Most of you were quite correct that the photo above is of a pivot (irrigation/sprinkler system) being moved. Actually it is only 1/6 of the pivot! Pivots are made up of sections we call spans. This particular pivot has six spans. The three spans closest to the center of the pivot are each 179 ft long. The fourth span is 186 ft. long. The last two spans are each 201 ft. long, making the length of the complete pivot 1,125 ft!

The farm bought a used pivot from another farm about 20 miles away. As you can see from the photo, the wheels of each pivot span are facing the wrong direction to drive down the road. Since each span is also too long to be placed on a flat bed semi, moving the pivot took some ingenuity.

A cart was built specifically for lifting the wheels of the span off the ground. The cart also has a seat and a steering wheel. Thankfully Nevada is fairly flat with long stretches of straight road so someone only had to get on the cart when it came time to maneuver turns. Mr. Ferrero Rocher said they sure got the stares coming down the highway and when they made the turn onto the dirt road.

To make a turn they actually had to drive past the turn.

Then someone would get on the cart and while the truck backed up,

steer the end of the pivot span.

These photos show Mr. FR and his brother unhooking the cart from the span.

The end of the journey for this span. Only two more to go! Now all that’s left is to set up the pivot in its new location. But first pipe needs to be run to the new field, a cement pad laid for the center of the pivot, and various other tasks. A good winter job!

The randomly chosen winner of two bars of milk soap from Wild Heaven Farm is 

Joy from My Home in the Smokies! Joy e-mail me at chocolateonmycranium {at} live {dot} com so I can get your mailing address. Congrats!

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