Re Shaggy's question. ^

Here is a pic I took back in 2007 ... down Songkhla way, lots of farmers were starting to get in on the "palm oil bandwagon".

It worked for many, but my friends who tried it, lost the whole field they planted as the high water level during the rainy season and the trees rotted!

Everyone except them went the extra mile and channeled the water away from the roots... with large ditches... as in this pic...

I cannot remember the planting distance but these look about the same... (I was really focusing on the birds! )

I wonder from your pic Shaggy if the palms will survive in the rice paddy, unless drained?

I'll try and dig up the images of the planting area they used... we had to access by long tail boat!

Not strictly farming but here is my wife and a friend feeding the fish that are in a large pond in the grounds of Phichai Hospital. (spent 8 hours there today )

It looks to me that this pond may be a bit overstocked and it maybe better to reduce the numbers then let them build up again.

hi ron,

are they blah nin,?

or koi?

look good anyway

Out on the trails today.

hi ron,

are they blah nin,?

or koi?

look good anyway

I understand that they are Pla Nin because that name kept coming up quite often. There were also some catfish as well (the correct name escapes me) but I didn't see them in great numbers.

hi guys,

this is a first for me,, macs alo vera has got a flower on it, its the only one in the garden with a flower,,

im going to put a pic in the gardening section too,

jake

Ron ... you've been reading those photography books now ... haven't you ...

(Nice image BTW)

Did you lay all those?

Tea time this afternoon.

Some time ago I posted this area which had these 2 meter deep channels dug across the whole area and bananas progressively planted, now they are being filled with fill brought in from outside.Channels not filled in are over flowing after much rain.Still haven't been able to find out why they had been dug and now filled in,would have been a very expensive exercise.

Decisions decisions..

The chooks look like they should have stayed in the egg.

Hi All,

I haven't been here for a while and I just finished viewing 10 pages I hadn't seen.

There is NO way I have enough likes to go around so please accept this as one BIG like.

Have you thought about what a magnificent documentary you are making of farm life in Thailand? There are not only photos but comments and it might be the best documentary out there anywhere.

I especially like Jake's photos because he usually has close ups of animals or plants or something he and his wife are doing along with comments to explain.

Of course I also love the landscape photos that you all have mastered the art of taking. They are Thailand.

Dancelot, your photographs just keep getting better and are professional quality now. You have a wonderful eye for choosing a subject.

The others of you know who you are and you are all so good at this. Thank you again for the trip through Thai farmland.

Cliff

hi cliff,

thank you for your coments,

i think this is the best thread on TV, and as you know we are all freindly in the farm section,

ill have to take some pictures today of what i was up to yesterday,

went to put the roto tiller onto the tractor for the first time to find it didnt fit,,

well saying didnt fit isnt quite right,

i had to change the top 3 point lincage conector, you cant just go and buy a small one here you have to chop the long one and re-weld it back together, same with the PTO lincaged, chop some out the middle,

but its all done and i had to have a little go with it yesterday,(pics will follow later)

Jake and Cliff: I hope I will meet you someday. Cliff, thanks for helping me getting into photograpy.

This is my uncle, brother of my Fil. Here he's coaching his son while overseeiing with his hands behind his back like a kungfu instructor. I visit him regularly. Everytime Is see him, he teaches me something about farming.. Top guy.

hi cliff,

thank you for your coments,

i think this is the best thread on TV, and as you know we are all freindly in the farm section,

ill have to take some pictures today of what i was up to yesterday,

went to put the roto tiller onto the tractor for the first time to find it didnt fit,,

well saying didnt fit isnt quite right,

i had to change the top 3 point lincage conector, you cant just go and buy a small one here you have to chop the long one and re-weld it back together, same with the PTO lincaged, chop some out the middle,

but its all done and i had to have a little go with it yesterday,(pics will follow later)

Interesting, Jake. I have bought tractors and implements made in the US and in Japan and have seen only two sizes of 3 point setups. Small to medium tractors have category 1, and bigger tractors have category 2. The main difference is the size of the pins and bushings and attachments making category 2 stronger. I haven't seen a length difference.

BTW off topic, but in case anyone doesn't know, Yanmar in Japan makes all of the green John Deere tractors up to 50 HP. So while it may be green and have a bit different sheetmetal, under the hood all parts are Yanmar and will interchange.

By agreement, Yanmar doesn't import Yanmar tractors into the US due to the high volume of sales through John Deere. A Yanmar isn't worth nearly as much as a John Deere due to the name and color, so if I can find an imported Yanmar I'll buy it every time I need a tractor. Then I can get parts at John Deere.

Nice to learn these trivial facts, Cliff.

heres the picture of what i had to do,

its the top conector to the 3 point i dont know the name, but it was over 24" long to start with, now its down to 8" and a little ajustment,

and the other thing im on about is the drive from the PTO, i had to cut that down too to make it fit,

all up and running now,

i know i dont have a roll cage but my land is all flat, as you can see, i am going to make a hood for it though to keep the sun of me while i play with my toy, as mac calls it,,lol

thanks for your coments too dal, i would love to meet many of here, and my door is allways open with a bed for any that want to visit,,

jake

heres the picture of what i had to do,

its the top conector to the 3 point i dont know the name, but it was over 24" long to start with, now its down to 8" and a little ajustment,

and the other thing im on about is the drive from the PTO, i had to cut that down too to make it fit,

all up and running now,

i know i dont have a roll cage but my land is all flat, as you can see, i am going to make a hood for it though to keep the sun of me while i play with my toy, as mac calls it,,lol

thanks for your coments too dal, i would love to meet many of here, and my door is allways open with a bed for any that want to visit,,

jake

Jake, you may be in danger. Are you real familiar with 3 point setups? I have never seen the bottom bars so high at the back unless I'm just seeing it poorly. That would cause a need to shorten the top bar.

The idea of a 3 point is safety. They didn't lift until years after they were invented. They were put into use to keep the tractor from coming over backwards on top of you.

Suppose you have no implement on the tractor and you want to pull a small tree over. You put a chain around the tree and attach the other end to the tractor. If you attach that chain to the tractor at a point that is higher than the rear axle, the front end of the tractor will rise and keep coming right on over on top of you.

If however you attach the chain to the tractor low down such as to the factory draw bar, the pull will force the front end down and you will be safe. Can you picture attaching the chain up by the seat, and how that would pull the back down and the front up? The tractor has enough traction and low enough gears to rotate the tractor rather than the rear tires!!

This is why the bottom bars of a 3 point are always lower than the rear axle - because that's where the real pull is. If the connecting points on the back of those bottom bars are actually higher than the axle, you are going to get crushed.

Tractor rollover is still the #1 killer of all types on a farm.

Double post

Jake, I really can't see enough in those pictures. Is it at all possible that you are completely missing the two main lower forged draw bars and are instead pulling with the lift bars that are attached to the hydraulic lift points?

I see two gray-blue lift links in your pictures and a possibility that they are doing the pulling. Look at the attached pic please. There are two large draw bars that are attached to the main housing under the axle. They do the pulling safely from down low. Then there are two lift links that go from those main bars up to the hydraulic lift. They aren't for pulling, but only for lifting. Then the top link is almost hidden as it disappears at the top of the picture, pointing up in this case.

I think it is possible that you are missing the main draw bars/lower links and someone has altered your lift link ends so that they can pull.

If I'm just not seeing it right, I apologize. If I'm right it would explain why you had to shorten the top link and the PTO shaft, for sure.

So when I add it all together - having to shorten those things, not seeing lower arms, seeing what looks like the lift arms set to pull from up high, please forgive me for being suspicious of the setup. If my suspicions are right, you are in serious danger while you also damage your hydraulic lift.

the bottom arms are there mate ill go take another couple of pics for you,

but they are there,, ive had my plow on and everything, its the same as my mums tractors

back in a mo

here you go cliff,

i even had to cut of the traylor mount as that was fouling the PTO lincage and wouldnt let it turn,, i never pull a traylor so it didnt matter,

but they must of put it on at manifacture as the welding was good and neet,

thank you for your concern mate, i do understand tractors a little as my mum had a farm, still does but smaller,,

jake

going to start doing my farrowing crates when my tube come, and of course ive made a pipe bender,,lol,cant find on here, so ill make one using my car jack,

yes shaggy ill post pics,,lol

jake