3 am and alls well

[gearhead204]

frost alarm went off at 1:20 so I got up staggered around and temp went back up to 34 reset alarm and it goes off 10 min. latter says 29 so I get dressed and fire up the pickup to go check on things (cherry and apple trees) drive to upper bench of property and hear two electric wind machines running, so I continue to check on water systems, all's well with that. drive over to my cold spot and crank up the 460 ford on the wind machine,let it warm up as I continue to check on the last two blocks of orchard (there fine) drive back and pull full throttle on the 460 (the neighbors are now cussing me)drive back to the house check the weather on the lap top says the coldest spot in the county is 34, look over at the alarm it says 30, I sure hope my whole week don't go like this

[Gmerrill0516]

I'm sure I am not the only person unfamiliar with what you are doing. Is the wind machine a means of preventing freezing in the orchard? I remember the old smoky pots burning something spread around orange trees in the news. Some pictures and explanation would be cool.

Hope mother nature is cooperative.

Greg

[gearhead204]

I will try to post some photos when the sun comes up, but yes the wind machines are to stir up the atmosphere and mix the warmer air aloft with the colder air on the ground, then I also run water in the blocks to add (heat) to the air damn just got cold 25 gotta go start another 2 machines.

[j hancock]

Chrysler made some industrial Hemi 331's.

Would the neighbors like that instead....?

[bullhusk]

Sounds to me like you need a nice V6-53 Detroit ??

BULLHUSK

[gearhead204]

j hancock I'm sure they would like knowing it's "got a hemi" but I don't think that will make them sleep any better. the neighborhood sounds like a dozen helicopters all hovering overhead.

bullhusk our food safety requirements wont allow any thing that leaks that much near food stuffs. however nobody would complain about the blade "chop" noise, they wouldn't be able to hear it over the 6-53 that is if you can get it started lol.

[gearhead204]

Ok the first and third pic. is a 25hp elect. thermostat controlled unit the second pic. is a ground drive 460 powered fan it will protect 5-7 acres the elect. ones are good for 1.5-2.5 acres I have 3 of the elect. and 3 of the ground drives 2 with 460's 1 with a 455 olds all ground drives now run on propane when on petro.gas they would burn 16 gal per. hour. propane is not as bad. but still smarts a little when the bill comes

[41chevy]

Isn't this weather crazy? We are calling for a freeze warning on the south eastern shore of L.I. with a chance of light snow in the early AM Wednesday. The wineries near the farm are retarping their vines so it's possible I guess Crazy

[Green Dash]

Thanks for the peek inside your operation. I never would've guessed that the fans were used in that fashion.

My sister and her husband own a vineyard in Oregon and it's my understanding that the winery handles the harvesting. Do you have a similar arrangement with the apples?

[Brocky]

Gearhead

One of you neighbors, Geoff Thornton, participates on the Just Old Trucks forum during the winter.

He has older Petes and a Diamond Reo and not sure what else possibly an older IH

[Bobby j]

Very interesting seeing the farming techniques y'all use in the northwest.........total different from Deep South.......thanks for showing always glad to learn something new

[farmer52]

Seen wind turbines in orchards. Intersting anyway. Forecast for south central PA is 24 Tuesday night, 29 Wednesday night, and 33 on Thursday night (of course subject to change). There is an old saying, expect snow and cold until after Easter. Currently 73 as I type this message.

[gearhead204]

41 chevy: ya its nuts for you guys this year, this is about normal for us seams like when a full moon is upon us we have to frost protect. the frost alarm is just a part of life for the next 45 days or so.

green dash: no we have to arrange to harvest the crop ourselves, cherrys are the worst because they don't store so I will have 50-70 employees for 2-3 weeks to harvest 20 acres the apples not as bad 6-8 employees for 3 weeks to harvest 8 acres.

brocky: Geoff lives about 4 miles from me and yes he has some nice old iron and some not so old, he has done well and now has some nice toys "trucks" both of his petes are very nice "farm" trucks, his smaller internationals are nicely restored, and used in his operation.

bobby j I'm sure theres some things you guys do that would make me scratch my head too!

farmer 52 hey ken its your alter ego again lol we've been known to frost protect thru a blizzard ok not a blizzard but a squall or two we have to shut the wind machines down if the wind comes up, kinda scary even the towers vibrate really hard and a 12 foot prop isn't something you want to be close to when its fighting the wind, props can break, upper or lower gearboxes can blow or drive shafts will fail

[mowerman]

very interesting thanks...bob

[vision386]

Apple farming has sure come a long way! I grew up on a apple/peach farm in Jersey (yes really) and about all we could do when there was danger of frost or a cold snap early in the season was to use smudgepots. I only remember using them once or twice,but they sure saved our bacon! I know Washington state is apple country,but curious to know what varieties you grow out there? Had my first Rainier cherries out your way,been hooked on em' ever since! good luck,hope all goes well!.................................Mark

[Vladislav]

Some ones use wind machines to produce energy, others have to burn gas to produce wind...

What a crazy world!

Hope all your trees go well and the harvest will pay back everything.

As for the neighbours I think if they were really unhappy with the wind machines you may get heat burning old truck tires

[gearhead204]

vision386: Mark I grow Honey crisp and Fuji's apples then for sweet cherries its Tieton, Early

Robin, Skeena, Lapin, Rainier and Regina

Vladislav: nada on the tire burning too many air cops in the valley, if we get caught burning lumber its bad news, burning of logs ok, just don't run them thru a sawmill. Please tell me your country hasn't got this stupid yet.

[hatcity]

some farms here have the same type of windmills. Most of the farms out west run helicopters-ALL NITE LONG

The strawberry farms usually turn the sprinklers on. Coats the fruit with ice to protect from freezing in side. Science?

[gearhead204]

yikes my chopper pilot wont fly at night, let me rephrase that my pilot wont hover over a crop once he has lost light, says faa frowns on that and he could loose his lic. I will use a chopper during cherry harvest, one or two untimely rains gets expensive quick!

[85snowdog]

Thanks for sharing your pics and info gearhead. I bet you get pissed when someone complains about the price of a quart of cherries .If they only knew the time and money you had invested.

This is what we have here today, an hour north of Toronto, Canada . Almost 3 inches of snow. Mother nature is letting us know who is boss.

[Brocky]

GH204

Thanks for all the pictures and explaination of your operation. Most of my conversations with Geoff were about old trucks rather than farming although he had posted a few pictures of his trucks with orchards in the background.

I was going to visit your area after Yakima but then decided not to drag my Diamond T that far from home. Geoff had said I could park it at his place while we went to Alaska in just the F-250.

[gearhead204]

BROCKY what show is in Yakima? I know Mackdaddy also talked about Yakima but I've never had any knowledge of any show there. is it annual or does it rotate in the western states? Your diamond T would have been in good company with Geoff's diamond reo.

[Vladislav]

vision386: Mark I grow Honey crisp and Fuji's apples then for sweet cherries its Tieton, Early

Robin, Skeena, Lapin, Rainier and Regina

Vladislav: nada on the tire burning too many air cops in the valley, if we get caught burning lumber its bad news, burning of logs ok, just don't run them thru a sawmill. Please tell me your country hasn't got this stupid yet.

Yes, my country is big, I can burn tires anywhere and anylong

Just kidding

Actually I may burn (and do) old wood planks, paper, tree branches and some other garbage in my property with no troubles.

I'm on the side of a little town wich is just nearby the capital (Moscow).

Something of a kind like Newark to NYC.

If I burn a tire I'd estimate chances to find police near my door not more than 50:50.

And the same about fire fighters.

Although the neighbours would be pissed hard and I'm shure will make me alot of troubles on keeping and working over my trucks if I really do that.

We should live easy and friendly.

If you drive a highway about 100-200km off the capital or further you have a chance to see burning tires in woods aside of a road.

Don't know who and why do that but sometimes it happens.

And one more interesting point to end up this theme.

Grave diggers, when really cold, far below the freezing point, use to burn out a tire to melt a ground for doing their job.

Haven't seen that in person but heard that's a common practice.

Vlad

[gearhead204]

I can not explain our rules to make them make sense, I can burn orchard pruning's with out a permit but if I remove the whole tree I have to get a permit to burn the tree. it' s unlawful for me to recycle old lumber into fire wood but its ok to haul it to the land fill. our local timber sales rep wont let fire wood logs leave the forest on a log truck, but any other type of truck is ok. so on some sales as many as 15 loads of wood logs are thrown back out into the brush to rot away. this is why I don't log I would dismember these idiots!!

[Vladislav]

BS!

The most thing I worry about is that we here strongly go your way.