Machinery Shennanigans

Machines can be fun. The guys who dropped off the excavator for Jason finally came to reclaim their equipment.

I noticed the keys were still in it and had to fight the urge to take it for a spin all weekend.

A younger me would of. My older, wiser self is only 25% sad.

Though I wonder if an even older me would've hopped in, turned the key, and "taught the young'ins a lesson!"

The replacement part should arrive soon for the spreader. Things were going too well, so it was about time something went wrong. Shane was talking me ears off about ants while I was cutting the old twine. One string got stuck, so I lifted the boom to get at it and gravity took over!

I didn't get a picture of the hopper laying down, boom straight in the air, because I was too busy righting it and trying to prevent all the crap from careening out!

I asked Shane to get me a fork to scoop it up. He got one...and then talked me ear off about the "nuptial flights" that lead to a new nest being formed.

I was nearly done (and he was talking about how the queen ant may need to go without food for a week) when I asked, "Were you planning on talking and watching me work the whole time or helping?"

It was talking. Definitely talking. He kept at it when I started to retie the hopper to the hitch.

I decided to experiment. I wanted to see if I could get away with only using one piece of twine and if there was a way to tie it to allow for a better turn radius.

I tied a couple of twine in the old style just in case my masterplan turned into a fool's debacle.

It pulled well, but somehow we ran out of yard before all the poop was deposited. It was the front's turn for a deposit and I had to put the brakes on when we hit the driveway.

What we found was surprising. 

And just in case it's not obvious....

The bottom and back drained while somehow the front defied gravity. Not only that, it formed a pact with a stripe down the middle to build a bridge.....all in the shape of a capital T. 

What that means, I couldn't tell you.

I can tell you I was wise to tie my failsafe twines. Those two twines held up while my experiment with the hitch failed.

Those failsafe twines held up when Carrie and I did a final run in the dark. The remnants of Hurricane Zeta were expected to pass through and we wanted to scoop and spread all we could before it became a cold, wet, muddy mess. 

Loki was the only loser in our efforts. I threw him in the tack room both runs to keep him from trying to herd the gator. The second time, I had to run inside the moment we were done to start Wednesday Night Work hours.

I was talking to kids and Burrough when Carrie opened the door about an hour later. "Did you ever let Loki out?" She asked.

Whoops. Sorry, bud.

Chores, work, more chores, and then more work! It's a busy season. Things should slow down next week. Ernie will start to transition out of stall rest, I'll fix the spreader, and there will be two less days of virtual class. I'm almost caught back up on the blog, too!