Why the Bobcat Popped a Wheelie

This morning was the mineral delivery, set for 8am. Butch was unavailable to help unload, but he graciously (and secretly) let us use his bobcat. (“Don’t tell anyone” he said about three times.) The seven pallets each had a tote on it, a large bag with about one ton of minerals.

When 9am rolled around, I was pretty nervous. I had run the battery down on my phone, and the driver had no way to contact me. The phone charger was in the truck, which Phil had driven to Butch’s when he got the bobcat. Finally, for my peace of mind, I drove to Butch’s and got the charger. No messages, but the driver called us soon after.

When the semitruck finally arrived at 10:30, it was large enough that it couldn’t get on our land at all. It basically took up the whole of the road. Thankfully, the mailman was just ahead of the truck, because there was no getting around it while we unloaded. Phil got the bobcat and put the forks into the pallet, the back wheels on the bobcat came off the ground, and he could get no purchase to unload. Hmm. This was a problem. The driver tried standing on the back of the bobcat, but that did no good. Phil tried re-angling the bobcat, but that did no good. We considered possible counterweights, including using a tote on the back and on the front of the bobcat, but that didn’t seem practical (or safe).

After stewing about this for some time—what if driver Dave had to leave without unloading? What then?—driver Dave had a brainstorm. He used the truck’s internal crane system to get a tote on the ground. This made me a bit nervous; if we couldn’t move the tote, it would be stuck in the middle of the road and create a major traffic hazard!

Incredibly, the bobcat was able to get the tote off the ground. Just barely. The front of the pallets plowed up the gravel driveway a bit, but Phil was able to move the totes onto our land. I expect it felt like hydroplaning, though, as the back wheels were not always in contact with the earth, as the back tires aren't in the photo.
I have to remember that living in the country just takes longer. What I thought would be a quick unload took an hour. I had hoped to get the minerals both unload and spread yesterday; it was lunchtime before they were even unloaded.

I think driver Dave was relieved when we were done. I was relieved and thankful that no car tried to get by during the hour unloading.

Dave called a bit later to say that the totes didn’t contain a ton a piece; it was actually closer to 3000 pounds each. No wonder the poor bobcat was having issues!

Next challenge: spreading!

Other things of note: I realized that just about all the apples I ordered are in the dessert spectrum. I added the “world’s best cooking apple,” the Bramley (after all, who wants to make substandard pies?!). And I added a few sharp and a few bitter trees, because to get a good cider (um, hard cider I mean), there should be a mix of sweet, sharp, and bitter. Who knew? Now you and I both!

The nursery also put together an order for me of ten pear trees and ten plum trees, one each of then types. Also three apricots and forty each of peaches and cherries, all with various ripening times and good flavors.

It brings my total tree order to 408. I need to stop reading catalogs, because I could probably keep adding more indefinitely. Sometime in the next few weeks, now that I have an order “set,” with all the different rootstocks in place, I will try to plan on paper the proper spacing, and then drive in stakes, so we can get an idea of how much of our clearing is going to be orchard. Sounds good to me!

In the goat realm, our goats are still quite jumpy of people. When they go into heat, at any time now, we plan to bring the Bessettes nice Nubian buck over. He is gentle and friendly, and the Nubian will add good butterfat to the Alpine productivity that we have. It might be nice to continue to have purebred Alpines, but I would like a stronger butterfat content, and ease of transporting. (To find out when the ladies are in heat, I plan to get a buck rag, where I’ll rub a rag on Buddy to get his scent, then keep it in a jar. When I suspect the ladies are in heat, I let them smell the rag, and they should quickly confirm whether they are ready or not.)

I ran a little goat experiment this week. I thought one of the hay bales was giving off too much powder as I pulled hay out (mold, I’m guessing), so I gave them some of that hay and some of the “spoiled” hay that we’re using for mulch that appeared, to me, to be better quality and not moldy. I put the two hays on different sides of their pen, and they went for the “spoiled” hay only, so I think they know what they need. Good to know: trust the goats.

In the boy realm, Monday was a turning point for Joe. He is really walking now, all the way across the room. He took a bath that evening at the Bessettes, and walked all over their living room in his birthday suit. Michelle, a physical therapist, said, “Look at him really working all those muscles!” It was beautiful to see. And he is sure proud of himself!