(written Saturday afternoon, June 20)
Today I feel more like a man. Why? I discovered the deeper meaning of a weighty, masculine word. There are a handful out there: lumber, football, etc.
Well, today it was "diesel."
No, not that one...
...this one:
- Main Entry: die·sel
- Pronunciation: \ˈdē-zəl, -səl\
- Function: noun
- Etymology: Rudolf Diesel
- Date: 1894
1 : diesel engine
2 : a vehicle driven by a diesel engine
3 : diesel fuel
2 : a vehicle driven by a diesel engine
3 : diesel fuel
I have been able to borrow my dad's old CASE 680 "Construction King" backhoe to do occasional work. Despite "construction" being part of its name, the yellow beast does a great job at demolition. Now, I am speaking of planned demolition, like when we tore out the old milk-house or pulled the silo over. It also does a great job of smashing things unintentionally- like when one of my brothers managed to mash the rain gutter into the side of the house. I was inside at the time and it felt like the whole house was going to come down. He is not alone- I did thump one of the post that holds up the deck a few weeks ago with the hoe (yes, it left mark).
Besides being a great help when I was in the demolition stages, it has come in handy recently to dig out the area where I am installing a retaining wall and to also bring in the retaining wall blocks. I've made a few temporary roads, haul gravel, rocks, and dirt- of course.
In the course of these events it has broken down at least three or four times. We've blown just about half of its hydraulic hoses, improved some of the electrical wiring, and most recently I had to replace the starter. Thus this blog entry.
It was my first ever "starter-ectomy" (I hadn't even done this on a car) and the old 60's backhoe didn't give it up willingly. Three bolts held it in. One was right out in front, one in back, and the last one underneath. I am embarrassed to admit that I mistakenly worked for at least 20-30 minutes trying to remove another bolt that was located just next to the REAL bolt (the third one) that I should have been removing. This impostor was so tight, and the space so small for my socket and wrench, that I could lot get any leverage. Of course it was when I finally got that darn bolt to budge and was removing it when I noticed that it played no role in holding the starter. Oh well- the fact that I got it loose made me feel good. Of course the real bolt came out lickety-split and I used a lever to heft the huge, greasy starter out. Finally! After over an hour victory was mine! I am guessing it weighed 60-70 pounds. This is a photo of me AFTER I cleaned myself up (I was black up to my elbows) and was preparing to drive to the rebuild shop in SLC.
3 comments:
Sometimes I forget what a handy guy you are.
Of course, I shouldn't. You, after all, are the man who showed me how to change the oil in my car.
(outside, in Logan, in freezing January, I might add)
You've done so many improvements to your property. When you are done, feel free to come to 'bama, we've got a house that is in a constant state of (slow) improvement. :-)
We'll have to have a get together at your place one of the times we are in Utah so you can show everything off!
That's quite a starter you pulled out there Loren. I'm glad you got your back hoe started again. Looks like you've been having some fun (or sweating lots, at least)
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