Now that the weather has crept up a few degrees its time to start getting the equipment serviced and checked out for the busiest time of year which is of course spring and summer when the grass and weeds are shooting up, the alpacas are giving birth and the show season is getting underway..

So you might well call this time of year the lull before the storm....

The John Deere Gator had been sounding rough for a few weeks now and I was sure it had a slow puncture in the right rear tire so today was the day to get it fixed.
Getting a rear tire off a John Deere Gator is no easy task as there is no obvious jacking point and the clearance for getting a jack in place is not good.....So if you can't push it up you can always pull it up!



The tractor front loader and a towing rope were the ideal solution to raising the Gator and getting the offending wheel and tire off quickly and easily. (If you haven't done this before always remember to loosen the wheel nuts while the vehicle is still on the ground..)
Although this is a safe arrangement for removing wheels in my opinion, it is not recommended by the manufacturer and I would certainly never work underneath the Gator when it is supported in this way.

Having fixed the tire we serviced the Gator and part of that involved changing the spark plug which turned out to be barely finger tight and no doubt accounted for why the Gator sounded so rough lately and somewhat out of breath on up hill sections. Still the service went well and the Gator and tractor were both oiled, greased and refiltered by 9.30. Thus leaving me plenty of time to pepare the last of the documents for the accountant and a severe shortage of good excuses not to get on with it.

We also heard from our good friend Ann-Britt that she is heading off to mush Huskies in Alaska for the month of March which sounds pretty exciting to me. The good news is that she will be back to help with the alpaca shearing in May...