Parts Tractor Part II

The parts tractor is slowly moving from a big part in the drive to small parts in the garage.

 

Lee is removing things and then cataloging and shelving them.  This is a laborious process, but he seems to like it. He is also looking up the parts numbers and making sure they are marked on the individual part.  He has a list on the computer.  Who is the librarian (library assistant) here??

 

He put one part on craigslist as a test to see if there are clamoring hoards of people looking for Daedong tractor parts.  So far, they are controlling themselves.  Or maybe a new old tractor part doesn't make for an exciting Christmas gift.

 

Then he used our working tractor to remove parts from the donor tractor.  There is, perhaps, a metaphor here, but I can't think of one. 

 

But there is something strange about harvesting your own organs for a possible future transplant that sounds like the beginning of a horror movie.  Or an episode of a medical drama, after they have jumped the shark.

 

The process is almost finished.  Then he will start looking for another project.  On the bright side, it is getting darn cold (21° Fahrenheit last week) so that may push him inside, where car and tractor parts aren't allowed.

 

Parts Tractor

Have you heard of a parts car?  That is when someone buys a not very good car with some good parts to use to fix up their pretty good car.  Well, Lee just bought a parts tractor.

We bought a tractor when we first moved here.  It was necessary to help clear the land for use, move boulders, sand, gravel and other tractory things.  We have lots of steep hills, so we needed one with a pretty big engine and 4 wheel drive.  We knew nothing about tractors, except the pretty green ones (John Deere) are very expensive.  We found a guy about 1 1/2 hours away that had a wide variety of used tractors and bought one from him. 

This was a Daedong tractor from Korea.  They don't make them anymore, but he assured us he could get parts, usually from Kioti, which makes a similar tractor.  That worked okay for a few years, even with getting parts from as far away as Korea and New Zealand.

Then it quit working and a part we needed was unavailable.  Now, we use the tractor many times during the year, but not enough to justify buying a super pricey one.  Probably.  Then Lee found a guy that had an old Daedong tractor, just like ours, that he had been using for parts to fix his Daedong tractor.  Then he sold the good one and had the leftover tractor sitting in his field.  So Lee bought it.



Notice on the fender that this is the DELUXE version of this tractor.  Pretty impressive, right!

 
Is this a smart purchase?  Who knows.  At the present, Lee is taking all the parts off and storing them.  The farmer he bought it from had to lift the tractor onto Lee's trailer with a fork lift, because he had taken the wheels off to use them elsewhere. We don't have a fork lift.  So we can't use the trailer or put it back into the barn until we get the tractor off.  His plan it to remove all the parts and label them.  Then we will use our engine hoist or the front loader on the currently working tractor to take the last heavy bits and put them somewhere.  Somewhere.

You can see the tractor we use off to the right in the background.  Maybe he should just fix it up and get a John Deere!  But where is the fun in that?

 
Lee intends to keep a few parts to repair that which he figures will break on our working tractor.  The rest of the parts he will put on EBay or craigslist and sell.  Those of you city dwellers don't realize that a farmer can take an old engine and use it to power all sorts of equipment that he has put together.  They are perhaps the last of the brilliant, self-taught mechanical engineers!  So, he figures someone will buy it.  What he doesn't sell or save for future use, he will sell for scrap. 

Lee thinks he can break even or make money on the deal.  I have my doubts.  But he is enjoying himself with this new project, so it's all good.

When the Cat's Away...

You know the old saying.  The mouse is supposed to have big fun.  And so is your spouse.  When one leaves, all the lists go on hold, right?  Lee had a bunch of things to do with the two cars, well, one car and one truck, that are in various stages of restoration.  Every time I called him, that is what he said he was doing.  Resting (his eyes) and working on the vehicles.

When I got back after less than a week of travel, I found that he had spent the whole time doing things we had been discussing, but hadn't gotten around to!  And all by himself.  As I was showing my friend, Marcy, around the house I kept being surprised by projects he finished while I was off visiting my mother.

Several years ago Lee had mentioned how he wanted to get a big flagpole to put up a flag that can be seen from a distance. We live up on a hill and thought that would be a great thing to do.   I went online and ordered a pretty big one for his birthday, but we could never decide where to put it and it needed to be set in concrete. It has been sitting around for a couple of years.  Recently Lee's father passed away and because he was a veteran, the family received a very large flag.

As we approached the house I noticed that the flagpole was now up. Complete with Jim's flag.   Is there a prettier sight?

 

I was amazed that he had dug the hole, poured the concrete and assembled the flagpole all by himself.  In just a few days.

 

Then just like a TV huckster, but wait!  That's not all!  I have been admiring a Maddox Chippendale Secretary at a local consignment shop.  It was beautiful, with curved glass and lots of drawers.  What is it about drawers and even hidden drawers that is so appealing?  I love that.  I wanted a desk of some sort for the B&+B and I just loved the idea of a secretary.

 

When I was showing Marcy the new B&B, I sucked in air and almost started screaming.  She looked around, waiting for a vampire bat that must be attacking, but it was just me.  I was thrilled with the new piece of furniture.

 

Lee had also installed the new quilt hangers he had ordered and hung the quilt.  It is partly just decoration and mostly to hide the electric panel. 

 

Now we can get to the panels, but the room no longer looks so industrial.  So busy.  What a great guy.

But wait!  That's not all!

I have been looking for a headboard for our bed in the guest room.  I had some criteria that was proving difficult to find.  I only wanted a headboard.  Footboards make it harder to tuck in the sheets, and with any luck, there will be lots of bed making in our B&B. I didn't want a big headboard because some are so huge it makes the bed and even the room look small.

 

Lee managed to find a great headboard and no footboard on craigslist.  And brought it home and installed it.  All by himself.

 

But wait!  That's not all!  He took all the leftover tile and carpet we had saved in case of emergency breakage or some other catastrophe to the shop.   Then he bought and put together the storage unit I need for cleaning supplies and other necessities for the B&B.

AND he put a new teak shower bench in the B&B shower for supplies, or in case you need to sit when in the shower.  Can you imagine?

 

He's my favorite husband.

More Inexpensive Furniture

 

We bought 5 chairs off craigslist for around $100.  Four were cherry and one was walnut.  They needed refinishing and recovering, but were in good shape other than that.  I have refinished a lot of furniture, but never chairs.  It takes a lot longer to do chairs.  I guess it's because there are so many surfaces and edges, as opposed to tables or chests of drawers, with their flat fronts, tops and sides.

 

I always use Formsby products.  They are less likely to dry out the wood, but anything you use to take off a finish is going to remove some of the color or patina.  So it is a trade off.  The finish was worn away in places and sticky, so it had to go.

 

With Formsby's Furniture Refinishing, you dip some 0000 steel wool in the liquid and wipe away at a small area.  If the finish is thick or goopy, I wipe the dissolved areas away with MANY paper towels.  You will need to wear stripping gloves.  Or your hands will never forgive you. 

 

It works best for me to do a rough strip and then go back over it the next day for a finish strip.  After another day to rest and dry,  I do a bit of sanding with a 220 grit or higher sandpaper and clean everything off with a bit more Formsby. 

 

Wait another day and then you can stain or finish.

 

 


I used dark walnut on the walnut chair and black cherry on the cherry chairs.  ( Why do I feel like Pee Wee Herman? )  I didn't try to cover up the different colors of the wood and I wanted to leave a bit of the grain to show through.  Let the furniture dry for another day.

 

Did I mention this is not a quick process?

I like to put on a Tung oil finish...you guessed it...Formsby's.  If you do a sufficient number of coats, at least three, it will leave a hard finish to protect the wood, yet it will oil and preserve the wood at the same time. You can add other coats in the future if needed.  It will darken the wood just a bit.  I used the high glass version although they make a low gloss, if you like that.

 

Tung oil is rubbed into the wood in light coats with a cloth.  You have to wait overnight between each coat.  Wear more stripping gloves.  Regular exam gloves won't hold up.  Don't ask me how I know that. 

 

Before you put on the next coat,  rub lightly all over the finished piece with more 0000 steel wool.  Then you have to clean off the steel wool bits that are left behind.  Buy way more steel wool than you think you will need!

I brushed off the furniture and then wiped it down with a clean cloth.  A tack cloth is better, but I didn't have one and they make my hands feel, well, tacky.  Then put on the next coat.  And wait a day.  And rub everything all over again.

Did I mention this is not a quick process?

So anyway I finished them.  Three coats.  Or I finished refinishing them.  Don't they look great?

 

What do you mean I'm not done?  Oh, yeah.  Now I have to recover the seats.

Did I mention that Formsby is expensive and not sold at Home Depot and that you need to buy way more than you think you will need?  So that the inexpensive chairs are getting expensiver by the day?   Good thing I don't charge myself by the hour.

BCHA Tack Sale

   

I went to the Botetourt County Horseman's Association Tack Sale yesterday.  It was held in the VFW Hall.  People came from all over with horse related items or services for sale.  I went to try and market Claire.

   

I had someone offer to buy her on craigslist.  They were going to send a deposit to our PayPal account and then come get her.  Then they couldn't get their PayPal to work and they couldn't get here. So they would send a horse shipper with a trailer and a check.  What?  Buy a horse without even looking at it or riding it?  Nope. Didn't believe them.  Then I checked on the internet and found that people were buying horses with bad checks or picking up cheap and free horses and then taking them to be processed for meat.  I want to sell this horse, but not for steaks!

   

The potential buyer send me phone numbers for references, but she lived a few hours away and I didn't want to take a chance.  Oh, well.

   

So off to the BCHA.  I reserved a table for only $10 and sat there for about 5 hours.  I met a lot of nice people and sent out a lot of cards, but I don't think I will get a sale out of it.  Too bad, because Claire is a great horse and I would have liked to see her go somewhere I could visit a couple times.  Not in a stalkerish kind of way.  Just to see her happy and loved.

Claire Needs A Home

   

The Botetourt County Horseman's Association is having a tack sale on April 6.  They have one twice a year.  They also allow trainers or just about any horse related people to show up and rent one of their tables to advertise or sell their products and services..  I thought this would be a good idea to market Claire one more time.

I put a brief add on craigslist.  I will put her on Dreamhorse.com again in April.  Then mid-April, if she hasn't sold, I will send back up to Stone Tavern Stable for the final push.  I have cut her price in half to get her in a good home. 

I had some pictures from last year and got them enlarged at CVS.  They also had a tri-fold poster, similar to the ones kids use for science fair projects.  Then I got out my scrapbooking paper and glue and set to work.  I have to remember to take my camera, because it has some video of her jumping and working in an arena.

   

I would like to have her here in Botetourt County.  Then I may get to see her from time to time.