We have a lot of folks comment how we must have loads of leisure time now that crop season is over. I suppose it's true on one level, but we just finished a bout of subzero wind chills, now have a day of frozen drizzle followed by a few inches of snow with high winds, followed by a drop in temp from 29 degrees this morning to below zero by midnight. Looking at -30 below windchill tomorrow morning. As a result, spent a couple hours thawing out one drain line and another thawing out the frost-free hydrant in the barn which, ironically, froze. In addition, with every snow I try to clear the paddock of snow and ice, lest it turn into a skating rink during one of these temporary thaws.
My wife noted that it also takes 3x as long to do any task outside (of which there are always several waiting on a farm) since one's hands tend to freeze rather quickly, even with insulated gloves. Thank Heaven for those little disposable hand warmers!
I hope everyone is staying safe and warm and that all the animals in your care are comfortable and dry. My mules would love to get back to work, but for now, they seem content with endless hay in their stalls, watching as it blusters outside.
Still, it's good honest work and we are looking forward to a peaceful Christmas and wish everyone on the forum the same.
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K.C. Fox says 2016-12-18 07:34:38 (CST)
Yes it takes more time to do anything when it is cold. If anything is going to break it seems like it does when it is cold. I have found it seems like a pair of latex gloves inside of your gloves keep your hands warm, ones that are loose not tight ones.
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
So. Oh. Bill says 2016-12-19 20:52:01 (CST)
Brian,
This may help with the frozen frost free hydrant. About ten years ago we had about ten horses in box stalls and a water bucket for each stall. All buckets were dumped each night and filled the next morning. One day my helper was trying to lift the handle and was about to use a hammer on it. I used a propane torch on the stand pipe at ground level and that worked. This was the first time that it had ever froze. After a close look on how the buckets were filled I found the problem. Each bucket was filled and then delivered to each stall one at a time. Every time that the valve is closed ,the water in the standpipe is drained into the gravel pit at the base of the hydrant. We filled all of the buckets at the same time before closing the hydrant. We were allowing the pit to fill and the drain had no place to go to but up and freeze.
Bill
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
Ralph in N.E.Oh says 2016-12-22 20:23:45 (CST)
Great advice on the hydrant. You diagnosed the problem perfectly.
Winter does bring a little slow time, but I like to give the horses haircuts and spend a little more time brushing their longer coats. I try to repair a few things and do a fair amount of planning, which saves me time later in the year. I will also admit to sitting around a wood stove in my friend's shop...solving the world's problems...we call that time "slaughtering bulls"....so I guess SB instead of BS :o)
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
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