Buffalo Dan's Bison

I've had the past several days off from work and spent most of this time at the ranch working on fencing.  I'm doing it all myself to save money, so, regardless of the condition of the ground (i.e. wet, dry, sandy, clay, etc), it's hard work.  I'm okay with that, though, since I'm working towards an awesome goal and, in my mind, the less money I can spend on equipment, the more I can spend on bison. Fence posts,... ...more fence posts,... ...and even more fence posts.  The three wooden posts in this photo are intended to be used for a double h-brace.  For this kind of fencing it's always good to put some kind of bracing at the tops and bottoms of hills.  On the same subject, I just finish fabricating four custom gate hinges for the main front gate.  They are designed to fit my somewhat larger sized square steel tube gates to standard 3/4" gate bolts.  While I'm on the subject of fabricating, I also just finished and installed an alumi

Spent most of my time this past weekend drilling out 3 1/2' post holes and setting the posts.  For line posts, I didn't do anything special, but, for H-brace posts, I pounded large nails into the base of the posts and poured concrete mix into the bottom of the post hole to help anchor the post better.  I didn't bring a camera, but one of my many trail cameras did capture a gate post installation.  Augering the hole. More augering.  Getting the post ready to drop in the hole.  Using a level to make sure the post is upright.  Pouring in the concrete mix.  I pour it in dry and wear a mask.  I ran into a problem after I poured in the mix.  The post was not perfectly level and I could not nudge it.  My solution was to tap it with the truck.  Poured in the rest of the mix and then added soil to the rest of the hole and tamped everything down.  In all I probably finished installing around ten or fifteen of these posts. 

This post should actually be dated for May 15th, but I just got around to posting it today. Having used a number of a number of low-priced two-stroke engine powered tools over the years, I've had my fair share of frustrations.  I'm very familiar with the impossible-to-start, underpowered, half-plastic, never-stay-running engine syndrome often seen among do-it-your-selfer tight-wads, such as myself.  Symptoms can include sore arms and hands from constantly pulling the starter cord, sore eyes caused by long Internet searches trying to find non-existent replacement parts,  xerostomia or dry mouth from extensive cursing, and tension induced bruxism or grinding teethe.  Erections lasting five or more hours would not have anything to do with it, but might mean that you are much cooler than I am and you should probably see a doctor.   Anyway, last week I got the Stihl BT 130 Earth Auger and and an 8" diameter bit, and, after using it over the weekend, I'll have to say t

This post will be very short because I'm trying not to use my left arm.  I thought it had recovered sufficiently, but after driving about five t-posts it is clear that I need to give it more rest.  I always tend to push things when I probably shouldn't.  I just don't have the patience to sit around and do nothing.  I can still do general tasks, but typing really inflames it. Though my arm became messed up pretty early on in the weekend, I was still able to accomplish a few things.  I taught Jess how to safely use a chainsaw, so she could work on clearing more fence line on her own.  I also mostly finished grading the road on our property.  We had about four inches of rain the previous week and some parts were too wet to properly grade. I'll wait another week or two before finishing those parts. A vigilant goose guards our pond. I think he looks a little like Putin.  Blue or Canada Toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis ) is now flowering on the pastu