Sun, Rain, Cold, Breakdowns

The title summarizes my life lately but maybe a few more details. We went from Dante's inferno record breaking heat last week to furnace running , almost snow here in the past few days. The rain was welcome as long as it does not out stay it's welcome. Surface was getting a little dusty on top of the mud.
And there is talk of overnight frost later this week. Glad the expensive canola seed is still in the bag and not sprouting in the mud to be frozen.
I nearly finished my first field of wheat but a leaking steering hose sent me home just before the rain started. Hopefully the wheat will not be growing before I can get back and finish the field.
The steering hose has been made and awaits installation. But its raining again and the tractor is parked outside so.....
I guess I could take the opportunity to fill out the Statistics Canada census form that was mailed/delivered last week. No doubt I have complained before about their ridiculous timing. But the work schedule of a few remaining farmers are of little importance when the government decides it needs it's statistics now. When I am busy trying to plant a crop I really don't have any extra time to spare (waste) in this case. Unless I sacrifice sleep or eating and I feel they are a little more important.
buddeshepherd recommended I take the Mercury out for a spin to relieve stress. Unfortunately the tractor sits in the way waiting for me to fix it. Plus it is way too wet and muddy to take a rusty old car outdoors today. So here is some previously unseen video from back in April when conditions were nearly perfect. Blue sky and sunshine reflecting off the faded paint and rusty chrome.

Another Day In The Field

Not the greatest photo but the one I took today turned out to be invisible so this one is from yesterday. . Just one small problem in a series of bigger ones . I am going to try and be like Bud E. Shepherd and remain an optimist and have a positive attitude though.
With that in mind I will not complain about getting stuck in the mud with the swather (again) and pulling it out myself (with a little help from the tractor). Flax swathing went well aside from that. The walk for the tractor through moose territory was uneventful thankfully.
And of course the biggest bright spot in the day was that I did not burn down the combine even though there was smoke coming out of the feeder house from the smoldering bundle of flax straw that had somehow wrapped and accumulated on the return auger shaft just above the cylinder on the 7721 combine. I really need a new pair of gloves without holes in them. Although the holes in mine did help me detect where the hot spots were on the combine. No serious burns luckily.
Again on the positive side it was a beautiful warm day with record breaking high temperature. Exactly what I need to get the harvest done. I would prefer not to have wasted at least two of the good hours on mud and fires but hopefully there will be more weather like it. I need a few good days.

A Little Diesel Smoke

Although I was not able to raise as much smoke as BuddeShepherd did with his Minneapolis Moline, I did see a puff or two out of the Super 90 Massey today. Not enough to smoke out even a few rats though. It seems that air is in the fuel injection system and so far has evaded my best efforts to bleed it out. So far I have put more diesel fuel on the floor of the shop than into the combustion chambers of the engine. Even though  I had that engine warm to the touch using the block heater. Yes , it is still winter here even though it is March 29 and this engine has never been a good starter at less than 40 degrees without pre-heating. No luck today though. It ran for a few seconds and that was all.  I suspect I have an air leak in the makeshift fuel line and tank I have rigged up for the inaugural test run.
Having better luck with the cattle though. The latest calf , now 11 days old, is looking good. In this picture from today, he has just come into the barn with the cow for the evening and laid down to relax after a day playing outside with the others.