Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[OneFineAcre]

Reminds me of "Pettite Coat Jucntion" and the water tower. The only "Hot" bath was someone pouring warm water over your head.....course they were a tad smaller than those are.....

 

[Latestarter]

Used to watch that and green acres when I was a kid.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I think Green Acres was a "spinoff" of Petticoat Junction

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

I think Green Acres was a "spinoff" of Petticoat Junction

Green Acres was a "Sister Show" to Petticoat Junction.

 

[Latestarter]

So I was mowing the back pasture yesterday and threw the belt on the blades/mower deck. So this morning I wanted to try and get it fixed so I could finish the last little bit before the bad weather moves in that we might get. It took me over 2 hours to get that *%$_)%$ belt back on! First the tensioner pully was jammed wide open and I had to use a crow bar and whack it to break it loose so it would move. Then the manual says to use a 3/8th inch socket driver, set to tighten, and put the shaft of it into this square hole in the arm, then use that to swing the tensioner arm/pulley to allow you to get the belt on. Yeah right! First, your arm is extended under the tractor and over the mower deck with virtually no room to work, and there's no way you can get enough leverage to even move the arm. you'd need a 4 foot breaker bar to be able to do it the way they describe! I ended up parking the tractor with the mower deck up against a vertical support post and then used a ratchet strap to ratchet the tensioner arm/pulley enough to get the belt on. What a fiasco. But it worked and I was able to get the rest of what I started finished.

So then I visited with @Devonviolet and her DH for a little bit and borrowed their disbudding box and iron (THANK YOU!). Came home and warmed up a bottle for CC then went out and did the deed. Used my mustache trimmer to trim away some of the head hair around the buds. She was most unhappy about being burned, but it was over pretty quickly and she sucked that whole bottle down when it was presented. Then I put her back with the others and she was running around and jumping all over the place. I didn't take a picture but the copper rings were perfect and I'm pretty sure there will be zero problems or issues.

My next doctor like evolution will be de-balling CM... That ought to be a bit more interesting as he's not all that friendly with me, and he's getting bigger and stronger. I'm still contemplating how to hold him down and stationary while spread eagle and not allow kicking. I think I'll put him on his back between my legs and "sit" on his chest and bungie his rear legs open so he can't move them. I think I'll do it the same time that he and CB are due for their 2nd CD&T booster. Which will be the same time that CC gets her first CD&T shot.

 

[greybeard]

put the shaft of it into this square hole in the arm, then use that to swing the tensioner arm/pulley to allow you to get the belt on. Yeah right! First, your arm is extended under the tractor and over the mower deck with virtually no room to work, and there's no way you can get enough leverage to even move the arm. you'd need a 4 foot breaker bar to be able to do it the way they describe! I ended up parking the tractor with the mower deck up against a vertical support post and then used a ratchet strap to ratchet the tensioner arm/pulley enough to get the belt on. What a fiasco. But it worked and I was able to get the rest of what I started finished.

Used to do it several times/month, sometimes more, exactly as the directions describe. Sounds like my sister's 60" 3 blade Husqvarna. Sometimes, I put the belt on all the pulleys except the far left pulley. Then, just get it started on the left spindle pulley and roll that spindle pulley by hand, with the belt just started. The pulley's circumference exerts enough torque to overcome the tensioner spring.

Changed the blades on my mower yesterday with the deck still installed this time. a 7/8 combo wrench and 5 minutes each spindle and done.

Next up is going to be changing the blades on my 6' bush hog. Not going to be quite as easy, and will require my 3/4 drive set and a cheater pipe.

 

[babsbag]

My next doctor like evolution will be de-balling CM...

Are you cutting or banding? Banding is easy...you sit down on something low, like a bucket, and put them on their butt between your legs. They don't wiggle at all. DH taught me this trick when I asked him to hold one for me once, now I don't need any help. Sheep people will trim hooves like this, not sure why goats aren't done that way for hoof trimming.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I haven't had to face that issue yet with the mower. It used to happen with my old one fairly regularly. Somehow I believe that this one will be a fiasco too. The old troy built wasn't too difficult, but it is quite a bit smaller than this cub cadet. Glad the burning went well for ya, and hope the cutting goes just as uneventful for ya too. Our risk for strong storms increases today, too. Hope we both miss out on those.

 

[Latestarter]

Went to bed early last night as I was just beat. Went out pretty quick (like less than an hour). Woke up around 3am and went to check the weather. There was a massive wall headed toward me but still about an hour away. I was still pretty stiff and sore so took a muscle relaxer and an Excedrin then kicked back in my recliner to wait for the action and it didn't disappoint! Lightening show was awesome along with the thunder and a pretty decent downpour. The rain didn't last long and I only got an inch but it sure came down hard for a while. Went back to bed about 4:30 and fell asleep with the light show moving east. No tornado warnings and no real bad wind. Hope you're ready over there @CntryBoy777 cause it's an hour or two away from you now. Seems to be spreading out, less organized, but may last longer for you because of that.

Ended up sleeping later than normal and got out of bed a bit after 8. By then I'm normally getting finished with animal chores. The goats weren't complaining and only one was out of the shelter... So Dot milked out an extra 1/2 pint with the bit of extra time she had but she wasn't "tight" and dripping. As a matter of fact I noticed something this morning that I've kinda had hints at, but it was definite this morning. When I walk her over to the fence to tie her off to milk, she stands there great. When I wash her udder with warm soapy water her udder doesn't feel "full/tight" but I mean you can tell it's full of milk. Her teats aren't hard and full either and I can squeeze them easily while washing and drying them with no expressed milk.

So I grab the milk pail and kneel down to start milking and her udder is full and tight as are her teats. It's like she waits to let her milk down until after I'm done cleaning her and am ready to milk. So I give the ground one or two good long squirts and then start milking her. Normally I don't mind the kids jumping on me when I'm milking, but when the pen is muddy (mixed with liberal amounts of poop), I really don't like them jumping up on me... I end up with little goat dirty hoof tracks all over my T-shirt and pants. Of course both were fresh out of the dryer this morning Ahhhh the joys of animal ownership

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ahhhh the joys of animal ownership

Ain't it the truth, lol!