We sprayed a few days ago to kill stinkbugs, but they are a tough critter and some of them survived. Nasty little blighters have been hurting our green beans. A few years back I posted a video of killing a bunch of walnut caterpillars when they formed a ball to molt. I get some great hate comments on YouTube about that, plus a bunch of comments from viewers who liked it. One recently asked for another bug, so, here you go! The hate hasn't started yet, but I know it will be coming.
Susan has had both hips replaced, and two days ago she had a second surgery on her right hip to replace the liner(socket). It had shifted and she had a painful dislocation. All is back in place now, and we are keeping her iced to reduce pain and swelling. The dogs were frantic when I came home without her early Monday morning, but they settled down, and now they are happy to have her home.
We have been seeing this doe throughout the days in the yard east of the driveway. She has been enjoying the daylilies, so we have very few daylilies this year. She always disappears back into the woods that we planted in 1993. She was out with two spotted babies when we returned from the hospital yesterday afternoon. We figured she had a young'un, and are happy to finally see twins.
These old Bessemers are great to watch. This has hot-tube ignition, which seems odd in today's world, but it still works well. The lower end of the cylinder performs the same task as the crankcase on a modern tw-stroke engine, taking in fuel and air and then pushing it to the top end of the piston. Many Thanks to Merle for making a great pick!
Susan's onions were mostly done because of the dry weather we've had, so we popped them out of the ground Saturday evening, and had them spread out to dry the next morning. Sunday morning we had 2.6 inches of rain, so we will have beans. Shortly afterward, Susan was standing still when her right hip dislocated and she fell. She will be back in surgery today to put the parts back in place. The garden will have to take care of itself for a few days while I tend to Susan. UPDATE: Susan had surgery Monday afternoon and the liner (socket) had moved. They put in a new one and have it anchored. We don't know if it moved and she fell, or if she fell and it moved, but she is on the road to recovery again and should be able to walk again soon.
We were getting concerned. No rain on the second crop beans, no rain on the corn, and no rain on the garden, but help arrived early this morning. We are now up to 2.3 inches with thunder grumbling around us.
Wouldn't you love to see this thing on a long stretch, opened up and ripping along? Thank You, Merle, for spotting videos for us!
...to start your steam engine collection! Online engine auction ends June 29, so take a good look at the items and figure your best bid. Three traction engines in various states of disrepair, plus a bunch of other old iron. Many thanks to Merle for spotting this opportunity! CLICK HERE FOR THE ONLINE BIDDING CATALOG.
This video is from 2007, and I think I have seen a video shot at the same place of an engine that had to give up and back down. Thank You, Merle!
A big part of this system working was moving from sheep to cattle. Dingoes got rid of the feral goats, reduced kangaroos, and are working on foxes and feral cats. The benefits are amazing.
This is a routine traffic stop recently in Naperville, Illinois. A seventeen year old kid was stopped for blowing a stop sign, and then he had an expired insurance card, so the stop dragged on. A heinous perpetrator rolls up and changes the game, attacking the policeman with a hatchet. That happens beginning at about the 12:30 mark. The cop was on it. If you have ever shot a raccoon with a small caliber rifle you will recognize death throes. A surprise comes at about 15:30, after the dying quiver is done, when a responding officer with his gun trained on the now very still offender commands, "Roll over on your stomach!" Well, that didn't happen. I bet the kid in the car never runs a stop sign again in his life. This all went down right next to the poor guy. Click Here to see the video. It cannot be embedded, so you have to go to YouTube. Look Quick, it probably will be taken down soon. Needless to say, you may not want to watch, but you should if you care about self defense skills.
I might have to hobble her to hold her back....
She has her feet up tonight and is keeping that leg iced, but the progress is amazing!
Have you ever had a tree sit back on the stump so you can't insert a wedge? It has happened to me a few times, and here is the trick to get you out of this jam. After you get it lifted a bit, you can put wedges in your kerf and put that tree on the ground.
Good One, Merle. Many Thanks! The Buckeye Model L was a two-stroke “hot-cup” semi-diesel, most accurately called a medium compression oil engine. It had a medium pressure fuel injection system that sprayed fuel into a precombustion chamber. The base of that chamber (called the “Ignition bowl”) was heated by a kerosene torch for starting, and because it wasn’t cooled via the water jacket, it heated to a dull red under power and that was enough to sustain combustion after the engine ran a while. With a low compression ratio (by diesel standards) of about 11:1, the fuel needed to be vaporized by heat before it would ignite from heat of compression. The engine had no valves. It breathed through ports and inhaled via the crankcase, where the movement of the piston in a special chamber at the bottom of the cylinder pushed air into the combustion chamber.
Under a maximum 125 hp load, this engine would use six to seven gallons per hour. As a display engine under no load, its operated at half speed, 100 rpm, and is really barely running and uses very little fuel. Compared to modern diesels, oil engines are VERY inefficient. Compared to diesels of the '20s and '30s, they are at least 30-40 percent less efficient. Oil engines had three redeeming characteristics over diesels back in the early days (back into the 1890s):1- They were considerably less expensive than a diesel, 2- They were "omnivorous," and able to operate on a wide variety of fuel oil grades, from what was basically crude oil with the big chunks taken out, to the lightest oils similar to what we now call "diesel fuel." 3- they were portable. Despite being omnivorous, oil engines were subject to having trouble with poor fuel quality. The heavier, less refined oils tend to leave lots of deposits in the vaporizing chamber, on the rings, piston crown and in the fuel injector. This engine came from the beginning of the era when fuel oil began to be of consistent quality. Though this engine runs on modern #2 diesel fuel, it would be happier with something a little heavier like bunker oil, which is about 20 percent heavier than diesel. Up to about 1920-25, diesels had to be very large and complex, most using air injection (fuel injected by high pressure compressed air). Once solid injection (mechanically injected high pressure liquid) was perfected, and demonstrated by the Germans who used solid injection diesels in their successful World War I submarines, it made diesels more practical and portable. Once solid injection was applied to diesels, costs, complexity and size came down and the efficiency of a diesel then started to make diesel cost effective versus oil engines. Oil engines were produced into the late '30s in the first world (later in other parts) and used into the '50s. This engine was built by the Buckeye Machine Company, which started business in 1909 in Lima, Ohio. The Model L, originally called the Buckeye-Barrett oil engine, went into production in 1917 and was manufactured through 1929, with leftover stock sold for many years later. Buckeye would become famous for building a variety of large industrial and marine diesel engines but ceased manufacturing in 1948. Maumee Valley Antique Steam and Gas AssociationYou want those second crop beans in the ground right after wheat harvest, and then you want rain!
Back To The Old Grind!
Merle found a neat one. This is a homebuilt rig with a lonely boiler and a winch engine put onto a truck frame. This was at National Threshers, Wauseon, OH. It reminds me of Coonrod's undermounted steam truck that I used to see at Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Thank You, Merle!
Merle has picked an informative video for us this week. Thank You, Merle!
...with both axles replaced! She had her right hip done yesterday, six weeks after the left one. Using a walker for a few days.
We are thinning one of our tree planting projects, and found a nice little lesson to share with you all. The trick to doing your TSI (Timber Stand Improvement) is to always be looking for your good trees. You want them vigorous, well formed, not forked, good branch angles, and a strong crown.
We just made our first batch of kraut this year. It is one of the easiest foods that you can make and preserve. It will sit in the basement working for a few weeks and then we will can most of it, and eat some of it fresh. It is a joy.
...the hard way, I would say. The old term, Armstrong Starter comes to mind. It makes me hurt to watch! Thanks, Merle!
...performs Antonio Bertali's Ciacona. Guaranteed to make your week run better.
Twin 800 horsepower triple expansion engines! You made our day with this pick, Merle!
This video is a fascinating look at the restoration of a toy locomotive. I think these were called piddlers back when they were popular because the oscillating engine makes little puddles all over. Many Thanks to Merle for spotting good videos like this one. The vid cannot be embedded, so click on the photo to go over to YouTube to watch.
We had a guest in our driveway today, a 6 horsepower Deutz Otto engine built in 1924. Our friend, ILEngineGuy bought this engine at auction, and every part was stuck. He had it running in five weeks with no broken or stripped parts. This engine was built in Germany, and shipped to Argentina. It still has original black paint. This is a rare and remarkable engine! If you want to see this engine up close and personal, go to the SIAM show at Evansville, Indiana Friday or Saturday, June 10 and 11. It will also be at the American Thresherman Show at Pinckneyville, Illinois in August 2022.
Little Jack and Vinnie making the most of a perfect day. Next week they will be hunting shade.
Sooner or later, there is going to be a busted head, a saw in a femur or forehead, and someone backed over by the loader. The Mrs was at the County Seat and saw this action after a big old decadent pin oak was taken down.
...then get up on that wagon and start pitching bundles. Sounds like a plan!
Back To The Old Grind!
I love model locomotives, Merle! Thank You for the links!
Susan provides a pleasant tour of our garden. Cabbage moths have been flitting around, so this morning she was up early, applying Sevin dust to kill the little blighters. We had three tenths inch of rain the other day, and rain is forecast, so we are not having to water. We tilled up a squash patch out by the road and will be planting that today. We also worked up and planted our wildlife food plot this week, and finished that just before it rained. We will be making kraut and canning beets before Susan has her other hip done.
