Leaned into the bush hogging over the weekend. Had an oopsie on Saturday. Cotter pin broke, wheel dropped while in reverse and it went around a few times before I could get the deck up. Beat/bent stuff back into place and got going again. Emerging from finishing trails. Still more in the ROW yet. This fellow looked upset that I just erased his habitat. Stopped and moved him to the woods so he didn't have to fry in the sun. Quick break in the shade before starting this top field. 'Lego' stander seen at shop when dropping off my zero turn for work. Was washing some of the equipment Sunday when my frankenwasher made a horrible noise and my pressure went away. I had guessed the keyway had sheared. I was close! I been around these small engines for a long time now via work...never seen a crankshaft just decide that it didn't want to live anymore. Pump spins freely. Unsure what/why this happened. Possible the key did come loose and then grenaded shaft, but I've never seen such a thing. Usually they just get 'machined' a bit. Subaru EX17 engine.
Might have a line on a new (to me) washer. Belongs to grandmother of of friend who is 94...she doesn't need it. Same pump that my now defunct unit had with a Honda instead of a Subaru. Cranks for my Subaru are north of $300, so that's a no go. The crank stub has decided it really likes to be inside the pump coupling.
Done deal! Back in business with an old washer...just how I like it. Late 90s vintage going by the Honda's fuel cap. And I gained another 50' of good hose. The bad news....now I gotta finish washing equipment.
Swapped my unloader over and changed out the carb bowl gasket plus a little cleanup. Bank of Doom was cut Saturday. Two full tanks this time. It was thick, so WFO 80% of time. Finished washing yesterday. Been so wet this year most of this stuff was growing mildew. I dunno how those folks out in Oregon do it. Tractor got special treatment via a second wash with sponge and bucket plus some spray automotive products. Gonna be an antique next year. It ain't perfect but a fine example for it's age. Went up to start cleaning up around the hilltop fort. The Chestnut oaks throw gigantic acorns up there.
Had to get a load of rocks first thing Saturday. Found a basin trying to form in the new ditch. It must have been divine intervention that I finally completed this project last summer. Seen more rain this year than I can ever recall. Finally getting around to cleaning up another mess. This one went down same time as the one that buried the backhoe. Been too wet to get the tractor in and out. The top is partially laying in the neighbor's back yard. Made a decent hole. Good bit of firewood there. Unsure about recovering butt log as it's laying across a vernal/swampy area but we'll see. My lower yard is 'full' right now...I don't want to mow/weedeat around anymore logs, so I'm not in a rush to pull the bigger wood out yet. The hickory is still laying where it fell for same reason. Processing season will soon start and I'll deal with all of it then. Whole lot of brush to clean up yet too. I been throwing it over the dump hill. Found a preseasoned Chestnut oak when I went to put out a fresh salt rock for the deer. Just made a hole big enough to get through, will drag to upper yard with tractor later. Got my zero turn back from the shop Friday. Mowed one of the lots with it Saturday. I cannot express the amount of distance between what is considered a nice riding mower vs a commercial zero turn. It's a wide valley, to be sure. Glad to have the 'tank' back for the remainder of season.
I get the impression that yours had worked a little harder than mine has. Hoping any of the issues that you finally encountered are way ahead of me yet. I'm halfway to your hour total right now. Can't really see ever sending this one down the road but you never know. I'm working a long term plan around the BX Kubota and the old JD backhoe...maybe a convergence of the two is in the future. The old backhoe has been 5 and 10 dollaring (inflation up from nickel & diming) me past few years for not much work getting done. Not very suited to being used on my trails and hills...needs a driven front axle and some brakes would really be nice. lol Looking to perhaps buy one of those 'mini' TLBs to replace it and the BX rider. Gotta get the JD functional before anything can move forwards.
Back to the JD hoe briefly...gonna have to pull the swing cylinders. Too afraid to destroy the gland caps trying to force them off. Going to let the hydraulic shop deal with that. Would have prefered to repack it in the field. Had a pine tree cleanup Saturday. Normally would leave it lay but it's top was lying on the fence and protruding into the roadway a little. Bit of a pain getting it all back over the fence. Climb over and cut a bit, toss over, climb back over, toss to pile, repeat. The ball laid back down after I cut the stem off. Jonsered was on call. Fresh bottle opened. Then went and worked the other brush mess in the neighbor's back yard for a bit. Making progress. This is where the honey locust below is coming from. Did a bit of weedeating after that. Pulled another branch out of the mess and decided to buck everything so far. All Hlocust. Good bit more coming. Not bad for an opener. (I'm out of hoarding shape for sure...will fix that) Bossman was on the scene as usual. Have always been seeking a perfect tune out of this, usually disappointed. Man does it eat the wood. Hello friend. This stuff is dynamite!! Do recco!
Full intentions to split a red oak that I bucked last winter on Saturday. Had one of those sneaky suspicions that the trail would be blocked so I went up without the splitter to make sure. Denied. Went to work on it. Went around the hill and got the chestnut oak ready while I was at it. Then went and got the tractor out. Twofer. Had a little limbwood I set aside. Also pulled some more honey locust since I was fishing already anyways. Where it's at at the moment. Couple 3 more stems left yet. Got some splitting done yesterday for my opener. Small pile of rounds down bottom that were going to punk. Then back to the red oak that I wanted to do Saturday. Running short of room up at this woodyard for stacks. Productive weekend. Cleaned off a fire pit yesterday also.
Outside of the firewood, I enjoy the pics of your woods/trail system. I'm out in my woods many times a day with my dog, and if I had the land in your pics, I'd be out in the woods even more, just enjoying the peace and quiet.
The one and only! I don't get them very often. Not a bunch of them around...mostly Bitternut of which I have many.
It's my favorite place to be. Sometimes I get to just enjoy it, but mostly I'm keeping access open one way or another. A large portion of it is just two giant hills, which makes accessibility difficult and requires much maintenance. I worked on some water bars Saturday after skidding the logs. Another present from the hills...potential for fast running water. Gotta get it off the trails and into the leaf litter where it can soak in. I prefer it to something will little to no elevation though. Lots of character. Wish I had an elevated water source to play with sometimes. Nephew and family were down yesterday enjoying the sandbar. Some fishing, some RC car use, some critter catchin. I did spend 10 minutes watching a couple of chipmunks during a splitter break as they were curiously watching me. They want to approach sometimes, but then the survival instincts kick in. I enjoy those moments. Also enjoy finging places where the sound of the highway across the river disappears. I think a lot of folks forget what true Solitude feels like. I think it's good for us (in moderation, I'm not ready to be a hermit just yet lol).
I agree 100%. Two favorite places to be are by the woodstove during the cold months and out in the woods during any month (not as much in the dead of summer). This fits here but it could also go in the 'Technology' thread...
I bought a nice wooden placcard with this quote on it to be placed on the wall of a Cabin among all the other memorabilia, that I was privileged enough to stay at back in 2011. Sent it to the owner as a small Thank You for allowing me to enjoy his Cabin and all the things easily accessed from in the Bighorn Range. He hung it just to the left of the fireplace which was made of stones from the nearby creek who's sounds send you off to sleep. It lay within a National Park, built before park designation. A real gem that has been enjoyed (and added to) by several generations now. A moose in front yard type place.
