Flying trip - again!

October 5, 2007 (5:27am)

46º F, Clear and starry, No Wind.

Good morning,

Boy is it tired out this morning! We drove to and from FISKLAND yesterday. For some reason I got up earlier than normal and it was a very long day. Trip was easy, but got really tired on the return, so stopped at Crivitz for a cup of coffee. As we walked in, the waitress told us they closed at 9:00 P.M., but we ordered a cup of coffee and a piece of pie anyway. Were out before they closed. Pie wasn’t too bad, raspberry for me and key lime for Margriet. Got home close to 11:00 P.M. - way past my bed time for sure.

Brought back mostly outdoor equipment, but not as much as I planned. Using the loading arm for the snowblower was slick as a whistle. Really worked great and rather easy - picked it up, swung it in, and set it down. The next item on the agenda, the wood splitter, was a different story though. The wood splitter is heavier and bigger. Got all of the tarps off of it and discovered it had a flat tire and the other one very soft. That made moving it to the truck a real task. Used the winch and a couple of boards under the tires as a roadway, to drag it to the truck. Also discovered the folding leg to support the hitch end when using it, is a pretty good anchor. It dug itself into the soil, making the drag tougher, until I put a board under it to also act as a roadway.

The real problems began as I tried to put it into the truck. It was too wide to fit, I knew that from the git-go, so decided to turn it on it’s side, lift it in, then right it again. Got the tongue into the truck, to act as a pivot point, with no problem, then started to turn it on it’s side. No problem, but did need to do some blocking to keep it on it’s side and not falling over. Re-hooked the chains and began to lift it, no problem until it was about 6" from the ground - then the winch started to “slip!” Up to this point I had only been using the winch and not the hydraulic cylinder to lift the arm. Wanted the splitter up as far as possible before using it. The slipping turned out to be the drive gear cutting off the teeth of the gear on the cable spool! Not a good thing! After blocking the splitter to stay at 6" above the ground, I re-hooked using only the chain looped over the end for the lift arm. After much struggling I did manage to get the splitter into the truck, but not put it back upright again. Really needed the cable to do that, as the chain doesn’t allow me enough vertical or horizontal movement. What to do? I ended up blocking the splitter on it’s side for the trip home, using some concrete blocks and 4"x4" ‘s, along with some tension on the lift chain (wanted to slow the splitter down some before it hit me in the back of the head if we were in an accident and it broke loose). The splitter rode on it’s side on the trip up, without any problems.

I was really worried about the splitter shifting and expected to hear a big thud somewhere along the way, when it tipped over, but it didn’t. It rode very well the whole trip, but it did take it kind of easy, especially on sharp right turns. Fortunately the carburetor a the breather on the hydraulic oil tank are on the same side of the splitter. While the tank did leak a bit of oil from the breather (probably a pint of the 5-6 gallons in the tank), I don’t think anything will be damaged, at least if I let the fluids return to their normal places before using it.

Getting the splitter out of the truck will be something different. Not too sure how that will happen yet. I really need the cable to lower it to the ground enough. The winch is rated at 5,000#, but made in China, so guess they have different size of pounds there. The splitter is heavy, but not that heavy. I have another winch here I could probably put on it, but probably will use a come-along instead. Almost threw it in the truck when we left and probably could have used it. For sure I will get a hold of the place I bought the lift arm from and complain. It sure did make me grumpy! All in all, the idea works great. Do wish the end of the arm had a fairlead for the cable to run through rather than the poor rollers with a slot on it now. A chain hook would also be handy. Might need to do something about that.

With the wood splitter riding goofy, I didn’t load the truck with as much as I had planned. Didn’t want the splitter to tip and squash things. Of course the splitter needs to come out first, to get most of the rest out. I think I know what my project is for today. Need to pay some attention to the splitter too. I really need to use it before too much more time goes by.

On the way down, we stopped at a vegetable stand in the huge town of Beaver, Wisconsin. We have passed is all summer and fall, saying we need to stop. Each time we either forgot or they were not open. This time was different. We picked up a snag of squash, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, onions, new potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts. Intended to pick up a 50# bag of potatoes for $9.00, but they didn’t have any. Margriet had a good time. It is a good thing it just isn’t down the road from here. We would be stopping every other day or so!

Good to be home! Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><