Pulling the ripcord. Major life change

In reply to ShawnG :

So Im assuming thses are sort of "first arrival" kind of pictures, but as I zoom into pic #1, there is an ole Focus wagon next to the barn. Did that come with the place?  Bonus! 

I think it comes with the place.

P/o used it to pull the lawnmower. I'll probably find something else that works better and ditch the car.

Ford Escort Wagon Mower!  

This may just be a prelude to other "acts of genius" you find around this farm.  And they say that Red Green is just a Canadian stereotype.  Ha.   

You say, "I'll probably find something that works better..." and that makes me think the progression was probably:
Ford Tempo Mower was replaced by Ford Escort Mower so naturally, the progression is Ford Fusion Mower! 

I drive an Escape so maybe Ford Escape mower.

It's too nice to beat up in a farm field though.

Last couple days have been fun...

Previous owner was supposed to be gone on Monday but when we arrived on Tuesday,  he was waiting for us in spite of being told that we had a long day and didn't want any visitors. 

He was still here because he was still cleaning his garbage out of the buildings even though he's had two months to get it done 

We agreed to give him until Friday at 7pm to be done. I still haven't unloaded my trailer full of shop stuff and tools because his junk is in the building I need.

We had held back some money on the deal to be sure the place was cleaned sufficiently. 

Today I had to sign some paperwork with the lawyer and he asked how things were going. When I told him what was going on, he seemed pretty upset with the owner. The lawyer made a couple calls and now the realtor will be joining the owner tomorrow to ensure the last of the junk is gone.

The p/o thinks I'm trying to screw him. All I want is for him to abide by the contract he signed.

Maybe if he'd budged an inch when we were negotiating price on the property I would let it slide but since I had to pay full ask, he can make damn sure it's to my liking before he gets the last of the money.

Tomorrow should be interesting. 

A deal's a deal and Inconvenience has a price. 

In reply to ShawnG :

Sorry to hear of drama.  Written from a US perspective but likely the same in Canada, I might recommend the pre-purchase of a clearly stated No Trespass sign to be placed at the drive entry promptly at 7:01 tonight.  I would also recommend a then preemptive call to the local "authorities" explaining the situation, calmly so that they have "knowledge" when you need them.   Change lock or add locks.  

Of course, you also now live in a small town (or no town.)  What power or presence does the PO have in this community?  What are the long term affects of a feud?  Is he staying local or going long far away?  

He's moving about 45 minutes away. 

I changed the locks this morning, the front door has been kicked in once and he has a history of being a bit shady.

I bought a garden tractor from some folks in town who know the guy. They brought up in conversation that pretty much everyone in town knows he's this way and not to take any B.S. from him.

Supposedly even though they had two months to move, they only started packing last week.

On the upside, I scored a nice little Case 446 tractor with a tiller, mower, snowblower, 3pt hitch and hydraulics.

These are great little tractors, I've spent a lot of time on my grandfather's machine and they're nearly indestructible. 

The place looks nice.  I'll be following.  Good luck!

Well, he managed to be gone by 3:45pm.

He took a bunch of items that he said he would leave behind for us initially but whatever, I don't care, he's gone. 

Last of the paperwork is signed and he can go away and tell everyone what big, mean people we are.

Outbuildings are locked up tight, should be able to unload the last of our stuff tomorrow morning.

Having a cup of tea, making breakfast and looking out my window this morning. 

I'm gonna bet that window was a real "deal maker".  After all, you have two horses!  

Welcome Home!  

John Welsh said:

I'm gonna bet that window was a real "deal maker".  After all, you have two horses!  

Welcome Home!  

Three horses. Lol 

The stained glass was written into the contract.

The wife unit is expanding her art skills into stained glass so I'm sure more will be coming.

Today, we're going to head to the local resort town called Manitou Beach, about 20 minutes from here to check out their artisan market to see if we're going to be a good fit there.

We need to get her studio and my woodshop up and running once we're settled. 

Trucks and trailers are finally unloaded.

Woke up at 5am, made breakfast and got started in the cool air this morning.

While I was unloading, I watched a thunderstorm about 20 miles away go right past us while we had sun and wind. 

It's 11:00am and I'm done before the heat really starts.

I could get used to this for sure.

ShawnG said:

 

So, free Escort wagon and a score on the tractor? Sounds like it's starting out fine. And *you* already sound like you feel 100% better. Damn, I guess this means I can't avoid Insta anymore if we're all gonna keep an eye on y'all!

Congratulations!

In reply to ShawnG :

Is that comment about the heat a dig at us saps here in the valley where it is cold and wet yet again? 

In reply to friedgreencorrado :

Well, I paid $3200 for the tractor with everything, compared to buying a new one with all those attachments, it's a steal.

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to ShawnG :

Is that comment about the heat a dig at us saps here in the valley where it is cold and wet yet again? 

Ugh, still cold and wet? It's 4:00 and 34 degrees here. I'm glad I'm inside.

We went to Manitou Beach today, chatted up the locals at the farmers market, bought some artisan caramel vodka and a homemade pecan pie.

No honey, fruit or vegetable vendor there and everyone seemed excited about having someone for that so this whole thing might work. There was nobody selling woodworking crafts or glass art either.

For my fellow B.C. residents, Manitou Beach is small but it feels like the southern Okanagan. Almost like Osoyoos did 20 years ago.

I think we can make something work in this area.

ShawnG said:

In reply to friedgreencorrado :

Well, I paid $3200 for the tractor with everything, compared to buying a new one with all those attachments, it's a steal.

Damn that really was a steal on that Case. I thought I got a great deal on my Cub and tiller, but wow. 

How big is that deck, 54, 60"? 

In reply to RevRico :

It's 44" or 46", I can't remember. 

I need to sort out the PTO clutch on the front of the engine before I can run the mower.  It's not engaging properly but it should be a simple fix.

P/O said when we bought the place, he would "do me a favour" and leave behind a Swisher 60" finish cut tow behind mower for free.

He did leave it for me but I also think he left it in a snowbank all winter after bashing it into everything in the yard. It's in pretty bad shape and won't start. I'm sure I will get it running eventually. 

I'm going to send the Escort for recycling. It's unregistered and from Ontario. It's also not the kind of 30 year old escort that would be any fun. 

Ugh, what a day...

We pulled in to town to grab some groceries and when I got out of the Suburban, I could smell coolant. We blew a heater hose off on the way in to town.

Put the hose back on and a quick trip to NAPA for some coolant and we were on our way. Engine seems fine, I caught it quick.

Got home and had a nap. Wife woke me up with "the toilet won't flush". Checked the pressure tank and it shows zero.

Cycle the well pump, nothing.

Get my meter out and start checking. Power at the switch, power at the box, hike down to the well. No junction, just cable going down the well. Uh oh...

Pull on the rope that holds the cable and it comes up a couple feet and stops but now I can see a jumble of wire nuts a couple feet down the pipe. Crap...

Pull on the rope, won't budge, pull on the wires, they start coming up a little and I'm being very gentle.  Then the untaped wire nut connections come apart and I'm holding the cable from the house. Crap...

I've got about three feet of black plastic pipe sticking out of the top that I've been told allows you to pull the pump up. I'm also told that the well is 325 feet deep. Ugh. Oh well, here we go.

I start drawing the pump up and thankfully, the wires are coming up. There's a clunk and a water rushing sound. Hmm, I've disconnected something. The pipe slips out of my hands and the pipe, pump and wires start heading for the earth's core.

I got it stopped last minute and folded the pipe end over the end of the well to hold it in place, cut a hole in it with my pocket knife and jammed a crowbar thru so I wouldn't lose the pump.

Start pulling again and man, is it a lot of work.

Finally, at about 9 feet, a brass fitting with  a dovetail comes up and now I  get to learn all about pitless adapter fittings.

I wired up the pump, taped off the wire nuts (I'll extend the cable and add a box later). Test the pump and we've got water.

I lower the pump back down and try for over an hour to get that fitting to engage. No dice. I can feel it drop on to the other half of the fitting but I can't get it to fit together. On the verge of a heart attack, I call a friend who has a similar well.

He explained that the hose barb and length of pipe screwed in the top is wrong and I will never get it together that way. I need a long iron pipe and T handle to make a key that threads into the top of the fitting where the hose barb and hose are now so I  can "twiddle" the fitting into place and seat it with a bonk from a hammer.

I'm off to the co-op tomorrow in search of pipe and fittings.

Yay farm life!

In reply to ShawnG :

TIL that pitless adapter fittings exist:

That seems mighty fiddly indeed.  Good luck getting it straightened out.

Some thoughts on the Ford Escort...

How hard will it be to dispose of a car you don't legally own?  Here, the scrappers require proof of ownership to assure you're not offloading a stolen car. 

But, in an act of revenge, what happens if you drag this car up to the main road?  Would the police then contact the owner to have the car removed?  Or, might they tow it for him and charge him fees for its removal?  

In reply to John Welsh :

The easy button way may be find registered owner begin billing for storage at $30 per day, and invoice monthly. After the prescribed time begin the process to obtain title so it can be auctioned off. The other method is call a tow company they haul it away and do all the legal stuff.

In reply to John Welsh :

Not in to revenge, it's not worth it and that just means the other guy gets to rent space in my head for free.

In bc a lot of scrappers don't worry about title, it's probably the same here.

I think I can make it go away. If nothing else I can part it out, cut it up and make it disappear. 

P/o said it belonged to his father and the guy left it here. 

Maybe he will come around and steal it when I'm not here.

On another note, I took my friends advice. Co-op and Home Hardware in town are both closed on Sunday so we drove to Home depot in Saskatoon and bought stuff to make one of these:

That's 10 feet of 3/4 iron pipe with bushings and a handle big enough to ensure I can't lose the pump.

It works like this:

You can see the pump half of the pitless adapter as well.

After some grunting and puffing with me holding the key and the wife unit holding the rope and cables, we got the pitless adapter back together on the second try:

I'm leaving the key in place. It won't hurt anything and it will probably cross-thread the next time I screw it in anyway.

We have water in the house again. Dishwasher is running, toilet is working, R/O system is filling the storage tank. All is well. I'm sitting down with a stiff drink, I don't care what time it is.

My amazing wife was very helpful in keeping me from having a meltdown over all this and in helping haul that damn fitting up out of the hole.

For those of you wondering, that's pulling up a pump plus 300' of 1.25" line that is mostly full of water plus 300' of four conductor cable. It's not light.

I'm going to build a tripod and pulley setup.so I can yank it out with a truck or tractor in the future if I need to change the pump.