Big Fat Skeeter Bite

That little thing will keep a diesel motor from running.  That is the fuel/air bleeder screw next to the pumper button on top of the fuel filter.  It's PLASTIC.  My son had the big truck today and as I was coming home from the Thunder 5 Ranch, I met my son in town. We pulled up, shut the trucks off and talked a bit.  He went to head home and the dually wouldn't start.  Okay, it's vapor locked, it's done that before when it's this hot.  Popped the hood and started pumping.  Fuel bubbled out at that screw.  So, hit it with a wrench and it comes off in the socket.  Of course, the parts place doesn't have anything even close that will work and the dealership is already closed.  So, what do I do?  having a somewhat mechanical mind, I head for the farm store.  of course I won't find a plastic bolt but I can think outside the box.  I got a bolt that matched the coarse thread.  It was of course, way too long.  So, I got a nut and screwed it on the bolt, a couple rubber o rings and a roll of thread tape.  Son of a gun if it didn't work perfect!  Truck is not leaking fuel, pumped right up and drove home perfect.  About time something went my way!  Also, LOL, I'll bet the $1.89 I spent at the farm store is waaaaaaay cheaper than the replacement plastic bolt from the dealership!  So, this little bump in the road was just like a big fat skeeter bite.  itches like mad and is totally annoying but it's an easy fix!

Nasty Mood

Yep, today is one of those nasty moods. It's mostly because of what happened yesterday and then waking up to 3 very noisy stock puppies. They are a handful, all the time. They can't help it, they're just puppies. The bowel movement thing is getting better and they're anxious to go out every morning so poop isn't my problem, not really anyway. They actually use the paper for the most part now.

Yesterday, I had to get a couple tires put on the dually. I'd run the pair of left rears to the cords and the inside dual has been flat for a couple of weeks now. There goes $350. So, I had the tires from the front put onto the back duals so the 2 new ones were on the front. My trusted tire guy comes to me and says " You need to come take a look at this". Of course, my heart sinks instantly. My right side ball joint is completely ate out and you can literally lift it out of socket, both inner tie rods are shot and the left side ball joint bushing is gone. Hmmm, I was thinking that the squeak I was hearing was the front shocks. Guess what happened when I pulled in the driveway with it. Yep, you got it, broken truck. This is the only vehicle I have to drive. I'm waiting on an estimate before I have it towed to the repair shop. Kind of glad hubster is already at work for the week. Guess he will just have to stay there until the truck is fixed. Good thing since we're gonna need the money. Of course he won't like it much since he doesn't really want to work anyway. So much for the new orchard and used farm equipment. The worst of this is my son's truck is broken too. He lost the tensioner pulley last week. The holder bolt broke on it. So, we got a new belt and a new tensioner pulley assembly but we can't get the hardened aluminum bolt out of the bracket. Have not found a bracket yet. He still needs to go to work every day. He likes his job and his paycheck tho and will find a way to get there no matter what.

So, I went to bed not really in a good mood. Then, in the middle of the night, Sissy peed the bed. Wake up at 6am to an overcast day and 3 stock puppies heeling me around the house and biting my toes. Open the door, out they go, time to feed Sissy. Now, the goat is fed, the puppies are back in the house and the obnoxious "hey, I'm awake, fed and I feel good" chase is on. The 4 of them will jump on and run across every piece of furniture I own, knock everything they possibly can down and bark for the next half hour. Yay rah! LOL I need a cup of coffee.......

Oh My!

The haybine repairs are working out pretty good, the pieces parts are all holding up excellent. I did get a bit of a surprise tho. The bearing cap split on me today and let the newly welded bar and wheel bearing pop out of track. I got stopped real quick and my heart about jumped out of my chest! No biggie tho, it should have been replaced but it wasn't covered by the repair moneys. Hubby wouldn't answer the phone so I had to walk some 8 miles over to a friends place and she gave me a lift home. The cap was too broke up to weld so the boy and I came up with another plan. We pieced it back together, bolted it back on, put hose clamps on it to hold the bearing in place and I cut another 20 acres before dark. All's well and I only lost 2 hours of cut time.

I gave the boy a driving lesson with the haybine, he's got some practicing to do before he can take off on his own. The right hand/left hand/clutch/steering is just a little too much for him! He'll get it tho, practice makes perfect.

The girl ran out of gas coming home from college tonight so I had to take care of that too. Hubby is still on the couch with swollen feet. Nice side effect, ye haw. Better him than me, I got too much to do!

More cutting tomorrow and maybe some raking if the humidity stays low...