Flash Flood II

Not long ago I wrote this post about a flash flood that occurred on part of the ranch. The flash flood overflowed a creek channel and was probably the 100-year flood. A 100-year flood doesn't occur exactly every 100 years; instead, a flood of that large a magnitude has the statistical chance of happening once every 100 years. So after the flash flood we weren't expecting more water. 

But only nine days later, a second flash flood went through the same area. Fortunately it wasn't quite as large, but it was probably a 50-year flood. It cut the channel even deeper and washed out roads, including one the county road department had spent the last week working on.

Yesterday Desert Boy and I went down to the creek to see the work that was being done. All you guys who love heavy equipment, this post is for you!

Because so much sediment washed away from the flood control structures, dirt was needed to pack in around the concrete and redirect the water over the structures. The ranch's huge Volvo excavator dug into a nearby hill and poured dirt into the dump truck.

The dump truck made many trips with 10 cubic yards of dirt each trip. 

Then the driver dumped the dirt at the edge of the creek. 

Next the Hitachi excavator made a work area by smoothing down the dirt into a level platform.

Then the excavator drove out onto the dirt, filled a bucket with water, and wetted down the next dump truck load of dirt so that it would pack better.

Here's the excavator packing in dirt next to the washed out side of the flood control structure.

A few hours later, the wall of dirt had been built back up and the flood control structure was back in business.

Then it was time to head upstream, to the flood control structure that was washed out so much that it had tilted over on its side. The concrete structure weighs about 50 tons, so some big equipment was needed.

The ranch has some big equipment, like the huge loader and track excavator, but even these machines weren't big enough to do the job.

Plan B was to dig out the higher side of the structure to try to get it to settle lower. If it works, then the sides will be filled in and additional concrete will be poured higher to make an extra step in the structure.

Here's the excavator at work again. It sure is a fun machine to watch. Desert Boy was thrilled.

You can see in this picture the cables that are around the structure that were used in trying to move it back into place. Will Plan B work? We don't know yet;  this job will take awhile to complete. Stay tuned...

Desert Boy Climbs the Chopper

Desert Boy doesn't need a playground, not when he has an array of farm equipment close at hand. One of his favorites is the chopper, where he has been developing his gross motor skills. He's 16 months old, but the huge machine doesn't faze him at all.

The first hurdle is just getting off the ground, where the first step is chest high. He looks up at all the other steps he will have to climb and plans his attack.

It doesn't take long to pull himself up. 

Then he prepares himself for the ladder. 

Daddy is close by. This is the first time he's seen Desert Boy climb the chopper ladder and he's not quite believing his eyes. 

Desert Boy has some good rock climbing moves that he's just found naturally. He seems to know that he should always have at least three points of contact.

He knows Mom is taking pictures and can't help but shoot a grin my way. What a ham.

He keeps climbing. And no, this is not a paid advertisement for John Deere. 

He knows he's close, and Dad is just itching to help him. Mom tells him no, the little tyke can do it on his own.

And with one more step,

he's up on the top platform. Success!

Finally Dad can catch up to him and take him inside for a little pretend driving. 

I'm hoping Desert Boy will limit his climbing to farm equipment; he's definitely keeping his parents in shape.

Driving Tractors Part III

I recently needed to find something to make Desert Boy happy, so we went and visited some tractors on the ranch. Like the first and second times we made these forays, he was absolutely beaming. 

Our first visit was to a John Deere 4755, a real powerhouse of a tractor. It gets used to pull all sorts of equipment, but on this day it was sitting empty. But not for long...

Desert Boy eagerly got up and started working the controls. Except he's a bit on the short side at 31 inches, so he can't exactly sit on the seat and work all the levers.

In the next vehicle he figured out a better way to drive, by standing on the seat. He may need to get leg extensions to work foot pedals, but it's okay with me if he doesn't drive for a few years. His attention span isn't too long.

The vehicle he's in is a John Deere grader. Our ranch roads get washboardy quickly, so a couple times a year they're graded. The grader is also used to help keep irrigation ditches clean.

Desert Boy got tired of the grader and wandered over to a bright red tractor. Once again he looks quite short in the cab, but he's alarmingly close to key level.

Here's a better view of the red tractor. It's towing the feed wagon.

We move over to another part of the lower yard and find a piece of equipment closer to Desert Boy's size. He can sit and steer. He is so happy.

You can see the glee in his expression. He thinks he's really big stuff. Never mind that his jeans are too big and about to fall off and his shoe is untied. That's just not important when you're driving ranch equipment.

So what's the piece of equipment his size? This fork lift. He is totally comfortable on it.

Despite all the neat machinery on the ranch, Desert Boy seems to be just as happy pretending he's driving this broken down lawn mower in our yard. It doesn't even have a steering wheel, but it has enough metal on it to seem like a real vehicle and warrant the full accompaniment of vroom, vroom noises.

A New Tractor

A momentous event has occurred on the ranch. One that will be recorded in the history books. Well, the history books of the ranch, if we had such a thing. What am I talking about? We bought a new tractor. We practically never buy any new equipment, so when I opened the door and smelled that new vehicle smell, I didn't believe my nose. I asked my husband, "Is that tractor really new?" He said yes, and I looked closely to make sure he wasn't pulling my leg.

It's a John Deere 7230, and it's smaller than some of the other tractors on the ranch and more fuel efficient. Yep, we're definitely concerned about fuel efficiency. The price of farm fuel has increased six times over what it was ten years ago. The same with fertilizer, but the price of hay has only doubled, so we look for ways to save money.

Desert Boy got excited when he saw the tractor and couldn't wait to take a test drive. Or at least a pretend test drive. It's nice that he's still content to just pretend he's driving.

Once he's inside the cab, he's happy. He starts exploring everything and isn't shy at all about touching everything. I have to make sure he doesn't do something like the leave the lights on.

Desert Boy tries out the new seat, still covered in plastic. No dirt, no coffee stains, no manure. Wow, it's unbelievable. There's still cardboard on the floor. 

He's touching the plastic because it seems so unfamiliar. He is definitely a hands-on kind of kid and is always touching everything around him. 

He examines the gear shifter. You can see his stroller through the window in the background. These tractor wheels are definitely a lot more exciting.

And of course he has to do the requisite vroom, vroom noises while pretending to steer. 

The tractor is parked at the shop just behind our house, and Desert Boy keeps wandering in that direction, his eyes big with excitement. He can't stay away from the new tractor. I guess he knows a good thing when he sees it.

Driving Tractors Part II

My son, Desert Boy,  loves to drive tractors, which is quite obvious in Driving Tractors Part I.

He was in need of a driving fix yesterday, so we visited the lower yard and looked around for some tractors for him to drive. We found a few and it was a good morning.

We started out on a Massey Ferguson 275. The red color attracted him immediately. Plus it was the closest one to where we parked. It doesn't have much of a seat left to it, but that doesn't matter much to a one-year old.

This tractor at first glance looks the same, but it's actually a 1964 Massey Ferguson 150. Cousin Pony Express Rider (update tomorrow!) had to come over and give Desert Boy a couple pointers.

Right next to it was an Allis-Chambers 7550. Now we're getting big! Mom gets a workout climbing up all these tractors to let Desert Boy drive.
The little smile makes it all worth it. Note Desert Boy's crossed legs, one of his favorite habits. I wish I had gotten some of his "vroom, vroom" noises. He made a lot of them.

Now he's done smiling at mom and ready to start driving, beginning by shifting.

Okay, three red tractors down, and a  fall in the dirt. Where to next? 

He looks a little wide-eyed behind the wheel of this tractor.
It's a John Deere 4755, pulling some big long red thing. My husband, my technical advisor, isn't around to tell me what the doohickey thing is. Oh wait, he's back and says it's a rotary windrower. 

I said, "What does that mean?"

He said, "Makes windrows."

"Well, what are windrows?"

"Rows of cut hay that can dry and later be picked up."

(See, we have exciting conversations in our house.)

Oh good golly, Desert Boy is now up in a high cab and reaching for the keys. We'll be in big trouble when he actually can start one of these machines.

Especially if it's something as big as this John Deere 6910, which is a forage harvester. The yellow part on the front picks up the windrow and chops it into little bits and blows it into a truck.

Okay, we're almost done, but there's time to play in this huge bucket. Henry doesn't want to be left out (he didn't like Desert Boy driving alone). You can just imagine the size of the machine needed to lift a five cubic yard bucket and its load.

Here it is, the biggest loader on the ranch. Desert Boy can only hope to drive this one day.