Winter is Still not Done!

Six days ago, I posted that we got some snow. Well, that melted in the sun a day or so later. It snowed most of yesterday. I was out in the driveway this morning and stuck the ruler in the snow. We picked up another 4" of the darn white stuff!



John warned me that the riding season this far north was a month or so shorter than "down in the cities", I guess you were right!

I measured the snow depth in the front yard, being careful to stay away from any snow blower throwings. It varied between 11" to 16".


I have things I want to do in the woods behind the house, but I don't know if the snow will ever go away. I'm hoping that it starts to warm up soon. My fire wood piles are disappearing quickly. It wasn't long ago and the garage racks were full!

NOW...


12-4-12


This is gone...


And so is the pile on the right!


Martha has been posting about her frustration with the 24 page guide to garbage that the city of Madison had provided. She posted a link to an on-line copy of it. I read it and found it to be a mind numbing, complex, treatise of what you can and can't do with garbage... So I thought I'd post a little about rural life waste disposal.

We have no curbside service here. If you want to dispose of something, you have to take it to the dump. Actually, the township refers to it as their "recycling center", I guess that sounds better than "dump". As you can see, it's only open a few hours on 2 days of the week.



Here's an aerial view of the place, thanks Google Maps!



It's on a small section of land, fenced off from the rest of the county's sand pits and equipment storage areas. The attending employee usually sits in the little shed by the driveway. The township charges $3.50 for each bag of garbage and no fees for recycles. They also sell very large and heavy duty bags at $2.00 for 10. There are 3 large containers for garbage and a long row of smaller containers for single stream recycling. Next to the shed is a small container for aluminum cans. They ask that you please separate the aluminum from the rest of the recycles. Off to the side, by the fence is a large 30 yard roll off container for dropping off steel and other metal items. I've rescued a few things from there, like my old pieces of tin roofing that I use to cover my outdoor wood piles. They accept old TV and such, for a fee, and don't charge you to drop off tree trimmings.

Martha, one thing we get at our "dump" that you probably don't have to worry about, is Bears. The containers are secured when the recycling center is not open, but the smells still attract them. The woman that usually runs the place has scared off more than a few! Pretty easy and laid back... not all up-tight and complex like Dane County/Madison!!

Recycle...


Garbage...

Work Continues on the Allis-Chalmers B...

I spent most of the day out in the garage. I continued to strip items off the engine block in preparation of removing the engine. I removed the wiring harness, grill, radiator, throttle rod, distributor, governor, oil filter mount, generator bracket, steering rod... I loosened the front axle mounting bolts and mounted the wood braces that will support the other half of the tractor once the engine is off. My buddy John made a couple of nifty aluminum plates that I screwed to some sections of 2 x 4s. Then the whole thing gets bolted to the clutch housing.

The last thing I did tonight was drain the engine oil. That was interesting! I knew there was going to be water in the oil, but I had no idea how much! I used the standard oil drain pan, and when I pulled the plug, clear water ran out first. When the oil started, I quickly put the plug back in. I had 1½ inches of water in my drain pan! The oil that I drained had an unusual look to it, almost caramel colored.

It will be good to finally get a look inside.



Maybe I'll have the engine off the tractor and mounted on an engine stand by the weekend...

Winter's not Done Yet!!

Winter is determined to stick it out and is going down swinging! I know that Spring will eventually win the battle, but it looks like it won't be until late in the 12th round.

We just picked up 3 or 4 more inches of heavy wet snow.




A few more pictures from this morning.... our yard...

Rudy...


Sticky...


Snow and Ice...




So how different is this Spring from last year??

These are from 4-17-2012.. note the lack of snow and ice! I don't think it will look like this in 10 more days!



One more comparison...

Last year, first ride... 3-13-12



This year, first ride... 3-29-13

The First Ride of the 2013 Season!

The riding gods were smiling today! Weather.com said it was 41º, the outdoor thermometer at our house said 56º. The driveway was almost ice/snow free, but very, very soft. I knew I had to do it!! So I rolled the Wr250X out of the garage, fired it up and let it warm up a bit while I checked the tires and put on my gear. I headed for town to fill the tank with a bit of fresh gas. If it was under 50º, I didn't notice, it felt much warmer.

I circled Lake Namekagon and stopped along the way for a few pictures.

The Great Divide...

The ice is still thick. A couple of people were out fishing...


Lane markers and traffic signs on the ice?


The Maple sap is flowing and being collected...


The public access looks more like a freeway entrance ramp...


It was nice to finally get out and ride. Fresh air and sunshine!! I needed this, winter has been here for too long!!

Spring has Sprung!

I don't want to jump the gun and speak too soon, but today the weather is nicer than it's been in a long time. The forecast high for Friday is near 50ºF(10ºC). Yesterday, the township had a large front end loader out and they scraped the accumulated ice and snow off the side roads. All that prevents me from getting a bike out is the icy wet driveway!



A few more days of strong sunshine or a day of rain and my driveway will be clear. It might take a little longer for it to dry out and firm up. Maybe I'll try and get the Wr250X out for a ride Friday.

There was a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the back yard today. I don't know how to determine their sex, but I'm guessing there was some flirting going on. They were hopping from tree to tree, one chasing the other.



Last week, Nancy and I were down in the "cities". We stopped by to see my riding buddy John, and his wife, Wendie. John and I had been talking on the phone about pulling the engine off the tractor. I had been telling him about needing some way to support the tractor after I removed the front axle. Whatever I used would also have to support the transmission after the engine was removed. On both sides of the tractor, at the end of what Allis-Chalmers calls the "torque tube", or clutch housing, are 2 threaded 5/8" holes. I had given John the dimensions over the phone and we had talked about a reinforcing plate and lengths of 2x4's. John, the craftsman that he is, came up with a perfectly fitting aluminum plate, and a bag of hardware.

The plate...


Plate placed over the threaded rod studs on the left side... The plate will be attached to a correct length of 2x4, then tightened down to the studs.


The engine separates from the clutch housing, AKA "torque tube" right in front of the plate. I'll take plenty of pictures when I get things set up to pull the engine. It will be clearer then.

In the mean time, I wait patiently for more warm weather!!

Say Hello to Big Brutus...

This winter weather is really getting to me. I'm starting to suffer from PMS (parked motorcycle syndrome).

Today, I was sitting in my office looking at the display boards I made. I used 26" x 19" poster frames and added different things to them so I can recall each years rides just by looking at them. 10 years on one board and the other is still being added to.


I was noticing one of the pins.


It's one I picked up at the Big Brutus Visitor Center in West Mineral, Kansas. In 2009, my ridding buddy, John, and I were on our way back from the Southern FJR Owners Rally in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I wanted to make a side trip to see Big Brutus. It took us a little out of our way, but not too far.
Big Brutus is a Bucyrus-Erie, 1850B, electric shovel. It weighs 11 million pounds, and was shipped to the area on 150 rail cars in 1962. It's not the largest electric shovel ever built, but it's the largest electric shovel still in existence. The unit is 160 tall, and the bucket holds 90 cubic yards. It was all electric powered and had what was basically a long 7,200 volt extension cord behind it. It was operated by the Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Mining Company until 1974. It's now a museum dedicated to the coal mining history of southeast Kansas.
For a small admission fee, you get a fact sheet, and get to walk through the insides of Big Brutus on a self guided tour.


It's hard to get a feel for just how big Big Brutus is, maybe this will help.. Look at the people coming down the stairs...


One more picture of the bucket. I didn't take this photo, I found it on Google Images. It's from a Kansas tourism web site, so I hope it's ok to use their photo...

Interesting info can be found HERE.