A Week of Equipment Management
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
This week was focused on the repair, cleaning and winterization of harvesting equipment. I learned how to repair a rake, take down and clean a John Deere MoCo mower, along with different implement towing connections. The ranch had finished its last seasonal cuts; it was time to clean equipment and begin preparations for the herd to come home from the forest. The preparation of the rake for next season’s use includes pressure washing, repairing the wheels, and greasing. In this exercise, I found that there is no special technique for repairing the broken spokes (teeth) but need to focus on one tooth at a time or it can become a mess quickly. The John Deere MoCo mower was a beast to clean due to the amount of debris that had been collected and compacted under the hood and around the knives and cutter bar. One piece of advice while cleaning this type of mower is to wear overalls and eye protection while pressure washing to prevent debris from blowing back into the eyes. Lastly, the different types of connections associated with each implement takes time to learn and to connect. Even the most seasoned hands have difficulty in connecting some of the implements due to the complexity of their overall design.
I would not challenge any concepts or ideas from this week. It is hard to think of something new with power washing equipment. It is a critical task in the seasonal cycle and ensuring equipment is ready for use in next year’s harvest. This week I worked extensively alone while cleaning the equipment and did not have significant time to have discussions on general business nor time to focus on specific skill enhancements. In other news, I picked up my horse, Bridger, from the trainer tonight and am excited to go gather cows in the coming weeks.
The lessons learned this week on the hook up, cleaning and general maintenance of equipment is valuable knowledge to be used throughout my ranching career and can be considered a life skill (sort of). The picture to the right is made up from broken teeth from the rake that were replaced during this week’s activities.
Submitted by: Tim Bauer
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
