Stump Removal and Tractors

 So what happened between these two pictures?

Before

After

We brought down the Caterpillar to drag out a stump.  It overheated on the way down.  It wouldn't start the next day.

So then we brought down another tractor- the HD11 (orange one).  Dad used the HD11 to pull out the Caterpillar (yellow one) so we could jump start it.  Once it was started (and filled with plenty of radiator fluid), we left both tractors running (just in case either wouldn't start again) and drove the Caterpillar back to the shop for maintenance.  It overheated again.

Then we used the HD11 to finally get that stump out.  It is a small stump for so many tractors.

However..... on the way back to the shop, the exhaust pipe came into contact with an over hanging branch.

It is not supposed to be bent at the that angle... not even for aerodynamics.  Eventually it just came off.

It now has a brand new exhaust pipe.... but now won't start.  Good thing we got that stump out.

Have you ever seen one tractor pulling another?  Watch this video and see it in action!

More cleaning and pile making

Continuing work on my project down the road.... I make many piles of brush and tree parts.  It looks like some rare dry-land beaver is building air dams across the property providing a series of wind breaks that it can scurry between.  The piles have to be small enough and far enough apart that they can be burned individually (later in the fall) without everything going up at once.

Sometimes my dad helps me.  He is on the wheel tractor... dragging a section of the roof.

Treasures from the ground...  I unearthed these while cleaning out the root cellar.  I can't believe the 2 quart Atlas was in one piece.

This is the interior of the root cellar currently.  I have taken a break from this project for a bit to work on the new driveway opening in the hawthornes, but will be back to continue scooping out dirt and stones and hoping to find more treasures.

This is the new driveway space before....

And this is it after.....

There was a lot of activity and some equipment breaking in between.  That will be an entire post on its own.

5 gallons of broken glass anyone?  There is a lot of broken glass and metal in the ground.  I couldn't come up with a clever use for this much broken glass...

But I know someone who could....

... Irwin Mainway.

Not in Portland for the Fall

The blog has been quiet once again.   Always during transitions, I seem to drop off the blogging radar.  August was busy with prep for school for both the kids and me.  I had a lot of work to do on the some of the lesson plans and online learning spaces ahead of Fall semester at the University of Idaho.  But I got it done and passed my motorcycle class at the same time, so I am now officially endorsed!  More on that later.

I am now in Idaho teaching again.  In my spare time, I am working on clearing and prepping some property up here for a future project.  Hint:  The project does not involve a sewing machine.

The work is a lot like Minecraft:

We clear the wood.....

...in Mincraft we get to wear cool iron armor though....

There will be some stones to deal with in the future.  For now we are stacking all rocks by the walls that are remains on the root cellar...

... in Minecraft the rocks are square and stack much more easily.  Again, you get to wear cool armor in Minecraft.  I tore my shirt on a thorn tree.  I wished that I had had iron chest armor.  I do have a hard hat though which is kind of like a helmet.

This is what the property looks like in the spring.  There is somewhere around 40 years of overgrowth that needs to be cleared.  We have opened up all the access roads so we can now get to all the pasture areas for weed and mowing maintenance.  We are now clearing around the house and getting ready to dismantle the house and salvage as much wood as we can.

Fortunately we do not need to mine for iron and make our own iron pickaxes and shovels.  I can find those tools in the garage.