Home on the Hill

Looking South East at 8 am. I managed to get Tom's skidsteer stuck in my driveway day before yesterday. Mine was out of commission with some intermittant problems. Yesterday morning we hooked the Drott skid shovel up to it and pulled it out. Hydraulic fluid was squirting out of a hose connection so I drove it the 7 K back to Tom's place. There we discovered the problem wasn't a broken hose but a leaky one. Easily fixed with a couple of twists of a wrench. Lesson learned: Look at things without assuming. My niece and her boyfriend, Brian, dropped by. Brian is a mechanic and he brought a tool case of automotive electrical connectors and wire. We cleaned up some of the wiring, dried out the distributor, taking care to ensure all the spark plug connectors were tight and Voila! I'm back in the snow removal business. We also put on a new set of heavy duty, spiked, equipment chains on the back tires. Huge difference. Once again the old adage: " you get what you p...

Skid Steer that is. I am having problems with the Case. Intermittent dying, Flat tire and no horsepower. The blown tire was the easiest to fix. Off to Burns Lake and they managed to get the tire back on the rim. The rim was bent so bad that I ordered a new one which should be in next week. It's going to need a couple of tires also but that might have to wait for summer at 300 bucks a pop. After I changed the tire I tried to start the machine so that I could install a chain that went missing. No go. Nada. Tried all the jiggling, swearing, kicking maneuvers I knew and --nothing. And of course equipment always breaks down in the middle of the road. Back into the house and Jo suggested trying to push the road open with the Drott. Because of a problem with the torque converter it will only run for about an hour and then it has no traction. But it started, reluctantly, and I was able to push a path to Savory road. So we can get out without chaining up. It wouldn't make it...