Congratulations on your retirement, Ann!

April 29, 2021 - Thursday morning
29 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Today is Yooper Brother Mark's assistant, Ann's, last day of work. I know Mark will certainly miss her as will everyone at the plant. 

Sargie and I have gotten to know Ann quite well over the past ten years and Ann has promised that she'll be stopping by to visit occasionally. We sure hope so. She's a gem.

Arriving home from Wednesday morning's walk, I eagerly began removing parts that would be needed on the new engine for the backhoe.

First things first. The coupler that is used to connect the engine to the hydraulic pump was the most important piece. I fastened the wheel puller onto the shaft and began turning. It wouldn't budge.

Off with the old, on with the new.

Or was it?

Time for breakfast, more than a bit frustrated at the lack of progress, I squirted a stream of anti rust liquid onto the shaft and went inside. Forty five minutes later, I barely had to look at the coupler before it easily slid off the shaft.

With the part in hand, I attempted to slide it onto the shaft of the new engine. 

What? Too small?

Supposedly, both shafts were an inch in diameter. Someone lied.

After taking both the new motor and coupler to Mechanic Dave at Mark's plant, he assured me he'd make it all work. In the end, Dave had the coupler milled to the correct measurements. I received a text last night saying it was finished and I could pick it up at any time.

With yesterday's plans thwarted due to the coupler, I was busy doing odd jobs outside. As usual, the weatherman lied, this time for the good. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, very little wind, and the thermometer was showing temperatures in the upper 50's. 

The biggest task of the day was to climb onto one of the highest rungs of the extension ladder, then using the pole saw, cut a dying spruce bough that was almost touching the ground.

I don't like heights, let alone hanging off a top rung while trying to cut a rogue limb. With one hand holding onto the trunk while using the other with the pole saw, the limb finally fell to the ground below. 

Both Sargie and I have been trying to get the pond ready for summer, cleaning last fall's leaves from the bottom, skimming algae, and making things pretty. The water is clear as can be, but there's a winter's worth of "stuff" on the bottom. It's coming, slowly but surely.

We had some sort of disease go through the pond early this spring and lost ten to fifteen fish. Thankfully, it appears the sickness has run its course and the remaining thirty all seem healthy. The next time I'm in Iron Mountain, I'll purchase ten dollars worth of .17 cent goldfish to replenish those that died. Give them a year or two and they'll be six inches to a foot in length.

While at the plant yesterday, we wished Yooper Brother Mark's long time secretary, Ann, a happy retirement.

I finished welding the blades onto the garden windmill that had been broken in last winter's windstorm. I'm not sure how well they'll hold up during the next storm and I see that several bearings have worn out. This might be one of those times that it would be better to replace the entire windmill. I'm not certain I can purchase/manufacture everything needed to make it freely spin once again.

I finished stripping the old engine last night. Many of the parts will fit the new engine, the carburetor, new air filter, etc. Those things will be put in a box and stored away for the future.

So, Wednesday was a wash as far as the backhoe goes, but other smaller jobs were finished. We'll head into town this morning for the coupler and keep our fingers crossed that the backhoe will be back together and running later today. If nothing else, this whole engine repair/replacement has been an exercise in patience, something that definitely isn't my forte. 

Meanwhile, it's daylight and time to go for my morning stroll.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

When this woodpecker (center - red head) wasn't pecking on a tree next to the drive, he was pounding on the aluminum flashing around the top of the chimney. The sound reverberated through the entire woods and into the house.