Good Morning! 67F and it's only 6:15AM. Sunny. Near record high temperatures. High 87F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Glad you're feeling better, Roy. Hope they don't overwhelm you on your first day back on the job!
Was able to activate the new iPhone on the Verizon network yesterday, but to my surprise and disappointment, there's no sign of 4G LTE reception. This in spite of the latest Verizon coverage map, and assurances from the sales staff. Guess I'll be back on the phone (the land line phone) to them today...
News on the truck is that the power steering pump is shot, and the water pump is leaking, too. The power steering pump has been growling for a while now, so that really doesn't come as much of a surprise, but I hadn't noticed anything dripping from the water pump. The two of them are still less expensive than a new air conditioning compressor, which was my guess. Won't know for sure until it's back together, so I'm keepin' my fingers crossed it's not something else.
Got a call from FedEx yesterday saying they would be by today to deliver the flail mower. They said that their trucks are not allowed to go on dirt roads, so I'll have to meet them up at the cul-de-sac with the tractor, which is conveniently already wearing the forklift attachment I've been using to move firewood pallets. All the rain we got last month wore some pretty good ruts in the driveway, so I got after it with the box blade in preparation for the delivery. Smoothed up pretty nice, and cleared out some weeds along the border, too. Then I decided to go after the little trail that goes up to the back of the house and the fire pit. There's a short section that is badly off camber, and that the Kubota side-by-side had made worse. Tipped the box blade to one side and got most of it flat, the price being a drop off along the edge next to the area where I park the tractor implements. This also cleaned off the gravel that used to cover that area, so I'll probably have to truck more in later.
As I was finishing up that little job I noticed that I could no longer move the loader arms or curl the forks. Oh great; the flail will be delivered tomorrow and now there's no way to get it off the truck. Parked the tractor, stuck my head in behind the right wheel trying to look at the linkage, only getting dirt in my eye as a reward. Got the garden hose out and cleaned all the dust off down there, then headed inside to peruse the workshop manual for insights. Tons of info on rebuilding the valve body, but nothing on how the control lever linkage works. Called my bulldozer buddy but only got his answering machine, then went back out for another look. That's when I noticed a short little lever sticking out of the console next to the loader control lever, and a sticker next to it with one closed padlock symbol and another open padlock symbol. Hmmm, never noticed that before, and the lever is sort of next to the closed padlock. With nothing to lose, I tried to move the lever to the open padlock, but it didn't want to go. Had to use a hammer handle to push it up to the open padlock detent. But once there, the loader control lever started working again. :duh: :duh: :duh: :duh: So it's a loader lock, but why would anyone trust something like that to actually work when the consequences of it failing could be a mashed toe or worse? Seems to me like a solution to a non-existent problem. It is, however, yet another nail in the Kubota coffin...
Happy Hump Day everyone!
