Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I didn’t get up until 9:30, when I felt recuperated from yesterday’s labors. It is sunny, with some high clouds, but no sign of any storms.
I had my usual morning and then put on my work clothes and loaded tools into my truck. I played with Zack to help release some of the energy he builds up, and then he decided to stay home rather than go with me. He knows when I am going to work, verses going to town by the clothes I put on, as well as me telling him, “Work. No play.”
I drove a short ways from the cabin and stopped to cut down a beetle killed tree that I know would have blown over on the road this winter. It also had a number of droopy branches that scraped the roof and hit the radio antenna on both the Jeep and truck. I sized up the fall and made my wedge cut in the side that I wanted the tree to fall, cutting almost half way through. Now mind you, this is a very large tree, about fourteen inches across and 42” in diameter and 30 feet high, and on the uphill side of the road, so I needed to fall it so it would land mostly on the other side of the road, then I wouldn’t have to cut it into sections and move each one off the roadway.
After cutting the deep wedge, I decided to move the truck further up the road as the wind had started blowing in its direction. I moved the truck and then climbed up the hillside to make the back cut, releasing the tree. It started to make its fall precisely in the direction I wanted it to go, but then it stopped. I had to start the chainsaw again and continue to cut until it was fully cut through.
Because this tree had a lot of heavy branches, one of my concerns was that some could break off and fly back in my direction, so I shut off the chainsaw and took several steps up the steep hillside. I watched as the tree seemed to fall in slow motion, and then faster and faster until it hit the road. The lower branches had enough green wood to act as springs and as the trunk hit the road, it bounced up and went all of the way across and down the other side. A perfect fall - with little clean up required. I was tired and took a break, drinking an entire Gator Aid before pushing some debris off the road and cutting the base of the tree off so it wasn’t close to the road.
I continued driving until I reached the dozer at the spring, and positioned the truck to give me shade and be close enough to provide access to my tools. At first, I thought I might, just might, be able to get the track back on if I could move it enough to loosen the tension adjustment wheel at the front. I used the 6-foot pry bar and managed to move it enough that I could loosen the tension nut and move the wheel back, thus loosening the track. That track is very heavy and I found myself having to stop every 4 or 5 minutes to rest.
After almost 2 hours, maybe more as I don’t have a working clock in the truck and never wear a watch, I realized that I would have to break the track apart, attach it to the drive wheel, and then reattach it. I didn’t bring my hacksaw to cut off the bolt holding the links together, so had to drive back to the cabin and get it.
When I got back, it was 10 before 6, so I had been gone from the cabin for over 5 hours. I was determined to get the track back on and bring the dozer home, so grabbed some more Gator Aid and the hacksaw and drove back to the dozer.
After cutting the bolt and removing the pin that holds the sections together, I laid out the track so it was lined up and tried to back the dozer up just enough so it would allow me to pull the track up onto the drive gear. Like I said before, that track is very heavy and if I had to guess, I’d say each section weighs between 30 and 40 pounds, so collectively the track could weigh as much as 1800 pounds or more. I used the pry bar to position and lift the track but just couldn’t get it attached. I tried a different approach and with the pry bar holding the track up, I eased the dozer back, hoping the track would catch on the drive gear.
I heard a loud pop and stopped, climbing down to see what had happened. The front tension wheel had not moved back with the dozer and was now completely disconnected from the dozer, holding its section of the track in place. Being exhausted and knowing it was getting late, I decided to gather my tools and head for home, leaving the dozer for another day.
Zack was glad to see me and wanted me to play, so I did, all while sitting in a chair on the deck. Afterwards, I fed him and Zoey, made a drink, showered, and then sat down to rest. By nine O’clock, I decided to eat some dinner and fixed myself some packaged Chinese noodle with peanut sauce. It wasn’t too bad and satisfied my need for food. I watched television for about an hour and then went to bed. I haven’t worked this hard since last summer, and boy my age is catching up with me. If I had lots of money I could hire these things done and lay around, but then I’d just get fat and lazy, so as long as my body holds out, I’ll keep doing what I do.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009
The grass and surrounding area is heavy with dew this morning, but the deck is relatively dry, so I know it didn’t rain during the night. The sun is out and the sky only has a few broken clouds. The wind started up shortly after 9 O’clock this morning and has been gusting to over 15 mph. That keeps the temperature down, but it is 75.3 in the sun at noon. It will also help keep the bugs from being a problem.
I finished my usual morning routine and will now change into my work clothes and go out to get some manual labor done.
I hiked to the dozer with several bottles of Gator Aid and my gun, just incase that wolf is mad that I shot at it, and drove it to the cattle guard, which was a real mess. I worked that area and all the rutted and bumpy parts of the road all the way past the spring. I was loosing light, but wanted to finish so I could ride the dozer back to the cabin instead of hiking. As I made my final pass and turned the dozer towards home, I placed it in high and then second gear, which I find makes the best and fastest travel, and slowly released the clutch. I know . . . you have already determined that something went wrong, haven’t you. As you may or may not know, I bought this bulldozer new and then found out it is made in China and has a brand name used by Northern Tool, which is a huge American farm and construction catalog company. I have had nothing but problems with it since it had less than a half-hour running time, and more with the tracks now than the hydraulic system.
As I eased the clutch out, and I do mean eased it out because in high gear it jerks so hard when it starts to move that it’s hard on the dozer, not to mention my body, and I heard a loud pop and metal grinding. The entire right track simply “popped off” the drive gear. It didn’t separate it just pealed off intact. Now mind you, I had been keeping a close eye on the tension of the tracks, adjusting them religiously because I’ve had so many problems with them. I stepped down to assess the situation and not having more than a couple of wrenches, determine that it ain’t going to get fixed today. I shut it down and grabbed a bottle of Gator Aid for the mile and a quarter hike back to the cabin.
By the time I got home, it was quarter to nine and I was tired from the walk, not to mention climbing down to roll giant rocks off the road at every pass. I managed to feed Zack and Zoey and then take a shower before throwing Zack’s toy a few times. It was 10:30 before I had the energy, or desire to eat, so heated up some leftovers and watched television until going to bed at 12:30.