Any tips for winter

blue5000

Big change in the weather today, as title says any tips for winter?

I had kale last year for the first time, needless to say it froze solid before cattle finished it. On the + side it was easy to drive out and feed them with a grab of mz silage every day. Thinking of grazing it earlier this year.

whelan1

could be really smart and say go on holidays for 6 months just hoping its not as cold as last year, really cold wind today although it hasnt started raining here yet... i havent opened the silage pit yet but will probably have to tomorrow

flatout11

blue5000 wrote: »

Big change in the weather today, as title says any tips for winter?

I had kale last year for the first time, needless to say it froze solid before cattle finished it. On the + side it was easy to drive out and feed them with a grab of mz silage every day. Thinking of grazing it earlier this year.

build a shed

blue5000

build a shed

Ya flatout, workin on it, but still paying for the last bit of concrete round the gaff.:eek:

5live

flatout11 wrote: »

build a shed

A bit extreme to graze a few acres under a roof. And how are you going to move the roof next year:D

flatout11

5live wrote: »

A bit extreme to graze a few acres under a roof. And how are you going to move the roof next year:D

i was thinking about a series of pop up tents on flotation tyres!!!!!

5live

blue5000 wrote: »

Big change in the weather today, as title says any tips for winter?

And seeing as i took this off topic, time to bring it back:)

This week, checking the water supply to the sheds and may get insulation for the exposed pipes.

And just ordered diesel, made sure it was winter grade and will probably check the radiators for antifreeze and top up too

Howjoe1

thermal underwear

weefarmer

Cleaned out yhe spud shed last week, just need a day or 2 now to get them finished.
Busy fighting off my friend who bought a supply of snow ploughs for quads and is trying to sell me one!
As a plumber too im recommending to people ro get special antifreeze for their heating syatems, its not expensive compared to a bust!

bbam

Well it's right stormy here now...
Gusting at 40+km/hour, 7 degrees down from 11 thismorning, torrential rain too.... Winter has arrived
Let a pen of small animals into slatted shed thismorning, glad I did it now as they were on a field without much shelter....

Noticed some vermin moving round recently and with the nights getting colder they'll be looking for shelter..
It's a good time to bait stations, we try to keep them on obvious runs.., did ours at the weekend and I see signs of activity..

We use empty lick buckets, cut two holes as "doors" about 5mm up from the bottom, place 3 broken blocks of bait inside, replace the lid and place a block on top.. The 5mm lip keeps water out, keeping the holes small restricts access to vermin only, with the lid any unused bait stays dry and fresh... Mark them clearly as poison..

reilig

weefarmer wrote: »

Busy fighting off my friend who bought a supply of snow ploughs for quads and is trying to sell me one!

Is he the guy selling them off on donedeal?

I wonder would one push much snow with a quad? I expect it would be a novelty at first and then become boring to the point of giving up.

whelan1

5live wrote: »

And seeing as i took this off topic, time to bring it back:)

This week, checking the water supply to the sheds and may get insulation for the exposed pipes.

And just ordered diesel, made sure it was winter grade and will probably check the radiators for antifreeze and top up too

yup we serviced all tractors and the digger last week , put antifreeze etc in them too... my husband serviced the 35 this morning , must have been afew years since the oil was changed:) we use it for scraping around the yard.. also i emptied the drinkers in the sheds, some of them where pure manky

weefarmer

reilig wrote: »

weefarmer wrote: »

Busy fighting off my friend who bought a supply of snow ploughs for quads and is trying to sell me one!

Is he the guy selling them off on donedeal?

I wonder would one push much snow with a quad? I expect it would be a novelty at first and then become boring to the point of giving up.

Im not too sure, i'll find out cause I never be on dd, id say its a good enough idea

johngalway

S Boston hand warmers

sprouty

bbam wrote: »

Well it's right stormy here now...
Gusting at 40+km/hour, 7 degrees down from 11 thismorning, torrential rain too.... Winter has arrived
Let a pen of small animals into slatted shed thismorning, glad I did it now as they were on a field without much shelter....

Noticed some vermin moving round recently and with the nights getting colder they'll be looking for shelter..
It's a good time to bait stations, we try to keep them on obvious runs.., did ours at the weekend and I see signs of activity..

We use empty lick buckets, cut two holes as "doors" about 5mm up from the bottom, place 3 broken blocks of bait inside, replace the lid and place a block on top.. The 5mm lip keeps water out, keeping the holes small restricts access to vermin only, with the lid any unused bait stays dry and fresh... Mark them clearly as poison..

Ya-watch out folks...we had the guy fron rentokill at work today for rats....dirty hoors! Anyway he said they never had as busy a back end as this year with rats even going into private dwellings looking for heat.....he's convinced its a sign of a very hard winter......time for the thermals alright!

Birdnuts

Have a good supply of salt/sand for slippy yards/paths during icy weather.:)

wallycool

Kale is a cheap way to winter cattle (no slurry,no large silage bill and rotation for the grass) if it doesn't get destroyed with the frost but just throwing this idea out there because i know nothing about it but maybe if you knew that there was going to be a big freeze get in a beet harvester and harvest it and put it under straw, as straw is an insulator. You would probably want to have it planned out well in advance with the contractor with the harvester so that he would be ready to go at short notice - thats if there was alot.
Winter Tip - Winter Grade diesel so that your machines start on those bitterly cold days stops the diesel waxing.

reilig

Birdnuts wrote: »

Have a good supply of salt/sand for slippy yards/paths during icy weather.:)

I know a lot of people who destroyed yards and footpaths lasy winter with salt. Its a disaster. It eats through concrete and tarmac and destroys vehicles and machines.

A better option is when you lay yards and footpaths to have a smooth surface which doesn't hold water. (In the past we always layed concrete with a rough finish for a better grip, but this only holds the water and when it freezes, its a disaster). You should also allow a good slope on yards and paths for better run off.

Grit is better than salt. Quarry dust can be bought at €100 per 20 ton lorry load around here. It gives great grip and can be hosed off paths and yards easily when the frost is gone.

corkcomp

wallycool wrote: »

Kale is a cheap way to winter cattle (no slurry,no large silage bill and rotation for the grass) if it doesn't get destroyed with the frost but just throwing this idea out there because i know nothing about it but maybe if you knew that there was going to be a big freeze get in a beet harvester and harvest it and put it under straw, as straw is an insulator. You would probably want to have it planned out well in advance with the contractor with the harvester so that he would be ready to go at short notice - thats if there was alot.
Winter Tip - Winter Grade diesel so that your machines start on those bitterly cold days stops the diesel waxing.

maybe i'm missing something but how would a beet harvester be able to harvest kale? unless you had endless time on your hands, a wholecrop header would be the job surely?

blue5000

I've heard of it being baled and wrapped, savage heavy bales I'd imagine. Thanks for all the replies, a few good tips there.

reilig

Resurecting this again.

I have some pipes to insulate for the winter. They run for about 20 meters in a concrete channel with a concrete lid on top. I'm going to do them with armaflex. However, if we get -20 again, this won't be enough. The channel also brings a power cable and a cable from a calving camers. Can anyone recommend what would be a good insulator to fill this channel with to prevent my already insulated pipe from freezing? Rather than filling it with clay, I'm thinking of filling it with sand or gravel so that it would be easily removed if I needed access to the pipe or cables. I suppose I'm asking if sand or gravel would have better insulating qualities than clay?

bbam

reilig wrote: »

I suppose I'm asking if sand or gravel would have better insulating qualities than clay?

I know sand works well..
I filled a trench at the back of our pumphouse with sand and the pipe didn't freeze... it's only about 10-12 inches under the sand..

If you fil it with clay it would be torture to get access in the future..

If you had space a bit of ducting with pull rope might be a good idea... you never know what you'll need to go in in the future..

wallycool

reilig wrote: »

Resurecting this again.

I have some pipes to insulate for the winter. They run for about 20 meters in a concrete channel with a concrete lid on top. I'm going to do them with armaflex. However, if we get -20 again, this won't be enough. The channel also brings a power cable and a cable from a calving camers. Can anyone recommend what would be a good insulator to fill this channel with to prevent my already insulated pipe from freezing? Rather than filling it with clay, I'm thinking of filling it with sand or gravel so that it would be easily removed if I needed access to the pipe or cables. I suppose I'm asking if sand or gravel would have better insulating qualities than clay?

I used bubble wrap in a manhole with water pipe in it , filled it up 2 the top and it worked up to -17 and let water flow in bottom of manhole ,is easy 2 remove if i need 2 repair anything in future

lakill Farm

Reilig, there is a new electric cable that you can attached to water pipe and in bad eather an electric current (small current like telephone wires) keeps the water from freezing. Worth a look. An uncle of mine ho works in heat merchants in mullingar was telling me about it

pakalasa

lakill Farm wrote: »

Reilig, there is a new electric cable that you can attached to water pipe and in bad eather an electric current (small current like telephone wires) keeps the water from freezing. Worth a look. An uncle of mine ho works in heat merchants in mullingar was telling me about it

It's called "Trace Heating"
http://www.heattracingsystems.ie/

Price around if using it, it's not rocket science so don't pay a fortune for it. I've used it before and it's just like a light bulb, around 60W per meter length. You just plug it in, simple as that.

Also on Donedeal;
Just search "Trace Heating"
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/tractors/2601079

case 5150

i say buy a life jacket, personnaly dnt tink goin ta have a winter lyk the lst 2 yrs happens v rarely

weefarmer

lakill Farm wrote: »

Reilig, there is a new electric cable that you can attached to water pipe and in bad eather an electric current (small current like telephone wires) keeps the water from freezing. Worth a look. An uncle of mine ho works in heat merchants in mullingar was telling me about it

Beat me to it!! This is supposed to be good, anything is a help, maybe use this and sand?

bbam

pakalasa wrote: »

around 60W per meter length. You just plug it in, simple as that.

So a 100m run would use 6kw to keep frost free.. @ 20c a unit that would be €1.20 an hour..
Maybe my sums are wrong but it might be expensive to run if I'm not ??

Dupont

rellig could you lay a layer of insulation(8" loft roll) or a heavy carpet or plastic then cover with sand.sand or quarry dust would do.dont use clean stone,frost will go straight through it. was mixing mortar everyday upto christmas :rolleyes: when it was -18 and every day had to scrape a good 12-16" of sand off every morning and this was covered with plastic

pakalasa

bbam wrote: »

So a 100m run would use 6kw to keep frost free.. @ 20c a unit that would be €1.20 an hour..
Maybe my sums are wrong but it might be expensive to run if I'm not ??

You can get it at lower ratings than 60W/Meter but that was what I used.

This is the company I bought off in the past. It was through work. Ya, your calculations are right.

Their price is List Price: £252.50 for a domestic product, 25m run.

http://www.rdtraceheating.co.uk/product~ID~474.htm

Spec here;
http://www.rdtraceheating.co.uk/documents/frostgaurd%20installation%20instructions-%20english(9).pdf

Better to use as little as possible, maybe only where the pipe comes out of the ground. Don't think you can cut it, so get the length you need. Work off thermostat so it's only on when needed.

cjpm

Dupont wrote: »

rellig could you lay a layer of insulation(8" loft roll) or a heavy carpet or plastic then cover with sand.sand or quarry dust would do.dont use clean stone,frost will go straight through it. was mixing mortar everyday upto christmas :rolleyes: when it was -18 and every day had to scrape a good 12-16" of sand off every morning and this was covered with plastic

Mortar or concrete is a disaster below 0 degrees, it messes up how it sets. Hope you were plastering indoors!!

galwayhillbilly

was talking to a dairy farmer and he said he kept pipes flowing last year by covering with dung from loose house, if it was fresh dung it probably had a little bit of decomposition going on adding a bit of extra heat. Lots of farms dont have dung because of slatted houses etc but worth a go if you have it around

Charlie Charolais

Going to buy an IBC tank to bring water from the house to slats if farm pipes freeze
& don’t forget to drain your roller!

pakalasa

Anyone use one of these forehead flashlights. I got one recently . I find it great, leaves both hands free, like for for carrying two buckets of meal etc.

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

Anyone use one of these forehead flashlights. I got one recently . I find it great, leaves both hands free, like for for carrying two buckets of meal etc.

I bought an energiser battery model one about 5 years ago. Its brilliant. Use it several times a week. Still has the original batteries in it. Those Led lights are so easy on power!

pakalasa

Eneregiser, that's the one I got. Dunnes Stores are selling them now at a reduced 8 Euro.

Bizzum

In relation to those head lights above, that recent section we had I said it to the Vet that he should have a set of them. Save having to have an extra set up hands tied up holding a lamp when the womb is being stiched back up.
It's not always that easy getting help in he middle of the night.