Some years back I bought a very well rebuilt 135 Massey Ferguson. I think it
a mid 50s tractor. with a after market front end loader . The tractor was about
one week old to me and I was so happy to have retired my wheel barrow and shovel
that the new toy had not had much rest. In fact as I remember, I had called in
sick one day. So by now I had this big pile of brush and old stumps I had piled
up and it was time to burn it .
I live in Washington and you may have
heard stores that it rains hear some . Well this was a typical day - week -
month, and the pile was going to need a little help. Being of the mind if a
little is good a lot is better. I mixed up a 55 gallon drum of 50 /50 old engine
oil and diesel fuel put some in a pump can and set out to have a good old
bonfire. Well like I said, its raining, so I am not getting too far past smoke.
I put the drum in the bucket and drove my pride and joy up to the mass of old
wood . Much of it is an old 100 foot cedar tree. I will show this who's got the
power! I very carefully eased the new toy up to the slag pile seeing as I had
not put the first scratch on it yet [Key word is yet], set the brake and climed
up into the bucket. With beer in hand I survey my new version of king of the
hill, take a drink of the beer then open up the drum and what the heck - this
stuff is wet so I put about half the drum into the slag pile, close up the drum
and hop back in the seat .
I find I have made a small mistake. I am on
a low hill side and the tractor spins the wheels, won't back out. About this
time the oil/fuel mix finds the spark of a fire that had been giving off that
thin ribbon of smoke and starts to burn. The nice part about that mix is that it
starts slow but given some time gets real hot.. I hop off the tractor and make
a run for the garden hose, grab it, and make a run for the ever growing fire and
my new pride and joy. The only problem now is me and the hose come to its end
about 50 feet short . At a dead run this hose puts on the brakes . I have a
real good hold of it . !00 foot of hose 5 foot 8 of me all get in line about 3
foot off the ground and sort of hover there. As I get a real good look at my
pride and joy the ever growing fire and the half full 55 gallon drum atop the
ever growing fire through my out stretch feet. By now my lovely wife has come
out to see what all the caterwauling is all about . She sees me levitating along
with the hose .For some unloving reason she sees great humor in what I was doing
-at which time brought on more caterwauling on my part and more he ha on hers.
I run back to my new toy that by now has a very big fire in front of
it and a55 gallon drum that is making all these boiling sounds and starting to
bulge out . I could dump the bucket and maybe back out ,but then I would be
putting this very hot drum that is closed up tight into a now very hot fire, I
see only one way out. I pick the bucket up nice and high [which sort of gets it
closer to me] lock the axle drop it into Low and through the slag fire we go.As
my pride and joy came out the other side of the pile my pride and joy now has
its first scrach and then some, but looked fairly good seeing as to what I just
asked it to do.
-- Adair James