Sunday, May 10, 2015

May?


     The calendar says May.  The furnace doesn’t get it.  Mother Nature iced the landscape to honor all the mothers.

 
    Somewhere under the white is a lonely tomato plant.  I was reminded that it was out there when the neighbor kid was out in his backyard in shorts and hoody putting baskets and buckets and barrels over plants. 
    I clumped out into the backyard in my farmer buckle overboots to nestle a jug of water next to the tomato plant.  I put a card board box over the pair.
      It was snowing and the wind had come up.  The old blue tarp was handy, so I threw it over the box.  The aspen branch was even handier and promised to defeat the wind’s attempts to huff and puff and blow away the flimsy shelter.   
     The Local Conditions site says the low was 30 degrees.  They are calling for mid-twenties tonight, so guess the tomato will stay housed for awhile. 

    Meanwhile, back at the farm. . . .  By Friday morning, the rain gauge registered nearly an inch and a half for the week.  I have yet to check the gauge for the weekend results. 
     Local Conditions report a low of 26 with the projection of mid-twenties again tonight.  Only time will tell if the wheat can weather those lows at this stage of development.  Moisture is no longer a problem, anyway.
     The old Ford tractor underwent a delving into its bowels.  The three point hitch arms have never responded correctly to the depth gauge / lift lever.  The lift arms are supposed to correspond to the position of the control lever.  If the lever is halfway up, the arms should be half way up, and stay there.
     It has never worked that way.  Keeping the mower at the right height is a constant worrying of the control lever.  Sometimes the mower blades will be digging the dirt.  Other times, the mower deck will be raised so high it will be hitting the rear tractor tires, all with the same setting on the control lever.
      According to “the book” those problems can all be fixed by replacing gaskets and rings and the pressure relief valve.  So apart it came. 

 
     Here’s what the hydraulic system looks like, just in case you wanted to know.  It’s amazing how simple it is.  It’s all right under the seat.

 
     It’s also amazing that you can still find parts for the old feller.  The place I called had the gasket set in stock.  The rings and the valve are still available but had to be ordered.  Parts should all be in this week.
    Then the usual $64,000 question:  will I get it back together and working right?  (Any idiot can tear something apart.  It takes a mechanic to get it back together.)
    The wet weather gives me a little time to get it done.  But when the sun comes out and it warms up, tractor and mower will be in high demand.
               

      

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