First, the PTO control lever on my BCS 853 diesel “walk behind” tractor got corroded and seized (remember that word), and I couldn’t break it free following the numerous YouTube suggestions re: deep penetrating oil, torque and even a propane torch. So, I took it to my “local” BCS service department, about 35 miles south of here in Pittsboro, NC.
It took them about a week to get it fixed, and do a full service tune-up. When the dogs and I drove down the other day to pick it up, upon arrival I noticed a plume of smoke billowing out of the left-rear brakes on my truck. Looked to me like my brake caliper had seized (yes, that word again) and grossly overheated the whole brake assembly. It was SO bad, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make the drive home.
I asked the BCS mechanic if he could recommend someone in town to take a look at my brake. He gave me two names and numbers. Thankfully, the first (Doug’s Automotive & Tire, Pittsboro, NC) was just down the street. So, we limped the truck over to Dougs.
To make a rather LONG (but boring) story short … Deuce, Hooey and I had to sit under a tree for between 4 and 5 hours while they ordered the parts, then completed a brake job on all four corners (might as well update ALL of them). Doug and his “team” of two mechanics bent over backwards to help us and make us comfortable during the protracted wait.
A couple of days ago I started building my first Justin Rhodes Chickshaw v2.0 mobile chicken coop. Today, I start the assembly process. Should take a day or two. The “Chickshaw” is a really cool concept. It provides up to 40 chickens with … essentially … a mobile home. The Chichshaw gets surrounded by an electric poultry fence to keep the birds contained, and predators out. After awhile (maybe a few weeks), the fence and chickshaw get relocated to a new plot, so the chickens get a new source of food (pasture grass) and the prior plot is ready to be planted with new garden crops.
Lastly, while waiting for the Chickshaw lumber waterproofing treatment to dry and cure, I converted the first two of eight 250-gallon IBC totes into aquaponic gardening fish tanks. Each tank will hold about 80 pounds of fish (e.g. Nile Tilapia). I’ll go into aquaponic gardening in more detail later in the year. For now, let’s just say the method allows fish to be raised, and plants to be grown, without any soil, using only about 10% of the water normally needed. Why? Because the water recirculates between the fish tank and the growing beds. Fish waste fertilizes the plants, and the plants clean and filter the water, which then returns to the fish tank. The only “input” to the system is daily fish food.
We had our first few cooler days this past week. Saturday’s high was only 70F. LOVE IT!!!!
I got the big pasture seeded with ~35# of horse pasture mix yesterday, and we have rain forecast for the next two days, so fingers crossed the seeds can be established before the chicken flock eats it all. 😉