[AT] Weekend

Sun May 24 19:43:14 PDT 2020

 Looks like we are going to have a week of rain.  It rained almost three inches today. I got my garden in a couple weeks ago after rebuilding the transmission in my 1074 Gibson tiller. I found the parts on line at the Gibson Snow Blower Repair shop in Maine. The man who runs it is a engineering Manager by day but runs this service in his spare time. Rapairs and supplies parts for Gilson snow blowers and tillers. 

Took 5 days of soaking and hammering to get it apart.  After that except for having to finish the wiring to my lathe to make a seal installation tool.  All things went well.  The 8HP Briggs started on the second pull as normal. The tiller worked fine except for being a pain to operate.  Weights way too much for this 65 year old.
No potatoes this year but corn, water melon, zucchini squash, Jalapeno, tomato and Okra.  The next door neighbor gave us a bunch of green beans and Potatoes from their garden.  Our garden still has a way to go before harvest.  This is a small new 20ft x 50ft garden in the middle of what was a pasture last year.
If I can get the Farmall H running again I might try a couple of acres next year. I have 50 acres to work with so who knows.  The Farmall was running when parked 20 years ago so should not take too long. ;-}

    On Sunday, May 24, 2020, 9:07:40 PM CDT, Indiana Robinson <robinson46176 at gmail.com> wrote:  

 Planted a batch of potatoes this last week between the rains every 15 minutes.  :-)  Went from here (Central Indiana) to Eastern Kentucky (About Lexington) with son Scott (masking and distancing) so I could help him look at a flatbed roll-off with a wheel lift. Diana went too. It met needs and he put his ton dually on it and we drove it back. OK, he drove it back, I only drive when I can't get out of it. I used to sell wholesale on the road years ago and drove enough to get my fill of it.I didn't get those spud rows far enough apart for a full tractor to fit so I decided to pull out a Gravely LI walk behind to cultivate them (if it ever gets dry again). I had driven that little tractor under a building that sat about 3' off of the ground back sometime before my 2013 quad bypass and it had sank in about 4 inches and both tires were flat. I tried to pull it back out from under there (like I used to) but apparently somebody glued it to the ground... I finally drove my little VAC Case over by the building and put a chain and come-a-long on it to pull it out without breaking something. Did I mention that it had gotten %$#& hot this weekend? Got it out and looked it over and sat the portable air tank on the golf cart and started to fill the flat tires. The left one filled fine and looked good. The right one didn't do as well. It aired up but then I heard a sound like stitches letting go. Then all of the air left that little tire in a split second and pretty loudly. I could maybe patch the tube but I don't think I have any 12" patches.  :-) I do have maybe 8 Gravely's from complete to parts hulks so I'm pretty well supplied with parts, tires etc. I have a couple of Gravely L - 8 speed tractors but I don't have time for that kind of project right now. I have a couple of Garden-Aid two wheel tractors that I bought at a Portland auction a number of years ago. I need to look and see if I have cultivators for one of them. It doesn't take much to rig something up. I also have a McLean two wheel tractor (made in Indianapolis) but it is in a building in the next county and I can't remember how the back of it is made. I also have a couple of Troy-bilt Horse models I could use. I have to decide quickly, the weeds are germinating very well.
Went to 2 cemeteries today to check and see if everybody is still there and that none of their graves have been vandalized. It would have been easier if the cemeteries were not 50 miles apart but it was a nice ride. We have a few more to check.
Is anybody else here getting tired of having to look stuff up for jobs you learned to do years ago but now have to fight to  make your mind cough stuff back up out of the dark back corners? Even at one of the cemeteries today I had to fight to recall blocks of the family tree that I used to just recite off of the top of my head. It will usually come back with some effort but sometimes it seems like a cat trying to hack up a hairball...

.

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

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