Good morning!!!!

[Thomas]

Your health and stress sure hope you kick back take it easy LS.

 

[Thomas]

53F cloudy good chance couple quick passing showers before dark.

Last Wednesday $4.39 gallon today $4.09 gallon....is there light at the end of the tunnel.
Long day at pt. job,just find it amazing excuse some workers give to get out of little work.
No plans for the evening other than dinner feet up share bowl ice with 2 furry ones.

Enjoy your evening all.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Happy birthday Phil

 

[buckeyefarmer]

52 and rain showers, going to 62.

Happy St Patrick's Day! My wife loves to decorate for each season and holiday, so this is no exception...and I'll be wearing the green today.

Happy Birthday, mpham! Sounds like a nice one.

Happy Birthday to Kyle son. Nice day planned.

Don, looks like a nice park work day. Congrats on living healthy since your heart attack.

Met the first Thru-hiker of the year on the Appalachian Trail yesterday...actually met him in the parking area as I returned to my truck, where the A/T crosses over the road...his dad and friend had parked their RV and were re-supplying him...and his dad was gonna hike the next 6 miles with his son, while the friend drove ahead to meet up, and then switch with the dad to take a turn hiking. Guys were from Michigan and Chicago...so we talked White Sox a bit. The hiker had left Georgia on January 18...I told him it seemed early to see a Thru-hiker this early in Virginia, but he said there were a couple ahead of him.

There was still a few snow patches on the trail, and I didn't see any other hikers...very quiet all day.

That is really early. I thought they usually left in March.

 

[Eric Salop]

Good evening all. The weather has been getting a lot kinder for us, morning frosts disappear at sun rise and the wind is no longer quite as relentless.

Managed to get down a few small windblown trees today. First time I have had any sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) to cut up for firewood. It is a much lighter hardwood than I had expected, can't complain though when the nuts taste so good.

Kyle, happy birthday to James. Is that the last before his teens ? My grandson has been getting in lots of early practice at being a grumpy teenager, has another year yet to refine his grumpiness.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I re-sent the same pics this morning but this time full resolution and texted them right from the phone instead of going on their web site and it worked they were accepted. We might be able to close the deal by the end of next week, maybe . . .

My wife just check the rules for pinching on St Patrick's Day. If you get pinched but are actually wearing green you get to pinch the pincher 10 times back.

There’s rules? Pinching?
My purple shirt self identifies as green today.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

bug.... no alligoritis, a good thing.
.

That’s good.

Unfortunately, Tuesday night I got out of bed to go to the bathroom. Made it in there and suddenly got lightheaded and passed out.
.

That’s Bad.

Same thing happened to my older brother recently. He went to ER. They don’t know what caused his.

 

[sodamo]

Happy Birthday to the wonderful sons of GM

 

[sodamo]

It always amazes me when I come upon a tree growing out of a rock. Nature works so hard to grow and survive. View attachment 737683

In similar awe, we have trees and things that grow out of lava. Wonders of nature.

 

[rswyan]

70F and fair @ 17:15, calling for a low of 46F overnight. Current soil temp 65F, 24 hour average 50F. At this rate the grass will be growing again soon ...

Got access hole cut with hole saw in center frame and rearmost yoke removed from shaft coming out of the transmission. Missed the hydraulic hard line inside the tunnel ... with a 1/4" to spare:

Still have to clean all the debris out of the center frame/"tunnel".

Also got the front axle dropped and front section of the driveshaft with yoke attached removed:

Getting the four bolts out that held the front axle to the frame was a booger. My 1/2 impact wouldn't touch them and neither would neighbor's 1/2 Milwaukee (M18 ?) electric impact. So he took the Gator and ran back up to his place got his larger IR pneumatic one ... was either 3/4" or 1" drive ... which succeeded in getting them to move. Also busting the drag link loose was booger as well. Twelve pound sledge finally persuaded it.

Carrier bearing and front u-joint both seemed smooth, no discernible slop or play in either one. Front yoke seemed tight on the shaft. Will likely just clean them off and reinstall when we put things back together after the parts come in. Tractor needs a bath. Will place the parts order tomorrow.

We started around 11:00 with a few interruptions ... Woman brought brunch/lunch and him running back up to his place several times for tools we needed that I didn't have.

All in all, it went pretty well we thought. Grateful for his help.

Now to get those feeders refilled ...