Back to square one!

October 19, 2007 (5:11am)

51º F, Rain, SSE Wind, 6 mph.

Good morning,

Tornado warnings were up all day until 10:30 P.M. last night, with an added thunderstorm watch up last night. We had really heavy rain in the morning, with a pretty brisk wind, then off and on sunshine during the day, and a real dumper last night after dark. At the moment, the radar shows a fairly clear screen, but that will change. The low appears to be over Wausau and heading east. We still have the rain on the backside of the low to come our way. We are now in the “eye” of the storm, for at least part of the day.

Work on the Fjord had progress and a huge setback. The progress was getting the entire 12 volt system replaced, except for the ammeter. That needs a new one of a different style. The old one has an external pick-up and the system needs one that is solid wired in. So the new one should come in this morning to the parts store. I did manage to salvage the start solenoid and un-bung the one terminal. Did have a rang-itty-tang with the old resistor/junction block, with a great deal of problems getting one terminal free. Eventually did. Glad to see the 12 volt system in place and played with the wiring, changing it several times to fit the tractor without rubbing off the wiring on any moving or hot parts.

With that, everything was pretty much done that I could do on what I had started and it was time to move to the rear wheels being reversed and one tire changed. To accomplish that, we decided to move the tractor some, to allow for more work space at the back and more open area in the shop. When it came time to turn the steering wheel, there was a huge amount of play in the steering wheel and after a couple of rotations, to try and figure out where that came from, a grinding noise also appeared. Not what was supposed to happen. We had not noticed it before, since the tractor front was off of the ground, so no resistance to the steering. After some puzzling about the situation for a time, we came to the conclusion that one of the bearings, probably the bottom one, was not seated correctly. Meaning the steering box had to come apart again. Meaning that the fluid in the steering box would be lost and make something of a mess. Meaning the “dashboard” and the supporting structure would have to come off again. Meaning I was pretty much back to where I had started!

After everything was apart, and a puddle of gear oil on the floor, the bottom bearing was shot. It apparently slipped out of position and the end of the steering shaft rested on the side of the bearing instead of the center. There is nothing holding the bearing in place, except a shallow, wide, recess on the steering box with the steering shaft pushing the bearing into it. Of course it is a place where it cannot be seen and you have to hope it is right. Guess I didn’t hope enough. Eli didn’t have another bearing, so it had to be ordered, probably arriving on Tuesday next week! Snorts!

On a better note, Eli did manage to get all of the pieces inside of the furnace and tacked in place. He had a tussle getting them to sit right, thanx to the twist in the rolling. It was then Mick’s turn to weld them in place, since he is the certified welder of the pair. After they were welded, the water chamber was sealed and air pressure applied to check for any leaks. A soap solution was sprayed on the joints to find any leaks. ALL of the welding looked like a bubble bath! There was very little that didn’t leak. After some puzzling, Mick figured it was the flux on the weld wire that caused the problem. So .... another pass with a different wire will be put in place. He had it about one-forth finished at the end of the day. He was grumpy, and hurting, after sitting in a steel tube 4' in diameter and 3' long for so many hours. I can’t even see myself doing that. I hurt just watching him!

While we were sitting around and chewing the fat at the end of the day, we got to talking about pickling fish. Eli said he had a bunch in his freezer and thought it was about time to do something with them. He said they were mostly panfish and northern pike. He especially like the northern pickled. I had never tasted any and so pretty soon, he was washing up and went to their refrigerator, producing a jar of pickled northern someone had given to them, wanting me to try them. Who am I to pass up something like that or to hurt his feelings. Turns out, the tasted very good. It seems like a waste of northern pike though, as they are so good fried. Would not be surprised if we get a sample when his pickling is done.

Margriet got a haircut yesterday morning, so went into Eli’s a bit later than usual. She found a place she likes, so another problem solved for the duration. She looks better with shorter hair too. Cost is about the same as Algoma where she has been going and the folks here are just as friendly.

Margriet decided to do the “book work” yesterday and thought it would be a good idea for me to start a small fire in the woodstove. As it turned out, it got very muggy and some warm yesterday, so the fire was totally unnecessary. It was still putting out heat when I got home! In fact it was too hot in here for her, but she survived.

I will not go to Eli’s this morning as I need to work on the sermon for Sunday. I am way behind on that and need to get cracking. For some reason I have been getting up later than my normal, so have not had the time to devote to it in the morning. The sermon is in my head, now all I need to do is to organize it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><