Wool around eyes

[NH homesteader]

My step-dad just had knee replacement surgery and he had to wait 2 weeks before starting PT. He tried not to do very much before he got to see them!

 

[misfitmorgan]

My step-dad just had knee replacement surgery and he had to wait 2 weeks before starting PT. He tried not to do very much before he got to see them!

Thats crazy everyone up here who has knee replacement starts the very next day while they are still in recovery. My ex-mother-in-law just had her second set of double knee replacements and both times they made her start PT the very next day too, even 17yrs apart and the surgeries done in two different states.

 

[Bruce]

They want to do both wrists at once and was told 6 months total recovery time if both were done at once. He has another thing on his wrist i cant recall the name of but the Dr said if it ruptured or something it would kill him, its like a smallish lump that you only notice if he bend his hand back but guess that is also pressing on his tendons and stuff and causing for hand problems.

Biggest issue is, there is no one else to do the work he does on the farm. He also currently holds a nail gun most of the day for work so that would be impossible. I can do the livestock chores but i cant do stuff like start the tractors or run them except to drive around, i dont know how to use the attachments/loader. He does all the work on our vehicles and puts up the hay, straw, oats, corn, etc. I have been trying to talk him into getting the surgery this winter but he told me know because i cant split firewood and with him out of work we wont be able to afford to buy it for the whole winter. Basically he is just very worried if he has the surgery something will go wrong in everyday life that he will HAVE to do and mess the whole surgery up. Still trying to see if i can talk him into just doing one wrist and seeing how it goes.

Um, not having a lot of experience here but how hard can it be to start a tractor? I am ASSUMING we aren't talking about standing in front and turning a crank until it starts Should be the same as a car right? Foot on the brake and clutch (if not hydrostatic), turn the key, let go of the key when it starts??? Maybe it is diesel and has glow plugs you have to turn on for a time before you start it? And I bet you can learn to use some of the attachments and the loader. Takes a bit of work off his hands, literally.

And the wood splitting thing. Does he do it with a maul or a gas or electric splitter? If the former, I would say he should STOP doing it that way and get a splitter. I did when the arthritis in my hands got to the point the shock of the hit was painful. I don't know if you are feeding 16" wood into a stove or longer into a wood furnace but if the former, there really isn't any reason you couldn't pick up the pieces, put them on the splitter and hit the lever as long as the pieces aren't too large in diameter. Sure sounds like something you could do together.

OK back to my since it isn't my business

 

[misfitmorgan]

Um, not having a lot of experience here but how hard can it be to start a tractor? I am ASSUMING we aren't talking about standing in front and turning a crank until it starts Should be the same as a car right? Foot on the brake and clutch (if not hydrostatic), turn the key, let go of the key when it starts??? Maybe it is diesel and has glow plugs you have to turn on for a time before you start it? And I bet you can learn to use some of the attachments and the loader. Takes a bit of work off his hands, literally.

And the wood splitting thing. Does he do it with a maul or a gas or electric splitter? If the former, I would say he should STOP doing it that way and get a splitter. I did when the arthritis in my hands got to the point the shock of the hit was painful. I don't know if you are feeding 16" wood into a stove or longer into a wood furnace but if the former, there really isn't any reason you couldn't pick up the pieces, put them on the splitter and hit the lever as long as the pieces aren't too large in diameter. Sure sounds like something you could do together.

OK back to my since it isn't my business

No actually both of the tractors we have to use are both very very old one is a 1952 ford golden jubilee and the other is a 1940 massey...so there is no just turn the key and go set-up. There is an entire process of things that have to be done and it varies depending on the weather. Takes DH 1-1.5hrs to get the tractor going every time it needs to be used. He splits with a maul...i am not able to because i have a problem with my shoulders where they dislocate when i swing above my head and downwards. We do not own a splitter and buying one this winter wont be happening. I could rent a splitter if i had to but the bigger problem is he would have to fell and block all the wood we need for the winter before the surgery and bring it home. I do help load blocks and i help stack and i split when we have a splitter to use but i can not drop trees myself and i cant use his chainsaw cause it is a stihl 440 with a 41" bar and i dont have the arm strength to control it. Everything we have a problem with for his surgery can be worked about given time meanwhile his hands get worse. i know it is not impossible but the possibility of it happening this winter is slim to none honestly. Financially we are not in a position to buy a new tractor or a splitter because we are waiting on our loan to come back to buy the farm and we have to pay closing costs and down payment on that. The loan is also the same reason he cant miss work this winter we would not be able to survive financially this winter without his income. It is more expensive for us to live in the winter as it is for most and we dont have time to save up more money to live on before winter. Believe me i think about this a lot and try to find a way we can do it sooner rather then later but he doesnt seem to care if he has to wait 10yrs for surgury.

 

[Bruce]

41" bar!!!!! I would not touch that either. Hmmm, you sure about that, what I find says 32" max (which is still way more that I would ever touch). Mine is just a little 16" and it is a Stihl homeowner easy start type.

Didn't realize the wood hadn't been cut down yet. It won't dry enough to burn well if it is cut now unless it has been standing dead a few years. I've never cut a tree down either, just cut up a couple of trees that had dropped but were held up not too far off the ground in another tree.

Do you have another source of heat for the house?

Another hmmm. If it takes 1 to 1.5 hours to start the tractors, I have to believe there is a mechanical issue. No farmer would depend on something for his/her livelihood that took that much time to start. I realize older things don't run as well as newer ones (me being a good example ). Maybe ask about them out on the www.tractorbynet.com or www.tractorforum.comforums?? There have to be some people out there that could help troubleshoot given a good description.

Again no personal knowledge but I would bet that he will lose the use of his hands before 10 years if he doesn't stop doing things that cause/aggravate the CT. Yeah I do know he can't stop working for a living.

 

[NH homesteader]

My husband says they make 5' bars. You can see them on YouTube, and it's terrifying!

And people would depend on difficult equipment if that's all they can afford. Better than not having a tractor. Some of us have to limp equipment along til we can afford the better stuff.

 

[Bruce]

Yeah but MAYBE they can be fixed! There would be a big benefit even if it took "only" half as long to start (frustration being one benefit). Worth a little investigation (to me).

I had a Toro gas lawn mower years ago. After a few years the only way I could start it was to take the foam air filter out and pull, and pull, and pull. Put the foam and cover back in and mow. Same thing the next week. New foam filter didn't help, finally took it in. They figured out it needed a part (don't recall what) and wanted $150 to fix the mower. Of course there is a 100% parts markup. I said "screw that" given I had moved and had only about 400 sq ft to mow. Got a reel mower (yeah the kind that only works if it is being pushed) from a friend. That was about 25 years ago. Still have the Toro, still don't know what part was needed and given it is ~30 years old, I bet I couldn't get the part anyway. Might be time to add it to the scrap metal pile. I have a 54" Sears rider now that I have a lot more to mow seeing as how we moved to this place 5 years ago.

 

[NH homesteader]

My husband is a small engine mechanic so I'm lucky. He works mostly on stuff for people who can't afford those kind of shop rates.

You could find the part if you knew where to look! You wouldn't believe the parts we've found online!

 

[Bruce]

I'll send the Toro to you and your husband can tell me what it needs

 

[Bossroo]

After my father in law retired ,he worked (part time as a hobby) as needed on and kept running farm tractors from 1920s onward by commercial flower growers in San Diego, Cal.. He either found needed parts, or if no longer available , he remanufactured or modified a similar part in his own garage to make it work.