Brakes, Breaks and Breakthrough

Friday was brutally hot and I had errands to run late in the day. I planned on letting Max out of his cage for the couple, three hours that I would be gone. I know, taking a chance.

I got the errands sorted out, but didn't get back until after he arrived home. So, what happened? A pillow was knocked off my chaise next to the book shelf. Really, that's it? Wow, the dude is growing up!

The flatbed trailer had an issue with the right front wheel. He had ordered parts from the manufacturer, and while he was complaining that the parts would probably show up next week the UPS guy pulls into the drive way. Just like Christmas!

(Before)

(After)

Still blazing hot, he sets up the beach umbrella on the trailer and swapped out the parts, packed the new bearings ring and put it all together. The casualty of this episode is that the truck's ABS sensor blew. It was not a fuse, it wasn't the ABS, it was the sensor. He found one at the local Ford dealer, to be picked up in the morning.

Still blazing hot, and so humid my hair looked like a witch's coif. We ate outside, don't know why, and he didn't resume moving stone dust to the new run-in shed. It will be cooler in the morning, in the shade.

We decided not to ride Saturday because it was too hot, we had plenty to do around here, and Sunday would be a better riding day. We were going to the Ford dealer, which was near the grocery store and we would make a loop back home. Easy, right? You'd be wrong. We again left Max out for the time we'd be gone.

The Ford dealer was not manned properly for Saturday parts commerce. Unfortunately he wasted a good half hour and still didn't have the part in his hand. The final blow was the line jumper that butted in front and got waited on. What a waste of time that was! We stopped by the grocery store and headed home to put things away. Max was good as gold.

He called around, found the part in the exact opposite direction that we had traveled in the morning. Left Max out, again, and headed out, again. Blazing hot, the car said it was 91 degrees. Scorcher.

We got the part, went to Southern States Cooperative. He got a bag of Orchard Grass mix for the bare spots that have been created in the new fields from ditch fill-in and groundhog eradication methods. Got more bombs, too.

Once again, Max was an angel. He didn't even know we were gone. He then was going to spread manure, but the chain broke, again! He used the rolling magnet to find the two pieces of the master link in the high grass. Darn! Right after that the lawn mower wouldn't start. We have a new battery. Apparently the solenoid has failed and is not allowing the battery to charge while the mower is running.

We had actually planned on doing a number of things but with all the time wasted and the equipment failing, we didn't get much done on the list. We also need to do something else for manure management besides filling the spreader until it is full.

He wanted to move on to moving some more stone dust, and while he was doing that one of the hydraulic lines burst.

Like rupturing a major artery, the fluid spurt out at high pressure, nearly hitting him as he sat in the seat, and spraying hydraulic oil on the tires, the bucket, the tractor's hood - everywhere. Darn!