Or in the pasture at least.
We're getting ready for another cattle season- my 20th- and this involves turning all the mills and pumps and making sure they all work. Last year, a leak developed in the pipeline that feeds 7 tubs in 3 pastures and we needed to fix it. I wrote:
This is our Ranch Job for the day. This well takes water to 5 tanks scattered thru 3 different pastures and the pipeline has a leak. Our Mission- whether or not we accept it- is to find the leak and stop it. After some manipulation of valves and water pressure, we verified the leak, did some digging and found the culprit. Later today, after things have dried off, we'll issue the appropriate correction which we will accomplish by means of blowtorch and clamp pressure, followed by dirt and shovels. If all goes well (<= see what I did there?), this draining leak will be stopped.
Finding the leak was the problem, but I solved it by turning the pump and getting some pressure in the line. Within minutes, water was bubbling to the surface and we then dug.
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| Derek at the hole |
Mission accomplished (I hope). I unscrewed the screw-in attachments a little, which gave me almost 1/2" more length, heated the pipe, jiggled everything together a bit, added 2 hose clamps while pipe was still warm, and so far, so good! And I see why I had to add these connectors in the first place... one side is 1 1/4" black pipe and the other is 1 1/2" so I had to use a step-down connector.
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| Leak stopped |
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| Climbing mill towers (note Ranger!) |
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Raccoon tracks at mill
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I was making my morning cup of fresh-ground, pour-over coffee one morning when I noticed:
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| Moonset to the West and.... |
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| ...sunrise to the East |
Always a nice sight here on the plains:
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| Storm on the horizon... |
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| ...gave us 1/4" of rain. |
And now we just wait for cattle, more rain, green gas, and Lord willing, a good season. There will be some new challenge this year, I'm sure of it.
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