When we purchased the farm in 2020 there was an old Gyro single cut harvester in a corner of the tractor shed which clearly had not see any use in decades. If we were to cut silage in some of our fields it could come in handy since it is about the right size for our Kioti 50HP tractor. However, we don't have plans for silage at this time, and we don't have the other equipment needed - eg. power rake, silage wagon, baler, etc.

However, one of our neighbours down the road is a retired mechanic and he is interested in restoring it with help from his grandson, so we offerred the harvester to him and that meant needing to get all the bits and pieces together so it could be towed down to his workshop.

A bit of online research and watching lots of old videos on youtube helped us figure out how the 3-point hitch, PTO adapter, and side tow bar attaches, as well as linkage for the height adjuster, and a few other details. Our neighbour cut off the completely frozen attachment for the height bar and welded a new one back on.

And in the end it all came together. Hopefully with a bit of lubricant, some new belts, tyres, and so it they will have it up and running again.

Late Winter Cleanup

The weather has been reliably fickle - sun, rain, fog, hail, rinse and repeat. Here is a typical sunny and windy day with hail in between.

We spent a few days here and there tidying up including putting clear tape on the small holes in the poly tunnel siding where the door latches had punched holes during storm Eowyn.

Also, moved an old truck axle, silage handler, and several old truck wheels from behind the tractor shed. A fellow in the next town over who used to rent some of these fields from the prior owner was asking about the silage handler so hopefully it will go to a good home. And then we moved a few bags of compost over to this are to make more room in the yard by the tractor shed.

Truck axle will be sent to metal recyclying along with a load of other scrap once the old hay shed comes down. As will the broken cast iron couldron which was back amongst the weeds. A bit more cleanup and then we'll be ready to start planting potatoes!