[AT] More dumb stuff...

[Steve W.]

> I previously mentioned the looking for the end of the air hose I was
holding in my hand
> event. Yesterday I did one of those things that is equally
embarrassing or at least would
> have been if someone was watching. Even worse I do it about every few
weeks. I speak of
> climbing to the seat of an old tractor to use it and once my posterior
is firmly planted
> in the seat (some of these tractors are hard to climb on) only then do
I realize that I
> have climbed on a tractor that has to be crank started...   :-)   That
falls in there
> with driving 20 feet and the tractor dies because some fool forgot to
turn the fuel back
> on.   :-)
> George Willer mentioned dropping stuff... Oh yeah..."CONSTANTLY". If I
work on something
> that is a pretty good sign that every tool I have used has hit the
ground at least once.
> Valve caps do a decent job of staying in my hand unless I am parked in
tall grass. I also
> find that knuckle bleeding is on the increase.
> I try to work even more carefully these days. I have always used
chocks and jack stands
> or cribbing as much as possible but now I try to watch what I do
closer than ever.
> This hay baling stuff may be falling under the "dumb stuff" heading.
Yesterday I was
> working alone stacking bales 10 feet high in an old steel grain bin
while the temp was 95
> degrees in the shade (maybe 105+ in the bin). I was giving serious
consideration that I
> just may be getting too danged old for some of this crap. It may be
time for further
> lifestyle adjustments. Being well blessed with poverty I have spent
much of my life
> "chopping with the back of the ax". For most of his farming career my
father kept hired
> help at least in the summer and sometimes year round. These days on a
small farm that
> just isn't an affordable option.
> I also find that implement tongues weigh more than they used to and
stuff I used to just
> lift off and on to hitch now requires a jack. A while back I started
buying under car
> type jacks at yard sales for a buck or less apiece and I use them
under heavier implement
> tongues like the baler and my grain drill etc.
>
> -- 
> "farmer", Esquire
> At Hewick Midwest
>       Wealth beyond belief, just no money...
>
> Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish
Highlands,
> Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. In America
100
> years
> before the revolution.
>
>
> Francis Robinson
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson at svs.net
>

Farmer,

 An older friend of mine has the same problem with equipment tongues. I
went over and made some pieces to make it easier for him to hook them
up. Used some 1" tubing to make small receiver style sockets on the
tongue and made him a couple quick adjusting jacks from one of the old
bumper jacks. I cut off the jack post and welded a round pad to the
bottom and welded a piece of steel bar on the snout and lengthened the
release lever. Also made a folding handle and welded it in so that he
cannot lose the handle. Made brackets for the tractors so he carries the
jack on the fender or on the frame. He uses them all the time and has
had a few others ask him about them as well. The only problem is that
those jacks are getting harder to find. I still have 5-6 laying around
here.

Steve W.