Fox at the Cabin

 After almost a good week of working at the cabin, I happened to notice a hole in the ground near the cabin.  Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a fox hole.  I can't imagine the fox would still visit it after all the noise I've made for a week straight, but I put up a game camera to see if the fox stops by.

The hole is about 8-10" in diameter and angles down at about 45 degrees.  When it is just about 24" into the ground, it appears to turn left.  In the picture below, I included a glove by the hole for comparion purposes.  The second picture shows how close the fox hole is to the cabin.  

I'll update this post more if I can catch a few pictures of the fox with the game camera.

Fox Dens | All You Need To Know - All Things Foxes

Addressing a Railroad Tie Fence Post

On the east side of the property, the majority of the property line is fenced rather nicely.  There are four runs of barbed wire with black pipe corners like at the front of the property near the cabin.  The one exception is on the south side of that property line.  The new fencing just ends at the black pipe H shown below.  Beyond that, is an old railroad tie and some really old barb wire that runs to the corner of the property which is marked by an oak tree.

The area between the railroad tie and the tree marking the corner was massively overgrown.  While I had the excavator, I cleared the brush from that area so that I could get this area of fencing improved.  While clearing, I decided to go ahead and pull the railroad tie as it was angled such that it would block me continuing the fencing down the side with the standard black piping.  

Pulling the railroad tie required that I disconnect the neighbor's fence but it's a rusted and broken mess so anything I did would end up an improvement.  That was two weeks ago and today I finished the job by putting the railroad tie back in the ground but a couple of inches over so I could continue the metal piping.  The railroad tie is also now straight up and down.  I fastened the neighbor's old fence back to it better than before.  I want to keep it so that he connects any future fencing to it rather than my fence piping. 

North Fence Work and Relocation

This weekend and last I spent a little time working on the north fence line.  This is one area where the neighbor's fence is actually on my property.  I'd like to put up a better fence but I need to get this one straightened up so the new fence is placed properly.  This is a bit of a task as the neighbor ran this 20 years ago and mainly wrapped it around trees approximating the property lines.  Over the years, it has grown into the trees and has sunk into the dirt.

This first picture is from last weekend before I really started doing much work.

The following is from this weekend a little more than half way through the day.

This is then one of the last pictures I took looking back from a different direction.

 

Buffalo or Blue Grama Grass

The picture below is of the grass that was predominantly growing on the property until the massive drought last year.  I'd like to buy some of the same type grass seed to get grass growing in some areas where I disturbed the soil.  I used a cell phone app to find out what type of grass this is and the app indicated it was Blue Grama.  As I researched more, I found that Blue Grama and Buffalograss look very similar except for their growth habits.  Blue Grama grows in clusters where Buffalograss grows more as tuff.  This means I'll be ordering a little Buffalograss seed when the spring arrives.

New Entry Gate - Part 5

 After a few years, I returned to the front gate project to finally complete it.  The plan was to line the pipe posts with field fencing.  However, I wanted to match the appearance of the rest of the fence by attaching a small fence bar to tie the field fencing off to.  I purchased the metal quite a while back but frankly did not want to drag out the generator and welding gear to do it out of laziness.  Today, I tackled the project to get it off the list.

The job was rather straightforward and took a couple of hours.  I was able to primer the metal but the Rustoleum oil based primer indicates it should dry for 24 hours before being top coated.  I'll have to return to paint it black, wait another 24 hours, and then install some field fencing and a line of barb wire across the top to match the rest of the fencing. 

The fencing that I'll be using is StaTite50 949-12 12.5 gauge high tensile fencing.  It's only available in 660 ft lengths but matches the fencing which was put up originally exactly.  I wanted to make it match and plan to use the rest to do more fencing later on.  

I returned the next day and repainted all of this newest fence piping.  I painted the fence with Rustoleum Semi-Gloss oil based paint.  I believe the part number for it is 243995 but it is a little hard to read the can. 

Another two days later, I returned to add wire fencing.  What I thought was a quick job turned out to take quite a bit of time.  So much time, that I did not add the single run of barb wire above the field fence.  The job was not ideal in that the wire would pull the paint of the tie off rod when wrapping it.  The 2x4 fence stretcher I made did not hold the wires all evenly so that posed a challenge to.  However, in the end, it is all installed.  I'll need to go back another day for the barb wire along the top and to touch up paint.

Second GrazonNext HL Spraying

The first spraying of GrazonNext HL was done back on March 26th.  I sprayed 1.5 pints (24 oz) per acre over all the property.  After a few weeks, it was quite apparent the difference that it made.  However, on the East side of the property which has heavy Western Ragweed was controlled some but not entirely as it is actively sprouting now.  

Since about two months have passed, I mixed up another batch today and sprayed that East fence line.  This time, I sprayed a little over 2 pints per acre down that side and around the sides of the tank.  Once that was done, I mixed up a batch of RM43 which I purchased at Tractor Supply and sprayed the fence line along the East fence.  

I'll be back out there in two weeks and hope to find this made a bit difference.  I've used all my GrazonNext but based on my experience so far, I'll be buying more.  

Plum and Apricot Trees (2022 Update)

I planted the plum and apricot trees last year right before the worst snow storm Texas has seen in years.  They seemed to manage through it but then began to struggle due to lack of rain in the spring.  One weekend, I watered them and they looked fine.  The next weekend, the leaves were all gone.  I watered them that weekend anyway but then just stopped bothering with them all together.

This weekend, I noticed that two of them are still alive.  They are the two that are closest to the old shed on the property.  One of a Blenheim Apricot and the other is an AU Rosa Plum.  They look like parts of the tree died off but there are sprouts so perhaps I can save them.  I gave them water and put a ring around them to protect them from wildlife.

  
They might be a bit hard to make out in the picture below but the AU Rosa is nearest the camera.

05/07/22 - This weekend I returned to fertilize and put some mulch around the two fruit trees that survived.  The project grew and I ended up cleaning this side of the shed up so the whole area looks much better now.

12/18/22 - Unfortunately, shortly after this post we entered a 90+ day drought.  I watered these trees when I visited but before long there was no water coming off the eves and into the water barrels.  The heat was so intense that they were alive one weekend and dead the next.  I watered them anyway but I expect they are fully dead now.

Spraying GrazonNext HL

I sprayed the property with GrazonNext HL today using the spray map that I created previously.  However, my plan somewhat changed when I arried and prepared to spray.

I put 24 oz of GrazonNext and 8 oz of FarmWorks 80/20 Surfactant per 25 gallons of water.  Before spraying, I paced myself on the ATV with the tank full of water and 3 mph was about the right pace to cover an acre per tank.  This was with the boom setting on high.  I decided to mix it at 1.5 pints per acre as I thought I would be running below before I was able to do it all.

I began spraying and as I progressed realized I was not using as much of the GrazonNext as I expected.  The two gallon contains 256 oz which would have made a total of 10.6 batches/acres.  Somehow, I made a mistake and thought I only had enough for 5.3 acres.  In the end, I covered 7 acres with some to spare for a second coat along the east fence later if needed.

Spraying Grazon Next HL

I recently purchased a two gallon container of Grazon Next HL.  I really need more to treat everything but I'm going to use this to treat all but the south fence perimeter and the main clearing, tank, and deer stand area.  What I plan to treat is approximately 4.85 acres as calculated using the Sod Solutions measuring tool.

I plan to treat most of it at 1.5 pints per acre as that is appropriate for the weeds which grown along everything but the east fence.  The east fence has established ragweed which requires a rate of 2 pints per acre.  This is going to be really close with the 4.85 acres.  

The Grazon needs to be mixed with water but the rate at which is needs to be mixed is a little unclear.  I have a 25 gallon sprayer so it would be best to spray a 1/2 acre or full acre with one refill just to minimize trips driving around to refill the ATV mounted tank.  I need to research this part a bit further.

I'll likely buy a non-ionic surfactant to help the solution stick and absorb.  These are normally used at a rate of 1 to 2 quarts per 100 gallons.  I can get a gallon container at Tractor Supply for about $25.  One of these should cover me if I'm using 25 gallons per 1/2 acre as I would overall be using about 250 gallons.

John Deere LX255 Repairs

Four years ago, I was given a John Deere LX255 mower as a birthday present in essentially the same condition you see below.  While a little rough around the edges, it provided a way to mow around the cabin.  I used it on a few occasions but then part it near the shed for at least a year.  It then failed to start so I just used the DR brush mower instead.  This year, I decided it was time to get it running again.

To get it running again, the mower will need the fuel drained, new fuel lines, a new fuel filter, carburetor rebuild, new battery, new oil, new air filter, a new front tire and perhaps more.  The plan for now is just to do the fuel, oil, and then try to start it using the battery in the truck.  If it will run, I will invest the rest of the money to get it really functional.  

I pulled the carburetor a week ago but one of the butterfly valves on it was frozen.  After soaking it in carburetor cleaner and working on it a bit I was not able to loosen it up much.  While I hate to do it, I ordered a replacement from Amazon as there were no OEM versions on eBay.  The Chinese replacement carburetors are always a challenge but hopefully it works for more than 5 minutes.

Today, I put on the replacement carburetor, replaced some of the fuel lines (1/4"), installed the new fuel filter (Kohler AM116304), changed the oil (JD Turf Guard 10w30 w JD AM125424 filter)), added the air filter, changed the spark plug (Champion RC12YC), and cleaned it up a little.  I would have tried to start it but I did not want to remove the battery from the truck and had no jumper cables.  I sprayed some WD40 in the spark plug hole just in case so if nothing else this will give it some time to soak until I make it out there again with jumper cables.