Life On The Hill

[pa_friendly_guy]

I put one load around each of the fruit trees, I put 3 loads that I suck up from under the pine tree around the blue berrys, The rest I use in the garden in my double digging projects. A few loads I have spread around over the rock I dug from the garden to help them pack in. There is always some place to use leaves.

[Lollykoko]

I do understand how those things happen, Guy. Having a third hand available when you need to make repairs is invaluable. Good to hear that your wife is willing to get involved.

On Thursday I had coffee with the fellow who mows my place whenever he gets the chance. We needed to talk about the strategy for shutting down all the equipment at the farm for the winter, and plan for needed maintenance in the spring. After, we stopped at the auto parts store for anti-freeze and Sta-bil, so that he can deal with fuel systems today, in between sessions in his deer hunting chair.

This year there was entirely too much time spent tearing apart the fuel system (on the tractor) to remove rust and plant debris that had gotten into the tank. We were fortunate to only need to mess with tires & rims once this year, early in the season. My personal reasoning on rubber hoses, cotter pins and clamps is to replace them long before they look like they are getting old. Too bad that doesn't work for hydraulic lines too. The backhoe lost two lines at the worst possible time, which kept us from progressing as far as we had hoped on getting the polebarn constructed.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Preventative maintenance? Whats that? If it aint broke, don't fix it. I have to say that I do not check things like the carter pins holding on the cart wheels very often, maybe never, but I am always Very surprised then something like that Breaks after only 30 years of hard use. I have 2 hydraulic lines on the front end loader that were worn and frayed when I bought the tractor low these many years ago, I expected them to brake years ago, but knock on wood, they are still going strong. The main cylinders seem to need repacking now, there is a hydraulic leak in the one that is really effecting the pressure now, when I get that fixed maybe I can have those lines replaced as well.

[Lollykoko]

Guy, I'm a card carrying die maker and my friend is a machine repairman. Of course we are thinking about preventative maintenance! Especially after having to drain the gas tank on the tractor 4 times (that I was there for) this year. That is a pain in the patokus, for sure. We finally got set up with extra large funnels and lots of PEX tubing to make the job a little less messy and prevent spilling 20% of the fuel on the ground.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Good Plan Lolly. We had to drain the gas out of our mower at camp one year. There was so much water that condensed in the tank that we couldn't get it started at all. I agree, that is a pain in the dupa.

[boo]

My lawn mower has four furry little legs....and it drains itself!

[mannytheseacow]

[pa_friendly_guy]

I think I need one of these. Its getting harder and harder to keep this old one running.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I did something this week that I never did before. I drove to Harrisburg, the Capitol of our great Commonwealth, and went to the Farm Show. I have wanted to get there for years, but never took the time to go. The Farm Show Building is 24 acres under roof, It is Huge. There are 2 arenas with major seating capacity separate rooms for poultry, goat, rabbits, cows, nuts, small grains, hay, corn, food court, and venders of every description. I attended a talk about Raptors that was very interesting, they had a Red Tale Hawk there and a Great Horned Owl. I also attended a demonstration be the Pa State Bee Keeps association. It was billed as a show on how to extract honey from the comb, it was actually a very informative talk on Bee Keeping that lasted 45 min and ended with extracting the honey and a taste test. It was excellent and very informative. I got to see a display of antique tractors and hit and miss engines. I love the old Hit and Miss engines. I got there before 9am so I got a good parking spot, the show was not very crowed when I got there, by 3 pm you couldn't hardly walk because of all the people. I saw the entire show, including the Butter Sculpture. The Butter Sculpture is a big deal, it changes every year and is made entirely of Pa Butter. Talked with the State Bees Keepers Ass, the State Nut Growers Ass, The Sustainable Farming folks, The State Dairy Ass and a bunch of other neat folks. The State Extension Service had a display about Bio-Mass switch grass as well as several other grasses they want people to grow on marginal land and what uses we can make of them, such as making 2 X 4s for construction. [ It was sort of like partial board ] I had time to see everything, if only to wander by some of the displays with out reading them or stopping to really find out what their product was about. I watched as right before my eyes chickens hatched right out of their eggs. That was spectacular, I enjoyed the miracle of life a lot and it was fun to see the newly hatch chicks. It was a wonderful time, I enjoyed myself and would strongly recommend any one who can take the time to go take advantage of this fine event. This was the year of the Milk Shake, so of Course I had to have one, it was very good. The event is Free, Parking is $10. After the show I stopped at an old friends place , had dinner, a lovely visit, and spent the night. I plan on attending again next year.

[Lollykoko]

It sure sounds like a good day, Guy. I'm glad you took time to go this year.