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The tractor restoration is coming round the final bend and almost entering the home straight.
While it feels like progress has been slow, the reality is that there are just a lot of smaller fiddly bits, like cleaning body parts, happening on an ongoing basis. I suppose it’s like making a giant jigsaw puzzle, for ages you can’t see the picture and then all of a sudden – swoosh – it comes together!
In the glorious sunshine we had recently, Michael has been hopping between making silage and sourcing parts for the D40L tractor. Since my last blog a new clutch has been ordered from the Netherlands through the clutch and brake company called Murfit in Dublin. I suppose we are chomping at the bit but delivery, for whatever reason, has been frustrating slow and we are still waiting on it.
Michael visited Peter Jones recently to see how the tractor is getting on and to bring him paint, which he bought from Vinne Byrnes Paints. I know the tractor is in a transitional phase but the change from the rust bucket it was a few months ago is staggering! The engine looks, to my untrained eye, absolutely fabulous. Some of the body parts have now been primed and painted, while others are still being repaired and cleaned. The rims were sandblasted and were found to be very poor condition, but our friend Mick Hogan offered the rims from his Deutz 40L tractor which are in much better condition. Mick also hopes to restore his tractor one day so we are very grateful for his generosity. Michael needs to do a bit of welding on the new rims and then they will be sent off for sandblasting. A new exhaust system from Delegro in the Netherlands was purchased and will be fitted towards the end of the restoration process.
The plough has also been receiving its fair share of attention too. The boards are nice and clean through the bit of ploughing Michael did with it and now it has been totally stripped, disassembled and now being cleaned with the rust remover product ‘Evaporust’. Larger parts being sandblasted and then it will be ready for painting.
While the tractor project does need constant attention, the other jobs of farming life must be taken care of as well. The silage, haylage and hay making certainly kept Michael busy and he is now full swing into dosing lambs and checking the flock’s feet. Weaning lambs is only around the corner and freezer orders for our popular Lleyn lamb are stocking up in the Farm Shop. The newest arrival to our pet’s corner, the lovely pet lamb Tallulah, is getting heaps of children visiting her. On Sunday evening she can hardly move with all the food she has gobbled throughout the weekend. It is wonderful to see the raspberry season has kicked off and the local raspberries are proving popular in our shop. I have to order extra if I want to make any jam at all this year!
With our lives, as ever, speeding along and the National Ploughing Championships only two months away I’ll be listening hard and hope I’ll be hearing that ‘swoosh’ soon!
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