Don’t worry, just a little bump - $70 is just around the corner. Short traders just keep making those margin calls, mortgage the house if you have to. Fortunes await you! PO is for pansies and doomers. At $70 short some more ..... it is going back to $22 .... the world is awash with oil ........ reality has nothing to do with it, its all in those charts!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Went on another mini shopping session gathering a few staples, some extra and taking advantages on sale items. What I used to pick up occasionally is now on my watch list for sale day.
Tomorrow I'm working on my horse hay-mower at the place where I've been learning teamster work. I made up a new pitman the other night because that is the weak link in this mower. I want to start the day off right by not relying on that old weathered piece of ash. I didn't have any ash for mine so I used what I had which is white oak. The only difference between the ash and oak is that the oak my add a little draft to the mower because of the increased density and therefore weight of the pitman. Too bad it's going to rain or we might be able to take it out behind a team and clip some dandelions.
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 7:31 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
SpringCreekFarm,
Does your mower have a "truck" (pair of wheels) under the front to take the tongue weight? The Amish around here are adammant about using them, so I have added these wheels to quite few mowers. Without them, the whole weight of the mower is supported by the horses' necks via the tongue and neck yoke, resulting in ugly pressure sores on the horses necks with prolonged use. The collar first rubs the mane hair off, the makes a huge friction blister on top of their necks. Of course, we're talking about several days of hay mowing to do that, but the horses would appreciate relief from that weight.
The rig looks like the pair of wheels under a horse-drawn disc, and works the same way, on a pivot, with the tongue attached to the wheels to steer it all.
The same thinking is behind what is called a "stiff tongue" wagon, where the wagon tongue is self-supporting. _________________ Local fix-it guy..
Joined: Sep 16, 2007 Posts: 1093 Location: Oklahoma City, USA
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 12:18 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
mattduke wrote:
Rabbits ate my garden. I am learning lessons the hard way. Do I have to fence in my entire garden?
Looks like a mole or a gopher ate one of my cherry tomato plants last night. You have my sympathies. _________________ What, so I'm in no end game
Move my piece right off the board
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 11881 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 1:12 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Worked on fences; planted some squash and melons. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
Joined: Sep 04, 2005 Posts: 359 Location: central MA, USA
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:13 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Planted five hardy kiwi vines. Two edible honeysuckles. One serviceberry. Three more blueberries. Three more raspberries.
Re-potted a few dozen tomatoes, peppers, and cabbages under grow lights, that were outgrowing the little mini peat-pots they were started in. (Anyone have a soil blocker? The gizmos that squeeze a soil mix into cubes to plant in? Do they work well?)
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
In the last few days, planted some tomatoes, peppers, stevia, cilantro in containers on the deck. Got my order ready for the new chicks. Planted Mesclun inside (don't know how this will work...). Added some onions in the front flower bed...
Feeling like I need to do more. Not sure what... Can't have a garden here this year. So it's all container stuff.
Oh, also bought 5 boxes of canning jars at an auction for a steal!
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5095 Location: Oklahoma
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Planted more seedlings, got my 4 year old to help and he actually got into it this time. Joined the OK Food Cooperative. _________________ "Every junkie's like a setting sun..." - Neil Young
Joined: Dec 08, 2004 Posts: 1524 Location: Nez Perce Nation
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Sweet ride, Carlin, and Darlin' I hope he demonstrates his appreciation. _________________ "Modern Agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food."
-- Albert Bartlett
"It will be a dark time. But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting."
-- James Lovelock
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 4:14 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
LOL yes, DA he does show his appreciation. Yesterday he helped me load and carry half a ton of feed for my goats to storage till it's used, then he moved all the blocks for the foundation of the new room we're adding on from the front yard to the back yard (at least another ton of weight). Don't know if he'll be able to walk today, but he worked his hiney off. That is, in between stops to show off the new bike to his buddies.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:23 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
patience wrote:
SpringCreekFarm,
Does your mower have a "truck" (pair of wheels) under the front to take the tongue weight? The Amish around here are adammant about using them, so I have added these wheels to quite few mowers. Without them, the whole weight of the mower is supported by the horses' necks via the tongue and neck yoke, resulting in ugly pressure sores on the horses necks with prolonged use. The collar first rubs the mane hair off, the makes a huge friction blister on top of their necks. Of course, we're talking about several days of hay mowing to do that, but the horses would appreciate relief from that weight.
The rig looks like the pair of wheels under a horse-drawn disc, and works the same way, on a pivot, with the tongue attached to the wheels to steer it all.
The same thinking is behind what is called a "stiff tongue" wagon, where the wagon tongue is self-supporting.
I've used the tongue truck on disc harrows but not the hay mower. Funny you mention it actually because that was a concern of mine as well. McCormick Deering took that into account and according to their documentation and from reading the Mower Book by Lynn Miller, if you properly tune the mower, there is minimal weight on the neck yoke. What I mean by tune is this: Make sure the tongue end is 31 inches from the ground when hitched, ensure a cutter bar lead of 1.25 to 1.5 inches and make sure that all points of friction are minimized. According to Lynn Miller, you can tell that your mower is set correctly when you notice the neck yoke ring "floating" instead of clearly being a burden on the horse. This is all while the horses are moving forward. My mower is setup with a steel tractor tongue for now but there was another No 9 mower at the farm with a horse-drawn tongue on it so we tried some experiments. ( It's funny you mention this as it is like you're reading my mind.) I sat on the mower and my friend raised the tongue up to the 31" inches and found the weight to be negligible but still a weight. Certainly no big deal for draft horses. Apparently the geometry of the mower is designed so that in fact there is very little weight on the horses and I could easily see that yesterday during our experiments.
When using a 3 or more horse hitch, a tongue truck is used and is listed as an accessory.
As far as my assessing and doing some repair work yesterday, I must say it went very well and I was very pleased with the results. My oak pitman installed with ease and I found my mower in suprisingly good condition for something that has been manufactured during WWII. We had it up on jack stands and found all points of wear to be very sound. The bushings and bearings were very tight, the ratchet and pawls which drive the mower mechanism were snappy and worked well. The knife was slightly rust bonded to the cutter bar but came loose with a little tap of a hammer and moved freely with a little grease. After the complete pre-flight check we tested out the drive mechanism and it worked smoothly and without any indication of much wear and certainly there were no rough spots. The gearbox has a heavy gear oil in it, probably a 90 weight oil which I want to change out for a lighter oil. According to the Mower Book, which was written specifically for the model I'm using, the No 9, recommends a non-foaming 10W hoist oil. Anyone have any idea where I should look for that?
A great day and a great result and a great mower. I was a little nervous paying $850 for a mower that looked good but was untested but now I'm confident that I bought a gem. It very well may have came from a farm near some of you folks in the USA because it came from the Waverley sale in Iowa. Happy day.....for a change. If it hadn't rained yesterday, we would have been out cutting some grass and testing it behind a forecart. Instead we drove around Mennonite ( Amish ) country in Waterloo county and checked out a few harness shops and such. As I said...happy day.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:01 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
SpringCreekFarm,
You've done your homework. Good job! On the oil, I'd want to try Mobil 1 75/90W Synthetic. That stuff makes a world of difference in my truck trans and rear end (+2mpg), and the worm drive on my steel bandsaw (no wear, no heat). Love that stuff! If you choose it, wash out the old stuff with diesel, mineral spriits, etc., because that old gear lube had something like asphalt in it for high pressure characteristics.
The anti-wear properties of synthetics are such that a friend of mine had to replace it in his car engine, with cheap motor oil to develope enough friction to get the rings to seat! After about 3,000 miles with cheap oil in it, it stops using oil so he put the synthetic back in and drove it for 200,000 miles with regular 6,000 mile changes. Stilll in great shape when he got tired of it and traded cars.
The only downside that I can think of is that there were essentially no seals in those old mowers, as we know them today, so you might get leakage with synthetic oil. If so, I'd go back to petroleum oil with about 10% STP in it. The viscosity will reduce leakage, and the STP will keep the gears well coated. Can't get that stuff off when you WANT too.
Good luck! Wish I could participate! _________________ Local fix-it guy..
Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1196 Location: Burgundy, France
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
This weekend I've planted a couple of fig trees, an olive tree (against a south-facing wall), some hazel nut trees, and some rosemary (as well as some girlie flowers for Mrs P). I also weeded the strawberries and cut the grass (about one acre) and planted some veg in trays.
It's been a balmy 27 degrees C here this weekend. Lovely _________________ All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. - Buddha
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:41 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Picked up a couple of meat-grinders from a country flea-market yesterday, for $8. It's been years since I went to a flea-market - lots of interesting stuff, though.
Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
I'm still gathering materials. Hauled home 134 used concrete blocks this weekend, and in my old S-10 pickup, that meant 4 trips. I'm pooped. _________________ Local fix-it guy..
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Yep he's proud - and he has the best wife on the planet! 
