What a day.... Murphy is alive and well.

Got off a midnight shift and made my usual loop to check the horses before going to bed. I forgot to leave hay and water by one pasture yesterday (for my pass this morning), so went home and loaded a bale of hay and 15 gal of water on the ATV and went back. The pasture is on a hillside that bottoms out in a creek with about 60 feet of brush, thorns, etc. I was beat and in a hurry, so jumped off the quad, grabbed the hay and was giving it to the horses when I caught something from the corner of my eye. Looked around to see the quad riding off into the sunset (or creekbottom). Took a second to realize what was happening, catching it wasn't an option. Walked down the hill halfway hoping it had lost momentum short of the bottom. Remember Murphy? Looked like a wagon train massacre from a western movie. Spent the rest of the morning and half the afternoon in a major recovery operation :roll:
Had to walk a mile to the house and get the kia and a rope. Getting it out was no problem and there was no damage, just my highly organized storage unit (junk box) came off and scattered stuff and 3 water cans through about 20 feet of thorns and nettle.
On the bright side, it was a beautiful morning and I got plenty of exercise.

Have a good day,


Dave

Wonderful story. Confirms that there really is someone that's worse off that you are. I feel better already.

Glad you could see the humor and share it.

murphy has not been by to visit in awhile. good to hear that no major damage happened. also a good reminder for me cause i just started a 12 hour shift and had plans for the morning, i think i will just go home and go to sleep.
thanks for the story
larry cook

15 minutes yesterday sure would have saved me a bunch of grief.... I'll be shutting off the motor and setting the brake no matter how short my stops are from now on.



Dave

Tell me about it. I had that all last week. Was moving round bales of corn stalks Wednesday. Loaded 6. Backed up and the 1020 Deere wouldn't turn. Steering wheel just went around and around. Went home and got some wrenches,took the steering unit off and there was a rod broken at the bottom of the unit. Took it almost all the way apart but couldn't get the last part off that needed to come off. 35 miles to the Deere dealer so they could get it apart with a special tool,then they didn't have the part. Got it back together Thursday afternoon,took it home,loaded feed with it Friday morning.Took it back to the field,loaded 15 bales and the center broke out of a front wheel. That tire was checked pretty bad and covered with manure,so I brushed the one off on the other side to see what size it was and there was a cut in the sidewall,tube sticking out. Farming sure is fun ain't it?

Dave: Sorry about hijacking your thread--a guy in the Netherlands has posted (Antq Auto/Tk Eng forum on smokstak) that he"s got a Wauk SRKS, a 30"s-?? 517ci truck/eqpmt engine that apparently came over during or after WWII.
Just off the top of your head, is there an old engine etc group there that"d be someone for him to contact? It"d be a shame to see it scrapped.
Feel free to reply to [email protected], or to post on smokstak (don"t know if his email there is open).
No reply nec if nothing comes to mind. Many thxx!! Bud

Found that out the week before last. The 1850 Oliver sat in the tool shed with front tire pretty much flat. I didn't want to drag a jack down there and take it off with a 4 way. Thought I could get it to the shop. Had to turn it to get out around the baler tongue. The flat tire flipped the wheel back over center and broke the center steering arm. Had to fix the tire right there,buy a new steering arm,pull the radiator to get it in there. All to try to save 10 minutes work. Should have just taken the seats off both of those tractors to match the loss of steering. Lost my *ss and had no where to turn.

2 weeks ago, I had a wagon loaded (overloaded) with clay roof shingles heading to the recycle dump 6 miles away. No place to get off the road between home and there because they are beautifying the shoulders and the ground is too soft. About a mile out, going through an intersection, "POP".
Flat tire with nowhere to go and no spare, Figured I'd just limp it along until I was able to find a get off spot. No place to get off, so I limped along and was just 50 meters from the gate of the dump and a parking area when then allxe busted loose. The extra trip with a safe load would have been less work than what I ended up doing. Still have to drive 120 miles RT to get an axle and weld it on also.

Dave

He will get to you, but at the moment he is visiting my place,unwelcome but doesn't seem to listen.

Know what you mean. Finally got the hard-to-find lower brake return springs for my '51 International half-ton, so I was in a hurry to finish the rear brake job I'd started sometime back. Went to remove the right wheel cylinder, and couldn't find a flare-nut [fitting] wrench...must've loaned them to my son. So I made a trip to town for the flare-nut wrench. Put that on the brake line at the wheel cylinder, and still managed to take the corners off the fitting. So I went for my Vise-Grips...son must have them, too. Another trip to town for a pair of Vise-Grips...then still couldn't budge the fitting.

So I decided to take the already-needing-repaired brake line off at the junction block on the rear end, and just pull the whole line through the backing plate. Managed to twist the apparently-rotten brake line in two, but I managed to get the old wheel cylinder off.

Good news is, I have new shoes installed with all new wheel cylinders, springs, hardware, adjusters, and new drums. Bad news is, I still have to make another trip into town to get a replacement steel line before I can bleed the brakes and see if I have problems anywhere else in the system. Good news is, truck is sitting on concrete pad instead of gravel driveway. Bad news is, it's still outside,and they're talking highs in the low 40's and rain or snow through the weekend.

(quoted from post at 00:14:08 11/12/08) Bad news is, it's still outside,and they're talking highs in the low 40's and rain or snow through the weekend.

Click to expand...

Everyone laughed at the old guy that worked on the township machinery back home cause he had a hog heating pad/mat on his creaper and drug a cord around with him. Guess he had the right idea.

Dave

He stopped for a visit here Monday night. I was disking cornstalks with the 1850 and came in about 6 for supper and when I went back out, New front tire was flat. Had to jack up other 1850 and take tire off and change it the dark. Looks like a cornstalk poked hole in it. Guess it was better than being out in the field and haveing to walk back to the house in the dark. Chris

Let's all write letters to Congress asking them to repeal Murphy's Law.

Was able to keep Murphy at bay for the whole day yesterday. Perfect opportunity for him, too- spent the day cutting and trimming rubber stall mats for the new horse stalls, with a new blade in a utility knife. Pleased to report that all fingers and thumbs came through it in one piece! Guess I'm getting a little more cautious in my old age.