Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

Continuing, backwards in time, when I went to start the tractor yesterday I got a lot of flickering dash lights and clicking under the hood. What the heck, it started bunches of times the day before! As any "don't know much about engines" guy would, I opened the hood and peered around. I figured out which solenoid might be clicking. I unscrewed it from the vertical part it is attached to and turned the key to "glow plug" position again and yes that is the one that was clicking. Thinking I really ought to disconnect the battery before messing with electrical stuff (having no idea what I would be doing anyway) I removed the nut that holds down the big cable to the starter and the other 2 cables. I also loosened the clamp to the battery post (though thinking about it that really wasn't necessary). I pulled up the rubber tray that contains that whole metal part and ..... somehow this doesn't look real good!!!!!!


Went to Advance Auto with the 2 parts of my 1 part. The youthful person took me over to a wall and looked at all the things there, pulled something off. I told him I needed one with the post. OK, so he pulls that one off and it looks like a reasonable replacement. Then comes the sad part. We went to the computer register, yes I do have a phone number with them. I gave him that, he scanned the part. It was $8.80, I gave him a $20. Then apparently the computer didn't tell him how much change to give me so he had to pull out his phone Don't they teach ANY basic math in school anymore??

In any case, I got back to the tractor with the part and REALLY FORTUNATELY (since I have no idea what I would do otherwise), the tractor was happy to start. Phew.

 

[farmerjan]

Unfortunately , no @Bruce they don't teach basic math skills anymore..... I had a friend post a copy of the new math and I still cannot figure out how they came out with the answer to a simple 32-20=12.... it had things listed in a vertical manner and 4 columns for something that simple....seriously, it was worse than Greek to me.... I still do not understand what and how they came up with all those numbers to get 12 as the answer... I am really glad that I don't have kids in school....

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Thanks so much, Mr. @Bruce, for the pictures and the stories...

I'm paying $2.85/gallon PREPAID for the season for propane for the one hot air furnace in the rebuilt part of the house, on demand water heater, dryer and cooktop. Well over $1K per year. The woodstove and oil hot air furnace heat the original part of the house.

Wow! We paid $1.699/gal prepaid, and if we weren't careful, we could burn up the entire 500 gal tank -- or formerly could; I replaced both downstairs and upstairs A/C units earlier this year with electric heat pumps, so we won't have big propane bills any more -- just big electric bills!

I am a bit surprised that heating with wood would be more costly than heating oil or propane. I thought that heating with wood would be a cheaper alternative, and that the downside would be the continual monitoring and stoking the fire.

So here she is wearing her Lumberjack sash and pulley... STA - I guess you can sing "I'm a Lumberjack" now because she has no problem dressing up in women's clothes.

She's a lumberjack (lumberjill?)
And she's OK
She sleeps all night
And she works all day...

A grapple would be quite helpful with that.

My grapple is my most frequently used implement, more than anything else.

You showed some ingenuity in solving the "tractor won't start" problem. I am glad it was not anything more serious.

Now I would like to offer a piece of advice. I do this not in a condemning way but because I don't want you (or anyone else) to get injured. Whenever you work on a tractor (or car or truck) starter motor or a battery, always disconnect the ground cable on the battery first, perform your work, then hook up the ground cable last. The reason to take this precaution is that should you fail to disconnect the ground cable is that if you had something that would conduct electricity, such as a wrench or screwdriver, and that wrench was contacting the starter cable nut or the positive battery post and then contacted any of the chassis of the tractor, creating a short, you could get a nasty spark. Depending on the tool that created the short, it could get incredibly hot. Here is a video that explains it, starting around 3:00 minute mark.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

I am a bit surprised that heating with wood would be more costly than heating oil or propane. I thought that heating with wood would be a cheaper alternative, and that the downside would be the continual monitoring and stoking the fire.

Everything depends on the price of each fuel in one's area. Fuel oil here generally goes for around $2.50/gallon and up. IF you happen to live where there is a natural gas pipeline that tends to be far cheaper per BTU than propane. Firewood depends somewhat on how far they have to haul it. Al was up to $225/cord this year. I don't even know how to value "cut your own". Clearly my time is worth nothing since I'm not going to go do something for money for those hours I spend cutting/splitting/stacking wood. Had to buy the saw of course, gas and oil for it aren't all that expensive nor is diesel for the tractor.

always disconnect the ground cable on the battery first, perform your work, then hook up the ground cable last.

Hmmm. I figured positive first then cover with the red cap since if it isn't connected there is no power to anything. Guess I have that wrong since apparently with the negative disconnected there is no power to anything. Thanks
Good thing I had it wrong though or I wouldn't have found the corroded connector.

 

[Baymule]

I love the pictures of the turkeys. How beautiful to have them on your place.

 

[Bruce]

I know they are around, been lucky to see them more this year than usual. Sometimes it is all about being in the right place at the right time.

These boys were out in the west field just after I mowed the field, taken from the kitchen window thus fuzzy through the screen.


And DW spotted the female/poult flock in the north field as she came one one afternoon. I ASSUME this is the same flock we see up the road in other fields. They mosied across the field, around (some flew over) the wetland into the NW field and off into the woods.

 

[Bruce]

Been working on that tree. Sister, DD2 and I cut and split the small stuff, it is the pile here




Sister and I cut up the big stuff yesterday, will split tomorrow


Today we went to Mount Washington. Oddly warm for October - over 60°F. And no wind!
Unfortunately I forgot to bring my real camera. We we below the clouds at the bottom and above them at the top.


This is the oldest building. Sadly closed for restoration, I have no idea what is inside


We took the Kancamagus Highway on the way back

 

[farmerjan]

Pretty pictures. It is often the top is in fog... real nice for you to have a clear day... and warm....
my DS went on the cog railroad with my dad (his Grandfather) about a month before we lost him... so that is real special for DS .... showed me pics on his phone... they had some clouds and fog but not real cold...

How much wood have you got done? I see the ricks in the background. Are you about full up for this winter? Nice that your weather is not too cold so you don't have to start using it yet.
We have been fairly warm too and calling for nice temps for at least another week. I'll take it.

 

[Baymule]

Bruce, I like the pictures of the wood pile, winter time warmth! Lots of work, but very satisfying work.

What beautiful scenery and interesting old building. Taking a day off to just go see the beauty of the world around you is food for the soul. Glad you had such a nice day.

 

[Bruce]

This year's wood is on the porch and in the racks. 3 of those 4 cords came from Al up the road for money. What I'm working on now is for next year.

I'm glad your DS and Dad took the trip, I'm sure they enjoyed it. We thought about the cog railway but it is pricy, not that the road is real cheap. Turns out it is the oldest cog railway in the world! I would have guessed they would have had them in the Alps first.

Considering how packed the 3 trains were when we saw them at the top I'm glad we didn't fork over. I know some people aren't overly concerned with Covid but we are. We would have missed our train time anyway because contrary to what I thought, the road and railway don't start at the same place, the railway runs up the other side of the mountain!! That would have been a lot of money down the drain.

We are going to the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee VT tomorrow. It is about a 2 hour drive, not near as much as what we did yesterday.