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Gundam Farmer

Greetings true believers and visitors, to the first blog by the AWOL Gundam Guy. At this time I would like to formally apologize for my disappearance from CDX after my last reviews and commentary from the podcasts promising reviews of other Gundams. Truth be told I did beging writing reviews, but some computer errors on my part lost what I was writing and on the model front I have been lacking in the proverbial things to write about in general. When I talk about my hobby to some of my local readers, I tell them that the closest hobby shop is a UPS truck and four shipping days away. Now some of you may have been wondering, Where have I been? To that I suppose a little exposition is on order.

Amidst the not so chaotic days, I have been preoccupied with the daily operations and management of my family's farm in Hahira, GA. For those looking on Google Maps, Hahira is that little spec in the northern edge of the boot shaped Lowndes County. Sports fans will know that Lowndes County was awarded "TITLE TOWN" for the past year, and unfortunately Valdosta's let its fame go to its head. Now if only that fame would let us get a real anime/hobby store.

Back to the point, for nearly five years the farm has been a labor of two (myself and my father) and I have been for the most part the only force of arms when it comes to the daily management. Our farm is divided into two areas: the field and our pasture. The field is located in Cecil which is just up the road in Cook County. This is where we run our private hay operation. Every other season (Spring, Summer, or Fall depending on weather and growth) where I have been the one to regularly cut and rake while my father runs the bailer and handle the task of driving the trailers home. Since we no longer run a comercial hay business any more, we've downsized our equipment needs to the bare essentials for tending to our cattle, that consists of one drum mower, a tine wheeled rake, and our bailer, with the various additional impliments for managing the fields such as the seeder, bushhog (grass/weed mower), and disk harrow. Our collection of equipment has remained since the comercial days of two 6200 series John Deere tractors, the 6300 series tractor with the front end loader with a mounted hay spike for the duties on the field, while at home we have our old rust bucket Long (a tractor made by Ford) which came with the property when we first bought it that is used as the typical mule and our 2940 series Deere which is a relic of its own, but still the vital link in our daily work with the cows.

We don't have the large scale production of a dairy farm or a cattle ranch, but we do have a stable herd of cattle (and one goat) that need daily feedings and care, from which we send a selection to market on a quarterly basis or if we have an emergency. More on that below. I have been in charge of their feedings, giving them a 50 lb sack of feed a day, and during the winter months feed them a roll of hay every other day until the climate shifts and which we give them a roll every day. Our herd has had its stages of domestication over the years: running away from the very sight of us, to the now "Two Legs Good" conditioning where they immediately run for their feeding troughs. Despite their 'training' some of them still have some more aggressive tendencies, from bumping into me during feeding time to the occasional Gore the feed bag with Horns. I've walked away with a few bumps and bruises, and nearly been skewered a few times. Still, I am still man and I am still higher on the food chain!

The past year has seen its unfortunate share of tests, ultimately resulting in losses. The past month alone we saw three cows go through a traumatic situation where they are undersized, and at the absolute end of their pregnancy cycle. The cause from lack of nutrition in their early life cycle caused stunted bone growth. While physically healthy, their pelvic bones fused so early that they become useless for comercial breeding, but nature will run its course. In light of the Blog Guidelines, I will withhold from the details. On the positive side, the rest of the herd is fine. Earlier this month we ran them through the pen to give them their vaccinations, thin out the cows we needed to get off the field and turn the little bull calves into little steers. By doing what we did we prevent future birthing issues by removing the undersized cattle, and through the wonders of the rubber 'Green Cheerio of death' established our Crop of steers to send to the market in the Spring. During the events I got to wrestle a bull! Physically, Seriously, and I won. Granted he was a two month old, despite his age he still has enough strength in those legs to break bones, and his mother with horns was the real thing I had to worry about. I officially named the (now) steer "Duncan" after Duncan Douglas from "FREAKAZOID" and the greatest line in the history of cartoons:
"Hiya Sport! You must be Duncan! Good to meet you! LEETS WRASTLE! ...Say Grandma Moses makes munchy meats most Monday mornings!"

Since that day he and the other calves have been a little skiddish around humans, but the good news is all of them are doing well and on the developmental track to becoming thicker, healthy profits. Now if only the beef market was so forgiving. With the economic times we are in, a large number of comercial farms have been dropping their herds because of the lack of food (Thanks Ethanol), which in turn causes the prices at market to bottom out, and the groups of auction patrons are paying bottom dollar value. While sending our cows to market cuts down on the number of mouths to feed on average, the profits have been less than satisfactory. Never the less, we go on, one foot in front of the other.

Well, thats it for me. I would like to thank my readers for taking the time to stop and give an eye to my story. Until next time.

Rob "The Gundam Guy"

Posted 20 November, 2008 - 11:03 by Gunpla Rob

Comments

3 comments posted
Man, a Farm. Wow. I worked

Man, a Farm. Wow. I worked on a vegatable farm when I was younger, and I really loved the environment, and the hard work. Its a far cry from being stuck behind a computer all day.

Its funny, farming and gunpla could not be more unrelated, but the way you were describing the farm equpment was so nerdy and otaku like, I almost wanted to know how much diecast they had and what points are articulated.

Great first blog. Hope to see some of those game reviews show up here.

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CollectionDX Admin

JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 20 November, 2008 - 23:14
Articulation

Well since you put it that way:

Each tractor shares the same points of articulation at the steering pistons on the front wheel which is also supported by a tortion bar that keeps the axels alligned properly. When the steering wheel is turned, the wheels turn and the sealed piston extends to a maximum range of motion, allowing the tractor turn at an impressive 45 degree into a complete circle. Wise drivers would be smart to avoid doing such tight turns when using equipment. These steering pistons are also one of the most likely parts of the tractor to suffer from dramatic climate shifts and long durations of the tractor sitting idle. From which, the gasket seals inside the pistons will crack and dry out causing problematic leaks of hydraulic fluid. Replacing the seals is a tedious task, but cheap if you do it yourself. Painful but cheap.

The rear lift arms are controlled by a thumb lever on the right side control console. This thumb lever (on the 6200/6300 series) is adjustable for the the maximum and minimum height that the tractor can set equipment to the ground. This is also complimented by the adjustable nature of the lift arms: the right side arm and the top link arm (of the three point hitch) can be adjusted for proper arrangement and balance in setting the depth for equipment. Units such as the harrow or the hay mower are adjusted by these two points to set proper balance when the equipment is set on the ground and to adjust the forward direction it reaches the ground. Tractors with a functioning PTO (Power Take-Off, or splined drive shaft) are controlled by the turn nob further back on the impliment console. Simply raise the tractor's running RPMs to the determined level, pull up on the dial and turn clockwise until it clicks into place. Start up time may vary based on the required torque on the drive.

Tractors with the front end loaders have more of the tractors' hydraulic power dedicated to operating the front lift arms. That said they are comperably weaker than the tractors dedicated to using PTO impliments, but compensate on being able to stack and move hay. Controlling the lift arms is different between both the 6300 and the 2940. The 6300 is a console based control system of two levers to control the head and arms: push forward to drop and pull back to lift. Experienced drivers can even control both levers simultaniously with just a flick of the wrist and their fingers rested on both lever handles at the same time. The 2940 however is controlled by a single lever which articulates to all four directions, pushing left or right will articulate the nose while pulling back or pushing forward will articulate the arms.

Because you dared, I delivered! Being into Gunpla has really helped my understanding and constructive nature with the equipment, and being a robot nut in general really makes you appreciate just how any machine behaves. Spending enough time building Gundams, one picks up on how to work with larger tools and real machinery.
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Rob
The Gundam Model Guy

Gunpla Rob's picture
Posted by Gunpla Rob on 21 November, 2008 - 09:33
This may be my most favorite

This may be my most favorite comment ever on CDX. You are awesome Rob!

Josh

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CollectionDX Admin

JoshB's picture
Posted by JoshB on 21 November, 2008 - 11:20