2020 gardens

[DJ54]

Pretty cool..!! I'm assuming over center gravity dump..??

Am I seeing a Farmall Super A hiding in the background..??

 

[Sonny580]

Over center dump for sure, and ya SA sitting beside it. also have an A that I used to mow with til it shucked the front pulley, cant keep it tight and it flies off into the fan. Got a new used one, same deal, so crank must be worn. not sure at this point how to fix it, other than welding it on and no way I want to do that. next thing front seal would go out then couldnt get pulley off to put in new seal.

 

[DJ54]

If I remember correctly, aren't the crankshafts threaded internally on the pulley end..?? 1/2 NF comes to mind. I'm setting here scratching my head, trying to remember which of the small tractors I worked on, that I had to pull the front pulley off. I know I made a short slug, with a dimple, to use a puller, to pull the pulley off. and pretty sure I used a, maybe 2 different lengths 1/2" NF bolt to push it back on, after heating the pulley up on the coal stove.

If you don't hand crank it, then a proper sized bolt, and flat washer with Locktite on the threads ought to work. Otherwise, pull the crank, and have a machine shop plasma weld it up, and turn back to specs. Has to be a lot less expensive than a reground crank, and new bearings, and a lot less work..!!

 

[Sonny580]

No threads and no hole in crank. someone messed up the end of the crank trying to drill it. --- been sitting 2 years now and I cant afford another crank for it so it sits. excellent motor and the whole tractor is good cept the pulley.
No shops around here to do that kind of work. ---way to costly to fix the tractor.

 

[DJ54]

Too bad...

 

[DJ54]

Got my onion sets in this evening. The hiller I made, did a decent job of making a hill row, to plant them in. I may adjust the cut next time I use it, and set them a little straighter, to let the dirt flow out between the disc blades better. Dirt was just damp,and still wants to ball up a bit, and not flowout like I want it to. If that doesn't work, I'll extend the bars the disc blades are mounted to, and set them out a few inches wider. At least it allows me to make rows 30" OC, and not 48" or more with using the disk's, on the walk behind, or behind the ST10.

I made 2 rows, because I was thinking it would take 2, 90' rows, to plant the 2 lbs. of sets. It sure looked like a lot. I placed them 4" apart, and only made it about 60'. I picked out the larger sets out of the bin, so naturally not as many per lb. That's just another 30' I can plant something else...

 

[Ford850]

I got my onion sets planted on 4/4, in 5 raised beds approximately 3'x8' each. I plant those beds in mass, using a 6" grid pattern over the entire bed.
I planed another bed with lettuce and spinach on 4/20, striking off rows 6" apart going across the beds. I hope to keep cutting these greens as they are just large enough to eat, so they can continue to regrow. I might leave a few stragglers go into small heads. I planted Bibb, Romaine, Iceburg, and Buttercrunch lettuce, along with one variety of Spinach.

 

[Sonny580]

Onions are growing here, look good so far. Potatoes are not quite up but just under the surface. Rain started today,--looks like all week could be wet here. Maybe it will soften the ground so I can till the rest of the little garden.
Have the hot-bed ready to plant. Not going all out with plants, but need a fair amount if the seeds will grow.----have had some in the past that didn't.

 

[DJ54]

Got the potatoes in the ground today. Only had room for 5 rows, and gave the rest of the seed potatoes to a buddy of mine. Near as I can figure, planted about 75 lb. 3 rows of Red Chieftain, and 2 rows of Yukon Gold. The Chieftain's, from what I have read, are a short season, commercially grown potato, developed in Canada some years back. Guess I'll see what I end up with. The hardest part was dropping them, those little garden tractors sure save a lot of labor..!! This is the first time I've ever used that adjustable foot plow on the Bradley. Makes a dandy furrow for planting potatoes in. Really surprised that little tractor pulled it as easy as it did, with no wheel weights, or loaded tires. I have another in the shop I'm re-powering, and will put wheel weights on it. I finally found a "Southern Cultivator" that has extra frame work, for wider row cultivating, plus a set of wings I can add to it. So, should be able to cover 40" or so, when I get it set up. I'd imagine a front counter weight will be needed, to pick all that iron up, at the end of the row, to turn around and come back. I'll have to do some scrounging, to see if I can find some thing for a form. Local village is putting in a new sewer system, and using 8" line. I calculated a 12" piece will weigh 46# full of concrete. A buddy of mine is hauling spoil dirt they are digging out. I'll see if he can scrounge me a few pieces.

Also got some cabbage sprouts in trays this evening, just as it started to rain. Ended up with 70, as a few did not germinate. I really like sprouting seeds using the coffee filter/sandwich bag method. These sprouted in 3 days, after checking them yesterday. Knew I had to get them in trays sometime today. I like the Stonehead, and we used to plant Flat Dutch years ago. Trying a Tropical Giant Flat this year. Got them from Park Seeds when they had one day only free shipping, so took advantage of the cheap seed prices on those, and some Mammoth Sunflower seeds.

Waiting for the Tomato, Pepper, Rhubarb, and Asparagus seeds to sprout, then I'll be getting them in trays, and set in the little mini greenhouse. Doubt we're out of the woods for a cold snap, but I have a small electric cube heater, I can put in there, to keep them from freezing.

 

[Sonny580]

Potatoes froze off as did most other stuff last week,---not lookin too good for garden this year. Grape buds are burned off and any nut tree is brown. Fruit trees are hurt as well. This week we have a bunch of rain and cant do gardens, so been trying to mow/spray weeds. The only thing we got planted was the potatoes and onions. The onions look fine.
Wanted to get the other seeds planted but ground too cold right now. Did get hotbed planted and a few cabbage plants are up, so that's promising.