Waking the beast

The Beast

Getting the beast running has been a high priority for me of late.  My neighbor Joey was able to identify that the starter was defective.  We struggled to get it out, but were unable.  Then a friend (Jonathan) with experience on this kind of equipment had some available time and was able to get the get those last two hard to reach nuts.  I think it take patience and forearms the size of a child.  You wouldn't believe the tight space into which the starter is mounted.

In any case, I took the starter in and had it rebuilt at a local auto electronic shop.  In the meantime, Jonathan replaced all the filters, changed the oil and serviced the entire rig.  This included adjusting the track tension and getting lubricant to the planetary drive and all the "bogey" rollers.  

In the process I learned how to prime the fuel line.  The beast has two fuel filters and when you change them it introduces air to the fuel line.  The process reminded me of bleeding brakes only more tedious. 

Business end of the Brush Cutter

Once we got it started we turned our attention to the attachments I had marshaled in our down time.  The brush hog weighs in at almost a ton, cuts through a 6 inch tree and spits out chips while clearing a 72 inch swath.   It has three blades that spin very fast and have lots of inertia with them.  The tip of a blade is visible in the picture.  It is a truly awesome tool.  

Root rake / Grapple

I also purchased a root rake/grapple for pulling up and transporting material that wasn't pulverized by the brush hog.

I hope this doesn't sound like whining.  This is not how I pictured retirement.  While I enjoy not having an office or job to go to, I am very busy.  Have not been fishing in a while and need to fix that soon.  I need to get the farm infrastructure established.  So far it's just land and there is much to do.  I think I had a mental image of me living a genteel laid back life, but I've been wrong about other things too...

Back from our recent cruise

We recently returned from a seven day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.  You can see the route below.  In all honesty, I enjoy the ship so much that I wouldn't care if we ever came to port.  

It's been about eight months since my last post.  I have many reasons but no excuses.  Since then we purchased ten acres of land and I'm working on turning it into a farm.  

To that end I also purchased a skid loader to do the beastie work.  As a matter of fact I call it my little beastie.  Here's a picture of a different ASV 4810.  Mine looks better, but I haven't snapped any pictures of it yet.

I ordered a brush cutter for it and expect it to be delivered tomorrow afternoon.



Our life here is SW Florida is a busy one.  Hope to get back into the blog routine.