Arboreal Weeds...

 Back in the 80's when I worked land surveying, there was a character named Joe Vogler who was developing a subdivision on his homestead north of town. An itinerant gold miner and politician (Google: Battle at Weber Creek or Alaskan Independence Party), one of his idiosyncrasies was his dislike of Aspen trees. "Arboreal weeds", as he referred to them, were banned from his subdivisions and property owners were required to cut them down. One time when we working there, he stopped by to say hello, but the talk quickly turned to the "posey sniffing swine" that had taken him to court to stop this requirement (which he eventually lost). So now those trees flourish in "Voglerville" as we dubbed Joe's place.

Unfortunately, they also grow around our place and with the recent wind storms,they've been falling down with regularity. A couple of weeks ago, two fell on the power line and we were without power for two days. Then a few days back, a second wind storm blew one down on the garage.

The only good thing about it was that by landing on the garage addition, the tree didn't hit the pickup truck. And while the garage roof suffered some damage, the wall apparently was fine, so the repairs should be minimal.

I tried to lift the tree off the roof the loader, but all it did was lift up the back of the tractor. So after cutting off most of the lower part of the tree with the chainsaw, the rest rolled off with a little help from the loader.

Will post more pics as the project progresses.

So here's what it looks like now after removing the trashed metal roofing and busted roof framing. Most of the roof framing is replaced and should get'er done tomorrow, hopefully before the rains hit!

Screwing down the replacement metal roofing. Then will have to replace the damaged trim boards. 

My favorite way to work on the roof, sitting down with all the tools laid out in the bucket. So now the roof's good to go, at least until until the next windstorm.

Need to Vent...

Back when I was getting ready to retire, we bought some implements that could be used in the business, Tractor Works, I'd hoped to start after retirement. One of them was the flail mower. Now these mowers are none too common up here, in fact I don't think I'd ever seen one in Fairbanks. But back when I was still in school, one of my summer jobs was cutting grass along the county highways and park strips and we used tractor mounted flail mowers. So I called the local John Deere dealer and as luck would have it, they had one, a rental, in Soldotna. They'd ship it up to Fairbanks and if I wanted it, they'd do any necessary maintenance. When it got here, it was in kind of rough shape, but they said they'd make it right. Since then it's worked great and except for backing it into a tree once, never had any trouble with it (Dandelion Don't Tell No Lies 6/10/22).

So it was a surprise the other day when I checked the gear lube and the fluid came pouring out of the level hole. Since none had been added recently, only a little should have trickled out or maybe none at all. So figured I'd better go to the dealer and talk to a mechanic. He said it could be water in the case or a plugged vent. "What vent?' I told him, "there's no vent." He suggested removing some of the gear lube using a suction tube, since there's no drain, and check for water and look for a plugged vent. 

The arrow points to the unpainted bolt where the vent's supposed to be in the gearcase.

So that's what I did when I got home. Turns out there was no water and of course, no vent either. So it was back to the dealer to order a vent, which they charged me for, even thou I told them it wasn't installed at the time it was purchased. So a week goes by, they call, and I go back to pick it up. As luck would have, the shop manager is standing there, so I tell him my tale of woe and he agrees to a refund. So back home again and in removing the bolt from the appropriate hole in the gear box, it's quickly apparent the vent is the wrong size. So this time I dig around in my John Deere stuff and lo and behold, there's a parts manual for the mower. On the page for the gearcase, there's a vent, but it comes in three parts. They only ordered one. So back to the dealer again to order the rest. This time they remember me and immediately agree to the order being no charge. That's great, but what a pain in the butt. Three trips to the dealer and I still don't have the right parts. But at least by writing this, I feel a little better, cause I needed to vent!

Everything From A to Zerk...

Back in the day, every piece of heavy equipment and even most cars and trucks had zerks. A zerk is a fitting that lets you inject grease lubricant into critical moving parts like bearings, ball joints, hinges, and u-joints. Now a days they're not so common with sealed bearings, but the JD tractor and implements have quite a few. So it was surprising when I hooked up the rototiller and went to grease the drive shaft that I saw one of the zerks was missing. Now in all the years I've worked with equipment and had to grease them, I'd never lost a zerk. Since the rototiller was made in Germany, it'd have metric fittings, so had to go to the dealer. Of course they don't sell them anymore and didn't have anything that fit. So went to the local NAPA store and they had them in stock, almost inconceivable! But the best part of the story is the grease gun. I'd been using an old mechanical grease gun that I'd bought in the '70s and a few years ago decided to try a pneumatic gun. Well I never got it to work right until I recently was reading a blog that had a post about them. It said you needed to use the pressure relief valve to clear air from the gun after loading the grease. So that's what that button is for! Now the brand new zerks will be greased with the newly functional gun.

One of the shiny new zerks, freshly greased, in the u-joint of the rototiller.

The recalcitrant grease gun with the release valve in the center of the cylinder. I didn't get any instructions with it, so it took a serendipitous blog post to get it working right.

Moly or not to moly, that is the question...

Haven't had too much to blog about, I've mostly been doing chores around the house and staying inside on these hot smoky days. You don't need a weather man, with forest fires all over the state, it doesn't matter which way the wind blows, we get smoke now. So other than cutting up, splitting and stacking wood, I've been staying in the nice, cool garage working on the Moto Guzzis.

One of the maintenance chores on the Guzzi's is to change the oil (gear lube) in the differential, or rear drive as it's called the manuals. The problem is there's not the same listing of lubricants and capacities in the different manuals I have. So I checked with one of the Guzzi forums I follow and as luck would have it, there was a recent posting about this same topic. And typical of most forums, there was a split opinion, with people lining up on both sides to add their  voice on whether or not to add moly to the gear lube. Now moly (or molybdenum disulfide) was an additive used to reduce friction in high speed gears back in the day, but is not so common today. The consensus in the group was that moly is no longer needed with the current, high tech gear lubricants. Either they'd talk about how great their super high tech lubricant works in their bike or cite other bikes, like BMW, that they rode and never used moly. But of course there also were the stalwarts that said "if it's called for in the manual, then use it."  Fortunately, for me at least, someone posted an excerpt from Guzziology, the bible of all Guzzi mechanics, that not only called for moly, but listed the amounts to use in each model. So that was good enough for me, all I had to do was getter done.

Now draining the lube from the 650 was no problem, a 17mm nut that came loose without any trouble and the oil dumped down the drain I'd made into the pan with no spills, But 850, that was another story. While the manual said to remove the drain plug to dump the oil, a close inspection, that required a mirror to see underneath the rear drive, showed a ribbed cover with six hex head bolts. Apparently, it has a sump that requires removal of the bottom plate to drain. So I spent the next hour or so, lying on the garage floor trying to get a wrench on the nuts that I couldn't really see, then carefully removing them without stripping or breaking the bolts. Of course the gasket was glued in and tore apart, so had to scrape it off both the differential and the plate. Which means I'll have to order a new gasket before adding the new lube. 

Here's the bottom plate that goes on the rear drive. Why they didn't put a drain plug in it is beyond my comprenshion.

But I did get the 650 done, though I apparently added too much lube at first, so when I switched to adding the moly, the lube started running out of the level plug. Oops, now did the proportion of moly to gear lube get screwed up, or is it close enough to not need a do over? Like most things, I suppose it'll work out, one way or the other.

Yes, We Have No Delvac, A Tale of Two Oils...

Back in the day when I worked land surveying, one of the guys on the crew had an older brother who apparently was a perfectionist. One of his quirks was to get his old engine oil tested after changing it. After trying many different brands, he decided that Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic was the best oil. That got me started using it in the old Volvo wagon since we had just installed a rebuilt engine. So when we got the tractor, it got the same oil.  

This spring when I went to change the oil, there was less than half a gallon left and it takes five quarts. The bulk plant, where I usually get it had been closed, so I called first. Well it turned out they're open, but all out of Mobil 1 Delvac. So I checked the local auto stores and they were all out too. But then I noticed that one store had Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck oil. What's the difference? Here's what I found on line...

Mobil Delvac 1 ESP 5W-40 is an advanced full synthetic oil specially fomulated for diesel engines that works to extend engine life, fuel economy potential, and deliver long drain capability for modern diesel engines operating in severe conditions. Rating CH-4, CI-4, CI-4 Plus, CJ-4, CK-4, SM,SN

Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40 is a full synthetic heavy duty diesel engine oil that helps to extend engine life while providing long drain capability and fuel economy for modern diesel engines operating in severe applications.  Rating CI-4 Plus,CJ-4,CK-4,SL,SM,SN

So they sound the same. Checked the operator's manual for the tractor and for diesel engine oil: API Service Classification CE or CD. The API oil classification system lists backward compatibility for current types of oil and CH and CL are compatible with CE and CD. So apparently both Mobil 1's are compatible, which begs the question, why have two oils that are so similar, they're seemingly for the same use. Then we see the labels on the containers...

Apparently the Delvac oil is for the big rig eighteen wheel truckers.

While the Turbo Diesel is reserved for monster pickup drivers towing huge trailers.

So I bought the Turbo Diesel, but it'll just have to remain incognito since it's for a compact utility tractor. BTW, the arrow points to the oil filter, easily accessible with side panel removed. I always fill the new filter half way up or so when changing the oil. This was another tip I got, from a Harley rider, hard to believe, and it keeps the engine from running without oil for the first few seconds when starting it up right after the oil change.

Dandelion don't tell no lies...

It seems like just last week that I was scraping snow off the road, but now the snow's all gone, the garden's rototilled, Andy's got the starts planted, and the grass is high enough, at least down by the dog yard, to be cut. So today the flail mower's on the tractor and after the usual greasing and gear oil check, it's time to mow.

The area where we had Macs puppy pen (Here and Gone 6/28/20) has turned into a dandelion jungle. Those weeds must really love puppy poop, cause they're growing everywhere around here .

While not real obvious, the area in front of the tractor is a solid jungle of dandelions, right where the puppy pen was set up a few years ago. I suspect we'll be looking at them for a while now. 

Birthday Boys...

 Most of our dogs are rescues of one sort or another, like Tambo who came from the animal shelter, Missy who's owner had died, or Rudy the meathead, who had an injury when the owner was taking her team out of town. We're not sure when they were born, but we do know that Macs birthday is May 7 and Earl was born "in the spring when there was still some snow around." So while we didn't throw a big party, the two boys did get some extra treats this month.

Here's Earl after he got his treats, he's grown a bit since we got him last fall (My Name is Earl 11/17/21).

Mac getting his pets; all the dogs get treats on "free run" days, so it's not all that special. but they always act like it is, so that's what makes it fun.

Tambo likes to give paw (One Trick Pony 7/7/21), so we're teaching him to give both and sit up. Gus watches intently, cause he knows Tambo gets a biscuit afterwards, so he expects he'll get one too. They get trained, one way or another, whether you want them to learn something or not!

A Bikers Farewell...

One of the riders in our sometimes biker group passed away this week. While I didn't know him that well, I saw him at many of the occasional group rides and knew him as a friendly, soft spoken guy who always seemed fine with everything and everybody. When someone you know passes it certainly gets you to reflect on your own mortality and how life is short, enjoy it while you can. So I was glad to hear that another friend was organizing a ride out to Chatanika Lodge, one of our all time favorite ride destinations (Back in the Day...8/17/18), for a celebration of life, as he called it, for friends and family. The highway to the lodge passes over a steep ridge north of Fairbanks, Cleary Summit, with several switchbacks and s-curves that provide some of the best riding in the area.

Here's the bikes parked at the lodge. There was quite a crowd there when we arrived, so I waited until pretty much everybody went inside before taking some pics. But my skill with Andy's I-phone are limited at best; next time I'll bring my old digital camera. There were at least a dozen bikes and the one that led the ride was a Ducati owned by the deceased, ridden by his best friend. A fitting send off for fine fellow!

Here's a pic of the Guzzi parked at the far end of the line. I usually ride near the back at these events to avoid the crazy riders who always need to be in front of the pack. I had the I-phone camera on video, by mistake, so it just took a while to get it converted into JPEG.

Decked Again...

 As noted in the previous post, the deck railings were pretty much wiped out by the snow/ice that avalanched off the roof this spring. Here's what it looked like after some of that snow melted...

When we first built the deck, it didn't have railings, cause I was afraid this might happen. But after a few friends almost fell off, we decided the deck needed something. The railings were built in stages, after each winter, they were improved a little so that the final result seemed pretty sound. But of course nature rules and just the right combination of snow, ice, and temperature created the perfect storm of ice fall that came off suddenly, in one whole section of roof, that shot out far enough to do the maximum damage to the railing. So rather that repair them, they're just being removed for now, maybe figure out something temporary later on.

While most of the screws and bolts came out OK, some were bent or jammed and had to be cut out with the Saws All. Andy bought it for me years ago and while I don't use it much, it sure comes in handy when you need it.

Ice Fall...

 After all the snowfall and rain this winter, the snow and ice had built up in extensive layers on the roof of the house and garage to near three feet thick (Snowshoes... 1/3/22). When it started to warm up this past month, it all started to slide...

When it finally came down, it made quite a mess...

And in the case of the deck, lots o' trouble for the railing...

I guess I know what I'll be working on this summer!

Gettin' Woody...

It's the time of year when the trails are too icy to run the dogs safely, but they're still good enough for gettin' wood. There's a number of fairly large spruce in the valley that have died off. Not sure why, but most are bigger than the average black spruce down there, maybe they're just timed out. Many have the bark starting to peel off, so they're pretty dry already.

 Here's one of the larger dead trees on the left with some smaller ones on the opposite side of the trail. I try to find groups of trees that can be bucked up and loaded on the sled in the same spot.

The trees are dropped next to the trail and bucked up into six foot lengths that'll fit nicely on the sled.

Here's another load ready to go. My "sled" is really a home-made trail groomer with steel runners bolted to one side, so it takes lots o' ropin' to secure the load. We burned a lot of wood with the cold winter we had this year; it'll help to have plenty of dry wood ready to burn again next winter.

Busted!...

With the temps getting up near forty some days, the trails have gotten icy on the south facing slopes where they get more sun. The trail back into the dog yard and the road crossing are especially bad now. So when I was coming home from the run last week, I was trying to slow the dogs coming down the hill when I saw a red truck on the road. I figured it'd be gone before I got there, but no, it was stopped and blocking the trail. I stopped the team, stomped in the snow hook good, and as fast as I could, unhooked their tug lines. Then I started yelling, figured I'd get the drivers attention, but as I walked closer saw that no one was in the truck. I wandered around looking for someone but nobody was around. So walked over to the nearest neighbors house and shouted out something like "is this your truck, it's blocking the trail." Well after threes or four times, a woman came out, not the neighbor, who I know, but all she did was stare at me for a minute or two, then went back inside. So I walked back to the truck, it was running now, there must have been some remote starter working, tried the door, and when it opened, began to blow the horn. I looked back and saw the woman had come back out again, so I yelled "you need to move this truck, I have a dog team here." She made a sign with her hand like a slashing motion across her neck. At first it didn't register, but then realized she was telling me to shut up. Inconceivable! Then another woman came out. didn't recognize her either, and she slowly ambled up the driveway. When I tried to explain the problem, she just blew me off with "so I didn't see your trail, I'll just move the truck," or something like that. So after she moved it, I went back to dogs. Fortunately the snow hook had held, they were barking and banging to go, then I hopped on the sled and pulled the hook. They took off like crazy, so wasn't able to secure the hook in it's holster, so was just holding onto the sled with one hand When we hit the road crossing, the sled went sideways on the ice, slammed into the frozen berm, and the handlebar broke, tossing me off the sled. Here's the result...

Except for a sore shoulder and hip, I was OK and the dogs got back to the yard just fine, so other than the sled, it didn't end too bad. I'll have to replace the handlebars of course, they're hickory, hand bent with the help of a friend, maybe 25-30 years ago, so they've served me well. But now I'm using Andys old sled and still getting out, though I'm only running five dogs in the team.

Heading home yesterday with Missy and Mac up front. Can't beat these springtime dog runs, as long as nobody blocks the trail.