Recent content by mac

I inherited a working beef cattle ranch and continued ranching until I was too old. Now I lease it to a younger cattleman and just have a few of my old longhorns. Because I had to hire help, I never made a profit from cattle. We also sold some timber off the property and leased mineral rights...

Acorn production is cyclical. A bumper crop of acorns, when acorns carpet the ground, is a mast year and may occur every 2-10 years. Trees can be examined ahead of time before acorns fall. Binoculars are helpful for this. Cattle can become addicted to acorns. Once that happens, even horse...

I was just waiting for the dust to settle. It does seem reasonable that breeding for docility could also cause a low libido. Libido is not as easily measured as scrotal circumference, semen count and other physical attributes. My contention remains that if libido is not tested in some way...

My Dad, the Colonel, bought bulls the way he bought some of his cows. He liked to try to draw to an inside straight and pick culls out of the slaughter auction. Of course, he went to the bull auctions, too, and one year he decided to loosen his purse strings and bought two fancy registered...

C&J Ranch fishhook brand suggestion.

On the County Line 6-inch auger, there are two styles. One has one large bolt for each of the two cutting teeth. The other has two small bolts for each cutting tooth. If you have a choice, get the one with two bolts. The one bolt style will begin to twist out of position after a while. Also...

This is the only 3-point post hole digger with which I am familiar. The price seemed affordable and represents a good value in my opinion. Tractor Supply has two stores within 20 miles of me and carries or will order replacement cutting teeth, points and augers. It is working for me even...

A follow up report on the County Line post hole digger with 6-inch auger. We've done post holes for about 1700 feet of new fencing. Still have another 600 feet to go. We are on our third set of cutting teeth. The digger has a hole through the arm for a weight kit which looks like barbells...

Back in the bad old days, cedar cutters used axes. One old timer told me that in his youth, with a sharp double-bit axe, he could cut a four inch cedar limb with one stroke. The axe blade burnished the ends of the cedar, sealing the wood. Cedar today is cut with chainsaws, leaving ragged...

This has been very helpful. Good tip about having replacement cutter teeth on hand. The County line drives 6,9 and 12 inch bits. Is 6-inch large enough for cedar line posts? Or should I pound them? Central Alberta... I've never been to that part of Texas before.

I'm in the market for a 3-point auger or post hole digger. Tractor Supply has one shown here. Does anyone have experience with this County Line auger or other recommendations? Thanks.

This is a great thread with lots of good information. I was going to have a load of limestone gravel delivered to put around water troughs but I can get broken brick free. Any thoughts on this? My main concern of course is possible injury to their hooves. Thanks.

Never heard about doing it by moon cycles, but our wranglers don't like to castrate and de-horn if it is really hot, not for their own sake but for the sake of the calves bleeding and healing up. As for the branding, if we buy heifers at the sale, our wrangler takes the brand with him and...

Hmm. My other E2 brand disappeared. I have had this problem before on this forum but here are links to both images: Double-E and the E2

Yes, he should ask his grandfather. Grandpa won't be around forever. Grandpa may want to pass along his views to his grandson, or not, but he needs the chance. He needs to know that his grandson is thinking about matters like that and is interested enough to ask. I never saw combat but I am...