2021 CSA Farm Update: Week 18

Welcome everyone to Week 18 of the Katchkie Farm CSA. The weather has stayed relatively warm for this time of year. I usually expect nippy mornings, waiting for a light frost to melt so we can harvest greens, but not so this year. Mornings have been very mild. Every year is certainly a little different. Have you noticed the terroir in this year’s vegetables?

The major theme of these past weeks is patience and acceptance of mechanical failures. All it takes is one and the floodgates may open up for the rest. Maybe they sense the end of the season on the horizon, or maybe they have felt a slight ease on the reigns. Whatever it is, virtually every major machine involved in farm production has needed or has been put on the list for needing attention. First the local delivery van was diagnosed with a head gasket leak. This is a very critical component on the internal combustion engine. It separates the coolant from the engine oil. When coolant and engine oil mix the results are complete engine failure. What can I say; this van has given us plenty of service over the years and it is time we put it out to pasture.

Then come the axle oil seals on not one, not two, but all three tractors we use on the farm. These seals are not major repairs, but do involve taking tractor wheels off, possibly replacing worn bearings and or u-joints, pulling out an axle, etc. There is a certain precision with machined parts in that a .001 of an inch can make all the difference between a successful repair and having to tear it all down and start over. There is one wear part in the wheel housing of our green tractor that was updated by the manufacturer only to be .007 of an inch too large. This increase in size caused another part not to fit as it should. If we needed that tractor tomorrow, we would slip some shims in the gap and put it on the winter repair to finish the job. It is, however, in the farm shop and we have another tractor to take on the work. The correct parts are ordered, and our other larger tractor can cover until it goes in to repair the same seal next week.