Whats the best way to get all the stakes out?
 

I found a vid of a guy using a jack with fence post. I was wondering how yous guys do it???

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2bnEJk5guI[/url]

I have some t-posts in which I know they make a tool. I also have rebar with pex over top of them. Then I have the 2x4's ripped down the middle. So three different types on stakes in use here.

Trust me when I say they are in the ground. no amount of water will loosen them up. My long handle sledge put them down and they wont budge...

Whatcha think?

[IMG]http://4busydads.com/sites/default/files/nodes/100/180/farm%20jack.jpg[/IMG]

Mine is the one in the pictures. The grab hook part is for using a chain on round/other poles. Just wrap the chain around the pole and attach it to the grab hook - use the lever. We have pulled 6" wide poles with concrete on them out of the ground using this method.

Oops, that tray thing in the background in the first picture will be a thread here tomorrow when I can show it in use. I have to put the second coat of paint on it today.

I'm leaving all my supports standing over the winter, and plan to add more. I want to have everything built to support the plants before spring arrives. I keep failing to keep up with the plants when I try to build the trellises as they grow.

I've dug plenty of t-posts out with a shovel. It just takes a little patience.

Thanks guys! I had a nice farm jack here and it made short work of them all. Granted I needed to use the chain on the wooden one's. Then the rebar needed the pipe wrench. The t-posts nothing but the farm jack.

Cole maybe next year after my new setup if I can pull it off!

Salt I will be looking for that new thread!

Worth thanks for reminding me I had the darn farm jack!

Hey while I am at it do you guys burn up all the plants at the end of the year? I also have toms and peppers all over the ground. Should i rake all of them up or just til them under?

Hey seriously... idk lol first time garden...

Ty
bill

The plants I would dispose of. I do burn ours.

The tomatoes and peppers... I like volunteers so I leave them and till them under.

Mine is put away right now, but basically it's a lever type - a short span from a 2x4 to the end of another piece of 2x4 which has a piece of rope on it. Even using it, there always seems to be one that doesn't want to turn loose. For that one (actually those), I bring the hose and put the setting maximum small stream. I use this to dig around the base of the stake. Then the lever action works well enough. It always works then, even on metal stakes that are "concreted" in place by dried out garden soil which has been more prevalent this year than any other year.

The draught is horrible here. Norris Lake is lower than I have ever seen it. Can't launch the boat any more. All the launches are dry to the end of the concrete ramps. The soil in my garden is cracker box dry and hard as concrete. I haven't had any rain since sometime back in July. I keep the bird bath full for my feathered buddies. Lots of critters are coming out of the woods looking for water and food. I've seen more possums, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, rabbits, deer, coyotes, and the occasional bear in my front yard than all the previous 8 years combined.

Even the birds are hurting. Haven't seen many flocks of starlings or blackbirds moving south. The fires around here keep the air pretty smoked up. I'm in no danger here, but many of my neighbors are sweating this one out. We've bush hogged a lot of brush around a lot of homes and have hoses set up for immediate use. Our whole world here smells like a campfire.

Very sorry to hear that Ted. Hope you get good rains soon!

Ted, it's so dry where you're at that they are talking about it on the news here in Texas. Accuweather talks about daily too.

Thanks for the kind words. This soil will grow anything and do it quickly, but it is so dry that Governor Haslam has a burn ban in place till December 15th. No one can remember when that kind of ban was ever put in place.

I've lost a lot of the grass in the yard - about 30%. On a positive note, I haven't had to mow the grass nor break out the weed eater. And, I've been out at the lake walking along the edges and have found a lot of stuff people drop off boats - glasses, hemostats, tools, boat motors, anchors, rods and reels, and a bunch of artificial lures that don't float. I'll be going out to some of the marinas with my metal detector and see what has fallen off the walkways. It gets me out of the house. :)

They're saying we have "a chance of a shower or two Friday or Saturday, but it will be hit of miss". The long range forecast doesn't have any hope in it, either. The county takes water from Norris Lake for our drinking water. I've heard that the intake pipes are only about a half dozen feet from being exposed. That would shut down three or four entire counties.

My apologies to the folks in the coastal areas, but we need something on the scale of a hurricane to park here for a week or so.

Years ago I was around 16 and some guy was below the dam at the spillway after huge floods in the Mississippi valley.
all the rivers were backed up and no water could come out of the lakes.
There was an older guy with a huge magnet on a rope dipping it in the water.
What are you looking for I asked.
Sinkers he said.
How many have you found so far?
None.
You wont, you cant pick up lead with a magnet.
Really your kidding me.
Nope here is one give it a try.
He did and was shocked.
How on earth did someone in their late teens early twenties get that far along not knowing you cant pick up lead with a magnet.:?

Worth

Drought
 

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;600107]Thanks for the kind words. This soil will grow anything and do it quickly, but it is so dry that Governor Haslam has a burn ban in place till December 15th. No one can remember when that kind of ban was ever put in place.

I've lost a lot of the grass in the yard - about 30%. On a positive note, I haven't had to mow the grass nor break out the weed eater. And, I've been out at the lake walking along the edges and have found a lot of stuff people drop off boats - glasses, hemostats, tools, boat motors, anchors, rods and reels, and a bunch of artificial lures that don't float. I'll be going out to some of the marinas with my metal detector and see what has fallen off the walkways. It gets me out of the house. :)

They're saying we have "a chance of a shower or two Friday or Saturday, but it will be hit of miss". The long range forecast doesn't have any hope in it, either. The county takes water from Norris Lake for our drinking water. I've heard that the intake pipes are only about a half dozen feet from being exposed. That would shut down three or four entire counties.

My apologies to the folks in the coastal areas, but we need something on the scale of a hurricane to park here for a week or so.[/QUOTE]

Ted, I tried detecting here when lake was down. There was so much junk I gave up . Amazing how much stuff is lossed or thrown in water! Some people had luck though! Getting out of house is a good thing. Hope you find something great and at least get huge tropical storm!:lol::yes:

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;599970]Mine is the one in the pictures. The grab hook part is for using a chain on round/other poles. Just wrap the chain around the pole and attach it to the grab hook - use the lever. We have pulled 6" wide poles with concrete on them out of the ground using this method.[/QUOTE]

Who made that puller Salt? It looks heavy duty...

I had to go look. The label gave all kinds of info including a 1-800 phone number. It is a Priefert T-post puller [URL]https://www.priefert.com/products/fencing-aids/t-post-pullers[/URL] Mt. Pleasant, Texas. It was made on 6-10-2004. Made in USA

It is very easy to use.

That's a really nice one compared to the junk one over on harbor freight...

Thanks Salt!

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;599999]
The draught is horrible here. Norris Lake is lower than I have ever seen it. Can't launch the boat any more. All the launches are dry to the end of the concrete ramps. The soil in my garden is cracker box dry and hard as concrete. I haven't had any rain since sometime back in July. I keep the bird bath full for my feathered buddies. Lots of critters are coming out of the woods looking for water and food. I've seen more possums, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, rabbits, deer, coyotes, and the occasional bear in my front yard than all the previous 8 years combined.
[/QUOTE]

It's certainly been dry here as well all summer. Strange too as it seemed like it would never stop raining in April/May. I couldn't even get anything planted till mid May or so. Then I had to stop watering the garden at the beginning of September over concerns of running out of water for the house. My girl says that our well is right where three springs meet or something like that. As for me i don't know that for-sure only in what she was told by her daddy and grand daddy. I let the toms die off myself worried about the water. Heck i had 10 1/2' cherries and they certainly would have been 12 ft' by first frost had i kept up with them.

I hope they can get all the fires under control, what a mess that is. I know when the great dismal swap was on fire. We were getting a lot of the smoke / smell here and man was it bad.

I hope rains come soon and replenish us all! Most important is to be mindful & careful over there.

Find yourself a couple of those 250-300 gallon plastic tanks and catch rainwater. If the well looks like it's getting low, you can save your garden by watering individual plants (at least some of them). I start filling mine up in mid spring as long as I don't expect a really extended hard freeze.

I usually have my garden cut and burned and tilled by this time of the year, but we're in a burn ban till further notice. Today, we were able to clear our lungs of the smoke for a few hours.

I had 7 coyotes in my back yard last night. Two didn't survive the meeting. They've begun to run in packs so that they can take down bigger game - including cattle. I wish I had a scope with Infra Red capability. They took down a cow that was calving and killed and ate both (back at the back end of the pasture). Now we have the whole herd in the pasture just behind the house. Now, it's a 24/7 job of guarding the herd. My "pet" groundhogs are all MIA's as of this afternoon.

I'm reading.:(
Can you find a used trijicon scope.
They work great for low light.
They have a great warranty and it doesn't matter if it doesn't work if you get a used one they will fix it.
Fantastic night scopes I have used them and highly recommend them.
I dont remember what it was but the reticles glowed in the dark if you could see the critter you could shoot it
One cow is worth the price of the scope.

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;600331]Find yourself a couple of those 250-300 gallon plastic tanks and catch rainwater. If the well looks like it's getting low, you can save your garden by watering individual plants (at least some of them). I start filling mine up in mid spring as long as I don't expect a really extended hard freeze.

I usually have my garden cut and burned and tilled by this time of the year, but we're in a burn ban till further notice. Today, we were able to clear our lungs of the smoke for a few hours.

I had 7 coyotes in my back yard last night. Two didn't survive the meeting. They've begun to run in packs so that they can take down bigger game - including cattle. I wish I had a scope with Infra Red capability. They took down a cow that was calving and killed and ate both (back at the back end of the pasture). Now we have the whole herd in the pasture just behind the house. Now, it's a 24/7 job of guarding the herd. My "pet" groundhogs are all MIA's as of this afternoon.[/QUOTE]

Very sad. I hope that things improve for you soon.

Wow, I don't think my family has ever lost a fully grown cow to a coyote. Calves are hard to tell. Usually by the time we see them walking around, they are ok. Sometimes an old heifer will die giving birth. I see coyotes all the time, but I only see them eating cows that are already dead.

I was picking blackberries last summer and saw a pile of coyote dung. The coyote had apparently eaten a turtle, shell and all. That pile of poop looked like it hurt a lot coming out. Ouch.

Coyote i
 

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;600331]Find yourself a couple of those 250-300 gallon plastic tanks and catch rainwater. If the well looks like it's getting low, you can save your garden by watering individual plants (at least some of them). I start filling mine up in mid spring as long as I don't expect a really extended hard freeze.

I usually have my garden cut and burned and tilled by this time of the year, but we're in a burn ban till further notice. Today, we were able to clear our lungs of the smoke for a few hours.

I had 7 coyotes in my back yard last night. Two didn't survive the meeting. They've begun to run in packs so that they can take down bigger game - including cattle. I wish I had a scope with Infra Red capability. They took down a cow that was calving and killed and ate both (back at the back end of the pasture). Now we have the whole herd in the pasture just behind the house. Now, it's a 24/7 job of guarding the herd. My "pet" groundhogs are all MIA's as of this afternoon.[/QUOTE]

I was visiting my best bud in Nebraska few years back. I was using his 22 auto and he had shotgun. He called called in bunch of coyotes with crying rabbit sound . They came over the hill and we unloaded on em. Didn't part a hair:lol::lol::lol:. Never saw him so mad!

You're Welcome MrSalvage.

After a very long day today, I read the replies here. Yes, coyotes take down healthy grown cows. I watched a pack do that to a cow off the highway near Bono, Texas about 9 years ago. They were really bad in the area.

I have noticed that since the big cats have moved into our area - we never hear coyotes anymore. Of course, there are also less smaller pets here too.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;599980]I'm leaving all my supports standing over the winter, and plan to add more. I want to have everything built to support the plants before spring arrives. I keep failing to keep up with the plants when I try to build the trellises as they grow.

I've dug plenty of t-posts out with a shovel. It just takes a little patience.[/QUOTE]

Same, part of why I had such crop failures.

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;600358]I have noticed that since the big cats have moved into our area - we never hear coyotes anymore. Of course, there are also less smaller pets here too.[/QUOTE]


Big Cat's? Are you kidding? North of Dallas as well?

We live about 45 miles south of Forth Worth and about 65 miles southwest of Dallas. But, Yes big cats are here.

We have then here too and alligators and bears.

Worth

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;600489]We live about 45 miles south of Forth Worth and about 65 miles southwest of Dallas. But, Yes big cats are here.[/QUOTE]

Welp something else to call my son about. Heck a lady in Maryland was attacked by a bear the other day. We didn't live far from where it happened. When i go out at night around here I always take my porter cable florescent with me. I even light up the porch first with my foot on the door. Darn bear...

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;600358]You're Welcome MrSalvage.

After a very long day today, I read the replies here. Yes, coyotes take down healthy grown cows. I watched a pack do that to a cow off the highway near Bono, Texas about 9 years ago. They were really bad in the area.

I have noticed that since the big cats have moved into our area - we never hear coyotes anymore. Of course, there are also less smaller pets here too.[/QUOTE]

Hey, Salt. Load up a few of those cats and drop them here in my back yard. No problem at all. I'll make them welcome with a large helping of coyote meat. :)

I think I'd rather have them than the wild canines I'm dealing with now.

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;600499]Hey, Salt. Load up a few of those cats and drop them here in my back yard. No problem at all. I'll make them welcome with a large helping of coyote meat. :)

I think I'd rather have them than the wild canines I'm dealing with now.[/QUOTE]

Umm...err here kitty-kitty ...Hey! Stop that, I'm still using that leg! :lol: