Tractor Stories

The Piranha Tooth Bar is installed on my Kubota bucket. I used a 4 pound hammer to adju st the side braces of the tooth bar so it would fit inside the bucket. I used the larger clamp to snug the braces up to the inside of the bucket so I could tighten the nut on the bolt with then lock washer in place. The hammer was used to bend the brace in and then to bend it to fit better. I used an air tool attached to the air outlet I had put on the  tractor  side of the  Tractor  Building. A 15/16 th  inch socket fit the bolts and nuts of the tooth bar and an adjustable wrench held which ever was the other side ( nut or bolt). The pictures show the tooth bar and the fasteners. While I wanted to try out the new implement, there were a few other things to do before it got too hot. I got the riding mower out and mowed the rest of the front yard, including where we planted Bluebonnet seeds. Then I decided to venture into the side yard and cut trail. That lasted for ...

Phil was hit and killed by a drunk who was driving on the wrong side of the road and then left the scene of the collision. The man then hid in the nearby woods. Authorities found him, took him to a hospital, then he was arrested and jailed (in Vanderburg county) and is awaiting extradition to Wabash County. I hope he stays in jail until convicted. Uncle Phil was totally innocent, minding his own business. I have known Phil since he was fifteen years old. That is a long time, sort of.

Your uncle Phil had an MI today ( Myocardial Infarction commonly known as a heart attack ). His third. He acted appropriately and asked his sister Carol to call for an ambulance. Phil was Life Flighted to a hospital in Evansville (I forgot to ask Carol which hospital). Two stints were put in and he is recovering in ICU (most likely a cardiac ICU). He is anticipated to be discharged home tomorrow. Nancy thinks Phil is in Deaconess hospital. She says he will go home tomorrow.

Today, this morning, I was walking our dog when she spotted a squirrel about sixty feet away. We struggled a bit as I wanted to go in the opposite direction to throw some brush onto the brush pile. Then, now over a hundred feet away from the squirrel, we started in that direction. As we moved Mocha began to pull and pull and pull. The squirrel was young or really stupid as it ignored us until we were less than 20 feet away. Then it scampered up onto the wooden swing set toy. Now Mocha tried to run after the squirrel, tugging me along. As the squirrel may then have leaped to a tree, Mocha rounded the swing set, and I stumbled. Down I went as Mocha pulled harder (at least that is the way it felt). My knee hit the ground, and I was pulled over, my right arm getting wrenched as Mocha pulled more, ignoring me on the ground. I considered letting her go but instead pulled the leash toward me as I lay on the ground. She cooperated and came to me but kept searching for the squirrel. I told Nanc...

Today, this afternoon, I went after the brush near the Guard Light again. Years ago, Nancy gave me a Poulin Pro weed eater with a separate head for brush cutting. It has an odd four-edged disk-like flat blade. I used it today in place of the pole saw head and later this evening I used a file to sharpen the flat blade. It takes an edge on each side of the flat blade. I am sure it will work better now than when I tried it with its very dull cutting edge. This thing is loud! I will wear ear protection. Paul (our minister) came over to help me and together we made three times the progress I make alone. I used the Polaris Ranger utility vehicle to haul the Yamaha generator, two electric cords, a Sears chain saw (electric), chains, bar oil, a brush grubber, a clawed pole for reaching into the sticker brush to pull cut brush out. I had the pole saw and the brush cutter head too. Paul and I drove around the 8.3 acres too, just for fun. I think the gas in the Polaris is at least a year old, so ...

Great news! The fellow who sells and makes run Nancy’s long arm quilting machine and robotics (quite a challenge) came to the house to help Nancy get the robotics working right. He asked whether I wanted help getting my Farmall Cub running and said he would look at it right after he was done with the robotics. Well, he did and began tracing through possibilities. He noted that the choke linkage was not working and the choke was one full, there was water in the carburetor bottom, there MUST be an on-off switch, and once all that was set right, the Cub started and I drove it in the yard. The light circuit fuse is blown so when I replace it, maybe I will have head lights too. Apparently I had simply been flooding the engine if I had any spark at all. I am most happy.   Emily came down and brought two rifles to hunt deer. She got a license last evening and we hope to get to the range before Friday afternoon. Going to get cold here about Thursday morning and colder still for a few days ...

November 6, 2010, was opening day for deer hunting in the part of Texas where I live. I shot two small does from a field near Lampasas. The rifle is a CZ 550 in 6.5X55 millimeter Mauser caliber. I loaded the cartridges with 140 grain hunting bullets. This first deer dropped immediately. The second and smaller deer ran about 70 yards after being hit, then fell over. One thing I do is check beyond the deer to make sure there is no other animal or house in line with the bullet after it passes through the deer. November 13,  I decided to load some 30-06 ammunition so  my daughter will  have some to shoot a deer or five. I used a premium Nosler 150 grain ballistic tip boat tailed bullet, Lake City MATCH brass, which was unfired, CCI primers for the Garand, and IMR 4895 powder. Obviously, these can be used in a Garand since that powder is the original Garand powder (new, of course). I made her fifty cartridges so she will have plenty for the range to sight in and have fun, and ...

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I have the hood back on the Cub for the first time in months. It looks good from a distance. This is the hood for which I have the fuel tank cleaned and relined. That was done with a torch, so the entire hood needed to be repainted. The front of the hood attaches to the front uprights with a bolt on each side. The right side was easy enough, but the left side was off enough that I needed a third arm to align the bolt with the hole in the upright. My daughter started the bolt while I was using a hammer to push the upright back and at the same time holding the hood up a bit. The grill is back on too. I had painted it some weeks ago. Something did not look right still and I realized I have used hex bolts instead of the flat head screws which were used originally. I have a set of them and they can be put on tomorrow. They go on the rear of the hood and on the grill sides. One the grill was on and the hood fastened down, I tried the head lights both on low...

The past few days and evenings I have been working like a bear to get the Cub operational again. First, I removed the auxiliary fuel tank so the hydraulic lift could go in the location where the wooden base of the fuel tank was bolted. Once I had the auxiliary tank off, I lifted the rather heavy hydraulic lift onto the space and slid it under the throttle rod instead of removing the throttle rod along with the choke rod. That was a mistake! In taking a short cut, I managed to disrupt the electrical system, so the lift had to be removed while I sorted out and fixed the problem. The rear light and the front light circuit did not work anymore. After a long time of fiddling and tightening, the light circuits worked again; however, the ignition switch refused to pass through any electricity. It had died. I ordered a replacement along with a metal fuel line and two wing nuts to secure the touch control lift stops. Actually, I thought I had purchased those expensive wing nuts earlier and foun...