These are lucerne bale feeders. You just drop the bale in the top, remove the baling wire or string. Result : less waste than just throwing the bales onto the ground.
You'd think that it wouldn't be too hard to achieve a rainfall of 6" in a year - but no. As a result the farm is moving onto a drought footing and the need for these has arisen.
Thanks to Kiteman for constructive criticism, - much appreciated!
The Idea is to make them as cheaply as possible. They can be made really fast if you do not suffer from perfectionism. Personally, sloppy joins irritate me every time I look at them, even more so if they give way. Since I am incredibly lazy nothing drives me totally bonkers faster than having to do the same job twice. Which is why these took me longer than perhaps is normal.
There are many 'Ibles on welding on this site check 'em out. I however am totally self taught without the aid of books, meaning that I been happily making the same mistakes for years now. The only things I've been taught / shown is how not to burn through thin metal by the weld and pause method and how to fill a hole caused by burn through. Both of which from a retired welder who had come to the Karroo searching for relief from the dry air for his chest caused by a working lifetime of breathing welding fumes. His eyes were pretty buggered too from using a glass that wasn't tinted dark enough. Be warned. Good quality gloves are a bonus. Often you can hold red hot things for short periods of time, then slip the glove off till the leather cools down. Do NOT wet them to cool them down! I did that - only once.
Just say NO to cheap welding rods, they are hard to use, the flux is poor quality, prone to flaking off, poor striking qualities and frustrating in almost every way - leading to teeth grinding with every rod. Buy small quantities of different rods till you find the one that works for you. Keep the box that the worst rods came in, so when someone comments on a bad bead (hey, it happens) you can trot out the box with a nice long excuse. I've been using the same bad box for about 10 years now!
My boss just bought me the cheapest 5KG box that money could buy. "Really deep sigh"
As I said there are tons and tons of great Instructables on welding. I really advise you to have a look at them. Especially the safety ones. [ See in the last step - "20/20 Hindsight " ]
You'd think that it wouldn't be too hard to achieve a rainfall of 6" in a year - but no. As a result the farm is moving onto a drought footing and the need for these has arisen.
Thanks to Kiteman for constructive criticism, - much appreciated!
The Idea is to make them as cheaply as possible. They can be made really fast if you do not suffer from perfectionism. Personally, sloppy joins irritate me every time I look at them, even more so if they give way. Since I am incredibly lazy nothing drives me totally bonkers faster than having to do the same job twice. Which is why these took me longer than perhaps is normal.
There are many 'Ibles on welding on this site check 'em out. I however am totally self taught without the aid of books, meaning that I been happily making the same mistakes for years now. The only things I've been taught / shown is how not to burn through thin metal by the weld and pause method and how to fill a hole caused by burn through. Both of which from a retired welder who had come to the Karroo searching for relief from the dry air for his chest caused by a working lifetime of breathing welding fumes. His eyes were pretty buggered too from using a glass that wasn't tinted dark enough. Be warned. Good quality gloves are a bonus. Often you can hold red hot things for short periods of time, then slip the glove off till the leather cools down. Do NOT wet them to cool them down! I did that - only once.
Just say NO to cheap welding rods, they are hard to use, the flux is poor quality, prone to flaking off, poor striking qualities and frustrating in almost every way - leading to teeth grinding with every rod. Buy small quantities of different rods till you find the one that works for you. Keep the box that the worst rods came in, so when someone comments on a bad bead (hey, it happens) you can trot out the box with a nice long excuse. I've been using the same bad box for about 10 years now!
My boss just bought me the cheapest 5KG box that money could buy. "Really deep sigh"
As I said there are tons and tons of great Instructables on welding. I really advise you to have a look at them. Especially the safety ones. [ See in the last step - "20/20 Hindsight " ]
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Signing UpStep 1: Sire! Sire! The peasants are REVOLTING !!!
About sheep & Zombies. True story.
Kiteman suggested I say something about the Sheep, which is how step 1 came into being.
Well they're called Dorpers and are a mix between the the Persian Black head and the Dorset horn. They are very hardy, and when they're taking strain you know that either your Veld management is up to shit or you've had no rain.
By the way - don't believe that sheep are are stupid, they are actually very clever. Quaddruply so if hand reared.
Goats are clever too, the difference being that goats are evil incarnate.
Once in the '70s during a really bad drought we were feeding sheep in a particular camp in the middle of nowhere. We'd go there once a day with the bakkie (pick up truck / Ute whatever) (the sheep would lie in wait) toot the horn to call them. Then we'd would pour X amount of maize onto the hard ground calculated by the flock size all the while calling (verbally this time) and the sheep that were caught napping would then also come at the run.
As luck would have it, Uranium prospectors from ESSO were sniffing around the area and when they arrived in this particular camp - there was a flock of sheep lying down chewing cud quietly. They tooted to try and get through the resting sheep, damned if the whole flock doesn't jump up and start stalking them! So nervously they start hooting in earnest and - yes- shouting, at which point the flock metamorphs into a PACK. So they turn around and start driving away, and the pack of sheep see their daily ration driving away and start chasing them in deadly earnest! Those guys must have thought they were in a sheep Zombie Movie! [Do you drive away? Shoot? Is it contagious? Do they want to eat your brains or the lettuce in your sarmies?]
When we saw them that evening they were still genuinely rattled!
Kiteman suggested I say something about the Sheep, which is how step 1 came into being.
Well they're called Dorpers and are a mix between the the Persian Black head and the Dorset horn. They are very hardy, and when they're taking strain you know that either your Veld management is up to shit or you've had no rain.
By the way - don't believe that sheep are are stupid, they are actually very clever. Quaddruply so if hand reared.
Goats are clever too, the difference being that goats are evil incarnate.
Once in the '70s during a really bad drought we were feeding sheep in a particular camp in the middle of nowhere. We'd go there once a day with the bakkie (pick up truck / Ute whatever) (the sheep would lie in wait) toot the horn to call them. Then we'd would pour X amount of maize onto the hard ground calculated by the flock size all the while calling (verbally this time) and the sheep that were caught napping would then also come at the run.
As luck would have it, Uranium prospectors from ESSO were sniffing around the area and when they arrived in this particular camp - there was a flock of sheep lying down chewing cud quietly. They tooted to try and get through the resting sheep, damned if the whole flock doesn't jump up and start stalking them! So nervously they start hooting in earnest and - yes- shouting, at which point the flock metamorphs into a PACK. So they turn around and start driving away, and the pack of sheep see their daily ration driving away and start chasing them in deadly earnest! Those guys must have thought they were in a sheep Zombie Movie! [Do you drive away? Shoot? Is it contagious? Do they want to eat your brains or the lettuce in your sarmies?]
When we saw them that evening they were still genuinely rattled!
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By the way, I love the use of the old truck rims. We use them for braai's.