weights.

Barry, that's $70/head on a decent steer calf.

It all adds up!

Yessir!

Had some run through scales before. You could weigh a bunch at one time, then just load them on the truck. It was nice.

A scale would probably pay for itself rather quickly.


We have scales out at the grazing association and they are handier than hell for the guys that sell calves at weaning time.

What was funny was that they had to be inspected and certified/calibrated to be used for trade.

The one's on the NM ranch were 80 miles from town down a dirt road...

But they came out every year and certified them.

Oh yeah, same deal here in Montana.

They are inspected every year and they even put a fancy sticker on 'em to let a guy know they still work....grin

We have been selling cattle on the internet since this last fall.

Cut out the cattle pimps entirely.

Would be nice to scale at home. Be better for us and the buyers.


I am no f'ing good at guessing weights. When I do guess it always costs me money!




How did the critters do today Sam?

Jim, I am a rookie to the whole slide deal...

Try to ask questions and learn from other ranchers but even the veterans get burned from time to time.
(especially this year given the drought)



The feedlot gang wasn't in too big of a hurry to hit the bunk this morning. Amazing how a warm night will cut down on their appetite.

Did I tell you boys the story of when my brother, and grandfather rode wet with a local cattle buyer, and feeder? Fred , and rancher agreed on a price for the man's cattle, Fred looked for his checkbook, mus.t have left it at home. Fred took a plain piece of paper, it may have been a brown paper bag. Fred wrote it all out, bank name, ect. The rancher looked at the check, smiled, they shook hands. done deal.
Fred, by the way was Fred Stanzel, grandfather of Scott Stanzel, the younger Bush's press sectary.

Yeah, frost line in Anchorage is ~ 12 feet, but I've seen it freeze 15 feet down and rupture water mains and sewer mains.

Here, in NE Texas, I think the frost line is ~ 2 inches.

Ed

Richard, some great deals have been done over a handshake but of course most of it comes down to whose shakin' hands!

It was a bitter sweet day for the heeler....





Supa moon!