don't care how it runs, just that it does.

Update on farm 8-5-2015

Or

Shoot Happens

i would have to say i did an amazing job of carving out mr. or ms. gooser(?) wouldnt you say? 

he loves to hop up on things for photo ops. strange goose.

      Well this week started off much the same as two weeks ago with my fair share of tractor problems.  I had just bought 2 new front steering tires at a cost of 400 for the 2 an had one mounted up after blowing one out , undoubtedly on a stick or tree stubble that had penetrated the boot I had in the tire from the first time of having a flat or puncture. That puncture was a result of mowing to close to an old fence line down the lane. The posts are rotting off and before you know it, if you crowd too close to the fence you will run up over top the iron fence post and push right through the tire, thus leaving a fairly large hole.

     It took me a couple of flat repairs and some searching to determine what was going on as it always happened at the same spot. This unfortunately is the way to learn things farming. A lot of it is by trial and error. And steel fence posts contribute a lot to the demise of tires if not made sure they are picked up after using them. I have most of mine picked up as well on the electric fence but still have some to go. But this tire puncture most assuredly came from a stubble from a young tree being cut off and the tires are getting old as the rubber is getting brittle and is not nearly as resilient as it used to be.

     So after finally hooking back up to haybine and dropping a pretty good size swath of hay of first cutting I couldn’t touch all of June, i was finally able to get back into the swing of things with minimal trouble. I switched to the rake and started raking the hay into huge windrows I could push up with the bucket and mulch the hay out for compost I need for raspberries. I was doing great with tractor but darkness forced me to come back to the house and parked the tractor outside the house, instead of the garage as the weather looked great and figured I would finish in the morning.  I really didn’t think I needed to barn the tractor.

      Guess what not so quick, I am still waiting to finish as I went out the next morning to start the tractor and it wouldn’t turn over. I checked the battery cables and connections and by chance popped the dipstick out to see oily fuel come spurting out the dipstick hole and this shouldn’t be. Doing some checking and talking to my brother in law Mike for supporting advice, it was determined the fuel pump diaphragm had a hole in it and it drained the contents of the fuel tank into the crankcase of the tractor polluting the oil in the crankcase as well requiring replacement of the oil filter and the oil in crankcase and replacement of fuel pump. This fuel pump is only four months old and has barely more than 40 hrs. on it.

this is what happens when i move my feet around here, i lose my seat. 

still have 6 available crazy cat lady starter kits available. 

      Well trouble doesn’t stop there. The last time I bought the fuel pump I bought it from tractor joe’s and was impressed I had it here in 2 days but it only lasted 4 months. So  I thought I would seek another supplier, and tried another tractor company , not realizing they were sending orders to Korea  where the tractor is produced and then they drop ship the order to the parts dealer and then to me . I am supposed to get it by Friday. I still have a couple of days to wait. In the meantime I have acquired all the other necessary items I need to replace the engine oil and have everything ready to slap the new fuel pump back into the tractor and be able to get it going again. So it will be over 500 dollars in the last month not counting loss of new oil and fuel that happened as a result of the fuel pump and tires problem with the tractor. Money I assuredly could have spent elsewhere to a greater benefit.

     Well I added a fuel conditioner to the fuel in the quantity it suggested, I don’t know if that is the reason for the premature demise of the diaphragm of the pump. It was said that the new fuel manufacturing requirements from the refineries are creating a fuel that strips the rubber parts and seals in the tractor as they try to meet EPA regulated levels of sulfur output. So adding the fuel conditioner was supposed to maintain the integrity of the fuel pump not destroy it. Still don’t know if this is part of the problem but since it happened directly after adding the conditioner I will make sure I I don’t add anymore to the new pump when it arrives.  

      But in researching a new supplier, for the fuel pump , I noticed they discontinued one fuel pump part number and wanted everyone to purchase a new part number to replace that fuel pump. This suggests to me a problem in the design of the fuel pump. Also I wonder how long or what part Tractor Joe sent to me and if it wasn’t the old stock, and how long it had been sitting on a shelf waiting on me to buy it. These are things you never know and buying it locally may make it easier to get but you pay a hefty price for the same part.

      Whether it is a Kioti dk45 tractor or a zero turn mower , or a car, or truck, parts manufacturers have you by the nads anytime you have a part that needs replaced. Aftermarket parts are a better choice and better engineered sometimes than original equipment parts and are more easily obtainable If you can get them for the vehicle you need the parts for. Or like me, sometimes you have to wait. It will be two weeks on Friday and I could have had the part expedited for another 30 dollars more and had it in a week. That is like adding insult to injury, and rubbing salt in the wounds.

    The hay was going to rot anyhow and is of no use for baling. I have other uses for the tractor but they also will have to wait. In the meantime I am moving raspberry plants outside my door and getting ready to rip out the rest of the flower bed I put in a couple of years ago, to prepare for building my addition . It has also given me time to catch up on greenhouse duties. Trying to take advantage of the downtime and still keep moving on with my plans. Just making do the best I can.