Coffee 3-17-2012

That Ford looks good, Fred.

Wood'nCoal wrote:That Ford looks good, Fred.

freetown fred wrote:Update on 8N runnin good & tires are holdin air good--Time to get her home next week. I need to find a back blade & 4' bush-hog & I'll be set.

I remember when my ford had red and gray paint,20 years ago. I will have to look and find pictures and post them in the old tractor thread

What a beautiful day... I got chance to get out and clear the overgrown trees away from the workshop. There were trees growing out from UNDERNEATH the shop...

The woods grew around this barn and I doubt I can save it. I'll deconstruct it for the lumber.


My workshop lost one pier while removing one of 6 trees that were growing alongside of it.

Nice to be out in a T-shirt again. Looks like you've got a busy summer comin up Chris--at least it is OUTSIDE.

My neighbor has a 2N. Don't know much about tractors ... just by looks, it looks to me like the 8 is more heavy duty.

The Ford tractors developed like the IH or Farmall lines(as well as Allis Chalmers, Case, Cockshut, David Brown, Massey Ferguson-or the older Ferguson line, Massey Harris when I was a boy... Minneapolis Moline, oh yah John Deere, both in green and yellow . The 2 N is the precursor to the 8N, smaller, lighter , less hydraulic power, etc
Nice looking tractor, though. 1954 perhaps?

If it had a motor, it was much easier on the back....man, many of us earned that too late in life. Coal came by rail in those days, and was just as efficient and MUCH more cost effective (but more work) than oil. However as we know today, who would have thought our addiction would finance A killing machine we love to hate to this day.
Cheap oil got those stokers removed and most folks on the " a dollar down, and the chase is on' mentality. The money filtered across the ocean after the Texas and Oklahoma drillers and owners collected their billions, some only millions. Even today, Pensoil is one of the most respected names in lubricants. ...and that name wasn't in the 'Fairy Tale Book of Oil Companies'....it was right here in PA! No need for those pointy toes cowboy boots on the rigs in PA...but we now fill the offices around the country with pointy leaded liberals who quickly forgot what it took, and takes, to maintain the lifestyle we prefer. Another opportunity to thank the men and women who stand alertly and defend our rights as we know them tom be.

One more movie star or producer runs their mouth...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! And millions 'pay millions' to support these "bh924h3-9yh2g"!

That's reason #1 the wife & I rarely go to the movies. Unless we know who the producers & actors are, and what they stand for, we're all set. Might as well be making a donation to Obama's re-election campaign.

Nice post whistlenut, I grew up on and learned to drive on an NAA, 1952 or 53, the diamond jubilee model I believe with the Sherman transmission. Just sold it to a guy for practically nothing, he restored it. Just wanted to see it taken care of as we had no use for it anymore. But god did that thing do some work in its day. Incredible machine and bang for the buck.

Kevin

Fred,

You didn't grab that TroyBuilt rototiller ??????




Rick

Didn't get it, but I had to move it quite a ways to get the 8N pulled up. I'll be sleeping with my heating pad tonight. That's a young mans machine. The problem I have is--if I'm gonna buy something, I'm damn sure gonna use it. Well said WN my friend.

Bedtime for me, too. Back is sore.....again/still! Aleve is the best 'after dinner mint'. Got home AT 6:30 FELL ASLEEP, woke up at 9:30 ( only way I can cheat and have you guys think I can stay up late.......Hell, Freddy will be up in a couple hours makin' breakfast. I'll sleep till 7am... Syrup season is long gone here, guys. Not a good year except fore the guys who tapped early in Feb.....only 45 gallons here, some different from the 420 last year! sat Nite Live for all you night owls....

whistlenut wrote:Got home AT 6:30 FELL ASLEEP, woke up at 9:30 ( only way I can cheat and have you guys think I can stay up late.

SURE!!! easy for you young woodpeckers to snicker. Your time will come.

A pleasant Sunday morning to all...

Spring is here.. it's been at least 60* for the last week+, it was 76 yesterday forcast to bump 80* tomorrow and Tuesday.
The Maple trees and Brandford Pear trees are budding out.

I just pray that we don't get a hard frost and kill the buds and therefore the fruit industry.. Lots of apples, cherries, etc grown in Michigan.

I had help yesterday, so we were able to get about 2/3 of the 23 tons of 'new' coal pushed, shoveled and raked into the coal storage building.
I was able to fill the building up into the bottom of the roof trusses. With another helper today, most of the coal should be under the roof soon.

The AA is running on it's timer. 2minutes per hour.. and an ocassional 10 minute run to make heat for hot water. I'll see how long I want to
burn coal this year.. the UAE coal I'm burning seems to want to burn right to the walls of the firepot.. so as long as I'm not seeing a lot of
unburnt coal.. I'll keep burning.
I filled the hopper 10 days ago, and it still is 1/2 full.. not much of a burn rate with these warm temps.. I think the bedroom calls for heat
maybe once a night.. the main part of the house doesn't seem to call for heat at all.. I wonder if anyone makes a thermostat with a 'memory',
that you could see when and how long the calls for heat were over the last say, 2-3 days.. that'd be interesting info.

I don't understand why there are good and bad 'sugaring' seasons? Is it just a crap-shoot to tap the trees at the right time? Why wouldn't
you just tap them early and check the buckets regularly? when the sap flows, it's sugar time?? Do the trees heal around the taps and not flow?

So I guess the true maple syrup will go up in price now?

I'm looking at the morning sun shining through the glass patio doors, and the 'Nose Prints' from LOKI.. those nose prints are almost at door knob
height.. damn, he's a tall dog !!

Oh, Freddy, treat the 8N with respect.. you can hurt them if you try yanking stumps or other silly nonsense. I managed to mess up the transmission
in my 8N by overworking it.. I dug a30x40 basement with mine, using a 3pt dump scoop..

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Greg L.

LsFarm wrote:I don't understand why there are good and bad 'sugaring' seasons? Is it just a crap-shoot to tap the trees at the right time? Why wouldn't
you just tap them early and check the buckets regularly? when the sap flows, it's sugar time?? Do the trees heal around the taps and not flow?

I am not a syrup expert, but it is my understanding that it it the combination of above freezing temperatures during the day, and freezing temperatures at night that make the sap flow. If the weather just gets warm early and stays warm...you have a very small window for sap collection. As for tapping early, it is a risk because if the season is later than expected, the taps can start to heal and not flow properly. The few guys I have talked to said this was the shortest season since they have been in business. Might not be like that everywhere, but it sure hurt the guys in my area.

It hit 70 degrees in my area today, boy did it feel good! We had the windows open, I took the plow off the truck, hauled a load of junk out of the shop...very productive. Somewhere in there I unloaded 2500 lbs of bagged coal from the truck. I usually spread it over two days, but I needed the pallet to set the snow plow on.