F.R. “Fritz” Nordengren (beta)

Naming the farm

Off and on I think I should name the farm.

I dislike any name with “acres” in the title. It’s not quite a ranch, although the name “Almosta Ranch” has been suggested.

The farm sits at the 2 mile marker so I’ve been thinking about Two Mile Farm on Seven Mile Road.

All decked out

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were perfect building days. Highs in the 60’s and 70’s and sunny. Friday started overcast and after doing some work in town, exchanging license plates and signing some papers, I paid for the lumber and it arrived shortly after I got to the farm.

Friday was spent setting the joists, 39 joists for a 16 x 48 deck.

Saturday and Sunday I screwed down the deck boards: 99 boards, 26 screws each. 2600 screws, The deck is 768 square feet, which is larger than the two cabins combined.

Cabin Sketches

Playing with some ideas.


Or this



Looking at the roof



Here are some sample site views



Or this, with the raised roof

Ol’ red part deux

Ol’ Red and I have exchanged words over the last month. I should remember he hasn’t cost me much of anything and I’ve gotten a lot of work out of him, but it’s been a difficult breaking in period. Where to begin?

When we got Ol’ Red started in the first place, the fuel lines were clogged and after a few hours of running, the sediment bowl — a glass collector for fuel sediment — fills as much as an inch. It’s mostly rust granules from the tank, mixed with whatever.


At other times, Ol’ Red’s front tires would slide as I tried to mow through the 4 - 6 foot weed growth on the side of the hill in the front of the farm. Let me tell you, it’s not the slope that is frightening, it’s not knowing what’s under the weeds that gives me the willies. After getting Ol’ Red stuck back in May, I’ve learned to go slower and trust my instincts. Today, a farmer friend of mine came with me and decided he’s jump on Ol Red and do some cutting in. He circled the hills and cut in where he felt it was safe for me to mow inside. Now, the front 20 acres has been mowed up — except for about 5 acres of timber and 3 acres of water and maybe an acre or two of odds and ends — so 10 of it looks clean. Well, clean-er. it’s going to take a few more passes to really get it looking right. But It’s easy to guess it has been neglected a few years.

Now Ol’Red has three bad habits. The throttle linkage is missing a cotter pin and every so often it comes loose from the carb and the motor revs up. After the third time this happened, I decided to fix it (I know, why did it take 3 times?) Next, Red loves to drink gas. I had a couple of 2 gallon gas tanks lying around and I run to town to buy gas 4 gallons at a time. Really, I need to buy a couple of 5 gallon cans. I burned through 12 gallons today.

Red’s other habit is to get the sediment bowl clogged at the fuel line. This usually means taking it apart, blowing it clean. This usually happens about the time I’m really into the groove and in a rhythm. Sooner or later, we’ll have all the sediment out.

O’l Red has an aftermarket cab. And while he rested in the barn, some mice or some other tiny creature made the cab home, the carpet smells of urine — I’ve taken it out. Now, the headliner — picture an old car headliner on the inside of the roof) has come loose and the thin foam has rotted away. The headliner fell on me so i cut it out and the foam is crumbled on the floor. A good winter / fall project will be to pull all of it out, clean up the interior. And then dig into the air conditioner / heater which doesn’t work and fix up the burned out light bulbs.

Ol’ red

Ol’ Red hasn’t been out of the barn for at least 1 year, probably 2 and maybe even three. Ol’ Red is a mid 1960’s IH Farmall 706 tractor with a gas engine. The sellers said the tractor was “for sale” when I looked at the place. As we haggled, I offered to include the tractor in the sale and they agreed as long as it was sold “as is”. Translation, something isn’t working.

First things, first, it had a flat right front tire and it had broken the bead. But life is good and sometimes, things have a way of working out. I went down on a sunday with a floor jack and a air compressor. By coincidence, one of the neighbors had called me asking permission to fish the property. He caught up with me about the time I was getting ready to fix the tire. Turns out he used to be in the tire business. Between two of us, we re-seated the bead — thanks to some oil in his truck and pumped it full of air.

Sometimes you meet nice people, and as we talked about the tractor, he offered to drain the old gas during the week if he came down to fish.

Last Friday, he, and I and my realtor stood around the tractor taking turns scratching our heads as we cleaned the sediment bowl, the fuel line, and the carb. After 3 hours, we still couldn’t get it to run without pouring gas in the air intake ourselves.

So the carburetor came off and I took it to the Case/IH dealer down the road for them to rebuild and clean. Wednesday, I picked it up and My son and I put it back on and tried again to start Ol’ Red. Again, it wouldn’t. Gas engines and carburetors are really simple things. Fuel mixes with air and a spark sets it off. There’s no fuel pump, no fuel filter, no computer injection. It’s really a beautiful thing. Ecept this beautiful thing wasn’t doing what it was supposed to.

All the way home, I wondered what next. I logged onto Yesterday’s Tractor and read up on the 706 Carburetor and learned that the solenoid attached to it was used to shut off the gas when the key switch was offf to prevent enging run-on or dieseling. So I asked in their forum if anyone thought this could be my problem and in minutes, 3 answers assurred me I was headed the right way.


Today, armed with my voltmeter, and a copy of the owner’s manual I ordered online, I turned the key and listened for the “click” from the solenoid. Silence.

So I checked the voltage to the wire to the solenoid. 0….dead.

So I traced the wire back to some very old electrical tape. It was good there. Across the engine block to the other side and more tape. At this juncture (sorry to borrow from the original Bush) the wire was broken.

Now I was optimistic. The volt meter sprang to life as I measured the voltage at the hot end of the wire.

But, of course, I didn’t bring any new wire, or wire connectors in the tool box. They are on my boat.

So I loaded up and headed to the nearest NAPA Auto store and $15.00 later we had wire, connectors and a stripper.

I ran new wire, taped the connectors and had 12 volts running to the solenoid.

I turned the key: “click”.

I hopped in the cab, turned the key to on, dropped the clutch pedal to the floor and pushed the start button.

Oh-h-h-h-h- Yeah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h. Listen to the roar.

:::::::::::::::::::::


Post Script: If you’ve ever seen a sci-fi movie, the hero from one culture galaxy usually finds himself making an escape from another culture galaxy and jumps into one of the spacecraft for the getaway. He fires it up and he flies away.

Yeah, well, okay. I’m not that good. Plop behind the wheel of a tractor and there are a few extra levers and controls. Note I’ve put the owners manual on top — for reference.