Back to Kentucky!

It's about 9:30 and we are just about ready to get on the road heading back to Kentucky. Jim has some temporary hose fixes ready to go so hopefully he can swap those lines out and we will be able to drive it back home. Once it's home sitting in the driveway, things will be much better!

It's about 2:00 and we're back in Covington at the truck site. Jim's already under the truck starting work. Hmm...taking a hacksaw to the underneath just seems scary.

Okay, 3:00 and both lines off and repair pressure hoses on. That's some quick work! Yay!!! It started!! And both the lines seem to be holding with no leaks.

That celebration was a bit premature. The power steering line didn't hold and blew. So Jim put 3 clamps on each side and we were heading to the store for another set of clamps and power steering fluid. But our buddy here that helped us last weekend came through again and gave us both. So Jim will try again.

Well, adding another 2 sets of clamps didn't help and the power steering hose still blew.  Scott (okay, now we are on a first name basis with these service station guys!) recommended a place up the street that could make him a hose.  So off we went in search of this place.  After a few miscues, we found the place but they couldn't make a flexible pressure hose like Jim was hoping for.  They sold him a steel line with connectors that he could hopefully make work.

But, when we got back to the truck, the connectors weren't the same size as the line already on the truck that he needed to tie into - a metric vs English issue.  Then came the fun part.  For probably at least 3 hours, Jim tried various filing methods to reduce the size of the truck's line to fit the connectors.  One end of the line was already off but the other was still attached which just added to the fun.  Scott gave us various files in not so great condition (Jim said my fingernail file might have worked just as well!) and tough grid sandpaper.  Imagine doing that for 3 hours.  I felt so bad for Jim.  All I could do was try to hold the lines while he filed away.  But eventually he got all to mate up and connected everything.  He started it and the line held - success!  Then it was just a matter of putting power steering fluid in and getting the air out of the line.

But here's proof that we got it running - check out this video! 

Then we had to check out some basic driving things - do we have lights that work? Windshield wiper blades? That would be a big no, so thankfully no rain.

By this time though, it's 8:00 and getting dark and we had a 4 hour ride home - that's with good vehicles going the speed limit.  Jim ventured nervously up the street to the gas station.  At first, there was a ton of smoke but it got better and better as he drove off.  We got some diesel fuel and decided to try heading home.  For the most part, the truck did really well - much better than our nerves probably did!  However, he discovered that the oil pan was leaking so we stopped every hour or so and put more oil in it.  One bad part of that was that since I was following him and oil was dripping out, oil was making it back to my car and soon my windshield was all freckled with oil.  I wasn't smart enough to figure that out at first...it looked like slight rain drops and I tried cleaning the windshield with my blades and the wiper fluid.  A nice smeary windshield was the result of that.  So then we had to clean my windshield at each stop too.

However, it was considered a major success because the truck is now sitting in our driveway (well, the gravel turnaround so the oil doesn't ruin the driveway!).  We stopped once to eat too about 10:00 and got home around 2:00.  Tired but happy.  No more trips to Kentucky!

Big truck week continues!

11:00 am...We're on our way to KY to see if Jim can get the box truck running. We're listening to the Browns play the Bengals on a Cinci station no less. Go Browns!

3:00 pm...We're here now...here's the pretty new turbo that Jim's getting ready to put in. Fingers and toes crossed (except for the pinky toe I broke this week running into Jim's scaffolding) that all goes smoothly!

5:40...Oh my gosh ... Things were going well (except the Browns lost) and then the hose clamp Jim brought wasn't big enough. We needed a bathroom break anyway so we got in the car and went searching ... To no avail. So we get back here and we're thinking we are going to have to knock on neighbors' doors. All of a sudden a couple of guys who work at this car place where the truck is pull in. They open the shop to get Jim a hose clamp. Goes back to our discussion of God's will on our way down. (Fr John's homily yesterday was on how we usually pray for what we want - we should be praying for what God wants on the way down i told Jim that i hoped it was God's will that we got the trunk running!) Amazing. One clamp was perfect but he didn't have one big enough for the other side but Jim is trying to put two together.

7:30 pm....whew - this has been scary! Once Jim got everything hooked back up, he tried to start it. No luck. He had charged the batteries at home (yes, there are 2) but they didn't seem to be holding. This guy from the shop let us borrow jumper cables which we hooked up to my car. Still no luck. Then we thought maybe it needed more diesel fuel. Again this guy came through and let us borrow a gas can and we went and got some diesel. He even hooked the jumper cables up to his truck while we were gone. So when we got back and started it, we were thrilled when it started up! Until it started accelerating on its own and even when Jim turned it off! The smoke it was spewing was unbelievable! I would have taken a picture but was sort of busy fearing for our lives! But check out the oil slick left behind...

After what felt like forever, the truck finally stopped but then Jim was afraid to try it again. He finally figured that when the turbo blew and it threw oil everywhere, it filled the coolant tank with oil too which was acting as a fuel. So after everyone's hearts were able to beat normally, Jim tried it again. It started right up and then shut down! Now it's purring like a good diesel should! The issue now is that Jim knew that the power steering line was leaking and it sure is. He is also looking into a possible oil leak right now. We were hoping to drive it home tonight but since it's almost 8:00 and getting dark, probably not going to happen.

Next day...We ended up not getting home til about 1:00 in the morning (poor Jim driving all that way after a stressful day!). But all in all, it was a good day. We feel very positive that the truck is going to be all that we hoped for. We plan on going back down hopefully Thursday - Jim will see if he can temporarily fix the leaking lines so that he can drive it home.

 

Big truck week part 2!

Yesterday, Jim and Bryan drove down to New Carlisle to pick up the Bobcat midi-excavator (aka No Sweat).  As with all projects, it took a lot to make the trip happen.  Jim had to buy a braking system, get chains and brakes for those, and then make the trip.  But all went okay - they took back roads back home so they didn't have to drive it on the highway.  They didn't get home until late.

 

 

 

Both Jim and the Bobcat look happy now that it's home!  It's in good shape and won't require "fixing," but only tweaking some things.  Jim is power washing it right now and will check all the levels and grease everything up.

 

 

Then the focus is on the trip back down to KY to see if he can get the box truck running.  He picked up the reconditioned turbo this morning.  I just pray that he can put it in and the truck will start and be okay to drive it home tomorrow. 

Big truck week!

Sounds kind of like Shark Week and right now Jim probably feels like he was wrestling with sharks. Today Jim drove down to Kentucky to finalize the deal on the box truck.  He met the owner, they exchanged money and got the title transferred.  Yay - we now officially own a box truck!  The next step was to see if he could get the turbo off of the truck.  Then the plan is to bring the turbo back, get a new one, and take it back, install it and hopefully be able to drive it home.  But easier said than done on a rusty truck, laying on your back in a parking lot with none of your good tools to help out that process.  But he finally did it - it's out!  So as we "speak," Jim is driving back home.

 

Then on Friday, the plan is to go back down to New Carlisle and pick up the excavator.  Bryan is going to help - he's getting a trailer from work - but Jim still has to figure out the details of that project - like chains to tie it down. 

 



The official deed is here!

Whew...the official signed copy of the deed came in the mail today.  Just makes it all the more real.  The journey officially begins!

Excavator search continues...

Jim thought he found two good mini-excavators lately - one was in Virginia and one was on eBay, located in Georgia. Unfortunately, even though Jim had been communicating with the owner in Virginia about the excavator, someone had contacted the guy first and ended up putting money down before Jim could. So we lost that one. Then the one on eBay came due and we bid with 20 seconds left but we were outbid.

So...the search goes on. We leave this morning to go look at a box truck in Kentucky and then back to the equipment place we went to a couple weeks ago in New Carlisle - the guy got another one in that Jim wants to look at. Hopefully we'll have time to see my mom in between too.

First up was the box truck in Kentucky - I was really surprised at how nice it was!  It was in really good shape - well, except that it doesn't run.  Which explains the really good deal that Jim is getting on it.  Small detail.  It apparently needs a new turbo - so Jim is going to buy one and replace it.  The question will be whether he will have the truck towed up here and do the work here or take the turbo down there and fix it there.  Option 2 doesn't sound as good to me - it would be much nicer if Jim could work on it here with all his tools and equipment available.  So we'll see.  Just one of the many, many decisions Jim is working on at the moment.

 

 

 

Next stop was a very brief visit to my mom before heading to Jim's Equipment.  I knew this was good karma...this is the dealer that is literally around the corner from where Jim built his first house.  And it's named Jim so it has to be the right place to buy!  Equipment Jim had gotten this midi-excavator in and hadn't taken it in for service so the price was lower than the first one we looked at.  But as Jim was trying it out, he noticed that one of the rods was bent and causing some issues.  Equipment Jim agreed and is supposed to be calling the Bobcat dealer to see how much it would cost to repair.  Jim wants to negotiate on price and he will fix it himself.  He's supposed to call once he figures that out and they'll talk.  But this appears to be the one!  I like the 1-800-NO SWEAT sticker on it too.   





 

 

So it was a very productive day and we appear to have found 2 big pieces of equipment to check off our list!  Plus these two pieces need to be in place when Jim heads up to the land this fall to get things started.  Of course, in the meantime, he has to finish the outside things here like painting and the chimney work, get the truck running, get the equipment up to the land, design the pole barn he'd like to put up while he's there...my brain hurts just thinking about all of that.  But Jim's still smiling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally...the deed!

We finally got at least a pdf copy of our recorded deed - hopefully the original will come in the mail any day now.

But we love the wording...."To have and to hold the premises herein granted unto the Parties of the Second Part [that's us!], their heirs, distributees and assigns forever."  Sounds like wedding vows to the land...love it.  Then it goes on to say..."That the Parties of the Second Part shall quietly enjoy the said premises."  So no loud enjoyment is allowed.  Makes me smile.