Bruce's Journal

[Rammy]

Double checking and installing with blue loctite! Fortunately I called the tractor place and asked if they had the bolts rather than driving down ASSUMING they did. They do not carry them, had to order them. They should come in this week. The splitter is being delivered Thursday morning. The bolts were ordered Friday afternoon.

Which one will come first? Kind of like what came first , the chicken or the egg..............

 

[greybeard]

Double checking and installing with blue loctite! Fortunately I called the tractor place and asked if they had the bolts rather than driving down ASSUMING they did. They do not carry them, had to order them. They should come in this week. The splitter is being delivered Thursday morning. The bolts were ordered Friday afternoon.

What did the holes in the wheel look like....still round or oblong shaped now?

 

[Bruce]

The holes in the wheels didn't seem unusually shaped, the threads on the inside looked OK as well. But since you mentioned it, I will pay particular attention to that when I get the new bolts. If they don't look properly round, I guess I'm in for a BIG expense replacing the rim! And they would have to come get it, no way I'm going to try to get that big, loaded tire off and move it even 1". Wouldn't fit in my Prius anyway I don't think.

I find it odd that such a big tire is held on with 6 not all that long flat head bolts. Not even tapered like the nuts for the lugs on my car to help center them and give a surface for the rim to "sit" on. Nope, just bolt threads.

Had a bit of a DOH! thinking about it. I had gotten out the 20 ton hydraulic jack to lift up the tractor to tighten, as much as was reasonable with bolts that have mostly flatted out threads, the remaining bolts. Bet the backhoe stabilizers would have done the job just as well if not better. And no looking around for the right size pieces of 2x12 to put under the jack.

 

[Bruce]

Did the say if that was a common problem? Everyone I know here has tractor(s) and I haven't heard of anyone having that going on.

Don't know. The guy at the tractor place didn't comment on it. I would THINK it is not very common though as I said, the manual does say to check the wheel bolt torque at 50 hours and at intervals of 100 hours. I happened to see a "Tractor Mike" video the other day specifically talking about checking torque on various bolts. He had an incident some years back where he was blading snow on a driveway and someone hailed him to stop. Apparently some tractors have the "outside" bolts plus more on the inside that hold the hub onto the rim. All but two of the hub to rim bolts had fallen out.

That tractor has turned out to be a real evolution for you. It's kept you busy in more ways than one and on your toes... So how's the pond doing? You haven't said anything about it recently. Is it holding water for you?

Live and learn with new stuff!!
It has rained on and off, raining again some today and yes the pond is holding water. Not sure what was up with the pit I made not holding water unless everything around it was so dry it just sucked the water in. I imagine the "mud pit" where the tadpoles and 2 fish were surviving held water better since it was mostly the clay/sponge material that I was digging out that had slid. The pond is probably about 4-5" deeper than the last pictures I posted.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Bruce, i have been reading some of your comments on diffrent members posts....you really make me laugh, ya got that yankee humor that really is appreciated by another yankee, lol....enjoy your vermont winter, lol i will enjoy my florida winter....hate it when it gets down to the 60's...it really has the damp cold factor that goes down to the bone....ba ba ba bad....bad to the bone

 

[Bruce]

Right now I'd be happy if it got up to 33°!

My splitter was delivered today. Sure is easy to unload such things with pallet forks on the tractor. Bonus: It came on a pallet with braced sides! I was trying to figure out how to create something to toss rounds into for later splitting rather than just dumping them on the ground. I can take the top off and lift the splitter out with the tractor leaving the rest of the crate intact. I can add a couple of pieces of wood to the sides of the crate and won't even need to have the buck saw right near where the splitter will be used because I can move the "rounds cage" to the splitter same as I can move the drying racks. Of course in an efficient world, one person would be cutting rounds next to the splitter, another would be putting them on the splitter and another would be moving the split wood into the racks. Don't have that though. I also got quite a few heavy duty 3' zip ties. Don't know what I'll do with them just yet but I bet they come in handy some time.


Must have picked up the Yankee humor over the last 39 years. I grew up in So. Cal, just south of L.A., didn't move until after college. But I'm glad if I add a little humor to your life.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

move

You crack me up ! If you can live in Vermont for 39 years... that makes you not only a yankee...but a dammm good survivor. ..congratulations to you !

 

[RollingAcres]

I also got quite a few heavy duty 3' zip ties. Don't know what I'll do with them just yet but I bet they come in handy some time.

3' zip ties? Dang, didn't know they make such long zip ties. I've seen the foot long ones.

 

[Bruce]

You crack me up ! If you can live in Vermont for 39 years... that makes you not only a yankee...but a dammm good survivor. ..congratulations to you !

But NOT a woodchuck. Always will be a flatlander. Of course so is my wife and daughters even though they were born here. DW's mother was born in NY, her parents were both born in Switzerland though they met in NY.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

But NOT a woodchuck. Always will be a flatlander. Of course so is my wife and daughters even though they were born here. DW's mother was born in NY, her parents were both born in Switzerland though they met in NY.

Well, good luck with the wood splitter, we moved ours here with us, used it one season, now getting ready to post it on CL....