Legacy returns home and some new tools for the farm!

Well, Legacy had a nice vacation with some lady friends down in Atwater this winter.  He finally came back home the other day.  He and Thunder had a couple rounds of arguments after he got back but by the time I got home they were both calmed down and everything was back to normal.  He is quite puffy due to the cold winter but otherwise looks just fine!

We finally reached a point financially where we could upgrade our ATV for the farm.  I purchased the old one not knowing for sure if it was what we would need.  It proved the concept very well and I needed something lighter and newer for the kids and the wife to use.  I found this last week on Craigslist and went and picked it up.  It is a 2003 Honda Rancher Fourtrax.  It is the new version of the old one we already have.  It is very nice and should last us a long time.  Now my wife has asked me to sell the old one to someone who will appreciate it as much as we did.  It still runs great just needs some TLC.

03 Honda 

The same day I picked up the new ATV I came home to find my new bale spear had arrived.  I am not sure if I ever posted a picture of the original one I created or not but I will describe it.  I have a bolt on spear that I bolt to a plate I welded into the center of my pallet forks.  The problem with it is that it takes about 15 minutes to switch back and forth from forks to spear and the spear is very thick so it doesn't penetrate the bales very well.  This one has forged bale spears which are much stronger and penetrate the bales much easier resulting in less tearing of the netwrap from shoving the bales across the ground.

3 spear bale spear from Palletforks.com

Another thing that came in this past week was my new truck bed.  I finally saved up enough money to upgrade and repair the truck.  Some of these upgrades include new injectors, new front and rear springs, new brakes, a leveling kit, and a new aluminum flatbed.  

2005 F350 6.0L 

I wanted to post a couple of before pics of the truck with the original bed.  I already have the new front and rear springs.  You can see that the back is much higher than the front so after the new bed is installed they will decide what size lift we need to get it close to level and then install it so that loaded the truck is level.

2005 F350 6.0L 

Now, some have asked me why I want a flatbed instead of the original style bed.  The following picture shows two huge reasons.  First of all if you look at the fender closely you will notice how rusted out it is.  It costs as much to fix this problem as it did to buy the new flatbed and the new aluminum bed will not rust out again like another normal bed will.  The rest of the bed is just as bad as this fender you just don't see it.

The second reason is in the bed.  I can only fit 7 of my big coolers in the original bed.  I have grown to where I need to have 12 coolers to pick up all the meat for one trip to the processor.  The new bed should be able to hold 12 coolers at one time.

Here is my new Aluma aluminum flatbed.  I cannot wait to see it installed on the truck and looking good.  I am taking it up to Gearheads Garage tomorrow evening and dropping the truck and trailer off for them to get started bright and early Wednesday morning!  While they have the old bed off they are going to work on some other items as well as coat the underbody to keep the rest of the truck from rusting out.  Then they will install the new bed and level the truck.  I am going to see if they can give me a trailer plug in center of the bed under the cover or not.  I don't know if they can but it may be worth it to have it there instead of down on the back where it is now.

Although today was farm from warm it was at least sunny.  So I decided to go ahead and light a fire.  I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I do in warmer weather but at least it brightened my spirits enough to help me last a little longer till spring gets here!

I am probably going to keep it going through tomorrow and cook at least lunch and possibly dinner on it.   Haven't had many good wood cooked meals this winter so I need to have at least one tomorrow!

Have a great day everyone!  I will post pictures of the truck as soon as I get it back!

Kenny