OP
amarlow
Bronze Member
Home late again. Beautiful full moon last night as I was leaving the property, but overcast tonight. I worked until everything was the same shade of dark gray.
Thanks for all your help and effort, Jim. Your similar story is encouraging. It means someday I might find myself more or less done. I'm an engineer by trade, left brained as they get, and really good at making plans. So I have do have a plan, and a very long list. It just seems, sometimes, to be taking so very long to move from point C to D to E. My only real regret is I waited until I was in my early 50s to do this. I've been dreaming about it since I was a teenager, but there was always something else I needed to do first.
I crawled under the tractor today, looking for how to adjust the clutch throw. I am pretty sure I figured it out, but am going to wait until my shop manual arrives to do any more fiddling. (I'm only a little bit chicken.) There is a full repair manual on eBay for $180 shipped. Is that a decent price?
In lieu of PTO/mower work, I have been digging saplings and briars and those retched Autumn Olive, working on some old stumps, and pushing over a few of those standing dead ash. I've found if the ash has been bark free for more than a year, the roots are often decomposed enough I can either push the thing right over, or dig around a bit with my tooth bar, pop a few roots, then push it on over. I was working today on one that was a bit on the larger side. But I had the "advantage" cuz I could come at it from the high side of the hill, get some leverage. Right?
I rode up to the tree, mindful of the dead branches 80 feet overhead, raised the bucket up the trunk, and cautiously nudged it while watching to root area (and those branches). There was some evidence of movement in those roots, so I pushed a bit harder. Yep, I think this one might be ready. But let's dig some of those roots first. Dig dig dig, nudge again, yes it's working. Yay! Dig dig some more, push again. Argh! Progress is slow. Darn. Maybe if I raise the bucket a bit higher, for a bit more leverage? Hey! That's helping. Except it's lifting my front tires off the ground. That's OK. Even more leverage, right?
Wrong. Too much pressure, I suppose. One of the curl hoses on my bucket burst. And not on the bottom side where it could soak the ground below with fluid. Oh no. It cracked open in a nice gash facing directly at the driver's seat. Sprayed fluid all over -- coated the hood, the loader arms, the console, and me. And of course the bucket flopped over, limp as a noodle. Now I have neither PTO nor loader. I felt... embarrassed, chagrined. Not the best weekend for a burst hose either. Tractor Supply had nothing, and the NAPA parts store that makes hoses to order was closed for Memorial Day.
Maybe I should go back to an axe and shovel, like Pa Ingalls.
~Allen
Thanks for all your help and effort, Jim. Your similar story is encouraging. It means someday I might find myself more or less done. I'm an engineer by trade, left brained as they get, and really good at making plans. So I have do have a plan, and a very long list. It just seems, sometimes, to be taking so very long to move from point C to D to E. My only real regret is I waited until I was in my early 50s to do this. I've been dreaming about it since I was a teenager, but there was always something else I needed to do first.
I crawled under the tractor today, looking for how to adjust the clutch throw. I am pretty sure I figured it out, but am going to wait until my shop manual arrives to do any more fiddling. (I'm only a little bit chicken.) There is a full repair manual on eBay for $180 shipped. Is that a decent price?
In lieu of PTO/mower work, I have been digging saplings and briars and those retched Autumn Olive, working on some old stumps, and pushing over a few of those standing dead ash. I've found if the ash has been bark free for more than a year, the roots are often decomposed enough I can either push the thing right over, or dig around a bit with my tooth bar, pop a few roots, then push it on over. I was working today on one that was a bit on the larger side. But I had the "advantage" cuz I could come at it from the high side of the hill, get some leverage. Right?
I rode up to the tree, mindful of the dead branches 80 feet overhead, raised the bucket up the trunk, and cautiously nudged it while watching to root area (and those branches). There was some evidence of movement in those roots, so I pushed a bit harder. Yep, I think this one might be ready. But let's dig some of those roots first. Dig dig dig, nudge again, yes it's working. Yay! Dig dig some more, push again. Argh! Progress is slow. Darn. Maybe if I raise the bucket a bit higher, for a bit more leverage? Hey! That's helping. Except it's lifting my front tires off the ground. That's OK. Even more leverage, right?
Wrong. Too much pressure, I suppose. One of the curl hoses on my bucket burst. And not on the bottom side where it could soak the ground below with fluid. Oh no. It cracked open in a nice gash facing directly at the driver's seat. Sprayed fluid all over -- coated the hood, the loader arms, the console, and me. And of course the bucket flopped over, limp as a noodle. Now I have neither PTO nor loader. I felt... embarrassed, chagrined. Not the best weekend for a burst hose either. Tractor Supply had nothing, and the NAPA parts store that makes hoses to order was closed for Memorial Day.
Maybe I should go back to an axe and shovel, like Pa Ingalls.
~Allen
I had a close call with tall, skinny, well-rotted birch tree, my tree pushing days are over. I agree, it looks so harmless. Once they start waving back and forth though, you are in the hands of fate because you can't get far enough away fast enough to do any good.
