Finally after several years.....

[HOSS]

I have bought a new tractor. Well not actually new but a 2008 model. It is a NH TN90DA with all the bells and whistles. Loader,4x4, AC, heat, CD player etc. It had 289 hours on it and came with a bucket and hay spear. The bucket has never been used. I traded in the JD crawler loader and the old Ford 3910 that I have been using for years. I take delivery on Monday. I am pretty excited to see what it is like to put out hay in a climate controlled environment instead of freezing my tail off. I think I did real good at 32k. I checked on-line and for older and higher hour tractors they ran in the 35-36k range. This one comes with a warranty from the JD dealer that had it on the lot. I think the new price back in 08 was $57,900 according to the NH dealer I called. Now I just need the F250 super duty, cowboy hat and big belt buckle and I can move right up there with Jogeephus, 3waycross and caustic but that will take time because now I am broke :cboy:

 

[3waycross]

Don't fret too much. Cuz That's pretty much all I own that's paid for.

 

[highgrit]

You will wonder how you ever managed before, you will love it. The best of luck to ya.

 

[HOSS]

Correction: it is a TN95DA

 

[curtis]

I bet you'll miss the JD crawler.

 

[bigbull338]

congrats now you can take lil hoss with you when you hay the cows.

 

[Calman]

Congrats Hoss. Have a TD 95 NH.front assist with loader.Don't know the diff between them but as long as you remember it is a utility tractor and not for heavier work you'll be fine.
The enclosed cab with all the bells and whistles will spoil you.

Cal

 

[1982vett]

Congrats Hoss...The cab is even going to come in handy here today. You are going to love it in the winter like we do in the summer.

 

[LaneFarms]

congrats Hoss, if you are like me you won't know how you ever made it without a cab.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I wore a snowmobile helmet while feeding yesterday but this does not work as well in the summer.

 

[dieselbeef]

i thought you were gonna say the cows are finally supporting themselves

 

[john250]

CD player? Wow! Now THAT is extravagant!

 

[Brute 23]

Nice... keep it covered when not in use.

 

[pdfangus]

one of our local grazing gurus here in Va advocates that all feeding should be done while the operator is exposed to the weather.

His rationale is miserable time spent feeding cows will cause folks to come up with better ways to manage their resources and minimize cow feeding necessity. That is they will become better forage managers so they don't have to freeze their butts off 120 days a year.

 

[dieselbeef]

and the cows will be hungrier and less productive..good idea..hows it werking for ya

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

2 years ago we traded a Int'l 756D (with an add-on cab) for a Case Int'l 5230 Maxim - not REAL new - but real new to us. I'm in hog heaven - actually has a working heater - and quiet enough to hear my phone ring! woohoo!
You will really be happy. congrats - enjoy!

 

[pdfangus]

and the cows will be hungrier and less productive..good idea..hows it werking for ya

Well to be honest I have not been able to fully implement....
but the changes I have made to better manage my forages are working very well thank you.

We had the worst drought that anyone can recall since 1977 in our area this year and I was able to graze thru November. we did not have rain until mid october so our late summer and fall stockpiling did not happen.

i don't care what anyone does, but I like having my cows do the majority of the work. Also I buy the hay I feed rather than try to make it so every bale of hay is a direct expense.

Last year I weaned an 800 lb bull calf and a 695 lb bull calf. I forget what the heifers weighed but I still have em and have bred em to calve as two year olds. they both weighed around 900 lbs at thanksgiving. Both bull were bouncing around 1200 lbs. the smaller bull is already sold but not yet delivered to a repeat customer.

cows calved again right on schedule in early september.

all in all it is working very well.

 

[Kingfisher]

Well let us see it!

 

[pdfangus]

here is a link to periodic reports I generated this year.

as the year wound down and evening daylight diminished I switched to three day moves and found that satisfactory and much more to my liking.

Nothing fancy about my place.

I use to raise the partnership heifers and house the herd bull and sale bulls. When my partner died I decided to pull back to a couple of hobby cows and try to manage a little better so I started this experiment this spring. Might add that I quit buying fertilizer and lime. One stretch that belongs to the neighbor did get some biosolids this fall which will serve as a comparison.

http://www.pipedreamfarm.com/MIG background.pdf

 

[dieselbeef]

thats an awesome link..lots of time to do all that fencing and movin but does show how the mig grazing can work...
you did end up feeding hay anyways tho at a later date and i spose that just shows that w/o rain were all screwed no matter what huh!?!?

i could never find the time to micromanage as such as you much less post it on the web

very nice job tho...very nice

gary