Blue is Back...

I just thought I would give a quick farm update this morning before I head out for another crazy day. I have lots to catch up on at work today and then a Junior Varsity/Varsity soccer double header this evening. Should be a busy day! But, there is good news to report on the farm so I thought I would take a second to share a little before I hit the dusty roads to town.

The Pigs are Being Pigs: Really, that is about it. They are eating, lounging around, sleeping, and really not rooting up to much (which is nice). I really like the temperament of these pigs and especially of the sow. They had been worked with to a point and were fed daily by hand so they are used to people being around. I think they will make some nice pork!

The Cows are Being Cows: They are still in the "lot" right now eating hay because the fencing isn't up yet, but the grass isn't totally around yet either so that isn't a huge problem. I have been toying with the idea of letting them out during the day into an electrified paddock to see if they will trample down and eat some of the tall grass ... we will see.

The Chickens are Being Chickens: Really we only have three chickens right now and we only know where one is laying at the moment. But, since she is laying consistently we have enough eggs to get by. It is nice to see them out in the cow lot flipping over cow pies and digging around though, and that only serves to get me excited about getting more. Hopefully we will take a trip north soon (to my uncle's) to expand the flock.

Blue is Back: I am happy to say that our "new to us" Ford 5000 tractor is back from the shop as of yesterday and I am ready to put her to work. It seems the folks at Belzer Equipment did a good job on the repairs and I know that they were very good to us on the bill. When it was all said and done they fixed the lights, put a new seal kit on the steering cylinder (the reason it went in), replaced the temperature sender, replaced the fuel pump, adjusted the pump timing, and a replaced a couple other small things. Between that and the engine overhaul I think we should have a pretty good tractor! I know there will eventually be something that wears out again, but at least we know we have some things fixed up!

Other than that, plans are going well for the various projects that need to be done this spring. We have the storm shelter deal all figured out and are just waiting for some dry ground, I'm waiting on a bid for our shed, fencing things are coming together (I just need to carve out some time), and we are enjoying spring days on the farm as a family (when we are all home together).

Something is Missing...

When we got home from class this past Saturday afternoon I decided it would be a good idea to go get a little wood to keep the house nice and toasty as we got what I hope is our last little dash of winter cold, wind, and snow. With that in mind I plugged in the tractor to get it warmed up and went to finish up some chores and get my wood cutting supplies. After about thirty minutes I came back to the tractor, put everything in the loader, and hopped on ready to go do some manly wood cutting. What happened next was not part of my plan...

I put the tractor into second gear and let out the clutch while turning the steering wheel to the right so as to avoid the van parked in the drive. There was one major problem ... the steering was not working and before I could get the tractor stopped the van stopped it for me! This pretty well sums up my last few days. After backing away from the crunched van I was able to muscle the steering wheel the other way and head out to the timber to get my wood. Needless to say, the steering never came back and I found a puddle of fluid underneath the front end of the tractor.

Since I purchased this tractor from the dealer it has a 50/50 90 day warranty and yesterday morning I decided to test it out. I called up the salesman I bought it from and he said he would have a guy out there after lunch. I was not able to be home then because of the back load of work in town (did I mention it has been a tough few days), but when I came home the tractor was gone. Thankfully the took it back to the shop to check it out and get everything working.

Now, I need to decide if I'm going to bite the bullet and pay them to fix a the tach and the temperature gauge. I suppose I will at least call and find out how much it would cost. Hopefully things will dry out this week and I will get the tractor back when I'm able to get some work done. Whatever happens, I'm just glad I ended up with this dealer and at least a partial warranty! It is nice to have them helping out because I know it would have taken me a long time to fix this ... if I even could.

Big Blue is Here...

This morning I received a call that they would be delivering our new Ford 5000 tractor and this afternoon it showed up ... ready to work! Of course I had to take the obligatory, "New (to me) Tractor and Proud Owner Wearing Dealer's Ball Cap" picture as you can see above. After that I shut it down and let the kids take a turn at the wheel pretending to drive. Once all of that was out of the way I just drove around a little trying to get used to everything and hooked up a few implements to the three-point hitch just for kicks. Before the night was over I put the loader bucket to good use and cleaned out a stall that we had set up in the storage side of our house for a calf that we wanted to keep a closer eye on. So far, so good.

Here are some of the details of our new tractor (if you are interested in this type of thing). This particular Ford 5000 was made in 1967 (I believe) and is an 8-speed diesel tractor with around a 60 h.p. engine. It has the loader as you can see and the three-point hitch which will come in handy around the farm with a few implements and my new three-point carry all (machinery auction this morning). Other than those details, I just know what I read about this particular Ford model and try to learn as much as I can.

Also, as I mentioned in my "Tractor Shopping" post, this tractor has recently had an engine overhaul. This was a big selling point in my book because of the lack of mechanical abilities that I have. That overhaul included: a new crankshaft, 2 rods, 4 ring sets, various new bearings, new gaskets, a new clutch, a couple new hydraulic fittings, new hoses, new filters, and a few odds and ends. On top of that they did a once over and fixed a couple things at the dealer.

My hope and prayer is that all of this adds up to a tractor without MAJOR problems. I completely understand that there will always be something on a tractor of this vintage, but if we can stay away for the biggies I will be a happy camper. If not ... I'm buying a horse and buggy and selling all the vehicles :)

Just a Little Shopping...

The New Holland dealer a couple towns to the south of us was hosting an open house for the 40th anniversary this week and since there was free food (and homemade ice-cream) I thought it would behoove me to at least go down and celebrate with them. Really the food was good, and it was the reason that I waited until Friday to stop by, but the real reason that I wanted to go down was because there were three tractors there that I was mildly interested in. I did not plan on buying from a dealer because I usually figure the dealer price isn't worth paying.

The three tractors I was interested looking at included two John Deere 4020's (the best selling JD ever I believe) and a Ford 5000 (pictured above). Like I said, I knew going down that they were more pricey than I had planned on spending, but I just thought I would take a look ... remember we are talking about free food! One 4020 looked pretty nice with good tires and a good John Deere 148 loader while the other 4020 left a little be desired, but was still probably an average tractor. It just so happened the nicer one sold earlier in the day, which probably didn't effect me too much because I know for sure it was out of my price range.

So, my dad and I went over and looked at the Ford 5000. In my extended family there have basically been two brands of tractors on the farm for the past 60 plus years. With a couple exceptions they were Minneapolis Moline and John Deere. That is all to say that my dad didn't have a lot of experience with Ford tractors and I of course had none. I did do a little research before hand though and found that they made the 5000 model from 1965 until 1975. That is a decent run for a tractor model.

I decided to investigate the Ford tractor a little more and went inside for a sit down with the owner of the dealership. He was able to give me more information about the Ford 5000 and this tractor in particular. It seems that this tractor had a complete engine overhaul (new rods, new crank, new bearings, etc.) this past December/January and was is pretty good shape. The loader on the tractor is nothing special, but might be a slight upgrade over the one I had on the Farmall 450.

Long story short ... We now have a blue tractor (well, it will be here in a few days). I know I could have bought a tractor for less, but I also know that with this one I have the bill showing everything that was done (totaled over $4,000) and the benefit of a 90 day warranty. Plus, I purchased it from a dealer that has been around for awhile and that my neighbors have dealt with for years. I understand my mechanical limitations and hope that the extra things that have been done on this tractor will pay off for me in the long run. I did a pretty good once over on the tractor and don't think there is anything that I will have to repair or replace right away.

I'll keep praying this works out :) And post some pictures when it is delivered. I already know plenty of projects that it will get used on!