HardKore Expands....

 I didn't get any pictures of Chad unloading the actual machine, but here he is with the bar feeder!

The man talking to Chad is our "neighbor" Peter.  I would guess that he is about 5 foot 6 to 5 foot 7 inches tall.  His business is called Enviro Check and they do mold removal.  Pretty nice people!!  He was excited to see that we had gotten another machine!!  ( :

This is the new machine unwrapped and on the ground.  The blue cabinet that you can see is the air compressor.  Its not part of the machine.

This is the inside of the machine.  This is a 7 axis Screw Machine.  I know most of us don't really know what that is...honestly I am only vaguely aware of this machines capabilities.  What I do know is that it is something we can leave running unattended, thus cutting some of our labor costs out. 

All of the jointed lines carry cutting oil to the surfaces we will be cutting when the machine runs.  Each tool station has its own line.  Oil is very important to these machines and some of our older machines have problems with their coolant systems, this machine will not!

This is a picture of the sub spindle.  Or the second side.

This is a picture of the main spindle or the first side.

We are working on aligning the bar feeder.  We got it pretty close to where we want it while its still on the pallet, then we lift it off of the pallet with the fork lift and place it on the ground. 

Bar feeder on the ground!!  The red buckets once held the way lube oil that we put into it.  The oil makes sure the bar feeder doesn't over heat (kind of like your car) and it also lube the bar stock that the bar feeder will feed into the machine.

Here is an up close and personal look the where the bar feeder and the Screw Machine come together.  I am sure I should know what this part of the machine is called, but I do not!  ( :

I can't get this picture rotated...but this is looking into and down the bar feeder.  I am standing and taking the picture from the point I just showed you above, looking down the length of the unit.  The material will rest against the side (blue) being held onto by the (black) wedge looking things.  When its time to feed the bar, the red opens up and a bar drops in.  More or less any who!

This machine isn't like anyone we have now, so we got a trainer in to give Chad the ins and outs of the thing today and tomorrow.  I am holding down the fort, so to speak...  Maybe doing a wee bit of blogging...but not much!!  LOL!!

Back to work...I've got a new machine to pay for....and a house....  ( :

Wyatt's Visiting!!

There hasn't been much to report around here, just picking up rocks, shopping for furniture (horrible experience), and scratching horse butts... 

Then Wyatt and his parents showed up for the weekend! Then some fun began.

The boy and my dog are pretty good friends.

Kage may love the boy more than the boy loves the dog, but they both seem to be enjoying each others company!

I sure wish that this boy lived closer to us!

Kage does too!!

We will be headed over there for Turkey Day...but I have a feeling it won't be soon enough once he's gone!

We can only guess that Wyatt will miss all of us as much as we will miss him!!

Stay tuned for a few more Wyatt photos to follow later this week!!  ( :

The Boys Are Home!!

So now the whole famn damily is here!!

I am quite sure that no one is truly happy with their new digs...but we will keep working on them until they are better.  Unfortunately it may take some time.

I am quite sure that I will be picking up rocks for the rest of my life....

Chad and I need to adopt a teenager....one with a strong back and good work ethic.

Wonder if there are any of those out there looking for parents?!?

Of all the animals that seem to be protesting their new home, Horse Girl seems to be worrying the most.  As you can see from this picture she is a bit sucked up.  I have two different salt blocks out, plenty of good hay, and fresh water...so I am hoping she will adjust here shortly.  Its only been 3 days and Tari isn't being nice...so I will keep a close eye on her.  I am sure she will settle soon...but until then I will keep stressin' right along with her!!

Holy Ground

Hope I don't get struck for titling this post that!  ( :

Need I say more?  ( :

So with the ground cleared enough to start digging holes, Jeremy and Kacey and the kids showed up for the fun.  But before they arrived, Chad and I picked up two pallets of Quick Crete, two bundles of 4-5 inch posts and one bundle of 7-8 inch posts. 

6 layers, 4 bags per layer, 80lbs. per bag... 1920lbs per pallet..total trailer load of 3840lbs.

Jeremy unloaded the kid's toy and then unloaded his "toy".  It didn't take much time for us to find out that this ground wasn't only rocky on top, it was rocky five feet down.  Not just little rocks, but really big rocks.  We broke the sheer pin on the auger on the first hole and it didn't get any better as we went along.  It was slow going.  Very slow going.

Kage hoping Chad doesn't hit him with one of those poles!  He hated it when we cut the bands on them and they all started moving!!

After about 5 holes, we decided that the small holes had points on them, so Jeremy would drill the holes and then drive them in after the ground had been loosened up.  The large hole that were for corner posts and gates, we would have to dig out in their entirety.  The digging of the holes took 7 hours.  4 hours longer than estimated.  Jeremy said two of the 65 holes dug the way they should have.  LOVELY!

The Danger hauled water for our post tamping...had to we the dirt to get a good pack on it!!  The Danger is the Bomb Yo!

The digging out completely was a chore...well it was worse than that.  It was hell.  Kacey, Chris, and I had blisters the size of dimes on Sunday afternoon and could barely hold our hands straight out in front of us.  We latterly worked ourselves until we were useless.  So the setting of the posts and the tamping was slow going for us...we were spent, but we aren't quitters so we persevered through the setting of the posts that weren't weight baring.

The boys (minus one...and a girl) and their toys!

After everyone left Sunday afternoon, Chad and I began setting the corner posts.  We found a couple of the corner posts weren't deep enough and a couple were off center...so we did yet more hand digging...yikes.

Locked and loaded....'er sumthin' like that!

We worked at our day jobs, then we came home and worked on the fence while my girls and Hee-Haws stayed with the land lord... much to my chagrin is was our only option as the new guys needed to be in before school started on the 7th of September.  So we started living in our new house on the 5th of September...with the girls waiting for us to get it together!

The auger before it me the rock soil at our house!!

So this weekend we ran 4 strands of high tensile wire around what is probably 3 acres of our 10.  Maybe a little less...but it was still quite a chore with the stringing, the setting, then setting the tension 3/4 of the way, then stapling in place.  Once these things were done, we got to pick up the girls!!

Chris and the post hole diggers...he got pretty good with them!!

I picked up Tari, Horse Girl and Fiona while Chad started working on the electric part of the fence.  The high tensile Aussie style fence is great for electrifying...especially when you have a horse like Fi that put her head on, over, and through everything!  She of course got whacked right away.  That girl doesn't waste anytime!!

The going was so bad we had to lay down on our bellies to pick up the really big rocks...no amount shoveling would remove them!!

Due to a few places where the ground naturally slopes in between the posts (we choose a span of 35 ft +/- for our spacing) and allowing for big enough gaps for the Hee Haws, they are still with the Land Lord.  I am working on a way to either add a line to those places or just a make them their own pen until Chad comes up with a solution...  They will be home Wednesday regardless...so I will let you know how that all plays out!!   Enjoy the rest of the pictures!!

This is the place my 6 foot gate now hangs!!

This is how all of the ground out there looks...layer upon layer of rock!

Fence line going down the new unfinished drive way!

Same fence line with wire, corner posts, and flags!

The girls behind their new fence!

Its sooo nasty dusty out here from the equipment!  Can't wait for rain!!

Fi...not the best picture of her!!  ( :

Horse Girl wishing Cranky Tari would leave her alone!!