More stuff, no writing done today
Sep. 6th, 2007 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoGot up, fed critters, had breakfast, went out to unload the hay that was delivered late yesterday only to find that one tire on the hay rack had gone flat overnight. OK, obviously there is 4.5 tons of hay on this thing, we aren't jacking it up that way nor are we even trying to reinflate the tire with our tiny compressor. So we unload the hay and stack it as planned.
Two sweaty, sometimes scary hours later, hay is all stacked. The wagon was listing so badly toward the flat that I was afraid it might tip over as it was loaded right to the top and just barely clearing the rafters in the arena (16 or 18 feet, I forget which.) Once it was almost empty, I noticed it clunking back and forth when I moved from one side to the other, like a table with one short leg. Eew.
Got out the truck jack, a jackstand, and the compressor only to find that there was no valve on the tire. What? Oh, wait, it's on the inside of the wheel. Checked all the others and they were in the normal position, outside. Hmmm, I never had a dualie truck but this must be a wheel off the inside rear of one I guess. Set up the truck jack to try to lift the wagon to level at least to make the job easier. Whoa, we're lifting the body of the wagon right off the axles. Apparently it sits on there loose, like a railroad car on its trucks. OK, call up Jeff, the hay guy who owns the wagon. Fortunately he was there to answer his phone and not out in the field somewhere. He told us where to put the jack and said it would hold air long enough for him to haul it home if we could pump it up.
So, checked the pressure in the other tires to see what the bad one should be, and tried to pump it back up. It went up all right, but you could hear air hissing out as soon as the compressor was unhooked. Turned out to be coming from the valve stem. Pouring water over it showed it was leaking around the base, so there was no point in hunting for a replacement core or the valve core wrench (goddess knows where those are.) Called up Jeff again and convinced him that we couldn't repair it here. Did he have a spare wheel and tire? Yes, he'd bring it over. Well, Gary had to go to the optometrist so that had to wait until after.
Cleaned up, went to Crystal Lake, got Gary's new glasses and had them adjusted, had lunch, made several expensive stops for animal stuff at PetSmart, Farm & Fleet, and Woodstock Feed, then back home to finish barn chores.
Half hour after we got home, Jeff and his son arrived with the spare. Since we had the wagon already jacked up and braced with a jackstand, the wheel swap took only a few minutes. Then the four of us maneuvered the empty hay rack back out of the arena to where they could hitch up and take it away. Lost time: he had a second load ready for us, but Gary had told him not to bring it until we got the empty out of the arena. So he'll bring the load tomorrow afternoon if it isn't raining at his place or ours (they are about six miles away, just enough for a difference.)
Tomorrow? The hay bill [shudder.] Tonight? Finish up some spinning show loose ends. Have to do that before anything else. A knitted piece in silk handspun needs dyeing and must dry before dropping it off for the show.
Two sweaty, sometimes scary hours later, hay is all stacked. The wagon was listing so badly toward the flat that I was afraid it might tip over as it was loaded right to the top and just barely clearing the rafters in the arena (16 or 18 feet, I forget which.) Once it was almost empty, I noticed it clunking back and forth when I moved from one side to the other, like a table with one short leg. Eew.
Got out the truck jack, a jackstand, and the compressor only to find that there was no valve on the tire. What? Oh, wait, it's on the inside of the wheel. Checked all the others and they were in the normal position, outside. Hmmm, I never had a dualie truck but this must be a wheel off the inside rear of one I guess. Set up the truck jack to try to lift the wagon to level at least to make the job easier. Whoa, we're lifting the body of the wagon right off the axles. Apparently it sits on there loose, like a railroad car on its trucks. OK, call up Jeff, the hay guy who owns the wagon. Fortunately he was there to answer his phone and not out in the field somewhere. He told us where to put the jack and said it would hold air long enough for him to haul it home if we could pump it up.
So, checked the pressure in the other tires to see what the bad one should be, and tried to pump it back up. It went up all right, but you could hear air hissing out as soon as the compressor was unhooked. Turned out to be coming from the valve stem. Pouring water over it showed it was leaking around the base, so there was no point in hunting for a replacement core or the valve core wrench (goddess knows where those are.) Called up Jeff again and convinced him that we couldn't repair it here. Did he have a spare wheel and tire? Yes, he'd bring it over. Well, Gary had to go to the optometrist so that had to wait until after.
Cleaned up, went to Crystal Lake, got Gary's new glasses and had them adjusted, had lunch, made several expensive stops for animal stuff at PetSmart, Farm & Fleet, and Woodstock Feed, then back home to finish barn chores.
Half hour after we got home, Jeff and his son arrived with the spare. Since we had the wagon already jacked up and braced with a jackstand, the wheel swap took only a few minutes. Then the four of us maneuvered the empty hay rack back out of the arena to where they could hitch up and take it away. Lost time: he had a second load ready for us, but Gary had told him not to bring it until we got the empty out of the arena. So he'll bring the load tomorrow afternoon if it isn't raining at his place or ours (they are about six miles away, just enough for a difference.)
Tomorrow? The hay bill [shudder.] Tonight? Finish up some spinning show loose ends. Have to do that before anything else. A knitted piece in silk handspun needs dyeing and must dry before dropping it off for the show.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-07 12:16 am (UTC)Yes, only gravity keeps the body on.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-07 12:26 am (UTC)Yeah, he loads them right up, using the random stacking method which means taking the load apart is like playing pick up sticks. For a while I have to consider just which bale to pull out first so that the whole four tons won't fall on my head at once. After I get access to the interior of the load, then I can climb up top and start throwing bales down from there. His baler is adjusted to make tight, heavy bales, too. Sometimes each one weighs 50 lbs. or more. If they fall on you it feels like being hit by concrete blocks. We've bought hay from others when he was out, but you definitely get more for your dollar from Jeff. He charges the same per bale rate as everyone else, but the bales have 20-30% more hay in them.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-07 01:20 am (UTC)Our hay wagons are a bunch of real wrecks. But, we have a lot of them.
Quantity, not quality.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-07 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 08:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-11 11:06 am (UTC)*bounds amongst the hay anyway*