Remember the two banks of windows? The first project was a mosaic, where the other side I slapped up the rest of the windows just to cover the wall for winter? We ended up liking the more uniform approach and have kept that in mind over winter.
I was shopping around Menards for something and decided to look for cheap windows. And I found them. 21 inch windows to be exact, which would fit nicely in our 24″ on center studs in the crib. In fact, a mini-frame of 1×4′s outlined them nicely. I’ll be repeating this on the other side of the crib on the next payday, then I need to find a shorter version or some sort of transom window to fill out the space along the top. Windows, ~$65 each. 4 down, 4 to go.

In other news, the strawberries and peas are growing fast. The spinach and Bok Choy are now up, and I found the first few sprouts of romaine as well. Farm grounds are well mowed, trees are coming back to life and things are looking good.

Barns make money! I’ve been reclaiming old joists from the barn remains. 2x10x16′ boards go for around $14.  I just reclaimed 7 of them, with 6 more left over there.  Still solid, with just a few messed up ends.  Still stronger and straighter then what’s at the store.

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Every season, the tractor has a fit. Spring, over with. This time, the old John Deere 300 suddenly made a change. It had been running rather well for several tanks of gas, but suddenly it didn’t start. I had cranked on it for a minute and nothing happened. I finally gave up and took off the side and found a pool of gas in the air filter. Huh, flooded. After draining, I gave it a crank and saw more gas pour back out of the carb. After draining for a few minutes, the next crank didn’t start it, but saw more gas come out, along with a back-fire. Foomp! That splash of gas became a fire-fountain!

There was a shovel behind me, that I tossed dirt over the spot burning on the ground, and a pair of water bottles got the burning side of the tractor down to a fire small enough that I could blow out. Damage…. well, the end of a little drain/vent tube looks a little crispy.

I returned the next day and pulled the carb bowl. There was a bunch of debris in there. The needle valve looked good and I sprayed the carb inside and out with cleaner. Slapped all this back together and it ran smooth on the first try. When I bog it down, it floods a little. Need to re-adjust the settings again.

Also, the trailmower had seem better days. Two summers ago, the engagement linkages froze up. Then last year, the engagement pulley (having been stuck in place) sheered off. This got dragged to town in case the tractor had bigger problems. I could pull this behind the toaster in an emergency mowing.

I found a new axle bolt for the pulley, a new belt, and sharpened the blades. After a good cleaning, and oil change this too was back together. Second pull, and it roared into life. This engine always starts. We also played around with the wiring. Since I bought it (used) the electric start wasn’t working nor tested. But, we hooked up 12V to the starter and solenoid and it cranked. So, it appears the problem is closer to the key, as something is bypassed I think. We might keep testing this out during the week and return it to the farm next weekend.

Good news, the entire farm did get mowed. Mason also proved his powers at the push mower, so there might be more work for him this year, hehe. I also picked up a tractor mounted de-thatcher. It seems to work rather well, as I can make a pass with it in deep grass, then mow it. It looks far cleaner and “lawn-like” then if I just try to mow that stuff down. Also cleans up thatch from the lawn areas as expected. The compost pile is now huge again from this experiment.

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