Good. Lord.

It has been a week. Literally, a week’s sabbatical without pay to get away from work for a few days during the factory shutdowns and allow me some quality time to get to know the Shasta Airflyte. Most of it was fun, though rustoleum paint dripping in my face, and lots and lots of sweat were not so fun. I looked back yesterday eve and managed to cross off 41 projects; others had to wait as parts weren’t yet here, and still others due to time constraints. Eventually I’ll put up a webpage with info for other owners, but I was pretty vocal on the Shasta Reissue FB group, to the point some people thought I was talking cheap shots at the manufacturer (and to think I was holding my tongue).

But it wasn’t all trailer work. The rock came in for the driveway on Monday. Took 17 truck loads, which I estimate to be over 300 tons. In addition to the rock MidAm put down on the final curve, that gets us a layer a couple inches thick from tracks to road. Problem was, it wouldn’t spread from the truck as it should, which meant bare spots and piles several feet high, both left/right and fore/aft. So instead of spending Monday working on the trailer, I was busy with the loader trying to make things passable while the rock kept on rolling in. To add insult, the final product is so bumpy that if you exceed a crawl, you’ll get bounced through your windshield. I made a call midweek and found a guy in Waverly that does excavation and grading work and he stopped out Sunday. He’s going to put a guy with a skidloader on the job today to see if they can smooth it out before it compacts. Fingers crossed.

I managed to burn a couple other mornings by running errands- Menards a few times for supplies, then groceries, post office, etc. That still left me with afternoons. Friday morning (with last bearing in-hand) was spent rebuilding the PTO for the Farmall and  getting that installed for the real test on Saturday. The original outer bearing had blown out to the point several ball bearings were worn into halves! After assembling a cheap hydraulic press, I was able to drive in new bearings as well as the output shaft. What a lifesaver. That meant Saturday we’d finally be able to cut the grass that had been growing for two weeks. That took the better part of Saturday…thick, wet grass that put the mowers to the test. While I ran the Farmall, Cara ran the JD as the 14 acres of prairie on the east side of the tracks needed another cutting. I managed to sneak in a couple hours late in the day but she really handled it, finishing that field on Sunday.

All-in-all, an enjoyable, if not exhausting, experience. By the end I couldn’t even remember what the office looked like.