Tractor Stories

This afternoon (Sunday) I trimmed the Crape Myrtle trees in my circle. I decided to use my Dr Chipper attached to my 8n Ford 1952 tractor. I thought this will take about ten minutes to hook up, but I got a chance to stop and add a clutch between the tractor PTO and the chipper shaft. As soon as I started to drive forward and stepped on the brake is when I realized I had forgotten the clutch attachment on the PTO. Know what happens without that clutch? The tractor keeps moving forward. The Dr Chipper had a bird nest or two in the exhaust shaft, but it worked well as soon as I removed them. The actual amount of brush was twice or more than is in the picture. I filled a wagon about a foot deep which is about 3X5 feet in size. Hearing protection and good leather gloves are a must. Almost free mulch. Tractor Boy

Today I went to Kempner, TX and got my 18-foot trailer, 5-foot rotary cutter (“Bush Hog”) and 4-foot plow/disc which were waiting for me already on the trailer. The implements are new. The trailer is used. It has electric brakes, and my truck is equipped for that. The dealer had to find a suitable adaptor to plug the trailer wiring into the Nissan Titan towing plug and then I drove them home. Right now, they are still on the trailer in the yard while I figure out just how to remove them and place them in a convenient location. I certainly need to learn to back a long trailer. Tractor Boy

It was a cold, wet, dreary day in Central Texas. Perfect weather in which to replace the light switch I replaced last week. The first replacement was blowing a 20-amp fuse in less than a second when turned to the farthest right position. Fortunately, I had added a separate fuse holder to the circuitry when the replacement did not have a fuse position. I spoke with the nice folk at Farmall Cub Forever and ordered a three position six-volt switch which arrived a few days ago. This time I took pictures so you can see what I was doing. Again, I replaced one wire at a time. The switch has a protrusion which fits in a notch in the console, and I replaced it so the two were properly aligned. I discovered it was easier to take the console off this time, and I did not need a small monkey to reach in the confined space.  I did; however, forget that I placed a piece of board between the hydraulic housing and the hood/fuel tank. So, when I started up the Cub to see how well it would run, there...

Believing the original four position light and charging switch was mostly worn out, I ordered a replacement from Farmall Cub Forever. Nice folks with whom to do business. Yesterday I braved the cold here in Central Texas to enter my Tractor Building and replace the old switch. First, I placed a block of wood between the hydraulic system and the hood/fuel tank to keep the fuel tank from collapsing onto something and maybe damaging the fuel bowl. Then I proceeded to remove four screws from around the top of the console and two bolts which fastened the console to the tractor body. Much easier to write than to do. There is very little room to move, and I do not have a trained monkey to reach in there and turn a wrench while holding something in place. It turned out to be much easier to remove the part than to replace it later, but I was blissfully naïve then. The choke rod, the hydraulic rod, and the starter rod all had to be disconnected from one end or the other to allow room to move the...

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 I made a trip to the Temple Gun Club to shoot my new Kel-Tec RFB. RFB stands for Rifle Forward ejecting Bull pup. It uses FAL metric 20 round magazines and shoots .308 Winchester or 7.62X51mm Nato rounds from an 18-inch barrel. The overall length is 27 ½ inches and it weighs about 8 pounds. The RRFB comes with no sights; however, it has a Picatinny rail for mounting sights. I put a Barska 3-9 scope with red or green cross hairs. I do not know how to put the sling on the RFB as there were no instructions with the sling, and the manual refers to those instructions. About 120 rounds later, I love this little rifle! Recoil is much less than one gets from a bolt action rifle. The accuracy is still unknown since mostly I shot Wolf ammo and that is not very accurate. Initially I had a lot of problems. The rifle would not pick up the next round and usually would not lock the action open after the last round from the magazine. Once I looked in the manual, I found the answer. The gas port ...