TALES FROM THE FAR NORTH: SWELTERING IN SUTHERLAND!
A warm welcome to another Tales From The Far North…and a warm one indeed!
Since we last caught up, I must have lost a stone just from trying to escape those pesky midges! I’ve also been sporting the latest fashion accessory…a midge net in the mornings and evenings when they are at their worst. Not exactly the look you’ll find in Milan!
Anyway, if that’s all we have to moan about we can’t be doing too badly, especially given the mayhem in the rest of the world right now.
The weather has been fantastic and literally roasting at times. “Stoor” has been flying, it’s great hay-making weather for my fellow farmers and crofters and great sheep shearing weather too. In fact, perfect weather for most tasks.
I’ve managed to get plenty done on those various fence lines in some stunningly scenic Sutherland settings and the dogs have been busy working up a sweat with our resident flock. It’s been ‘braw’ as folks say up here.
We have been busy at work with a good variety of fencing with my latest 600 metre job being done manually by hand. The hub oil seal went and four hours later the steering bearing failed on my Morooka tracked dumper. I should have realised that things were going far too smoothly. Thankfully we had all the strainers and turners in bar one which required the old digging shovels making an appearance along with a few colourful words that can’t be repeated here. Let’s call it a return to traditional fencing methods!
The post driver wasn’t out of action long. After a quick call to Simon at Cautrac, everything needed was posted to us in rapid time, letting us get the tracked dumper back on the fence line. Thank you Simon! He’s a legend!
On the same job, when it came to chapping the fence posts (Gordon’s 15yr warranty square posts), I got the chance to try out a brand new Protech petrol post driver. Wow! What a gamechanger. An awesome piece of kit!
When it comes to our far north rocky challenging ground conditions, this machine leads the way. Of 240 posts on that line, we only had to cut and treat 17 posts with the rest all driven in to height. Bliss!
I’m hoping to find the time to make a few adjustments to the Morooka, another well-made machine and I’m also in the process of currently building up phase two of the original Kubota dumper we have got with the Quickfencer. It’s been out of work for the past 18 months but I have some new drawings and plans for that in order to make a hard but rewarding working life a touch easier. Watch this space!
I’ve been getting on with some local, smaller jobs which is great as it means I’m close to home. It’s the school summer holidays so I’m around for my two kids when my wife is working and there’s also the livestock.
Anyway, must crack on! Take good care folks and I look forward to catching up with you very soon!
