Good Morning! 57F @ 5:30AM. Partly cloudy. High 64F. Winds light and variable.
Another front is just now starting to pass through, but we're not expected to get much rain out of it. That's a good thing right now, as the trail down to the bottom of the hill just got dry enough to support the tractor again, and I had it out yesterday to start clearing the sticks off the hillside left by the inmates after the fire. Good traction all the way, and not so much gradient when side hilling so as to worry about tipping over. But after loading the first bucket the tractor wouldn't start, just a click like one of the safety interlocks was tripped. Trudged back up the hill and came back with a multimeter, but couldn't find anything out of place. Found a TBN post about replacing the starter relay with one requiring less voltage, but that turned out to be a red herring. Finally I calmed down enough to read the diagnostic display on the dash, which said "HST Neutral". Looked at the gear level and it was in neutral already, so that wasn't it. Then looked down at the HST pedal and sure enough, it was tipped back away from the center position. Felt OK with my foot, but working it with my hand yielded some travel toward a central detent, and then the tractor started right up. Rode it back up the hill and dumped the bucket, then up to the garage for a can of spray grease. Exercising it more with my hands brought forth a loud chirping sound from the linkage, the source of the binding. Shots from the top weren't much help, so I got to climb down under and spray up, dodging drips while doing so. Must have been a half dozen pivots under there, and after last month's rain they were all thirsty for lubricant. With noise and stiffness vanquished, I got another five buckets loaded before dusk put an end to my labors. Made a good dent in the two hours I was actually able to gather wood, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to finish the task. All that bending over was enough to get my back complaining, so I'll do a little bit every day and hopefully have it knocked out in a week or so. A couple hours a day in the wood gym, be good for me!
Six weeks or so ago the propane regulator on the BBQ started acting up, choking off the flow to the point that meat would only warm and not cook. A couple good raps on the outside with a screwdriver handle got it going again, but it turned out to be a temporary fit. Came home with a replacement last Thursday, then immediately stumbled across a beautiful stainless steel Weber floor model on sale at Home Depot. Almost home with it, but for six hundred and thirty bucks you should at least get a light and rotisserie capability, both of which my current bargain basement unit have. And now for a twenty buck part the old girl is back in action.:laughing:
Used Don's pressure cooker again last night to wump up a big batch of spaghetti, first in saute mode to brown the meatballs, then all night in slow cooker mode to simmer the sauce. The whole house smells like an Italian restaurant this morning. Spaghetti for breakfast anyone? :licking:
Heard from the mechanic yesterday; he's started on the brakes and will be ready for us to look at how the wheels will mount when I'm in town next week. The rears fit up just fine, but the fronts will need a spacer to clear a ring shaped shoulder at the center of the hub. That'll be a fun machine shop project for me, and also involve a trip to my favorite metal supplier. Who knows what neat stuff I'll find in their scrap pile :dance1:.
So far my greatest adventure came about a dozen years ago when we stumbled across the White Rim Trail in Utah's Color Country. A couple buddies and I were on big dual sport motorcycles when we spied it from the Dead Horse Point overlook outside of Moab, and when we stopped into a ranger station the next day we snagged the last campsite reservation half way round at a place called Murphy's Hogback. The next two days were spent riding the slickrock in a coyote/roadrunner paradise of balancing rocks, spires, and breathtaking canyon views of the Green and Colorado rivers. And some of the most difficult off road riding I'd ever done. Well worth the effort, but it would've been a lot more fun on a lighter bike!
Hope everyone enjoys a great weekend!
