Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

Just some photos and stories of our little place up north...

("Raven's Roost" - really likes Ravens, and there are usually a few keeping us company up there...)
It was a couple of years ago, in the middle of the pandemic when we decided it would be a good idea to think about early retirement for me. Real estate prices were going crazy and we hoped if we could sell our place in the city we could buy a little place in the countryside and have a few dollars left over to top up my retirement savings. We looked at a bunch of "handyman specials" and little "fixer uppers" but quickly clued into the games being played where properties were listed at crazy low prices hoping everyone would get into a bidding and jack up the prices...

Plan "B" was to buy some vacant land and then build a home on it... One of the first questions I asked the listing agent for the property we ended up buying was - "Is the seller actually willing to accept the listed price?" We walked the property and got to meet the owner (now our neighbour) and asked about the price - his response was - "I don't want to play no games... not a penny less or a penny more..." That pretty much sealed the deal, and we made our offer on the spot... Didn't take long and the "Sold" sign was up at roadside.
It's basically a hillside with 10 acres of hardwood bush, beaver meadow and creek close to the highway, and then straight up the hill to the back of the property where there is a patch of level ground before the hillside goes up into the ridge behind us...
The property had a roughed in laneway up the West side of the property, and an old old skidder trail that cut across the back of the property where there is a nice clearing where we are going to build house and garage.

The property is about 1000' deep, once you get past the creek and meadow there is about 100' of elevation gain over the last 600' to the back... It's pretty steep, but our clearing is hidden in the forest, almost invisible from the Hwy.
First project for the property was somewhere to sit - there really isn't a natural level spot anywhere in the 10 acres
Built a picnic table made from scrap 2x10's from work (big machines have really big skids for parts )
Hauled it up behind the Tacoma and once the screen tent was up we had a place to escape from the mosquitoes and deer flies.

Next on the list was some clean up work - bought a good weed wacker, and a wood chipper that was on sale at Princess. Once the brush was gone it was easier to follow the skidder path and imagine where our future driveway would go.
2nd project was a small shed to hold the rapidly growing collection of tools... built it at home in a "knockdown" fashion so it would fit on the trailer for the 5 hr drive to the property. Once we had levelled up a base for it screwed together quite quickly...
more to come...

Very nice pictures Gerry, I am enjoying this story. In many ways you are living the adventure that some of us would like, and I'm personally glad to living it vicariously through your recounting. To me life is not passive, measured in the quantity of quality of WHAT you own. The property has great potential for keeping you busy (who am I kidding?!) for a while yet, and what a playground for power toys and tractors and such.

Thanks @Eugen There are plenty of stories to tell about The 'Roost,

It's nice to have the 'everything else ' section to share some of the back story. All the pieces eventually come together, if it wasn't for the property up north, there wouldn't be a reason for having the Case/Ingersoll tractors or the big Case backhoe...

RoamingGnome wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 11:36 am Thanks @Eugen There are plenty of stories to tell about The 'Roost,

It's nice to have the 'everything else ' section to share some of the back story. All the pieces eventually come together, if it wasn't for the property up north, there wouldn't be a reason for having the Case/Ingersoll tractors or the big Case backhoe...

Well said Gerry! I’m also enjoying the story of the roost. I know you’ve got a lot of work ahead, I hope you can continue to take us along with you!

Keeping busy while waiting for Amazon to deliver a parcel with air filter and fuel pump for Maxine (the 222)
- We live on one of the major roads in the city and are so close to the sidewalk we literally wait in the front room hoping to hear the knock on the front door, The chipper shed was built in slabs, at home so it would be easy to transport. Wanted to have the front wall flip down so it could act as a ramp to roll the chipper inside.
Decided to place it close to the corner where the skidder trail branched off from the laneway and goes across the back of the property. The property had been selectively logged in the years before we bought it, and there are piles of slash everywhere (part of why I decided to get the chipper) No level ground anywhere, it's a mix of sand and rocks, with a couple of inches of "soil" on top - decided to make a base and fill it with sand rather than trying to dig down to level ground. Floor gets laid on the sand, then the side panels, ramp/front wall and back panel and finally the roof... Roof hinges up, front wall hinges down, and a lot of stuff gets crammed inside - chipper, generator, gas cans, weed whacker and chainsaw, shovels and rakes... it's a real jigsaw puzzle getting everything to fit inside.

Took advantage of a couple of unseasonably mild days last week and ventured up to the 'Roost with another load of stuff from our place in the city,
I really have to start allowing more time to pack the truck and trailer, as I left late, got there in the dark, I'm fortunate to have friends that live in a village about 15 minutes away from the property - headed over there just in time for dinner and socializing and then a bed in a warm house - (night time temps are mostly below freezing now and the plastic shed we camp in during the summer is getting a little frosty for sleeping)

Woke up to frosty fields but a really nice sunrise... had breakfast with my friends before they headed off to their respective jobs and then I wandered up to the property... First job was unloading and sorting out things in the 2 containers - one for household stuff, - the other for garage type stuff
Got things organized and tried to figure out how best to spend my remaining time up there...

*** Background Info ***

In the Spring of '22 we ordered and received a Bunkie Kit - 10'x10' with a loft... (Not our actual Bunkie - but this is the model we ordered)
It was one of our first major purchases and promised to be a huge upgrade over the plastic shed we have been camping in. Unfortunately shortly after it arrived bad storms (The Derecho of '22) roared through our area and left me with a lot of downed trees and other clean up to do. In some ways it was a blessing in disguise, because a couple trees fell over in places we had considered for building the Bunkie. - That summer was mostly spent cleaning up the mess - after a couple of months we decided we should tarp the bundle for a little extra weather proofing, and then in the fall of '22 we went back and put another heavy tarp over the Bunkie package to protect it for the winter...

Late last year we finally decided on the "perfect spot" for the Bunkie, - mostly around a corner and down a forest path - away from where we will eventually build our house / garage in the back corner of our 10 acre lot.
I honestly don't know where the time goes, but I blinked and another year is almost gone...
Decided it would be a good idea to finish clearing and levelling a 12' x 12' patch so that once the snow is gone next spring we can put down the base for the Bunkie, and finally see what has happened to the kit while under wraps for the last 2 years. Late last year we cleared the area a little bit,
and removed enough of the saplings to confirm there was enough level ground in that spot... When I was up there this summer I roughly marked out the 10x10 area with deck blocks
this was a perfect place to work on a rare 15°C (60°F) day in mid November...
Raked the leaves back and started in on the roots - that little patch of land was covered with a spiderweb of tree roots, big and small. The trees are propagating by sending up shoots from the intertwined roots... Spent 6+ hours with pick, shovel and root puller It will easily uproot a 2"-3" sappling - if it's not connected underground to all of its neighbours - there were times when pulling on one sapling you would see a couple of others nearby wiggling at the same time... The puller is a shameless copy of a "Pullerbear Puller" a nice Canadian made product https://pullerbear.com/ - if I was going to do it again, I would just buy one from their site, It was a fun fabrication exercise, but for the time and cost of materials I really wasn't saving much... Pulled 3 heaping wheelbarrow loads of roots from that spot - the roots were all in the top 6" of soil, hardly going any deeper - that explains why the big trees were so easy to blow over in the wind storms - a wide mat of roots, but no real depth or holding power to them. Almost finished clearing the area on this work trip - the forecast for the next day was wet and rainy, so I packed up and returned to the city...
Pretty stiff and sore the next day though Been a while since I've done that much physical labour...

Too bad the big backhoe couldn't be used for some fun.

Looks so beautiful there!

Eugen wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 11:59 am Too bad the big backhoe couldn't be used for some fun.

Looks so beautiful there!

Yes, your new Kubota would be the perfect size for going down the trail to the Bunkie site...
I had hopes and dreams of using the full size Case backhoe, but just too many distractions to settle down and do all the repairs needed to make it functional... Perhaps next year! (famous last words)

Looks great there.
This beautiful fall weather is so nice, good temps to work in and no mosquitoes. It's so easy to get this rush of energy to get this done before winter. I can definitely see where your drive time makes it difficult.

Coming along nicely! And like others have said beautiful scenery and temps make tackling this work more appealing. Looking forward to when the bunkie is there!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Big projects come from big dreamers. If you want to get something done ask a busy person. Your both a dreamer and a busy person. Your on the way to greatness. Don’t look back your going to succeed. Harry

Looks like a nice spot for your cabin. I’m looking forward to the build. It kinda reminds me of the Sears homes you could order. Pick the one you want and they would freight it to you pre cut ready to build!

Shallow roots is common up north , especially with ever greens . There are many broad leaf trees up there that grow fast and fall down faster with out notice , ei white birch ((paper birch) . Having the trees cut back or topped of so that no tree is able to hit buildings when not if it comes down . It is the way of the woods up there . Be wary of widow makers when walking the woods as well , especially in the spring . Beautiful spot , living in harmony with nature comes from understanding it .

Looks like a great spot to retire.
My place is also all rocks, with a thin skin of dirt all through the woods. When we've seen blowdown, it's always amazing to see just how wide the root base is, and how many of those rocks it has wrapped up. The trees are pretty much sitting there like potted plants. The oaks are a different story of course.

I'm curious how heavy is the ramp on your shed? Obviously it's working, but just from the photo, it looks like it'd be a bear to handle.

Thanks for the comments everyone! Now that the weather is feeling more like winter I'm sure I'll have a bit of time available to share some of the adventures we've had while trying to build our "dream" retirement home up north.

@JSinMO the Bunkie https://bunkielife.com/is sold as a kit with everything included except for the base/foundation and the roof covering (we are going to go steel roof) The walls are pre-cut and notched and go together like a Lincoln Log kit for grownups... Or that's the plan anyway...

@Toolslinger the ramp for the chipper shed looks sturdy in the photos but it's actually made from PT fence boards with just enough reinforcing that it won't snap under my weight. It's a little heavy to close, but no worse than trying to stand a sheet of 3/4" plywood on edge. I'm quite pleased with how it has worked out, It's been through 2 winters and doesn't look any worse for the wear. It's a little less cluttered now as I've moved the chainsaw and weed whacker to the "garage" shipping container

Update time... lots of little changes and adventures up at the 'Roost in the last few months. Thought I would share a few highlights For the last couple of years had been using an 8x10 plastic shed as a temporary structure to "camp" up at the 'Roost while we figured out exactly what we were going to do with the property (hint: we still haven't decided ) It was cozy inside, just enough room for a Queen size mattress and a small table and chairs. I also made a wooden screen door for a little extra ventilation in the hot summer months

Unfortunately this spring we discovered carpenter ants had set up house over the winter...
- It was time to look for something a little more comfortable - I found an older (1984) camper trailer on FB marketplace, it looked pretty good, it was close by and the owners agreed to deliver it to our property. We spoke to neighbour Glen and he offered to let us set up a temporary camp so we could prepare a proper pad for the trailer on top of the hill - in the clearing where we want to build our house and garage. "Clean up" day presented a few surprises - but overall the level of creature comforts has gone up exponentially... One of the big surprises was finding evidence Deer mice had enjoyed living in the trailer at some point... we didn't look in the storage cubby under the rear dinette seat (it was full of junk when we looked at it originally) lifting the cushion to vacuum everywhere we found a 3'x4' area full of old acorn shells 2" deep
and worse - they had nibbled on some of the wiring On the downside I have added to my ever growing list of projects and things to do... on the Plus side - It's functional as it sits, with a very comfortable bed and a real kitchen and dining table.

Looks like fun. You can easily fix those wires with some Wago 221 inline splicing connectors. Wago has larger ones if needed. If you need help, let me know.
https://www.amazon.com/221-2401-WAGO-Le ... 431&sr=8-5

I didn't spend a lot of time at the property this spring so the weeds started growing like... well... weeds Did a couple of trips up to weed whack and try to find the driveway that was threatening to disappear in a jungle of green. and the mosquitoes and deerflies were hungry and looking for company.

When the trailer arrived we decided to clear a place for it up top. Made a 10x20 wood form and placed it in the opening between the garage and house locations...
Levelled out the form and started filling it with loose rocks and gravel from around the clearing... The last couple of days I did a crazy amount of driving ~ going from home to @Eugen on to the 'Roost and then return home the next day so I could return the U-Haul trailer before the 2 day rental was finished - it was a total of 1200 kms / 745 miles in 36 hours) We started the odyssey on Wednesday when we went to visit @Eugen and buy our 2nd 644 loader from his collection
(I'm going to combine the best bits of both, then fix up the 2nd one and put it up for sale - can't be greedy and one 644 loader should be enough for me ) Thursday (yesterday) was spent moving trailer loads of pit run gravel from the bottom of the property up to the trailer pad.
(Neighbour Glen to the rescue again, he loaded up my utility trailer with a bucket of gravel from his big farm tractor - one bucket was enough to settle the trailer on to it's overload springs.) It's not a self tilting or dumping trailer, but I thought if I moved enough of the load behind the centre of gravity I could lift up on the tongue and let the load slide out. it worked (sort of) - there are clearance issues with the license plate when it tips like that and I also made it too hard to completely remove the tailgate when dumping. So you end up having to shovel the gravel off the tailgate before you can move the trailer again,,,
I finished off the day with a 3rd partial trailer load that I shovelled in by hand (a lot more effort than I would like to repeat again soon - )
- One or two more loads of the pit run gravel and I should be ready to add the top layer of 3/4" crusher run and then run a compactor over it...

...to be continued

MattA wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2024 4:29 pm Looks like fun. You can easily fix those wires with some Wago 221 inline splicing connectors. Wago has larger ones if needed. If you need help, let me know.
https://www.amazon.com/221-2401-WAGO-Le ... 431&sr=8-5

Thanks @MattA those could be a useful thing to have around, the chewed wires are the low voltage (12v) wires for lighting etc...
I was intending on either replacing short runs or doing a conventional repair using automotive style heat shrink butt connectors.

Have you seen these before - https://www.amazon.ca/Burndy-BISR1-Unit ... B00CBK6L2S I have a handful of them in my collection - left over from working as a mechanic and repairing magnet cables on scrap cranes - they are good for splicing wires anywhere from #14-1/0 AWG

I have not seen those. We also use these splices at work. Basically you install it on the wires and hit it with a heat gun. The splice heat shrinks, glues itself in place and then solders itself in place. I just picked a random one on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Kuject-Connector ... 126&sr=8-3#

MattA wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2024 8:48 pm I have not seen those. We also use these splices at work. Basically you install it on the wires and hit it with a heat gun. The splice heat shrinks, glues itself in place and then solders itself in place. I just picked a random one on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Kuject-Connector ... 126&sr=8-3#

The Burndy BISR1/0 was nice for being able to splice different gauges of wire in the same plug - wires go in the ends and then there are set screws under the upper plugs for retaining the wires, and they are re-useable if a wire downstream needs replacing- The heat shrink solder splices are great to work with to work with, - I'm old school (and cheap) if there is enough room to work, old fashioned solder, and 2 pieces of heat shrink, - 1 the same size as insulation removed for the splice, and the second longer section to seal it all up and make it really weather proof - I'll do this for personal stuff, it's way too much fiddly work for most jobs when time = money...

MattA wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2024 8:48 pm I have not seen those. We also use these splices at work. Basically you install it on the wires and hit it with a heat gun. The splice heat shrinks, glues itself in place and then solders itself in place. I just picked a random one on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Kuject-Connector ... 126&sr=8-3#

A few years back I was given a partial set of solder shrink wire ends . Seamed like a good thing . I used a bunch on Frankie when I did the last retro fit with all the guages , cab and stuff. Over the next year I had so many of them fail I cut all them out and replaced with crimp on shrink connectors and have not had another failure since . The solder connction would fail, I beleave from vibration. I think the low temp solder is to soft to be using on something like a GT.

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2024 6:51 am
A few years back I was given a partial set of solder shrink wire ends . Seamed like a good thing . I used a bunch on Frankie when I did the last retro fit with all the guages , cab and stuff. Over the next year I had so many of them fail I cut all them out and replaced with crimp on shrink connectors and have not had another failure since . The solder connction would fail, I beleave from vibration. I think the low temp solder is to soft to be using on something like a GT.

Thanks @DavidBarkey and @MattA - that's a good point about vibration and the low temp solder shrink connectors. I'm a fan of some sort of mechanical connection - wether it's twist+solder or crimped connector with built in heat shrink

Trailer Pad update -
Went to the property Thursday afternoon, and after playing in Toronto traffic finally arrived in the dark after a 7 hour trip
(it should only take 4.5 hrs )
Forecast for Friday was supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with rain starting in the wee hours of Saturday morning and continuing for the rest of the weekend. Good enough to try and squeeze in a solid day's work, even if the rain started early...
The mosquitoes/blackflies weren't too bad, but the No See Ums just wouldn't take no for an answer, and it didn't seem like the bug spray was stopping them at all... after the second one flew into my eyes it was back to old fashioned protective measures
Last post had the trailer pad form levelled up and waiting for more gravel.
Started at 7:30 doing the bucket thing - Eight 5 gallon pails filled with gravel and hefted into the trailer for the trip up the hill. - It's slow, but manageable when you are working by yourself and gives the opportunity to pick out all the larger stones from the pile before filling the buckets.
2nd load - neighbour Glen saw me shovelling and before he went out for the day came by to help with his Belarus tractor and scooped up a bucket full for the trailer - loads 3 thru 7 were back to using the buckets.
Finally had all the pit run gravel in place and ready for an inch or two of clean 3/4" crushed on top to make it look pretty
The red 644 loader started up ok after sitting for a few weeks... unforunately, it really needs some extra weight on the backend to be of any use. I grabbed 3 buckets of nice gravel, but was making so many little holes in the driveway spinning one of the back tires that I gave up and returned to wheelbarrow and shovel.

I'm going to exchange tires with my yellow 644 loader from the city and also add liquid ballast and some wheel weights before I take them up to the property and do the swap over, maybe try to hang some weights off the 3 point hitch too...
Rest of the gravel was wheelbarrow and shovel.
Finished pad, after driving the 644 and the Tacoma over it to try and settle the surface. I'll probably rent a plate compactor from a big box store to pack it down properly before parking the trailer on it.
It had been drizzling on and off all afternoon, shortly after I finished it really started to rain heavily and I retreated to the trailer for the night. Saturday morning was cold, grey and wet... and some of the trees are already starting to change colour The forecast was for it to stay like wet all weekend, a good excuse to head home and come back next week when it was going to be sunny again.
This picture was for
because even though she was at home for this work trip I still managed to park the truck where there would have been a big puddle for her to walk through in the morning...

That's good progress Gerry! I can confirm that using the loader without significant weight on the rear end was extremely frustrating. Once I put 200 lbs of wheel weights and loaded the weight box with another 200 lbs of suitcase weights it was night and day difference. I think the weight on the rear end is one of the most overlooked issues with these Case tractors, and with the loaders the most.

Weight is always the answer... I have a 500# BH counterweight hanging on the back of one of mine. Even that wasn't enough on one project, and I put a couple hundred pounds on the wheels. I've even come up light on a couple occasions with the BH machine. Ended up stretching out the hoe and putting whatever was handy in the BH bucket. These things are really hydraulic monsters to be able to pick up enough to require that kind of counterweight... (that said, I never checked my reliefs, and they might be running a bit hot allowing that level of chaos...)

Thanks for the comments about loaders and the need for more weight... Serious mellon scratching going on here today,
Just got back from Canadian Tire with a couple of 5 gal pails of RV antifreeze - good to -50°C (and they were on sale )

- Now to find some 15" inner tubes (the tires are looking a little cracked and weather worn)
- order a Slime 20073 fill adapter from Amazon - .
and then figure out something for additional wheel weights, FB marketplace seems a little hit and miss for something to fit a 15" rim. Might have to get creative and make something out of concrete... and look for some extra weights that will be easy to attach to the 3 point hitch.

I’ve found that putting weight on the inside or outside of the wheels and tires is best. With a hoe you can’t help putting stress on the bearings. I would think the manufacturer would engineer that into the machine. The 644 lbh has just the hoe for weight and rarely have I spun the tires. On the 646 I have combine weights on the rims with calcium in the tubes. You can never get enough weight with a loader. Harry

@RoamingGnome Gerry , did you see how I made my for the 446 blower tractor ? Portland cement and chopped up wheel weights for aggregate ?

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:10 pm @RoamingGnome Gerry , did you see how I made my for the 446 blower tractor ? Portland cement and chopped up wheel weights for aggregate ?

I was just trying to remember your post on this. I remember @thebuildist made the concrete counter weight, and maybe wheel weights too?
This had been on my never ending list too! Chains help but there’s no real substitute for weight.

RoamingGnome wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 4:42 pm Thanks for the comments about loaders and the need for more weight... Serious mellon scratching going on here today,
Just got back from Canadian Tire with a couple of 5 gal pails of RV antifreeze - good to -50°C (and they were on sale )

- Now to find some 15" inner tubes (the tires are looking a little cracked and weather worn)
- order a Slime 20073 fill adapter from Amazon -
fill adapter.jpg
.
and then figure out something for additional wheel weights, FB marketplace seems a little hit and miss for something to fit a 15" rim. Might have to get creative and make something out of concrete... and look for some extra weights that will be easy to attach to the 3 point hitch.

I think they got tubes already.

JSinMO wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:53 pm

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:10 pm @RoamingGnome Gerry , did you see how I made my for the 446 blower tractor ? Portland cement and chopped up wheel weights for aggregate ?

I was just trying to remember your post on this. I remember @thebuildist made the concrete counter weight, and maybe wheel weights too?
This had been on my never ending list too! Chains help but there’s no real substitute for weight.

@DavidBarkey made concrete wheel weights, documented here on the forum somewhere.

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:10 pm @RoamingGnome Gerry , did you see how I made my for the 446 blower tractor ? Portland cement and chopped up wheel weights for aggregate ?

Brake rotors are good for that purpose too.

Eugen wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 10:55 am

JSinMO wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:53 pm

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:10 pm @RoamingGnome Gerry , did you see how I made my for the 446 blower tractor ? Portland cement and chopped up wheel weights for aggregate ?

I was just trying to remember your post on this. I remember @thebuildist made the concrete counter weight, and maybe wheel weights too?
This had been on my never ending list too! Chains help but there’s no real substitute for weight.

@DavidBarkey made concrete wheel weights, documented here on the forum somewhere.

Yeah I looked but could not find it . It keeps saying too many hitts or something .

@DavidBarkey I found it. Here is the link to your post on making the wheel weights.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=370

Awesome Possum!

- Thanks for finding the post @JSinMO
- Great write up @DavidBarkey
- I'll have to take the wheels off the Yellow 644 tomorrow and properly check @Eugen I did take a quick look and thought they looked like regular tire valves, but looking at the 16"tubes I have I didn't realize how chunky the valves are on the tractor tubes...

- Maybe head back to Cdn Tire and get a couple more pails of RV antifreeze while it's on sale

JSinMO wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 6:31 pm @DavidBarkey I found it. Here is the link to your post on making the wheel weights.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=370

now I know why I could not find it . I was looking for homemade , not home made . My literary skill leave a lot to be desiered .

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 8:29 pm

JSinMO wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 6:31 pm @DavidBarkey I found it. Here is the link to your post on making the wheel weights.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=370

now I know why I could not find it . I was looking for homemade , not home made . My literary skill leave a lot to be desiered .

But your tractor fixing skills make up for it

Update - 2024-09-19
Arrived home late last night after 4 productive days up at the property...
Autumn is definitely coming - Some of the leaves are already starting to change colour
- Did some minor repairs, improvements to the trailer on Sunday, Test connection of the Noma 100w Solar Panel to the old "free" battery I'm going to use for 12v inside the camper (I'll wait until spring to get a replacement deep cycle battery) Woke up "Grampa" - the 195 Case from his hiding spot in the garage container He got a new battery hold-down and a plate with a 2" trailer ball to bolt on to his drawbar After that, checked fluids and he started right up
All ready to drive up the big hill to the clearing at the top, and itching to work the next morning...

Our driveway at the top of the hill has a loop with a tiny island of forest in the center... When branches fell off the trees we had been putting them on the edge of the loop - saying "we'll get around to putting those in the chipper one day" - as we get ready to move the trailer up to it's new gravel pad we realized the mess of branches need to be cleaned up and also there are now a couple of large dead trees that should come down - in case they fall on the trailer when it's in place.
The combination of Beech Bark Disease, Oak Wilt and the Gypsy Moth infestations the last few years have been hard on some of our mature trees. In particular, our little drive way island has a large dead Oak tree and 2 dead Beech trees - and a couple more dead trees on the other side of the driveway. Dropped the smaller Beech tree on the side of the drive to help catch the big Beech when it fell across the lane way... Next it was time to buck everything into rounds to go back on the racks in the back 40...
(Don't have a wood splitter yet - and nowhere to burn firewood either for that matter )

It was (for me) a fairly large tree to fall - Playing with chainsaws is a skill that I have acquired very late in life And trees in the average city backyard don't get this tall... Got to use some Lumberjack toys, - Finally a chance to try the Princess Auto LogJack - bought it on sale - made the excuse that it was an early Birthday or Christmas present and it would be useful "someday" (it was) A full day of Lumberjacking was done with my Milwaukee M18 Cordless chainsaw with 16" bar and an HD12.0 Ah battery (it was completely drained by the end of the day) The rounds were put in the Case trailer and hauled back to the log racks...

Wednesday was clean up day... I had to choose between dropping the 2nd Beech tree and cleaning up the ever growing pile of branches from the first few trees I cut down.
I chose the chipper, and it worked non-stop for most of the day. It would take about an hour for me to grind enough branches to fill the little trailer with chips / mulch. And a very nice looking mulch it was too... and what to do with all those wood chips? lay down a nice path through the forest to the spot where we are eventually going to build our Bunkie, the ground is really rough with lots of dips and holes, laying down a bed of mulch was a quick easy way to level out and smooth things over. As the day was winding up (and I knew I was making a 5hr drive home afterwards)
I moved all of the tractors away from the clearing and into the forest. Neighbour Glen is going to drop the big Oak tree for me in the next few days and I wanted everything away from the drop zone. I decided to wrap up Grandpa in a plastic raincoat to try and give his shiny paint job some protection... I'm sure I could hear the Red 644 grumbling about why the old tractor was getting special treatment...

You put in a lot of work but the property is really looking nice! And you got some good tractor time in to boot!

Quote .... I decided to wrap up Grandpa in a plastic raincoat to try and give his shiny paint job some protection... I'm sure I could hear the Red 644 grumbling about why the old tractor was getting special treatment...
A word of caution about tarping up the tractors . Yes it does help protect and keep clean . But it also makes a nice environment for kritters to nest in the tractor . Also with the temp swing this time of year , it can cause them to sweat and not dry out . Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't kind of situation .

Thanks @DavidBarkey , those are good points about tarping tractors outside. Hopefully this is a very temporary thing. It's just a pain in the butt riding the 195 down the laneway to the far end of the property and park it back in the Shipping Container Garage.

We were up at the property yesterday to put a cover on our RV Trailer. While I was there I put some moth ball packs under the hoods of the 195 and the 644 loader in the hopes it would discourage critters from nesting

When I used the wood chipper for the first time last week I found some field mice had made a home in the intake hopper behind the rubber guard curtain. Discovered too late unfortunately, as more mouse bits came out than originally went in...

I hear you on the danged mice! I have the 446 parked in the garage down at the house right now and I just cleared out the beginnings of a nest from under the hood

I try to keep an eye on all the tractors and trucks around here but those sneaky critters still get past me sometimes.
The only success I’ve really had is to use either Decon or Tomcat poison in the buildings and equipment.

The best defence with mice is to put the outdoors cats bed under the tractor in a shed . Not always practical , but sure is effective .

DavidBarkey wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 7:11 pm The best defence with mice is to put the outdoors cats bed under the tractor in a shed . Not always practical , but sure is effective .

says that won't happen (our cats have always been 100% inside "city" cats)
says I would have better luck trying to keep the tractors in the living room if I really want to put a cat's bed under them...
doesn't understand when I say "I would be ok with that..."

For the record our most recent family member Echo (RIP) never really understood he was a cat, He did go camping, and he would go outside (on a leash) but at the first sign of trouble he was making a bee line to the door of the camper.
and I'm sure he thought he was some strange combination of part human, dog and cat... he would catch mice in the house, but then just played with them, never realizing he was supposed to finish the deed and then show us his contribution to the household - and not bring it up to our bed at 3am so we could also play with his new friend...

@RoamingGnome That sure reminds me of our cat Oliver. He was the best. An outside cat but he would come when you called his name. And he loved to ride around with me on the mule. A lot of times he would be sitting on the seat waiting for me. He would follow me to the garden or up to the chickens. I called him out cat/dog. Same as you said about Echo, I don’t think he knew he was a cat!

I sure don’t think we’ll ever have another one like him!

We do also have a outdoor cat that will come when called , follows me around , loves his rubbins and indoor naps . I spoil him , so I am his best friend . He thinks he is some kind of big shot because he is a "Mr." Mr Whiskers .lol He has this old dog trained better than any of the neighbours dogs are . He and his brother prowl the compound keeping the kritters out of the garden and out of the birds food . But he gets to prowl our yard and surounding area before coming into the house for his afternoon nap . Oh and he does tell me when He is ready for nap time .