Sprinkler Blowout

Lawn sprinkler systems are convenient, but they are not maintenance free. Along with keeping the sprinklers operational, you have to blow the lines out every fall. Waiting until November is not ideal. But with a warm fall like we are having, no harm no foul.

Not having done this ourselves down here, we gathered the troops so everyone has an idea what needs to be done.

Lee brought his old-reliable service truck down.

Which has a gas powered air compressor with 20 gal. tank on it. For a little sprinkler system like ours, this small compressor will do just fine.

So we rigged up a fitting that will attach the air hose to the short garden hose that feeds the system from the outdoor water spigot. 

Bumping up against 100 psi, we made sure we always had at least one zone open so we didn't dead head and stress the system. Looks like this lawn has five zones. To make it simple, we just manually opened the valves to make sure we got them all. 

There is always a lot of water to begin with, which is a good sign.

We just keep the zone blowing until the water is just a midst. 

You are never going to get all the water evacuated. Checking how much water is coming out with your hand is a good way to judge if you need to keep blowing or not. Looks good to me.

Winter ready.

Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to blow out the sprinklers at the mission church, allows them to do it theirselves next year! When it's nice weather like this, I don't mind blowing out sprinklers. When it's cold, it's less fun. Glad we got it done. Now we're on to the next one!

More Lights

A few more wiring messes around the barnyard needed to be cleaned up before winter hits. Having a nice day in November back home, today was the day to do so.

Two or three years ago we ran this wire to and from various points around the corrals. This far north electrical point in the back shed, was to serve as a junction point for the rest of the yard. 

First up was to mount a breaker box. 

Then connect the main feed from the barn and the two circuit breakers that feed our accessories.

Muy bien. 

Then connect the feed line more positively inside the barn. 

Better. 

While we were at it, we wired in the saddle room. This line was already buried over here a few years back. We just trenched it a bit more to the building's new location, 4' from where it once was. 

Then got to wiring. 

Running low on supplies, we found a good junction box in the barn that had been disregarded. 

Dad cleaned it up nice. The main line comes into this outlet and then a new line goes out to power the lights. 

For that, we found an abandoned fixture in the back shed. 

A bit dirty, but should work. 

Just set the box.

And wire in the switch. 

Which fed the new/old light socket. 

Which energized the light bulb and lit up our saddle room!

Good stuff. It's nice to complete projects that have been in the works for years. Having no loose ends is great. Not that there's not more to be done, but putting final touches on wiring projects sure beats the days of setting brace posts. Besides, lighting up the saddle room for the first time ever, is a big day on the ranch! I think this is a good stopping point for projects around the corrals this year. Let's see what else we can find to do. Ranch on. 

Momento Mori

Remember our death by being in a state of grace.

           https://youtu.be/Z6aWRgYpxjU         

100%

Not content with good enough.

           https://youtu.be/FTD0xA5ITvU         

The Cowboy Priest

Over the summer, Catholic Rural Life came out and followed me around. Here's what they produced. All for the glory of God!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK3hhtiQ1SY&t=28s

Discipleship

Everything else is submissive to our following of the Lord.

           https://youtu.be/1ZQq0CZElmU         

Authenticity

Is true humility. 

           https://youtu.be/eUsGilZpESU         

 

Purgatory

Pray for the poor souls who can't pray for themselves! 

           https://youtu.be/wPCr5X7g3sY         

Chad Ekberg

My ole buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJYMMPPtiSg

All Saints

Inspire and intercede.

           https://youtu.be/VM4P3K9_0tQ         

Corral Lights

Now that we have a working set of corrals, it's time to polish our game with night lights. Having ran new electrical wire around and needing to get it hooked up properly, we took time to mount some LED flood lights. Worth the effort.

We're not down here a lot at night. But with power so close and good lights so available, why night get some good corral lights set up. 

These 19,000 lumen fixtures were suggested to us by the boys at Big Horn Electric. Good call. 

This is some of the mess that needed cleaned up. Not as bad as it looks. Just recently laid underground 10/2 wire. This area will serve as our junction spot for the main feed, with the heated water tank, power to the saddle room, and feed to the lights. 

For a job such as this, it was all hands on deck. 

Our idea was to use the upright gate post as a conduit for the wire to the lights. 

We mounted a junction box down below as well as up above. We just welded the light brackets on, once we found the right place and pitch. 

Then I fed some 12/2 wire down to Dad down below. 

Then started hooking up the copper. 

These wire clamps are the way to go in situations like this. 

Once tight, wrap them in friction tape and then with electrical tape. 

And mount the junction box cover. It'd be nice to have conduit on these wires coming out of the ground, but we didn't have any on hand. They'll be fine, being buriable wire and all. 

Dad did the technical hookup with the on/off switch. 

Good work. 

While I finalized everything up above. 

Should work.

Turned out pretty clean, I think. 

Giddy up!

That's all. Now just wait for nightfall. 

That's what I'm talking about!

They actually work better than I hoped for. I thought there might be a dead spot east of the gates, but there's not. Really, it's just amazing. Not sure what we'll have to do down here at night, but we're ready when that time comes. Thanks be to God for the gift of technological advancements that have made ranching so much more accommodating. This is impressive lighting for not a lot of effort. Thanks to all who have helped make this dream come true. We ranch on. 

Winterizing

It's best to be ready for winter before winter hits. This includes a lot, but most especially draining irrigation systems. Dad has got through winterizing everything except draining the pump and mainline. 

This pump site on the Bluff Canal feeds the irrigation on the entire ranch. 

The ultimate destination of the water it supplies is the pivot sprinkler, just to the south of the barn. By the time the underground mainline gets there, it is almost a 1/2 mile of 6" pipe.

To drain it sufficiently, Dad has a system. The hose side of this valve leads to the pivot point, which the pipe is still full of water. Step one, close the valve and unbolt it from the pump filter housing. 

Once free, drop it in the canal, opening the valve on the way down. There is plenty of fall to push the water out through gravity. But as the line goes along the highway, there are some flat spots that don't drain out by gravity alone.

By throwing the line in the canal, it ensures that this is the lowest point. By doing this while it is full of water, it creates a siphon as it is flushing out. When the end of the water gets to these flat spots that won't drain on their own, the vacuum of the siphon sucks all the water out and keeps it going to the lowest point, which is the canal. Good game plan.

The last step is to pull the inline, screen filter that comes off the pump. Dad will pressure wash this and put it back for the rest of the winter. 

That's it. We won't be back down here until next spring when it is time to fire back up. By doing a thorough job of winterizing, we shouldn't have any problems when we go to do so. Not our first rodeo. We ranch on.