Like a Flash

This time of year it almost seems like all I do is work and to an extent that would be true.  Whether it is working at my day job, helping Allyssia in the barn, or working on getting ready for winter I am always busy.  Since my last blog post I have worked late almost every night and some on the weekends.  Sometimes at work though I come across things that spark my interest and in some cases go home with them. 

Anyone that doesn't know I absolutely love old records, especially old country western swing.  This particular customer had happened to be at the dump at the same time that a radio station was cleaning out their old records and he took them all.  While I was working I noticed the shelves full of albums and inquired.  I was handed a box and told to help myself!

In just a few minutes I had a box full with some awesome records such as these!  I was invited back when I am free to look through and save some more old records!  Stay tuned and if you stop by the record player will probably be turning because I have a lot of vinyl to listen to. 

Now entering Heating Season

Since last weekend where I was on call for work I have worked quite a few extra hours.  As a plumbing and heating technician the fall season coming into winter is our busiest season.  With the cold and holidays fast approaching everyone wants their work done quick.  For me that means that in the coming weeks I will do any thing from furnace cleanings to new installs and everything in between.  Even with working 10-12 hour days I still managed to get a little bit done this week.  I have slowly continued the momentum on getting the Oliver running. 

The fuel tank is installed with new lines and an inline filter.  The drive line is all set with the universals all greased and new cotter pins.  I even have the new radiator hoses in and the whole block and radiator full with no leaks.  This has been an extremely slow process but we are coming to a close with the last thing being the carburetor.  Hopefully next post will be me driving around the driveway with the Oliver. 

And here we are back on the idea that winter is coming.  I did my final sickle mowing this weekend in the high winds and decided to put Old Smokey under cover for the winter.  I left the sickle mower attached but removed the pitman arm for the winter.  On our last list of winterizing projects for the winter we tried to incorporate all of our chickens together.

We have six that are older and only lay a few eggs here and there.  We were afraid that they would freeze by themselves in the outside coop on wheels so we moved them into the big coop. They don't seem to be fighting but you can see that they are all in one box except for the one that decided the lamp was the best perch.  Over all myself and Allyssia have been super busy, so don't forget to check back often.  If you are on Facebook check us out there as I sometimes post little bits on my page when I don't have the time or a laptop to do a full blog post. 

The Oliver in Reverse

As everything else around here, the Oliver is moving in the same slow succession as all of my other projects.  It has started it's move back to being a whole crawler again.  With the help of the finest assistant possible I have finally lowered the engine back in the engine bay. 

Allyssia just happens to be the best jack, and engine hoist operator.  It is so much easier to work with her running the hoist and with me under the tractor getting the bolts lined up and in.  It is always great having Allyssia help as she adds a great commentary to the work at hand, and shes pretty handy handing tools to me too.

I also have Cricket to come help and sit in the light. 
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I currently have the engine in and full of antifreeze but I had a few leaks so tomorrow I will get some new radiator hose and clamps to fix it up.  There also was a slight leak on the oil pan that I JB welded and as of now it is holding oil.  I hope to have the carburetor cleaned and ready to install very soon.  Stay tuned for more fun and soon to be a running crawler. 
Also, more home improvements are coming with the porch and the new boiler!

The Bulldog that isn't a Dog

In almost 100 blog posts I don't think that I have really mentioned how much I love the old Hit and miss engines until the last few where my blog has been inundated with pictures of hit and miss engines.  Well if you were expecting today to be any different you would be wrong, because not only did I get another hit and miss engine but I got one attached to a big old saw!

So this is a 4 hp Bulldog attached to a cord wood saw.  On top of my many other projects I now want to build a shed for this to go in as well as a few other hit and miss powered tools.  Judging by the size of this saw set up the shed is going to have to be pretty darn big.  Thursday I went and picked this rig up and ended up just unloading it in the driveway due to my brother needing the trailer.  I was not going to do much to it right off but with it sitting there I just had to play around with it.  The engine had been sitting for 3 years or so but needed very little.  I hooked a battery on, cleaned the contacts on the buzz coil, primed it and she fired right up.  Here is a video of me starting and running it with the saw after it warmed up a little bit.
                                                               Bulldog and Saw Rig
At the moment I have only been cutting up some junk 2x4's but it used to get used cutting up slabs from a sawmill.  The engine needs a little cleaning up and I plan on pressure washing it when I have the pressure washer going next. Stay tuned and check back often for more fun!

The Reliance Line

In my last post I showed off a little snippet of my Reliance air cooled hit and miss engine.  Today I decided was a perfect day for a nice walk around video.  The start up in the video was the first start of the day and as always it started up flawlessly. 
                                                          Reliance Hit and Miss
Hope you all enjoy the video and stay tuned for more.  If anyone has requests on a tractor or engine that they want to see a walk around leave me a comment and let me know!

Pumpkins and Engines and Saws oh my.

Long post coming at you today so bear with me and just keep reading.  After my last Blog post I fell into a bit of a rut not wanting to sit behind my computer because that would have required me cleaning my desk and I did not want to clean it.  I did finally clean my desk off and am home from my vacation..  Between the last post and this one some fun stuff has happened.  First off I was the lone exhibitor of antique engines at the local Apple Pumpkin Festival! 

As usual the Quadractor appears at almost all shows with me as well at the model headless Witte, but there is a new old face here too.  On the front of the trailer is probably my favorite engine I own and it came from none other than Grampa.  This engine is a 5 horse power air cooled hit and miss engine.  It is probably one of the best running, easiest starting hit and miss engines I have had the pleasure of starting.  Now after the show it came to it's new home because it had been stored at Grampa's but he wants the room in his garage for other things.

Grampa also sent me with this cart to roll it around my garage, making it easier to move.  I will have a good video of the air cooled starting and running in another post but for now pictures are all you get. After an awesome day at the show Saturday and a relaxed day cleaning the yard up on Sunday Allyssia and I headed out on vacation!!!! We went away for our two year anniversary, which has been two years of Allyssia asking "but don't you already have a tractor like that?" and me explaining why I need another one!  For our anniversary we went to the Freyburg fair and North Conway.

We went for Woodsman's day on Monday and got rained on for part of the day but it was not overly bad.  Day two was wet and cold all day but the plus side was that there weren't many people there and when watching the pulling the grandstands had plenty of seating.  Wednesday Luckily was a beautiful day for us to wander North Conway and see all of the little shops.  We don't usually buy much at the shops but this time we found all kinds of things that we both loved!

Allyssia's and my stuff can easily be told apart because most everything I got was tea or tea related.  I am very into tea, especially loose leaf tea that I can steep myself.  So at all the shops I picked up three different kinds of tea, a new tea mug, and a new steeping pot! After wandering around long enough we headed for home.  After being gone for just three days it is so nice to be home and see Cricket, Emily, Parker, and the horses again. 

So on my farm Facebook page I posted a picture that was going to lead into tonight's blog but I can not get my video to upload so that part of the blog will become its own post, besides I have rambled on long enough for one night.  Be sure to join in next time and leave a comment because I love hearing from you all.