Grumpy Gaby

I hear ya AK on both comments! Hang in there and think about using that 'new' snow blade when you get home!

I always liked watching the wet harvest of cranberries!

Some people are soooo lucky! You have a mechanicaly minded wife that just laughed and called you a plowboy! I hope that made you grin ear to ear!!!! From pictures, it looks great, with wide front also!!! Keep us informed! About all I can do from 2000 + miles away is root for you!!!!!!!!!

Mader Its' suprising what a few words can make a difference! I am guessing that you are talking about the Montana hard red wheat, many people hear prefer it for their bread. I have been watching an on going 'thing'. One, there are no "released for production" GMO wheats. In the pacific northwest a large majority of the wheat is soft white and its market is the asian pacific rim for Asian noodles. South Korea and Japan are the larges buyers. When I say the pacific northwest, I am talking about large parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Here is the big thing....... This market is imfatic about no gmo wheat in their noodles! Well in 2013 there was found some gmo wheat plants about 10 miles from me here in northeastern Oregon. These plants were found to be MON 71800, Monsanto's designation. Unfortinatly the customers found out during harvest and quit buying. (little side note - most wheat farmers around here do not have storage) The price drop was so bad that the county and state sent out letters to farmers to see if they wanted to joint in on a law suit against Monsanto. My neighbor had had wheat out of the same batch as was planted in the subject field, they checked his field several times for the gmo plants. (none found) In 2014 some plants were found in Montana, also MON 71800. I do not know what happened in this case, but South Korea and Japan put tests in effect for this strain of wheat. In 2016 another group of plants was found in a fallow field, this time in southeast Washington. This time they were MON 71700 strain. The USDA informed the buyers and checked all of that farmers current wheat. Again Japan and South Korea quit buying northwest soft white wheat. South Korea took about two weeks to get the tests for the new strain in place and start buying again, Japan took a full month! The idea is to work with the buyers as fast as possible to keep good faith and the market, unfortunately in a months time the wheat can change hands several times. Who ever has the storage is the one who is going to make the profit! Another side note, there has not even been a Monsanto test plot in this general area for over ten years! So just a few words can make a lot of money land in different places!

I remember in my younger days, the sawmill had four of those gray portables with the red seal engines. Three were great, one wasn't good at all. They would really crackle when you struck an arc! I remember that a 52" ring debarker had brocken lose from its base the night before. When I got to work, the night crew had drilled horizontal holes in the concrete base, bolted 1 1/2" plates on each side, and got enough weld on each side to restart the mill. When I set down the only time that I got a break was when my boss was refilling the welder with gas. If I remember right, I went through a little over a 50# box of 1/8" lh 7018 doing stringer beads. My brother was on the other side doing the same thing with another red seal! GOOD WELDERS!!!!

Allright! A Blow boat!!!! Don't feel bad AK, I've lived in Idaho or Oregon my hole life and still haven't gotten an elk!

Mader sometimes not worth getting out of bed! Day before yesterday was that way for me, new I should of quit and taken a nap, BUT.......... went looking at some parts in the pasture and stured up some yellow jackets, got one stuck between glasses and eye lid. BOY WAS HE IRRITATED before he got out!!!!!! So you could say I'm setting here a One Eyed Jack!!!

Offset to the left... Must be A-C!!!! Looks good enough for me. Great project!

Looks like the girls have the new arrival well in hand. And I'm sure they will check in on her often. Could say they have become the calf's mothers. Good job to all of you for saving her!

Thanks Troy! I'll keep looking for 384 stuff!

Troy Are you sure that that is a 384? The power steering assist cylinder looks like what I need for a project, but have not found one like it yet on 384's. Just my luck, can't get into CNH sight tonight! And yes they can, and she probably says, "it just needs a little work and it will be just like new"!!!!!

AK, I wonder how you can put up will all of that country side? You know, I guess someone has to do it! Great pics. Flowers are looking very good! Huh, a welder with a green thumb!

Been seeing bigger tractors for sale east of you, 10's, 12's, 14's, some black strip, one nice 1256 w/icecream cab. You might need to do some scouting!!!!!!!!

OBG I've been going to ask you, are all governors as bad to work on as the Waters? I have a stationary steam engine that I would like to get going some day. I talked to the steam experts at the Oregon steam up about it, they said that if I went through their school and got the required inspections they would run steam to me at the steam up. He also said that mine requiring an 1 1/2 Gardner that I would be competing with some of the smaller tractors to find a governor. I am finding that so, so was wondering if I found one needing work, could I repair it or am I looking for trouble. My engine is about a 1913 to 1915 and about 12 Hp. Nothing fancy, sold through the Sears & Roebuck catalog. I would welcome any comments! By the way, the oats look good! You are about three weeks behind us.

Troy That pea swather would be a great addition! You'll have to learn to steer from the side. But you better hurry or Gonzo will get it!! He may be getting enough of the big stuff!! Just went back to look at the steering, saw price!! Ouch!

It is hard enough to get to the point of putting in new! Then to have it go south on you SUCKS BIG TIME!

One thing about it, when spring comes up there, it comes fast! The first bed looks reel good! And thanks for the last picture of your new bed. Gives size relation and location, Yes fence required ! I can visualize dido's in it already!!! You are serious about this farming! Great work! Congrat. to you and the Mrs.!!!

Nice looking soil. At least you didn't hit bedrock at 18"! Now what is this going to be? Shop location?

The BOSS might of had other ideas!!!!! The older you get, the lowder the ones that you did not know that you had will scream!!! "IB" will be a necessity!!! Keep us up to date on flower pics. Please......

lol YUP!

Thanks Michael H. for the comments! And you are right about those bills! They just keep coming!!! Well, I do not have any progress on the w400 to report. I pulled one of the stupidest stunts that I have done for at least the last few months. I pored that urithain in my shop! The hasmat sheet said to use protection, don't get it on your skin and don't breath the concentrated fumes. OK, rubber gloves, eye protection, chemical mask! Instructions say; 90% cure in 18 hours if heated to 150F, full cure in 7 days @ room temp. WHAT THEY MENT was; there will be concentreted off gassing at least untill fully cured and then there will be pockets of gas after that time. Simptums of exposure similar to cold/flue...... I already have those!! Anyway I pored... what a fiasco...The stuff that I had pored previously(outside) was thinner than water, had trouble keeping it in the molds, so I gated these molds for that. When mixed this batch flowed like honey! Increased the size of gates that I could, and didn't pore the molds that I couldn't fix in time. (15 minute pot life) My combine roller mold was not flowing very fast, so used a small plastic funnel. It fell over as I was attending the steering washer molds, got plastic all over my good claw hammer that I was using to tap the mold and ran under my good 1/2 drill. I found that by poring into a used chalk line chalk container and pressurizing it into the molds worked. I put all that I had left in the roller mold. It filled it up, but bubbles kept coming out. In the end, when I opened that mold, I had been short about what had spilled from the funnel!?!?##. The power steering washers were the only things that came out good, and that was because they were open top molds. Have had an old furnace fan exhausting since before the pore, opened doors when possible. It has been freezing at night and raining until just lately, but now above freezing, so threw everything outside. Still have trouble being in shop, I think because of my weekness from having a cold/flue, that's with the door open. Oh well, I'll look on the bright side, Its time to do taxes, and put in barley!!!

This is the Monroe power steering cylinder that I had been looking for! The shaft may have a slight bow, but looks pretty good other than that. The through stud shaft looked real good, and these parts are a lot better than I have ever seen. The one rubber cushion is chewed up but I now have a pattern, and also have some urithain to pore the coating for my combine draper rollers.......... It's a good thing this came up, checked my urithain, forgot it has only 6 month shelf life. Have to pore everything by the 15th of March !!!!!! OH boy, building molds, poring plaster of Paris, and by the way, I've got some of that Idaho crap!

Been busy here. Spring is coming. Plowed down some sulfur in late Feb. Went back to Idaho to selibrate mom's 94th birthday. Everyone over there was hacking and sniveling! Mom had had something, but they cought it early, my brother had bronkidis, and my sister came back from a cruse infected by her roommate!!! My brother and I did get an afternoon to do a walk through of a tractor salvage yard. (used to do this every spring, but getting harder to get someone to let you just walk through) I did find some "stuff": This shutter control was on a 450 Farmall diesel. My 400 had had shutters at one time, and since this was the first time that I had seen a control for the 100 series tractors in real life, (let alone a diesel) I figured I'd better pick it up. The real find though was this on a w400 that had seen better days. Sorry to many KB's

Here is another picture showing the cylinder in mid stroke and the original (Monroe) drag link in the fully forward position. Not much room to the battery box!

This is the page on the Ross. I have the Ross up for a mockup. The ross is shorter than the Monroe and also uses a single stud in the cylinder rather than the through shaft and sturup like the Monroe. I had traded a parts M for some w400 parts a the like. In this pile was another Ross cylinder that had been grafted on another tractor. The drag link on the front axel and floor is off that tractor. If you look close, you can see a rod welded to the top and several breaks. They had moved the cylinder forward so that the Ross (shorter) ball joint went on the steering arm and mounted the other end to the clutch housing bolt holes. That's great until the tractor is turned hard left. The actuating stud in the cylinder ended up exactly where the tire was in the turn. In this spot, the tire may make the drag link self destruct!? I am moving the aft mounting back into the original location and will add to the front drag link to fit. I am also looking to see if I can rotate the stud to a vertical position to give the tire about 3 more inches in the turn.