I Bent My Brand New Blade!

I keep a woodpile near the hog barn where I unload firewood from various places.  It's coming from the Greene Road farm the last two years because it was so overgrown.  Taking out a quarter mile each of two fence rows made quite a pile over there.  We keep cutting it up and hauling it to that woodpile when we take time to do that.

I put 3 brand new and expensive blades on the DX-24E early this spring.  I had it cutting perfectly.  I needed it too because I've cut as much grass as I ever have here on Martinsville Road.  Every three days, I better be out there mowing again or I can't keep the 5 acre farmstead looking nice.  This is a beautiful place and I like to keep it mowed up.

I had been careful around the woodpile as to not hit any firewood.  I finally got the pile cleaned up and decided it was save to mow the weeds where the pile had been.  Big mistake!  Somehow I dislodged a strip of oak hardwood and it wedged a blade against the deck.  It took me nearly  a week of pounding and prodding that piece out!  I know, I am getting old but I didn't want to do more damage than I had to.

It was time for Tommy and Zach to come back through to Arizona from New York so I saved it for them.  They helped me pound a little harder.  Zach and I was prying up on the whole deck and mower and we rocked the tractor so hard it looked like we were going to roll it on its side.  Tommy burst out laughing and we couldn't work for several minutes.

We did get the piece out and I could not find the socket that fit the head.  1 1/4 was too big and 1 1/8 was too small.  I could not find 1 1/16 or Metric to fit it.  I went to the Equipment Superstore and  got what I thought was the right blade.  I still didn't have the right socket so  I borrowed one the next day and got the blade off.  Sure enough, they gave me the wrong blade.  That's happened two times in ten years!  Remember what you teach, Ed, RTB!  READ THE BOOK!

LuAnn came home that afternoon and texted Tommy, "mower is fixed and the lawn looks beautiful."

"Thanks."

I would have rather been out joy riding our farm on the Mule!

Ed Winkle