December Trimming

Jack's roping arena grew one of the finest crops of Canadian Thistle I have ever seen. Average of 6' tall and thick! That's what happens when barren ground goes dormant. Use it or loose it.

I don't plan on going roping anytime soon, but I do want to use this pen to house some cows occasionally. Tending to these weeds has been a desire of mine all fall. However, this could be done at anytime compared with more weather sensitive needs. So we waited until the time was right and tackled it. 

First step was firing up ole Bobby. The dang thing sure starts good, even in cold weather. 

Pretty chilly today. No sun drove that point home. 

The plan was to brush hog it. I've scene these mower attachments for skid-steers but have never used one. So we rented one to find out how well they work. For starters, I'm really not very handy with a skid-steer. Hydraulic levers with my feet, confuse me. Another frustrating point is hooking up the hydraulic lines. Talk about a finger-pinching, knuckle-busting, make-you-want-to-cuss son of a gun! And yes, I did neutralize the lines before attempting a hook up. We got it, enough said.

This guy means business. I was first attracted to them by the nice job of mowing they do. The versatility of a front mounted unit also makes it ideal for our job. And, we happen to have a skid-steer siting around. Let's ranch.

First round was tough. I didn't know if it was going to work. Then I started tilting it back as I pushed into the thistle. Slowing down also helped. 

Out in the middle, the thistle died out and tall grass stuff and old weed stems took its place. Mowed even better. 

Once we got into the light stuff I tipped the unit forward, with the front down, and it mowed nice. 

Good enough for me and the girls. 

Jack told me that it was too cold to be mowing weeds with a skid-steer. He was right, but the job had to be done. With these weeds knocked down, we can see what we have to work with. Plenty of potential. The fence needs tending and some gates need addressing. But other than that, she'll work for a big corral to hold the cows and run them into the smaller pens. Then we can work them all we want. Might even feed them in here come February. We'll see. Job is done. On to the next one.