Cistern Saga Continues

In my last post I mentioned we had purchased a cistern and would begin looking for a trailer to dedicate to hauling water. Well, a trailer (of sorts) has been purchased.

The problem I found when looking for a trailer was payload; water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon, and with a cistern of 275 gallon capacity I needed to find a trailer capable of handling around 2,500 pounds. (Total includes the weight of the trailer itself, water, and the cistern.) Not easy to find a suitable small trailer, as I found out, as most small trailers are rated only up to around 1,000 pounds.

A Craigslist ad featured a trailer with a 5,000 pound capacity rating for $100.00. It was on the Front Range (Denver side of the mountains), though, so cost of getting it home would be another $50.00 or so in gas money. Little more than a frame on wheels, the trailer did have a valid Colorado title and a spare tire. I decided to buy it and bring it home. Here is what it currently looks like:

Cistern trailer, early days

I will need to add permanent lights, fenders, and re-do the deck at an estimated cost of around another $100.00 – $150.00. I may even get ambitious and do some painting of the frame and wheels. Once done I will pull it up to The Lot, put the cistern aboard, tie the cistern down with ratchet straps, and see about getting our first load of water. The saga continues…

Catching up with a few other odds and ends…

We ordered our honey wagon kit, which consists of a tank, pump, and hoses. Items should arrive in the next week or so; shipment is coming out of Pennsylvania via motor freight. I’ll have to pick the shipment up in Grand Junction, the nearest terminal the trucking company has. More on this as we move ahead in the coming weeks.

I had mentioned my “new toy”, a power pruner, and for those who are not familiar with this tool, here are a couple photos:

Power pruner

Pruner head

The pruner is an extended chain saw. It does not cut very fast but it does extend your reach and requires less work than cutting limbs with a hand pruner.

On my way to The Lot this past weekend I saw a new sight: Llamas on the open range in South Park, about 5 miles from The Lot.

Open range Llamas

In the 3 years we have been driving through this area I had never seen Llamas anywhere near our lot.The young ones were particularly cute. I wonder if they will become a permanent sight or if they just escaped from a farm for a few days and will be captured and removed from the open space. It would be nice to see them from time to time.

I had stopped by The Lot on my way back from getting the trailer mentioned above. By that time is was early evening, around 4:30 PM. Plan was to get some work done, stay the night, then head home Sunday morning, but alas, continuous rains pretty much killed any activity for Saturday. I like getting the moisture but it makes for a pretty dull day. Still, I donned my rain coat and walked around the lot for a while. The “wet forest” smell was strong and not unpleasant.

On Monday, the 15th, we had a visit from a good friend of more than 30 years. Bernie (Bernadette) Davis was Pam’s first boss when we moved to Colorado in 1977 and we have kept in touch through the intervening years. Bernie was on a business road trip and was able to stay overnight. Pam prepared an excellent meal and we had a good visit. Here is a photo of Bernie:

Our friend Bernie Davis

Around the house, the iris are done blooming but the hollyhocks and lilies are just getting started. We have received more rain so everything is still very green. Wildflowers in the area, and also in South Park, are putting a lot of color in the landscapes. They are nice to see!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!