April’s mower repairs got their first proper test in May, and thankfully held. The spring settled into a warm-but-wet rhythm that kept the grass — and the pigs — very happy, even if it left the yard more bog than I’d like. With a heatwave forecast for the end of the month, there was plenty to get sorted before the sun really showed up. May turned into one of those months where every job led straight into the next: a bit of yard levelling turned into a hunt for a long-lost well, which then turned into stripping the digger down for a full wash.
Not covered this month;
- Washing machine self-destruction
- Anti animal trim went onto the Megashed
- And the grass machinery all received some love and attention.
Husbandry
The spring has been rather kind to the animals so far; although rather wet, the grass has kept growing at a decent rate, which has kept the pigs happy. An abundance of mice has also kept the cats entertained, although I’d be happier if they could keep their ‘trophies’ outside the house. And we’ve had a new visitor this week.
Porcine
The piggies have really gained some personality over the last month or so. They’re very good at reminding us to feed them, and they’ve somehow become more friendly.
I say friendly, but they’ve found they really like a good scratch behind the ears, much like a dog. If we come into their field without a bucket, they come straight and put their head on your leg to ask for a scratch.
A big change on the boys’ side was the addition of a sun shelter. The girls manage quite well against the shed or in the bramble hedge, but shade for the boys is a little scarce. With a heatwave forecast at the end of the month, this simple pergola was knocked together for them to escape the sun.
Aves
A new visitor to the farm in May was a rather impressive bird of prey. He seems to be just as interested in the mice as the cats are, although I suspect his success rate is a little better.
While the common buzzard is apparently the most common bird of prey in the UK, I can’t say I’ve ever really noticed them before. Watching this guy hunt and feed on field mice and voles is quite impressive. He certainly has better eyesight than I do, and he seems to get on fine with our resident barn owls.
Well Hunting
On many older maps and some newer maps, a well is shown in the bottom yard. All the maps show the well in roughly the same place, but standing in the yard, there is no obvious sign of a former structure that might provide access to a water source.
One cool May morning, I took the minidigger down to the bottom yard and set to tidying up the ground. Over the years, various piles have been tipped, and the yard wasn’t the easiest to traverse with the tractor. A little levelling was needed to make the space really useful.
One thing led to another, and the invasive thought got into my head to dig down to the well. Unfortunately, it seems the yard has been raised several feet with various ‘infill’ over the years, and even after digging through all this rubble, I couldn’t find any sign of the wellhead. One for another day, with a bigger machine!
Digger Cleaning
After all the ‘playing in the mud’, the little digger was looking awfully dirty, so I felt it was the right time for a little bath. While the digger has been cosmetically cleaned a few times, it has never been deep cleaned.
First up, the engine bay received a thorough jetting down with the pressure washer. It turns out the three-cylinder Perkins engine was actually painted grey at the factory, not the black it had become. There is a fuel or oil leak around the head (I’m suspecting injector seals), but this should help with diagnosis.
Then I thought it might be worth checking out the valve block that controls all the hydraulics when the various levers are pressed. I’d never looked under this cover before, but I’m glad I did. The valve block and lever mechanisms were completely baked in heavy mud.
I used a combination of pointy sticks and a scraper to get most of the crud out. The third filled bucket pictured above gives an idea of just how much material was wedged into the valve block and actuators.
The before-and-after above should give a clearer idea of how much filth was removed. I’m fairly optimistic that with all the soil, clay, and stones removed from around the controls, the machine might actually run a little more smoothly.
Ride On Mower
While the ride-on mower was last in use, the cutting belt inside the mowing deck failed. This is a fairly important belt as not only does it make the blades spin, but it also sets the timing so the two rotating metal cutting heads don’t hit each other.
Fortunately, the mowing deck is only held to the underside of the mower with four fixings. And I figured that while it was out this time, some love would be shown and some of the rust treated.
Once the worst of the rust was ground off with a wire brush on an angle grinder, some car paint was applied to the bare metal. Not the greatest of finishes, but this should help extend the life of the deck by a few years at least.
The mower’s main rider even appeared to help with the reassembly. I’m not so sure about the white hoody, but she does seem to love her new overalls.
In a record time, the belt was back on, timed and tensioned, ready to go back on the mower. Interestingly, it was about this time that my assistant vanished while I fought to get the deck under the mower and reinstalled it.
However, the short assistant did reappear in time for testing. Although this wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I sent her to test out the mower. I was thinking more about the grass cutting capability rather than the seat comfort!
Workshop Door
The door to the workshop has clearly seen one too many slams in its life, and when the doors are open, they have a tendency to catch the wind running up the neighbour’s field. I also suspect they’ve been driven into once or twice.
The top of the ‘door’ actually overlaps the gable end and is completely unsupported. Over the years, the thin tin sheets have slowly succumbed to the abuse and rippled and bent. The feather-edge fencing strips that made up the gable end have also been destroyed. So, the doors were cut flush to the opening, and the gable was repaired with some ply and OSB.
Once the gable was repaired, it was reclad with tin sheet and possibly for the first time, the roof received a flashing. While a relatively simple improvement to the structure of the workshop door, it has also kept out a lot of rain. I hadn’t realised just how much weather was getting in through the top of the door. I guess I’ll have to paint it next!
Coming Up
It’s grass season, and if I don’t get all the kit serviced and ready to go, we might well miss the season. There’s a lot to do, and timing is going to be against us for the whole of June! Will the weather hold long enough? Can I get the grass in before it turns to garbage? June is going to be stressful!