A wire winder what??

Ally is getting a workout pulling out fence posts!

Don't you think machines make all chores more fun?  Automated vacuum robots, power tools, 4-wheelers, etc...  I love all these too but I'm pretty sure this is magnified 20 times if you're a boy.  A ten year boy.  Or an 80 year old boy for that matter.  They LOVE their automated machines.  I can appreciate them but I don't need to know how they work or why they work.  I just want them to make my life easier.

Enter the wire winder.  Remember my posts earlier about how we built electric fence after corn harvest?  You can read about it here and here.  Well, as they say....what goes up, must come down.  The same is true for temporary fence.  Sometimes the ground is frozen and you can't get the posts back out until the spring thaw.  Fortunately this year, we had unseasonably warm temps and we were able to pull the posts easily.  The only problem is rolling up the miles of wire that you put out.  Luckily we were able to borrow the farmer's handy dandy wire winder that has a small engine and rolls up the wire for you.

Check out this short video clip of my son watching over the process.  It's important to make sure the wire fills the spool evenly.  If done correctly, you can easily unroll it next year and use it again!  This little invention saves us hours of time and frustration getting fence picked up so quickly and easily.  I highly recommend it!!

Field of Dreams...AFTER



Nate delivering posts around the perimeter of the field

If you're keeping up, you would have read yesterday's post about last fall's harvest in southwest Nebraska.  If you missed it, you can catch it here! 

As I was explaining in that post, the leftover cornstalks, leaves, and bits of corn make an awesome spot for our cows to get some winter forage but there's one little problem... FENCE!



Most of the corn fields are not surrounded by permanent fence as it creates difficulty getting equipment around.  Like lots of other cattlemen in the area, we are responsible for building a temporary fence that's economical, quick to put up and take down, and most importantly, secure enough to keep the cattle in a safe place. 

Ally attaching insulators to hold the wire.

The first step in a successful fencing project is the right supplies and a great crew.  Like most cattle producers, we use a simple, temporary single wire fence that is electrified.  It's amazing how the cattle know to stay away from it.  It doesn't hurt them (or us for that matter) if they touch it but it's enough of a deterrent that you don't do it again anytime soon!   

Nate is adding the wire to the insulators.

We put in temporary metal posts, attach insulators to hold the wire, and then run a metal wire around the outside of the field.  It's a team effort and it goes pretty fast when everyone pitches in.  This year the ground wasn't frozen yet and the weather was awesome so it wasn't too tough.  We've had other years when the ground is so dry or frozen that you can hardly pound a post in and the weather is less than cooperative. 

 

 

 A word of caution when you live in a small town and build fence on the highway... you get a lot of "honks" and visitors who stop to chat!  It's always fun to see who will stop in and offer to lend a hand! (Or just watch us work in most cases!!)

 

At the end of the day, we make sure the fence is electrified all the way around and usually leave it for several days so the deer learn that it's there.  They will knock it down for a few days but eventually they learn to jump over it.  Once this happens, the cows can be turned out to the Field of Dreams.  As long as the weather is kind, this is a great spot for them to do some late fall / early winter grazing until they come home for calving!

Happy cows in their "Field of Dreams"