So...lately 'Ol One-Ton has been getting sorted out for field repairs by practicing on my own equipment...figuring out where tools need to be and supplies arrangement fine-tuning...(Haha)...(that'll never happen...)
I am situated on a chunk of land that has temporary electricity and water, some gravel and mostly red clay...fortunately it has not been raining any significant amount...or else the clay would be everywhere...
Very little shade...what shade I might have...I have to chase down...
I bring a LOT of water with me...and some snacks...
So...I have this DR brush cutter that has been used pretty hard...had the thing since 1998...it was my first bush hog...and the things it went through is another story... for later...
Anyway...I put it off as long as I could until the poor thing was making a horrible noise under the mower deck...I stop using it and resign myself to the fact that this is the time to see what it needs...
It was broke but nothing got irretrievably lost...thank the Lord...
So...I have some salvaged metal...a small collection...and some rebar...my big metal collection is at The Staging Area...hours away...so..essentially not available for the moment...
I gotta repair the shielding under the deck...the strip of metal that directs the discharge to the side...broken loose and hanging on by one carriage bolt...and one deck skid is worn to a nub...and the other came loose and was hitting the blade...
Gonna be a little exercise in redneck ingenuity...
Pretty handy to have a vise mounted to the back of the truck...and a quad outlet 110 VAC close by and water to wash things...I am feeling pretty spiffy...but it is hot and I just gotta rinse out my shirt in a bucket of cool mountain water and drag it over my head...
One of my methods of cooling off in 90-95 degree weather is to dunk my head under a hose or faucet...which reminded me of what I was doing this time last year...I had a flashback of the situation I was dealing with at The Previous Job and Mr. Proboscis...but that is a story for a later time...
Fast forward to the Present...
First I had to take it apart...and air tools are just right for this exercise...first I climb up to the air compressor and peer into the gas tank...I see some rusty water in the bottom...not up to the level of the screen pickup...but I gotta get it outta there...I use a length of clear plastic tubing and suck the water out of the bottom...
Good...now add a bit of fuel...compressor fires right up...uh...well...after I remember to turn on the fuel lever and set the choke and fire up the truck to charge the batteries..
It gets fired up and enough air builds up to run a 1/2 inch impact...the deck gets dis-assembled...
Air hoses...
...gotta diverge to a short story about how nice, helpful, and even a little bit like following a philosophy of WWJD...with the majority of people I have dealt with...being a Newcomer in this area...so far...I have not found any real...unsavory types at all...maybe it helps that I speak a similar accent..? Maybe I appear to blend in a little with what appears to me mostly a blue-collar town.
Just the kinda place I hoped to wind up in...
Anyway...'Ol One-Ton came with a hose reel that would accommodate a one-inch impact gun...
..Check...
but nothing that would run my smaller stuff...1/2 inch...3/eighths...etc..just some odd pieces...the previous owner gave up on this truck and it was just what I wanted...right down to roll-up windows and no AC crud to have to work around...
So...I find an industrial supply company and call 'em up...'Can you sell me some air fittings and adapters..?'....'Probably...come on down and we can see what we can do...'...
Cool...I get directions....sure...I could just look it up on a gps...but why would I deny a Good Person from an opportunity to actually help a Newcomer become more familiar and eventually acclimated to a new town..?
"could you direct me from Main St. heading west..?"
"Sure..turn left at the electric place and then another left at the next intersection and we are behind the voting place.."
Wait a minute...
'You meant to say I gotta go left twice before I get to the back of the voting place..?' "That don't set too well with me..."
Laughter at the other end...
I get there and haul in a bucket of what I have and a big air hose...
The front guy goes in the back and brings out the head guy...and introduces us...he plops down a....print media catalog and proceeds to...patiently and with much enthusiasm...fix me up with an order of fittings that will make my life easier and more productive...
I knew that I came to the right place...the branch in Richmond fixed me up good four years ago when I had to build a gate for my driveway and the Craigslist bandsaw I just bought needed teeny bearings...
So far...this place is batting 1000....good, down home folks all around...
Back to the project...
I got the short side skid repaired with a short chunk of rebar...did not have to cut it...just bend it a little and shave off some ridges so it will fit up nicely...
...that piece of metal was just hanging around and telling me it wanted a job...instead of being melted down and turned into a...a...god-forsaken who-knows-what...
...I knew that I had it and had to look for it some...but it turned up without too much fanfare and offered itself up to be used for this project...a new lease on life here in the States...without having to survive a couple of sea voyages and rough handling...
By the time I was finishing up welding the rebar...the welder strarted acting funny...I lay it on its side and hit the trigger...the reel is rolling...but nothing out the other end...ohh....shoot....wire jam IN THE LINER....crap...gotta take it apart...and I don't have a spare liner...
I work with it carefully trying to not make it so I have to stop and order anything or go anywhere...or I will lose momentum...and somehow...with much patience...which, Dear Reader...I have said that I don't have...and I get it straightened out and working...
Whew...
Long about that time The Girl calls me...'Where are you..?'
"I am at the Place.."...
"Oh...I hear a radio..."...".I just made some dinner..."
You don't have to tell me twice....the DR Machine can wait until tomorrow...
I cover everything up and shoot out of there to hang with My Girl...
www.oilburners.net
