[AT] Good shop day and more retirement.

[Indiana Robinson]

I finally got around to making some repairs on my King-Kutter 5'
finish mower today. Nothing serious just a new belt and repairing a
couple of the gauge tires. Still at my current working speed it took
me much of the afternoon.  :-)  Oh, yeah, I also had to cut the
mower's PTO shaft down so it would fit properly on my Fergie TO-20
with an over-running coupler on it. I had to shorten both pieces so I
cut the tractor end section (outer) on the chop saw and the mower
section (inner) with the saws-all so I didn't have to pull the shaft
off of the mower.
The nice thing was that I was able to take my time and fix several
little things that were not demanding to be fixed.
I had bought that mower with my little Yanmar 1500 Diesel and it would
pull it and it would lift it fine but it was just a little short of HP
(18) for anything heavy unless you shifted down so low that you had to
drive a stake to see if you were moving. I went out to mow the farm
trails/lanes and the TO-20 really handled it nicely. I was cutting
some old heavy fescue that I had bush-hogged down to about 5 inches
tall a few days ago and it had a heavy layer of chewed up top stuff
that was still a little damp from a rain yesterday and was about like
rope. I did have to shift to low gear for much of that but on the
Fergie even low gear is not a crawl (maybe 4 MPH). Most of it mowed
well in second gear (about 5 MPH) and anything I had cut with the John
Deere a couple of weeks ago cut well in third (about 6 MPH). I'm very
happy with the combination. I put new blades on it last fall.Hopefully
it will not need anything more this year.
We spent the morning getting ready for the farrier to come and trim
the hooves on 2 of the horses. One of those normally non-eventful jobs
that can on a rare occasion can turn ugly.  :-)  No need to worry. the
girls took to the new guy well. They are mostly pasture (lap) horses
and seldom see new people here.
I got a decent amount of mowing done but then dang sky started leaking
then just plain tore open...  :-)
-
About more retirement... I was baling some hay Friday and during a
couple of minor glitches I remembered why I don't really like laying
on my back in a hot hay field (though it was better than when I was
working on a lawn tractor recently and soon discovered that the large
ants didn't like me laying on their anthill).
I was working alone and baling the only really hilly lot I have so I
was baling on the ground and went back to load the bales later. It was
just a few acres. Then I hit a heavy patch and I think the needles
slipped on the arm and didn't want to slide back to the park position
and the rod that operates the needle arm decided to fold up like a
pretzel. I knew the instant that I heard the ram hit the safety
interlock and sheared the shear pin at the flywheel pretty much what
had happened. I won't write down what I said to the baler... I was
about half done and it was some really crappy hay since it was just an
old pasture I don't graze. I pulled the baler up to the shop and
parked it. I have a parts baler but I knew I had already cannibalized
that rod off of it. Along about that time the weather decided to make
up for the cool weather we have had lately by heating up with a
vengeance. I had Diana drive the truck and pull a wagon while I loaded
bales from the ground. DANG, it got HOT. I tossed the last few bales
in the back of the truck and told her that I wasn't having fun and
just didn't want to do that any more... I'm "supposed" to be
retired... I'll still do the "U-pick" pumpkins but as of now I am no
longer in the hay business. I'll fix the old IHC baler and sell it and
I will also sell my Vermeer round baler. I have a guy coming to bale
my larger hay lot and a couple of small ones. I'll just use the
bush-hog to scatter the crappy hay in the lot I was in and then buzz
the whole lot so it is even and will be OK for a second (and better)
cutting this fall. I have wanted to rent out some horse pasture lots
for a while now and this may be a good time. Grain cropland cash rents
for about $160 an acre per year here. Horse pasture (with a simple
shelter and water) rents for about $500 an acre per year.
-
I just decided that it was time to only do things I enjoy like working
in the shops.
Gee, what is the job title for someone who works in shops full time
and doesn't make any money?
Oh, Yeah, "retired".  :-)


--
Have you hugged your horses today?

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com