After a blueberry pancake and strong coffee breakfast, spent an hour fixing the chain on my new saw that had had a “little problem” yesterday afternoon. Chree, Tasi, Kristen, Alex, and Katy set to work chipping brush and tree tops at the house site. In moving the truck and chipper for them, hit a stump that some idiot (that would be me) left too high too close to the “road” to the house site. Alerted to a problem by Tasi yelling, “Dad, STOP, the truck is gushing oil!!!!”, we quickly ascertained that an oil line under the front end had pulled apart. Fixing the disconnected oil line was relatively simple. Figuring out which system had hemorrhaged was not. Drove into Brandon to consult with a mechanic and get gasoline plus other supplies. Unfortunately, the only “mechanic” on duty at any of the stations this Sunday morning was totally clueless. Arriving back at Fern Lake, Alex greeted me with, “Dad, we’ve got some more bad news!”. Oh, joy! Seems the brush chipper had stopped working and was making a funny burnt-rubber smell. Suspecting a clog or jam, removed every access plate I could find, but to no avail. Something definitely ain’t right. Good thing I paid extra for the Taylor Rental damage waiver. Meanwhile, with Perry looking under the hood of his Ranger while I looked under the hood of mine (cell phones in hand), we were able to ascertain that it was the power steering system that had leaked. So Tasi schlepped off to the Leicester General Store for the proper oil. With the dipstick totally dry and large letters on the cap saying, “DO NOT OVERFILL”, I put in maybe a cup of oil and overflowed the system. Gotta love them “engineers” at Ford! Not wishing to waste this golden opportunity to abuse plentiful free labor, we set to work dragging chipper-sized tree limbs close to places where we’ll be able to position the chipper once it’s repaired. Alex and Katy headed back to Boston mid-morning. Tasi and Kristen held on until 5 o’clock. Perry came over mid-afternoon with the leveling transit and verified that the shed columns are “close-enough” to the right heights, with maybe two exceptions that will need some top’n’bond treatment. Started raining right after Tasi and Kristen headed south. Perfect timing… for them.
15 August 2010
After a blueberry pancake and strong coffee breakfast, spent an hour fixing the chain on my new saw that had had a “little problem” yesterday afternoon. Chree, Tasi, Kristen, Alex, and Katy set to work chipping brush and tree tops at the house site. In moving the truck and chipper for them, hit a stump that some idiot (that would be me) left too high too close to the “road” to the house site. Alerted to a problem by Tasi yelling, “Dad, STOP, the truck is gushing oil!!!!”, we quickly ascertained that an oil line under the front end had pulled apart. Fixing the disconnected oil line was relatively simple. Figuring out which system had hemorrhaged was not. Drove into Brandon to consult with a mechanic and get gasoline plus other supplies. Unfortunately, the only “mechanic” on duty at any of the stations this Sunday morning was totally clueless. Arriving back at Fern Lake, Alex greeted me with, “Dad, we’ve got some more bad news!”. Oh, joy! Seems the brush chipper had stopped working and was making a funny burnt-rubber smell. Suspecting a clog or jam, removed every access plate I could find, but to no avail. Something definitely ain’t right. Good thing I paid extra for the Taylor Rental damage waiver. Meanwhile, with Perry looking under the hood of his Ranger while I looked under the hood of mine (cell phones in hand), we were able to ascertain that it was the power steering system that had leaked. So Tasi schlepped off to the Leicester General Store for the proper oil. With the dipstick totally dry and large letters on the cap saying, “DO NOT OVERFILL”, I put in maybe a cup of oil and overflowed the system. Gotta love them “engineers” at Ford! Not wishing to waste this golden opportunity to abuse plentiful free labor, we set to work dragging chipper-sized tree limbs close to places where we’ll be able to position the chipper once it’s repaired. Alex and Katy headed back to Boston mid-morning. Tasi and Kristen held on until 5 o’clock. Perry came over mid-afternoon with the leveling transit and verified that the shed columns are “close-enough” to the right heights, with maybe two exceptions that will need some top’n’bond treatment. Started raining right after Tasi and Kristen headed south. Perfect timing… for them.
