Repairing the Garden Pressure System

It started with the garden pressure pump not cutting in when a tap was used. The controller is mechanical and as with mechanical things it had worn out. Perseverance was a waste of time as nothing would make it work consistently other that the occasional boot. The new controller was acquired and installed easily and the cut in and cut out pressures duly adjusted.

The next problem was that the pump would cut in and out every few minutes. Since there are three independent lines connected all three were turned off and the pump came to pressure and stayed there. That means the problem is in one of the three lines. Turned on line 1. No issues. Turned on line 2. No issues. Tried to turn on line 3 but the gate valve failed. Now that line is permanently off.

No spare gate valves but plenty of spare ball valves. All fine except the ball valves are a different dimension and need adapters which are not on hand. Fine, put up with the inconvenience for a few days until in Raymond Terrace next and collect some more adaptors.

Thinking ahead the decision is to replace the two remaining gate valves as the third was replaced last month, this indicates they are all of an age that could mean imminent failure.. Adapters acquired and two remaining gate valves replaced.

Not so good as both ball valves have cracks and leak which is probably why they were thrown away for us to salvage from the Dungog Dump Shop. Undoing all the good work the working gate valve is reinstalled. The failed gate valve is taken apart and repaired and also reinstalled.

All is not well. Now there are steady leaks from the connectors. Take the whole thing apart again, wash and clean away any grit, apply nylon tape and reinstall. Now the leaks are isolated to another set of adapters. Take apart again. One washer missing in one connector and a distorted washer in the other. Replace both and reinstall. Still some minor leakage in one adapter. Fiddle about for a while and reduce it to a few drops and give up. Time to take a break, Had a gutful of poly pipe repairs.

Of course the original problem of one line leaking is still there. Despite walking the entire line and checking all outlets on that line no faults found.

Time to walk away from the problem for a while. Pump turned off unless needed. A workable if inconvenient solution.

That is how it is possible to waste and entire afternoon and a couple of hours the next morning. Sometimes the cosmos burdens rather than caresses.

Repairing a Piston Pump

We have two Piston Pumps on our dam which are driven by small petrol engines. Two? you might say Why two?

Simple "Two is one, one is none". In the heat of Summer when everything is wilting and the crop of food is about to be lost the addition of a little water is useful. But the pump is broken! No problem use the backup pump.

The point of this blog is that one of the pumps, the oldest wasn't performing very well. Only a small amount of water was entering the holding tank at the top of the hill.

Piston pumps are a joy to work with as they have very few moving parts and as a result very little can go wrong that can't be fixed easily.

First up I checked the leather cups attached to the piston in the pumping chamber. Four bolts exposed the leathers and showed them to be in perfect condition.

The next assessment is a two stage, one bolt per stage examination. These are the two valves that allow water to enter the system but not return. One for the foot valve in the dam and one for the pipe running up the hill to the holding tank. Sometimes a pebble can be sucked in and hold one of the valve covers open. Both as clean as a whistle.

A mystery at this stage. Both pumps are started and while sitting there contemplating what to do I observe both pumps and see a problem. The faulty pump's piston arm does not move in and out anywhere near as far as the functioning pump. Workshop job.

Once at the workshop a little solvent and water is used to remove most of the oily debris before setting about dismantling. It doesn't take long to break it down into individual pieces. There are no rusted on bolts or other debilitating problems. Every bolt and nut is attached to cast iron or brass. Nothing rusted tight. You see why I love piston pumps.

Finally into the innards the problem is uncovered. A worn Gudgeon pin has finally come loose. We have a spare in stock. The two components that are held by the Gudgeon pin are also worn but the unit can be patched and put back in service until the other two parts can be ordered.

Now that the source of the problem is known the new parts can be installed while the pump is down at the dam. No need for a second disconnection and trip to the workshop.

It is good to do perform repairs in the workshop when they are major or the problem is unknown as all the tools are handy and there is the relaxation of a comfortable environment which encourages a thorough servicing.

Tomatoes, Pumps, Cattle and things

Our cattle were moved this morning into a fresh cell in what is known as the Big Dam Paddock. They should get about 2-3 days of green pick before needing to be fed with the new Lucerne. They really appreciated the change of cell. Heads down and eating immediately especially the green growth around the water's edge.

Warren and Hector munching on reeds. The two boys are never too far away from each other.

While down at the dam the two pumps were started. All the vegetable beds get a light water every day to maintain moisture. The grapes are in bud burst and flowering and they received their weekly drink. Rain appears to be very far away possibly some decent showers in October but who knows. Honda engines are the most amazing pieces of engineering. The oldest we own is nearly 20 years old and still starts first pull. It does blow a lot of smoke at first but just keeps going. The oil needs topping up most times but that's a minor inconvenience. The wonderful thing about these piston pumps which the engines drive is the reliability, indestructability and ease of maintenance. It takes less than 15 minutes to replace the leather cups which gradually wear out usually one set per pump per year sometimes less.

The 20 year old 5 HP Honda engine

The dynamic duo in operation

The vibrating intake pipes show if the pumps are working ok. That is smoke not mist as the oldest Honda warms up.

An indication of dryness is the falling dam level. It is down just under a metre after the driest few months of the year.

Difficult to see but this is the receding shoreline.

The Tomato bed progresses. The three tiers of mesh have been erected and now its up to the Tomatoes to do their bit. All the vine mounds have their chicken litter piled on as well. A wonderfully productive day.

Trellising Complete

Jean went out to Karuah and picked up some oysters. They didn't have any Sydney Rock ready and we ended up with Pacific. These are fine and easier to open but I can see why everyone raves about the Sydney Rock Oyster. There is a huge difference in flavour and texture. Either way we received a good dose of Zinc, Iron, Iodine and Omega 3. I'm sure there was some health benefit in the half bottle of Home Hill Farm Sparkling Semillon that we shared over the oysters.

A Dry Time of Year and Being Prepared

One of the ongoing tasks needing to be addressed is the state of preparedness. When things go wrong it's no good throwing hands in the air and not having a solution. In bushfire season it is the state of readiness and a plan. For a power outage there must be a plan. In dry weather water is needed and feed for the animals. It is very dry and has been since July when we had 35 mm in total. August had 2.5 mm.

In the water area the plan was implemented when we purchased  the property. It was not on town water or alongside a permanent water source. With the aid of two D5 bulldozers and a government department a 7 mega litre dam was installed. Two piston pumps with petrol motors (one for redundancy) push water up to a 20,000 litre holding tank where it can be distributed to garden, trees and water troughs with a pressure system. Theoretically there is enough water for 6 months should it not rain for that period.

There has been very little regrowth and the three cattle are a bit whingy because the quality of feed is poor i.e. plenty of roughage but a bit woody and hard work. We had about 30 bales of old Bio Dynamic Lucerne in the hayshed. It was a bit rat eaten and the last time it was offered to the cattle they ignored it. The Lucerne was purchased some years ago and successive  good seasons meant we never fed much of it out. In fact as it was getting old we had used some for mulch.

At the beginning of the week it was offered again and they wolfed it down. They are still in good condition and just in case the rain stays away we don't want them to lose condition as it is always hard to recover. Because of the age and quality of the BD hay between 2 and 4 bales are being put out each day.

Always having a supply of feed hay on hand is an important part of being prepared or eventualities. There is a balance between having too much and too little. The decision was to refresh stocks and try and get two months supply (based on a bale a day) at the current price and then be prepared to pay a premium after that if it ran out. Some freshly made high quality Lucerne would improve their nutrition until some rain arrives.

Made  contact with a farm at Singleton which makes hay on a large scale. They had 6000 in stock and this last 12 months had baled 45,000. "Come any time". Two levels of quality $11 and $12. We chose the $11 quality. Arrived just before lunch to find three men loading a ute and horse trailer. We gave them a hand and then it was out turn.  Not being sure how many would fit on the trailer and ute it was a simple matter of saying how much cash we had with us and loading until money or space ran out.

The money ran out at 68 bales. Well that's what appeared to be the case. There had be some confusion and instead of loading $11 bales they had supplied $12 bales. Since it was not tied down at that point it would be easy enough to off load some until we matched our cash.

"Don't worry about it, take it at $11."
"Are you sure, we don't mind unloading and putting it back in the shed."
"It's fine, leave it on"

Farmers are funny people. Hard working and frugal, tough as nails and yet generous when you least expect it. Its a good day when you meet good people.

68 Bales of Lucerne, ignore the date stamp on the photo it is incorrect.

Slowly Making Some Progress...

Being Saturday and the last day of August means that the Raymond Terrace Aldi store will open at 8.30 am with a broad selection of vegetable seedlings which are both well priced and well advanced. Having built up their reputation for supplying good seedlings it is important to arrive early to fight off the crowd of enthusiastic customers before all the goodies disappear. So we did arrive early and collected the few items that we have trouble germinating ourselves such as Eggplant and Capsicum and just because they looked so good picked up a few other things such as Dill, Basil and Lettuce and a couple of Tomatoes that weren't in our collection. There was a good crowd and lots of bustling to get to the Saturday specials but stocks were plentiful and no one disappointed.

Aldi Seedlings

This year the seedlings were very advanced which is OK for Tomatoes, Eggplant and Capsicum but makes things like Dill and basil a bit straggly. Still, all good fun.

This year our own seedling have been the best ever in terms of health and size. Could be the weather and possibly because they were potted up very early?

Our seedlings

The cosmic forces that govern the building of Tomato beds are obviously in a playful mood. Todays first disaster was the box trailer. It needs to be ready to haul some more silage and hay this coming week and it was noticed yesterday that the lights were inoperable. First eliminated the vehicle as the cause then dismantled the light fittings and cleaned all the connections - one loose bulb and one broken wire. Half the lights now working. Checked all the other fittings. This is all very difficult as the trailer lights are out of sight when working behind the vehicle. Mounted a vanity mirror on the ground. Aha the lights flicker when playing with the main connector. Stripped that down checked it all over and adjusted the connection points. Finally after an hour and a half all is functioning.

Now back to the planned job of the day i.e. Tomato bed. Spread a goodly amount of Dolomite to sweeten the bed and covered with a thick layer of mulch Hay - very thick. Hay bales come apart in different sized biscuits depending on the grass type and in this case woody long grasses resulted in biscuits well over 100mm thick. Fine that should keep weeds at bay for longer. The mulch hay was a special deal last year about a 120 bales at cost of production price of $2 from a friendly farmer. Enough to keep us in mulch hay for a  few years and at a price that means we can be generous with the application.

The next step 19 bales of mulch hay over 25 metres. The last 5 metres will be held back for succession planting.

This is what is left of a junior Red Belly Black snake near the old Tomato bed after a little slashing recently. Only just noticed it.

The mock Roquefort made most recently was done in two different ways. One lot received no pressing, was brine salted and not wrapped in foil. It came out creamy and soft after only a few weeks. The other had been pressed lightly and was rubbed with salt in two stages with the salt calculated on the current weight of each round. The rounds were pierced after the salt was absorbed and wrapped in special cheese foil. This has taken longer to mature. Although creamy it is firmer and closer to the mouth feel of real Roquefort but not that airy, granular look. But progress is being made.

Just before dark we noticed the Viburnum hedge looking a bit sad. Just a simple matter of turning on the automatic watering system? No such luck, no water coming through. After a quick investigation the culprit was the gate valve back at the pump. There are three valves splitting the watering system into three sections to simplify leak tracking. This one has broken in the off position. Fortunately we were able to patch in a hose from a working section to the Viburnum system and provide them with a  drink. The valve replacement can be tomorrows emergency repair.

The shut off valves have proven a worthwhile addition to the watering system

Pumping Water, Sauerkraut Taste Off

Just the usual chores with cattle this morning although now only checking two herds for births of which there was one over the river. The westerly wind stayed all day and the boss over the river asked to have some paddocks watered that he had fertilized at the weekend.

The property over the river now has underground irrigation pipes extended throughout the 80 acres. Dragged out the irrigator and set it up in paddock #1 which will require two runs od about 200 metres with a 50 metre spread. The second run will do half of paddock #2. That means only three runs in total then a relocation to do three paddocks down by the river. Each 200 metre run takes about 15-20 hours. The speed depends on how often the hose is adjusted. The irrigator drags the hose as it goes. The longer the section behind the irrigator the slower it gets. Usually an early morning start with an adjustment at midday and on dusk will get the run done in 15 hours otherwise its a slower run and more water.

Coincidently we needed to pump up some water from our dam as the holding tank was close to empty and with the winds the gardens needed a light water.

Started the oldest pump first. This ancient Honda engine is about 20 years old but still keeps working despite blowing huge amounts of smoke for the first 10 minutes. We have had another commonly known brand as the second unit but it packed it in within 5 years and was replaced by another Honda. Can't speak highly enough about this brand. Easy to start and indestructible.



The 20 year old Honda engine blowing a bit of smoke at the beginning but running well

The newer backup Honda and piston pump

As there was no rain forecast both pumps were started which will fill the 5000 gallon tank over the next 6-8 hours. We use piston pumps because of the simplicity of repair and maintenance.

Speaking of maintenance, to save walking 500 meters back up a steep hill to the workshop a small waterproof toolbox is kept with the pumps. It contains all the tools needed for these engines and pumps as well as the spare parts for maintenance and quick repairs. Usually the only repairs is a replacement of the leather cups.

A few tools, spares and a rag for clean up



Aging and rust covered toolbox but still waterproof.

The only other item needed at the dam is a mode of transport if the inlet pipes need any work. The last time it was used was about 6 years ago when new flotation drums were put on the inlets. 

Rather large but it was cheap second hand.

Flotation drums and you can see the inlet pipes vibrating which demonstrates all is as it should be

 

Used up the sauerkraut in the kitchen refrigerator this morning. It was time to taste test some of the Nourishing Traditions batches that were stored in the spare refrigerator.

Latin American:
Ok but nothing flash to distinguish it i.e. not as spicy as a Kim Chi. May need to play with this one a bit.

Japanese:
The soy sauce comes through which gives it a distinctive taste. OK but again nothing flash.

Plain with Caraway:
Good texture and the Caraway really adds good distinction. My pick of this bunch.

Korean:
Tastes like Kim Chi. Good background heat and texture. Ok.

No complaints about any of them, all acceptable. Possibly our taste buds are more attuned to stronger flavours.