As usual, it was a very busy weekend.  Given that it is most likely the last weekend with decent weather for the next several months, the push was on to get as much of the outdoor tasks finished as possible.  One of the most important jobs was to switch the tires on Trixstir's van ( Read more... )

     I was cleaning up some Email links that YouTube sent me, and one of the random clicks landed me on this video of a mini dozer.  While that in itself is interesting to me, it's what's in the background at 0:48 that got my attention ( Read more... )

     It took a while, and a lot of patience and some research, but I finally got my old 1947 John Deere AR popping today!  We had moved it from Andy's shop to my shop about a week ago, but we were not able to start it.  As it turned out, the reason was because the air-cleaner was full of water, and the engine can't breathe through that!  It's an ( Read more... )

     Today, I achieved a dream that I have had for over 30 years.  I've always loved old machinery; just about everyone who knows me is aware of that fact.  Heritage Park in Calgary was (and still is) one of my favourite places to visit, and it was never complete without stopping by the blacksmith shop, or the grain elevator, both of which had old ( Read more... )

     There are times when words fail me; when a situation becomes so ridiculous that you don't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, yell, or what.  Sometimes "or what" seems best - just go numb and shake your head.  If there's nothing you can really do about the situation, why get yourself overly worked up about it?

Yesterday, I closed early ( ( Read more... )

     With considerably more effort than it ought to have taken, we finally got the old Deutz tractor and the haybine back to the farm this morning.  Actually, it was the early afternoon (just after Noon) when we pulled in to the yard.  trixstir and I had gotten up early (more correctly, I got up early and then got Trixstir up!) and decided that we should ( Read more... )

     Here are a few of pictures of the old Klöchner-Humboldt-Deutz-Ag D8005 (hereafter simply called the Deutz) tractor:

(suddenly remembers it's a good idea to upload the pictures first.  Duh....  just a moment....  There...)


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     One of the things that trixstirand I really used to enjoy back in Calgary was the annual Labour Day BBQ - we'd prepare a huge mass of steaks, fresh Taber corn, baked potatoes (with all the trimmings!), garlic toast, and invite a bunch of friends to come share the feast and bring desserts.  Since we moved out here to the farm, we haven't been able to ( Read more... )

     This winter has been even worse than last winter, though we haven't had a major blizzard like the one we had in January 2010.  (Knock on wood!)  Still, the sheer volume of snow has been ridiculous, piling up in the yard two or three feet deep, with drifts five feet deep or worse!  The following collection of pictures gives some idea of what we ( Read more... )

     I was out trying to clear snow for over five hours today; trying to dig a path from the East side of the shop around to the front with the tractor, so that I could clear the driveway and a path to the West side of the shop.  I didn't get very far though - less than 1/4 of the way, and then I just could't get any more traction.  The tires on ( Read more... )