The "Nada" Farm Chronicles
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Yeah, I guess it is.
I have a project to finish for a neighbor that involves welding and cutting with the plasma torch, which of course, I have been doing anyway. But the last little day of welding, which was to have finished the metal top for the welding table, popped breakers all over the place. And I got tired of stumbling to the back of the garage to reset things. Particularly when what I was stumbling over, was mostly the salvaged wiring that was to be used to wire the garage so I wouldn't have to live off extension cords anymore. So I have been wiring the garage. Which means working in the area I'm best at, (NOT!) overhead. And standing on ladders and planks and things that I can fall off of, and working with electricity. I'm scaring myself just typing about it!
It went pretty well actually, I have one more box to complete and of course all the lights, But I can get the welding done now without interruption, I hope. In fact it has gone well. I got the welding table finished and the deck for the neighbor welded up, 90%, and I ran out of wire in the MIG welder. Never popped a fuse, using the wire welder and the plasma cutter, back to back. Of course it wasn't without incident. The Plasma cutter monitors everything around it and has safeties out the wazoo, which lit up like a Christmas tree when I tried to turn it on. It took a few minutes for me to realize it was trying to tell me I had made a slight error somewhere in the wiring. Of course as it was a 220 volt single phase wire for a plug for the Plasma Cutter, it was pretty easy to find out where the screw up had occurred. I hadn't trusted the connection in the wire I used, as it wasn't my work (previous owner). So I had taken it apart and reconnected it properly in a junction box. I mean it's 220 volts OK? I had wired it into the secondary power panel I mounted in the rafters, from whence all central garage wiring originates, and screwed the plug to a center post so the cutter could be used anywhere in the garage. The only part of the wire I hadn't messed with, was in the plug itself. Yep, that's the problem the colors were in the wrong connectors giving me a hot ground and only 110 volts available. Thus the Christmas Tree affect on the safety panel. I'm glad it was the intelligent Plasma Cutter I plugged in there first, rather than the TIG welder, which would probably have simply electrocuted me and burned down the garage. So again, never assume the work done by others follows the same rules yours does. Check it all yourself, or plug in only intelligent equipment. At least something working in the garage is intelligent, unfortunately it might not always be me.
I got some paint finally, and painted around the front of the Frankenbuilding,
And the backdoor of the little house,
and the basement door on the little house,
and the rear of the machine building, which was set up as an animal stall, or a small barn area. And as soon as I get the door on hinges, it should be good for the goats,
Oh yeah, I'm getting goats, well, I mean, I intend to. But who knows when?
Probably after I get this prize specimen restored to it's former glory.
Or turn it into the mailbox post, which ever comes first.
I finally got a days work out of the boys this last trip. and look what we accomplished! 
Anyone who has been on the "mid to major" walk about, has been here. This is where we jump across the muddy stream that emanates from the collapsed spring house running into Rusty Ravine, where all the junk was disposed of, for years. I couldn't get the mower across without a lot of lifting and pushing and mud mess, and generally being stuck both ways, so we used the culvert pipes to make a land bridge. As is clear in the picture, the tractor gets across quite easily now. In placing the reinforced concrete culverts, we removed a large rusting remnant of metal culvert and some old tires, that appeared to have been used to do the same thing before. I'm hoping it weathers the winter well, I am planning to put the Ram Pump about twenty feet up stream from here, and it would be nice to have good access from either side, to keep it properly maintained. I even discovered another little spring feeding this stream, right at the edge of the Southern culvert.
Above is the view from the South looking North, the old tires are still here now, but I'll get them moved as soon as they drain out. And for now, the rusty piece of drain pipe I removed, is still in Rusty Ravine. Seems fitting, but I intend to remove it, as I clean up the rest of the junk previously dumped here. I've been advised to wait to scrap things, until the prices rebound. I'm pretty sure that's a good idea. In fact I'm so sure I am saving everything I can for the price rebound. And nobody is bothering me about it, Whoopee!
Anyway, we have had a rough run on the lawn mowers recently, I hit a pipe and bent the blade on my mower, which I got broken, from a fellow, the first month we moved here. I've used it for almost three years, so I wasn't happy about banging, it but I wasn't too devastated. Mainly because I had another one just like it, that I had recently repaired and it worked so well I was letting Chris mow with it. She hit the end of the culvert, near the garage driveway at the street. She hit it hard. I am amazed at the damage. Now the facts are, I broke one, she did the same thing, but WOW! I can't believe the force that was in motion. I know Briggs and Stratton doesn't harden their crank shafts anymore and these little 3.5 horse engines are basically throw aways. But check this out!
I did some serious damage to the base of the engine getting this sucker out, it's bent over an eighth of an inch! And it's a 7/8ths inch steel shaft. The physics of this damage are amazing! Fortunately nobody was hurt. If the shaft had been hardened, and the blade and shaft section had broken off, they could have flown back and taken a leg off. I'm disappointed not to have the mower, but relieved there are no injuries to report. And the parts required to fix it are more expensive than the motor is worth, even new. So it's just a curiosity, but wow, I say again, wow!
I'll probably end up cutting this shaft off and using it in a steam engine, just because I can. And I'm building steam engines this winter because I have to have something cool (and mechanical) to play with. I also need to get the mini bike finished and the second cub cadet rebuilt and the gravelys running and the truck oil pan repaired and the Case VAC Tractor fixed up and the racing carts sold off. And, well there are a couple other projects to tackle as well, like the new roof on the little house, the the kitchen and bathroom makeover, the house on Lake Street to sell, and that might mean removing the huge garage (24x40) and bringing it down here, and a trailer or two to build and a couple truck projects. And that's the short list. So I guess the only grass growing around here is on the new land bridge, because there should be nothing growing around me, I'm going to have to watch my tail don't catch fire... Whoa, where do these silly sayings come from? I mean really, I don't even have light up in the garage and basement of the little house yet, though that is working overhead again.
I got some welding done on the Big Case tractor today. There were a couple places that things fell off and other things had broken off and the seat was hanging by a sliding connection on one bolt! So, I decided to put a day in and correctly attach the seat. While i had it near the welder, I built up a broken actuator on a hitch catch and fixed a couple ball joints that kept popping off, replaced some missing cotter pins, and made a link pin to replace a bolt that was too small for it's position. Then I mowed some field area, and discovered I need to weld on the mower deck as well, actually replace some broken welds, that seem to be getting crucial. When that's done, I'm mowing the area of my property, next to the neighbors currently unoccupied, cow pasture, right next to me. It is a hilly area, so it will be a challenge, but at least now the seat won't fall off while I try to mow it. My main problem is I can't turn a significant amount to see behind me, I'm only 71% of a person after all so I guess it's to be expected, and I find it most comfortable to back into tight areas and work my way out of them forward. Like the corners of the fields, and fences, I back into the corner and swing the deck around a little and then pull out and mow as near the fence line as I can. I haven't been in this area before with the big tractor, the little Ford went too fast, and I quit trying pretty quickly, I just didn't feel in control so I let it go in the Spring. But this tractor has some real slow speeds, of course it hasn't squat, for traction because the tires are so bald, but as long as it's dry, I should be okay. We took the big tractor over there to pull out a log I had tried to get with the truck. Even in four wheel the truck couldn't get it to even start, coming out of the woods. The tractor simply walked right out, and up the road, and pulled that log clear to the pile I wanted it in, without a whimper. The chain didn't like the road surface too much, as it acted like sandpaper on a couple links, grinding them down, but as far as the logging operation went, slick as snot on a doorknob!
Well, we are looking forward to the "BABY E" arrival phone call soon, and plan to hightail it to Columbus when the call comes, so some things will get put on hold for a while, though I am superfluous in such areas, I will be using the excuse as it presents itself. Chris will be doing more Columbus time than I will, I imagine I'll be back and forth a few times, because, " I need my garage time ", so sayeth my shirt.
The happy Nada Farmer, give me a place to stand and a lever long enough, and I'll need more pain pills, I mean, I'll move the earth. Yeah, that's it, move the earth. Or at least pop the rocks out of the way of the mower. Where are those goats anyway? I was supposed to get goats, I remember I was supposed to get goats, yep, That's why I painted the rear of the machine building red, remember? Goat Barn. Gotta get to an auction.....
Keep coming back, page Thirty Five follows......soon.
