Tab clearing

 

Matthew W asked about the official roto-tiller of the ERJ blog.

It is a Troy-Bilt Colt FT (FT for Front-Tines). Purchased, to the best of my recollection, about 2012 after one of my kids somehow got gasoline in the oil of the old tiller and lunched the motor.

This tiller may not a perfect piece of equipment but a very solid performer, especially considering the price. They are available new with a price of about $650. I think I paid about $400 at the time when I bought it and I grumbled about the cost of things going up.

The engine was designed by Ryobi. It starts easily and has enough power. It is also economical with regard to fuel-consumption. The only issue I have had is that the sticker designating Choke/Run fell off.

The tilling width is nominally 24" but it can be reduced in increments of 6" by removing gangs of tiller-blades.

Would I change anything? Well, that is like asking if I am breathing.

I would use a collet-and-bolt or K-31 bolt to connect the tiller-gangs. They are a bugger to clear of tangled up vines, wire, baling twine and Che Guevara tee-shirts. It would speed the job immensely if I could remove the tine-gang by removing an end-bolt (which does not get buried) and then just pull off the junk.

I would make accommodations for lubricating the sealed chain drive; perhaps a bolt that could be removed and some diffy-lube added. A belt takes the power from the engine back to the pulley for the chain-drive.

The longevity of the chain-drive would probably be extended if the driven-pulley had a shorter off-set. That would bias the chain-drive to the engine and would result in three gangs to the right (from the driver's seat) and one gang of tiller blades to the left.

I would eliminate the fenders.

I would provide a valley to funnel the oil when changing the oil in the engine.

It would be nice if the rear wheels were pneumatic and more widely spaced...but that would add significant cost.

I might design an air-filter housing that could accommodate several different types of air-cleaner elements...supply chain snafus and all.

But that is about it.

The fenders are not very sturdy and take a beating. I don't know why they are there unless it is a Federal requirement to shield the tiller-blades.

The lower, horizontal sliding lever is the choke, clearly showing the sticker that is no long there. The upper lever is the throttle.

The fuel-tank is large enough to minimize stops to refuel. I think I fill the tank twice a season.

Kubota went to prison today

Unlike Slow-Joe in D.C., I am not ashamed to announce that my son steps up and does what needs to be done, even if it means going to prison.

Of course, my son works for a contractor who is WORKING at the prison, so that might be the difference. Kubota was installing mumble-mumble at the Gray-Bar Hotel in Carson City.

I got a chance to transport him. It was the first time I drove on Grange Road from I-96 north.

And while I am an unabashed cheerleader for Eaton County, Michigan; I must admit that the farms in eastern Ionia County make ours look shabby and ill-tended. EVERY farm on Grange Road within 5 miles of Westphalia, Michigan looked like it could be the centerfold on a 1950s, farm calendar.

On the way back, I had breakfast at Shiels Tavern in Hubbardston. My maternal Grandmother hailed from Hubbardston. The bar-keep and cook accepted me as family after I announced that fact. The omelet was more than I could eat and I paid the princely sum of $8.49. Toast was included at no extra cost.

Shiels claims to be Michigan's longest serving tavern under the same management. They have an entire wall dedicated to their liquor licenses dating back to 1936.

Other walls include vintage pictures of the Hubbardston Air Force (powered by MOPAR) and of students engaged in athletic events with arch-rivals.

Best laid plans of mice and men

I thought I was going to be picking apples today.

However, I was deflected into prepping another chunk of the garden for the winter.

That entails shredding the vegetation with a mower and then either spraying with herbicide or tilling.

I think many of my readers have some measure for "...are we there yet?" with regard to things getting sporty.

One of my markers is "Do people continue to ignore free food?" 

I have memories from the late-1960s of being loaned out to neighbors at various times to glean fields for green-beans and cucumbers. Hey, maybe there was not a lot of green beans left (there were) but they were FREE!.

Walnuts, hickory nuts, dandelion greens, bluegills, bullheads: FREE!

Mrs Stornach from Church had extra tomatoes? You can bet that Mother ERJ had her little ducklings marching there to clean out her garden.

Upper-working-class, maybe lower-middle-class in the late 1960s and the adults burned their "leisure time" chasing free-food.

We are not there yet. Tell somebody that you have a surplus of ripe pears and they will suggest that they will allow you to leave a pre-picked bag of them on their porch

Mrs ERJ is encouraging me to get serious about the gardens. I think she is reading the tea-leaves and thinks we will have no shortage of people who will help us eat what we grow.