Laughing at myself - it's a long way from a City Desk to a Farm
Moving from the city to become a Farmer is about spark plugs. Today I was reminded how far I have yet to travel to become a farmer, but I did get a good laugh at myself.
When I first moved here I brought a second hand ride on mower (ladies that means no user guide). I've pushed that thing through the roughest bush, I've had to uninstall all the safety switches to ride it sideways across the hills but the bloody thing just keeps going. At first I used to load it on the trailer and take it for a service every 100 hours of use, each time Id pay $300 or $400 dollars so I decided I'd service it for myself. I'm a man, I figured how hard could it be, I programmed the TV without the user guide so it must be relatively simple. I'm a practical person I figured if I just read the receipts from each service I'd know what to do. Fuel filter, spark plug, oil filter, air filter and generally wipe it over and fix the leaking tyres I always had.
A year and a half latter I'm doing great - or I just got lucky. Each time it started to chug along and go at half pace I'd change the spark plug, fuel filter and clean it, add a little oil and off we would go again. This fortnight that didn't work. I think I started the issue with too much oil or maybe I started mowing with the choke on full. I got about 50 meters from the shed and all hell broke loose, smoke seemed to come from ever orifice of the bloody machine. I couldn't breath so I dived clear and let the beast have it's moment. Once the machine had settled I re-mounted and proceeded to only find it going at half pace (major clue) so back to the shed to yet again go through what I now understood was a service of my mower. Each day as I drove to work I'd get a new element - spark plug, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter but to no avail each day the result was half pace.
Beware - funny part coming. The side you put the fuel in has all the other stuff, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plug and air filter. Surely this is all, I've seen my mower from the city and the whipper snipper and they have all one of those each. Such frustration, I'd have to admit defeat and take the bloody thing to town. For some unknown reason I decided to walk around it and see whats on the other side, this is not a big mower and 4 steps cover the distance. A year and a half and I had never walked around it with the bonnet up before.
The bloody thing has two spark plugs - F&#K Me.
Change the second spark plug and the dam thing takes off without me, its half way across the paddock before I catch up. Why didn't I think it had two sides (cylinder or what ever you call it)? simply because in the city your used to little garden tools with one spark plug, in the country you have bigger things and more spark plugs.
Dummy - if I don't tell this story it never happened. So now it has and I just sat and laughed at myself, looked at the mower thinking like Moses I'd just parted the waters.
When I first moved here I brought a second hand ride on mower (ladies that means no user guide). I've pushed that thing through the roughest bush, I've had to uninstall all the safety switches to ride it sideways across the hills but the bloody thing just keeps going. At first I used to load it on the trailer and take it for a service every 100 hours of use, each time Id pay $300 or $400 dollars so I decided I'd service it for myself. I'm a man, I figured how hard could it be, I programmed the TV without the user guide so it must be relatively simple. I'm a practical person I figured if I just read the receipts from each service I'd know what to do. Fuel filter, spark plug, oil filter, air filter and generally wipe it over and fix the leaking tyres I always had.
A year and a half latter I'm doing great - or I just got lucky. Each time it started to chug along and go at half pace I'd change the spark plug, fuel filter and clean it, add a little oil and off we would go again. This fortnight that didn't work. I think I started the issue with too much oil or maybe I started mowing with the choke on full. I got about 50 meters from the shed and all hell broke loose, smoke seemed to come from ever orifice of the bloody machine. I couldn't breath so I dived clear and let the beast have it's moment. Once the machine had settled I re-mounted and proceeded to only find it going at half pace (major clue) so back to the shed to yet again go through what I now understood was a service of my mower. Each day as I drove to work I'd get a new element - spark plug, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter but to no avail each day the result was half pace.
Beware - funny part coming. The side you put the fuel in has all the other stuff, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plug and air filter. Surely this is all, I've seen my mower from the city and the whipper snipper and they have all one of those each. Such frustration, I'd have to admit defeat and take the bloody thing to town. For some unknown reason I decided to walk around it and see whats on the other side, this is not a big mower and 4 steps cover the distance. A year and a half and I had never walked around it with the bonnet up before.
The bloody thing has two spark plugs - F&#K Me.
Change the second spark plug and the dam thing takes off without me, its half way across the paddock before I catch up. Why didn't I think it had two sides (cylinder or what ever you call it)? simply because in the city your used to little garden tools with one spark plug, in the country you have bigger things and more spark plugs.
Dummy - if I don't tell this story it never happened. So now it has and I just sat and laughed at myself, looked at the mower thinking like Moses I'd just parted the waters.
Good on you Ian, your getting there! Gave me a good laugh, and love your sense of humour!
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