Volume 17, Issue 1
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The last week of the 2021 was one for the books with temps as low as -25°, lots of snow on the ground and plenty of work to get done. The cold weather really puts our equipment to the test and pushes them to the limits. They say everything comes in three’s and this week was no exception. Little Blue the ranch truck lost a U-joint, the forklift we use for loading hay blew a hydraulic line, and the icing on the cake was the feed truck going down because the all wheel drive wouldn’t engage.
Luckily we have contingency plans for those situations and didn’t miss a beat when it came to getting the horses taken care of. Just means lots of shop time to get everything back up and running. The loader was an easy fix with a new hydraulic line, and Blue will be back on the trail pretty quick with a new U-joint. The feed truck, which is a key piece of equipment that we use daily, was a little more work but will be up and running pretty soon when a new part arrives.
While it’s never great to have something like that go down, it’s always an opportunity to teach some of the other guys how to work on and maintain the equipment. James and Kevin spent some time in the shop with me helping tear down the front axle on our giant military truck. It’s always nice to have an extra hand when pulling off a 400 pound tire.
Christmas is always a great time of year, while the crew is a little small there was still a big celebration. We had Christmas Eve dinner at the lodge with Shayne and Des. Em whipped up one heck of a spread of sides and desserts, and the big hit was two kinds of prime rib including an amazing smoked one. If you’ve had the BBQ at the ranch you know what kind of treat that is. We all slept good that night in beef comas. It was the perfect end to an amazing year, and we can’t wait for the season to fire back up in 2022 and guests to start coming in when Spring thaws us out.
Happy new year from all the crew at McGinnis!!!!
Chris