Thinking about money, Zhang Chi went back and took out his mobile phone to make an appointment for the next hoof trimming. He chose a manual hoof trimming master. He really couldn't afford such high technology.
Zhang Chi had made an appointment with the hoof trimmer, and then he remembered to ask Xiao Ma about it.
So I sent a message to Brother Xiaoma and asked him if there were any four-wheel flatbed trucks there.
I originally thought that Brother Ma might not have gotten up at this time, but less than two seconds after the message was sent, Brother Ma sent a message back to me. Not only did he reply to the message, but he also sent a few pictures.
"Brother Ma, is that a kaleidoscope?"
Zhang Chi was a little surprised, why he not only had this thing there, but also had several models, five or six different sizes.
The car is very simple, a large flatbed with four wheels underneath. Because it is for farm and ranch use and is not on the road, it does not have any taillights or any connected control system.
Some carts have guardrails more than one meter high on all sides.
"This thing sells well. Now many people are buying from me. I suggest you buy a bigger one, preferably paired with a small domestic tractor. It is much more fuel-efficient than the tractors here in the United States..."
Brother Xiaoma is really a businessman. He hasn't decided on the flatbed truck yet, so he recommended several domestic four-wheel tractors to Zhang Chi.
It is a very simple tractor with no cab. Let’s put it this way, the fully convertible tractor is as simplified as possible and all unimportant configurations are reduced, leaving only the most original function of the tractor, which is traction.
Don't even think about plowing fields with this kind of tractor. It's so small and can tire you out when used to plow fields here in the United States. But when it's used to pull things that don't have too much load, it's really better than the pickup trucks used by ordinary ranches.
Much more fuel efficient.
Zhang Chi is very excited, but he doesn't have the special budget to buy this thing now.
"Well, I'll recommend something else to you, take a look at this!"
After a few pictures were sent over, Zhang Chi knew what this thing was for, a straw stacking machine! It stacked straw bales together and could also load and unload straw bales.
This thing has the function of a flatbed truck and also has the function of loading and unloading.
When you first look at this thing, flatbed trucks and the like are useless.
"Is it easy to use?"
Zhang Chi gritted his molars and asked.
When Xiao Ma heard about it, he said: "If it doesn't work, just return it to me. I won't recommend the straw baler to you, because the ones we make are really not very good and always break down."
But this thing is really cheap and easy to use. If you buy American products, it will cost at least twice as much. Moreover, you said that the grass in your pasture grows well, but now you are the only one in the pasture. This thing is a good helper..."
The thing that Xiao Ma recommended is powered by a diesel engine used in a two-cylinder tractor, but with some machine parts added. The same savings cannot be made, and only the basic functions are left.
Zhang Chi feels that he needs this thing. There are only two people in the ranch, himself and Cannon. If they carry the bales shoulder to shoulder, they will probably be exhausted in one day, and this is not a day or two.
Work, cutting straw bales from hundreds of acres of pasture, even if you work early in the morning and late at night, you will not be able to work for five or six days.
Originally, Zhang Chi also wanted to rent a loading and unloading machine, but now that he sees the price of this machine, it is no longer economical to rent it. Renting it seven or eight times is almost enough to buy this machine, so of course it is better to buy one.
Already.
Although the price is a bit out of budget, it is still cost-effective in the long run.
"Then let me go over and take a look!"
Zhang Chi decided to check it out first. If it was good, he would buy one. If not, he would buy a flatbed truck.
"Okay, I'll wait for you and take you to see the ranches that use this machine. Now near my place, whether they are white ranches or Chinese ranches, many of them use my machine." Xiao Ma listened.
Then he started boasting again.
After putting down the phone, Zhang Chi found Cannon and told him that he was going to California.
Cannon is very surprised why he suddenly wants to go to California.
"Just for one day, I'll try to come back at night. If it doesn't work, I'll do it tomorrow morning. Let's see how this machine does."
Zhang Chi opened the chat history on his mobile phone and showed Cannon the straw bale loading machine.
"So cheap?" When Cannon saw the machine, he thought it was nothing surprising, but he was stunned when he saw the price.
"I have a friend who specializes in making these small machines. They are all made in China. I will go and see how the quality is. If it is suitable, I will buy one back," Zhang Chi said.
Cannon thought for a while and talked about the problems he had encountered when using this machine before, and what aspects of the design were not very reasonable, and reminded Zhang Chi to pay special attention when testing the machine.
In fact, Cannon is not optimistic about Chinese-made machines, but his boss is Chinese, and it is difficult for him to express his thoughts.
Nowadays, many Americans think that Chinese clothing is good and the high-tech production is impressive, but when it comes to machines, they think that the ones made in the United States, Germany and RB are good. The quality of Chinese-made machines needs to be improved.
Cannon said a lot, so Zhang Chi simply asked Cannon to write it down.
Deciding to go, Zhang Chi took out his mobile phone to book a ticket. After booking the ticket, he drove all the way to the airport. When he arrived at the airport, he almost missed the plane.
When he arrived in Los Angeles, Zhang Chi didn't stop there. He rented a car directly near the airport and went to Ma Ge's ranch.
When they arrived at the ranch, Brother Ma didn't talk to Zhang Chi about anything. He took Zhang Chi to a ranch that he had agreed to check out the condition of the machine, and even let Zhang Chi drive it for a test drive.
The ranch that Brother Ma took Zhang Chi to was not far from Brother Ma's ranch. The ranch owner was an old white man, about seventy years old. A man in his seventies was still running a ranch. Zhang Chi admired the old man a little.
The old man's main business is the same as Zhang Chi's, they also raise cattle, but the cattle he raises are much worse than those raised by Zhang Chi, and many of the cattle are on the thin side.
It’s not the old man’s fault. Who told him not to have a gourd?
There are no breeds of cattle on the pasture, they are all mixed cattle.
The entire pasture is also in tatters. For example, the fodder warehouse that Zhang Chi saw was half without a roof. It originally had a roof, but after a storm, half of the roof was torn off. The old man also wanted to repair it, but it was really difficult.
I can't afford anyone to repair the roof.
Seeing Xiao Ma Ge and Zhang Chi, the old man didn't say much. After saying a few words, he walked aside and started working.
It seemed that this was not the first time that Brother Ma came here. He was very familiar with the things in the ranch, so he took Zhang Chi and drove the machine out.
The machine has been used for some years, and there is dust hanging on it in many places. It seems that it is not well maintained.
But if you think about it, you will understand. If an old man runs a ranch, how can he spend so much energy on maintaining machines?
Now that Zhang Chi is here to test the machine, it is equivalent to helping the old man work.
Brother Xiao Ma taught Zhang Chi how to use it. This thing is quite simple. Zhang Chi can learn it as soon as he learns it. There are no special requirements for driving it. He is just required to point the front of the car at the straw bales on the ground when driving so that the straw bales can enter smoothly.
The straw bale can then be hung on the caterpillar track and transferred to the bale box at the back.
There are two models of this thing, one is automatic bundling, which means the machine can automatically stack the collected straw bales together, and the other type has to be purely manual, which means there needs to be a person behind to transfer the bales.
Code it up.
Everyone can guess Zhang Chi's choice. He must have used manual coding, because the fully automatic one is a bit expensive for Zhang Chi today.
After trying it for a while and going back and forth twice, Zhang Chi felt that this machine was pretty good. I can’t say that it didn’t have the problems that Cannon mentioned, but it didn’t have major problems and the minor ones were tolerable.
Besides, it’s a penny for a piece of goods. It’s a bit inappropriate for you to think about things that are so cheap.
What Zhang Chi looks at now is cost-effectiveness.
"Come on one?"
Who is Brother Xiao Ma? When he saw Zhang Chi's face, he knew that his business was successful again.
"Get one, and give me another wood stove like the one you have here." Zhang Chi thought for a while and gritted his teeth before making a decision.
"Okay, then let's go back and inspect the goods," Xiao Ma said.
After making a decision, the two left the old man's ranch.
When the car arrived at the gate of the ranch, Zhang Chi found several cars entering the ranch. The cars were full of young people, many of whom had Asian faces.
"What do these people do? Why do I see so many Chinese people?" Zhang Chi asked curiously as he looked through the rearview mirror at the car entering the ranch.
Brother Xiao Ma said: "These are all here to play at the ranch. This ranch is free for people to come and play, and they can also stay. You just need your help with some of the work on the ranch."
Otherwise, how can the old man take care of this ranch by himself? He is too old to do many jobs like you, so he can open the ranch to people to experience ranch life and help him with the work.
This method of operation is very popular with people here who want to experience authentic ranch life. Many of us Chinese students or Chinese working here have been to this ranch."
"You can do this with your ranch," Zhang Chi said with a smile.
Brother Xiaoma said: "I don't dare to do this. The old man is insured. This operation seems simple to you, but it is not that easy. What if someone is injured on the ranch? Many things are not what you think.
Simple.
Some people have wanted to come over before, and some schools even want to organize students to come over, but I don't want to bother this god, because if something happens in my place, it will be troublesome, especially for children, who are not afraid of being caught.
Whatever you want to play...".
"By the way, how will you transport it later? Do you want me to help you find a driver?" Brother Xiao Ma didn't want to talk about this problem and turned the topic to car transportation.
How could Zhang Chi let anyone make such money? He came here in person just to save on shipping costs. The distance from here to his ranch is equivalent to the distance from Magic City to Yangcheng. With the shipping costs, what could he do?
Besides, isn't Zhang Chi stupid to spend this money when he already has a gourd?
"I'll find someone to transport it myself, and I'll rent a trailer later," Zhang Chi said.
Brother Xiao Ma was a little doubtful, but he also asked more questions. How Zhang Chi bought the machine and how he wanted to operate it was someone else's business, and he didn't want to care too much.
Back at Brother Xiao Ma's ranch, Zhang Chi chose one of the three or four machines, and then went out to rent a trailer.
After everything was done, it was getting dark. Zhang Chi walked to a deserted place, put the machine and the firewood stove into the gourd, returned the trailer by himself, and then drove the rented car without knowing it.
Where did it go?
At this point in time, there must be no flights to Folsom. It is impossible to go back tonight, so we have to find a place to stay overnight.
The eldest brother could live there, but the house was so nice that he felt uncomfortable living there. After much deliberation, he decided to call his second brother Zhang Wu and see if he could accommodate him for one night.