Murphy's Law and Fencing

I will admit that if we didn't have bad luck, we probably wouldn't have any luck at all. I know I'm being negative but I swear Murphy's Law is in effect and Murphy has come to live with us.

The Sunday before last we borrowed a tractor from our farmer friend. AWESOME! He originally dropped off a different tractor but the three point on the auger (that we are borrowing) didn't fit. So our friendly farmer friend brought a different tractor.

We dug a few holes and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Then Murphy struck. Poking through the brand new $1,500 rear tire was a wire that I somehow had missed. Those tires are thick! And yet, that little piece of wire went ALL the way through and now we have to figure out how to repair a gigantic tractor tire. When I saw the wire poking out of the tire, I nearly threw up. I don't have enough money yet to buy new tractors for OUR tractor let alone buy another tire for someone else. But I guess that's the price I have to pay sometimes. Luckily the farmer friend said to try and patch it and see how it goes. Lucky for us it's a tiny hole.

This past Saturday we decided we needed to get cracking on more fencing. The mares are out of pasture and I think they are just nibbling at what's left of the green grass shoots. We ran out of most fencing supplies so we made a quick trip in to Campbell Supply to buy what we needed.

We were able to finish two panels and hang two gates before the end of the day. I felt really productive. Everything seemed to be coming together.

Yesterday mom and dad came down to help do more fencing. We wanted to get all the major wood fence posts dug so that we can start stringing wire. Most of the posts went in OK but there were a couple we really had to fight. We ended up leaving those and dumping water in to try and get them to soften up a bit. May I just add, I hate digging in clay.

By late afternoon we had all but one post left in. We spent most of the day putting in the fence posts for the panels in the north east corner. Unfortunately the wind was blowing so hard it made the job that much harder. When I would walk back up to the yard or walk down a ways the wind wouldn't be so strong. I couldn't believe how hard it was blowing. We were all standing there and at times would lose our balance because of the wind gusts.

After getting the corner panel posts set we decided to get out of the wind for awhile and string wire. I think we were all pretty frazzled from the wind by that time. So we strung a portion of the west fence up from the property line to the chicken coop. It looks so nice. We were able to get three strands up and almost all of the fence secure. The other portion of the west fence will be done once we run into Sioux Falls and pick up the wood. I wanted a wood fence between the chicken cook and the barn. So that's the only remaining portion left on the west part of the new mare pasture. I can't wait to see what it looks like. Unforutnately I lost the receipt somewhere and need to go on a mad hunt to find it. And we need to repair the flat tire on the flatbed. I swear there's always something!

By the time we got done stringing the west fence we were all feeling pretty good. We were getting tired but figured we'd get that one last fence post dug before mom and dad had to leave. So Mike took the tractor down and mom and I went to "supervise". Unfortunately we were digging in clay which makes it almost impossible to get a decent hole.

With the way the auger is set up on the borrowed tractor there is no downward momentum. So that means we have to add that downward pressure. We used a crowbar and put weight on the auger to get the holes dug through the clay.

On that very last hole, Mike was digging and mom and I were pushing. The auger finally got past the hard clay and was completely down to the correct length and Murphy struck! We heard a SNAP. Mom and I instantly stopped applying pressure and looked at the auger. There it was deeply embedded in the ground while the rest of the auger hung off the tractor. The auger portion had snapped off.

At that point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or laugh. I was rather amazed. Looking at the auger it looked like the pin had ripped completely through the steel. I couldn't believe it.

So what do you do when an auger is buried four to five feet straight down in the ground (dirt/clay)? Go get a tractor and start hand digging the auger out. Luckily after just a bit of digging we were able to get a chain around the embedded auger and pull it out on the second try.

We'll be making a quick trip to the neighbor's place to the north of us. They have a repair shop and work on tractors. I think they can repair the auger. Luckily we were able to get all the necessary holes dug. There are a few more holes I would like to dig but if it doesn't happen I guess I won't be too disappointed. I am hoping we can get the auger fixed so that we can build the openfront in the smaller drylot but we'll see how it goes.

So that was the fencing excitement and Murphy's Law. I could do without the stress of Murphy visiting. I'm excited to see the fencing take shape. We still have a long ways to go but I can see progress.

Just this morning I looked out to the fence posts inbetween the chicken coop and barn. It's going to look great! I didn't realize that the wood fence we will be installing will really bring the place closer together to give it a more "snug" feeling. Guess I should have thought of that before.

I'll feel more relieved when the new mare pasture is done. The bigger drylot fencing is going to hell in a handbasket and we need to get that done ASAP. But if for some reason we can't get to that fencing this fall, I'll have the outer fencing to contain the horses. My biggest fear is to have loose horses.

We'll see if we get any more fencing done tonight. I need to start preparing for the hay which should be coming soon (I hope). I'll blog about that once the hay arrives.