John_PA - some hill side photos

Billy NY

Well-known Member
Figured I'd make a new post and see if some of the photos I have depict the hills I was talking about on your thread about the Killbros grain cart.
It's hard to really capture the terrain in photos and when I load multiple photos off my hard drive, I'm not sure how you caption them individually, vs using a remote host site, typing in the code, then text in between.

Photos 1-7 show the east side or the front side of the long hill. #5, shows the steep backside and the field beyond is where the 4440 and cart were in the previous post. This back side is real steep where I am standing, closer to the trees is where we travel through and there was a farm road there, and that clump of trees was the coolest old farm dump there was, myself and a friend spent half our childhood rummaging through for old bottles which we still both have today, they bulldozed it at some point, nothing in there I can see anymore.

#7 shows the backside or steep area I am standing on but from another field further in. It might give you an idea of the slope. I followed exactly how he ran with the drill on that side, and I did not like the feeling of impending roll over, being used to my old ford tractor and low to the ground. It never was an issue, and you got used to it and how to work in these areas.

The remaining photos show the varying terrain and views in adjacent fields, #5 & #6 are a high point and are views opposite or 180 degrees from each other #5 looking west towards where Jay in NY, ACG would be, and #6 looking towards southern VT and Mass, though you have to pass over 1 to 2 mountain ranges, this is an all time favorite place, the adjacent field is the pinnacle and I have often gone there for peace and quiet to enjoy the view and ponder all things good LOL !!!

I did enjoy doing this work, and am glad was able to work with someone who was a good friend for a long time and one of the most dedicated farmers I can think of. He passed in February of '14.

Most of this kind of terrain is what farmers are used to around here, the spray outfit calls it goat country.

#11, #12, #13, shows the cultipacker, drill and rocks being picked, I was rolling these fields after the drill, and picking all the rocks by hand that needed to come off the surface, I think I picked enough to fill a dump trailer, they are all still in the hedge rows. #16 and #17, show the drill working and I am following, #17 is what it looked like when I was done, removing all the rocks and rolling it, and he told me you did a really nice job on that field, and you know he appreciated what you did.

I should add that in #3, you can see the dust plume of the 7420 and drill, that is how steep that section is towards the top, below the crest. #2, is a JD 3150, and the new stack was on order. You can see the all the trees in the old hedge/fence rows, damaged from the ice storm of '08, with all the clearing, needed, I think his brother knocked it off and it broke, so I went to my old D7 and grabbed the 3" victaulic pipe I use for a stack, rigged it to get that exhaust out of my face, shimmed it, and tied it off. Yes I kept an eye on the shims, being cedar !!!!, burnt one or 2 a little, took them out as needed if shutting down, it worked and I did not have to suck in exhaust as well as dust. I wore a dew rag, filter mask and goggles the dust was terrible, this was not the easiest job, but it needed to be done.

#11, in the background shows what I consider the steepest ground, that field is downright scary, looks like it came from West Virginia, and at the top in the middle was an old well, and I saw a photo of the 4440 and NH haybine, it collapsed and the tractor and bine were folded into it, he had to get a crane to get it out, so its not always the hills that get you !!! I rode with the spray guy and he could not run the way it the tillage was done and it was planted in corn, its that bad. Farmers around here worked all these fields and used even worse ground, looking back at the old aerial photos, much of it is back in forest and you would never know it was even in use, pasture or similar as they needed the best lands for crops, used only the worst for pasture, given the old fence lines, stone walls I have seen.

The small cart in the first photo is the one we used to pull with the 620 at times, to fill the planters with fertilizer.
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What's the deal with the exhaust pipe on the loader tractor? Is the exhaust pipe holding the hydraulic hose in place? Or is the hydraulic hose holding the exhaust stack in place?
 
I'm looking at the wood wedges keeping the muffler straight ???? South eastern Ohio looks like this too...but we use muffler clamps ;^)
 
2nd option, holding the stack. I could deal with the dust and noise, but the exhaust fumes were bad, so I stuffed that on their for a day or so, until new stack arrived, it looks terrible, unsafe with the shims, but sometimes you have to do what you must to get the work done. The wire was thick aluminum, scrap from the power company, very malleable, so it bent easy and kept the the pipe stable enough to use. Naturally aspirated, stack temp was not that hot, so I just kept an eye on it, removed when done or stopped. And er uh no, I don't recommend doing the above, but.... it got me thru, nothing but stub was left prior to and all the exhaust was in your face.
 
I knew that would draw some attention LOL ! I'm pretty good at rummaging and making something out of junk, salvage or whatever may be laying around in the junk pile, but this is the closest I could get in pipe, 3" victaulic, so its thick, not like exhaust pipe, probably 1/4", and its the stack on my D7 caterpillar, on that one its snug over the old stub in there, works fine, it'll get retired some day ! Farmer/friend got a kick out of it, not much of the wood even scorched, and sure it was nice when the new stack arrived and was immediately installed.
 
Some of the fields here are loaded with them, some have much less and a lot smaller, just about every stone in that bucket was one trip on/off the tractor, good thing it had a strong parking brake, great exercise, too 25lbs off me by the time spring planting was done. I filled that bucket more times than I can remember, between oats and corn I was over a few hundred acres, more like 300. The concern was the combine head, so it could be let down lower knowing all the surface rocks were gone, it did boost the tonnage on the straw taken off, being able to cut lower. Most times they only get picked this clean for oats/wheat/beans like I see recently, or hay/alfalfa-forage, in corn whatever comes up usually stays, unless its big enough to require removal.
 
Does that soil erode .In eastern Ks. there would be no topsoil left on the top half of the field,but then we don't have that much topsoil on hilsides to start with!!!
 
The d7 stack looks kool to me , my buddy has a mortor barrel stack on his cummins truck just behind the cab -- too bad I don't have a pic. for you guys
 
Billy, in Delaware County, N.Y., picking stone was endless. The old farmer next door told me as many stones as he had picked you'd think their would be a big hole in the ground! I live in Otsego County now and not as rocky, but sure is steep in places. It been said that the cows around here should have legs longer on one side from wandering around on these side hills. Great pics. and story.- Greg
 
Your land looks a little like ours here in MI lol, minus the hills. You have a lot of rocks, but if its muddy in our fields you just walk on top of the rocks so your boots dont get muddy lol. Ross
 
Don't you have any hilly ground? Those would be considered our flat fields if here in Fayette Co. Nice pics
 
Yep! Looks like you have a nice view though. We have very narrow valleys here, so I don't have a good view.

For some reason I thought you were in western NY, not eastern NY. Definitely some gutsy carting with a 2 wheel drive 4440!

It looks like the field is being planted uphill and down in that one section. Is that just an illusion? I'm really surprised you don't have narrower contour strips.

Glad to hear the exhaust got fixed. I stared at that photo for 10 minutes trying to figure out what it was made from. LOL


Great pictures! Thanks for them.
 
Many fields are longer going up hill, so it seems they get planted that way. They do use contour strips here. There is a large field next to us, it had been in grasses, before that alfalfa and corn strips. The large operator here planted all of it and a lot of the middle of it washed down hill, made a ditch, funny how in the 70's they planted like this, then my farmer friend went in strips, after some repair with an old D6 from a local contractor. The bottom end is adjacent to a 20 acre pond, I can't imagine how much of that field washed into there. It was in hay grasses, geese destroyed that, so then weeds and grasses, and for 7 years or so, still decent soil, but some don't seem to care about erosion.
 
Larry, I was thinking of you when I pulled that photo from the file, you could be busy a long time with the rocks I pulled that year, incidentally, they are all still where I left them, probably would not take much to get any of them, I'm not even sure who the landowner is, know the tenant though.
 
LOL.... there are some areas that you can only go up the slope, go sideways, you'll be rolling over, most fields are tolerable. We have flat land mixed in though, all combined it you get some of each, makes it interesting !
 
I think the rocks hold it in place ! I would imagine there is some erosion, between rain and wind. It seems the fields that have been in crops a long time, the soils hold their own, depends on conditions.

On our land, where much has over grown, we have a top layer of dark, almost black top soil that when it dries out would certainly blow away being light, silty and full of organics. One would be wise to preserve those soils after all the years it took to build them up.
 
Yes, and one needs to be very attentive to that both spring and during harvest. There has been a lot of beans planted around here lately and I've never seen those planted here before, they must be cleaning off those rocks but good before hand.
 

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