[RHClarke]

Whew! MLU is back up and running...withdrawal is bitch. Anyway, Saturday was dedicated to a bit of maintenance. Bob's tractor required some work on its power steering pump. We broke down the pump and found that one of the many small and delicate gaskets had ruptured, thus permitting the pump fluid to leak past the drive shaft and into the crankcase. After new gaskets and a seal were installed we put everything back together. The acid test came later in the afternoon when we moved some trees to the cutting pile near the wagon lines. The oil level dropped somewhat, but there were no noticeable leaks or loss of power. Fingers crossed!

Following the pump maintenance, our attention turned to the 45 HUP. I took the truck out to the mud hole near the wagon lines and had some fun trying to get her stuck. During the ride, I was having problems with the engine when shifting from first to second. The engine would labour and then stall. The issue turned out to be timing. Back at the barn, Bob adjusted the dizzy and showed me the two adjustment nuts that had to played with to ensure that things worked well. The following test drive showed a dramatic improvement in speed and engine performance. Bob came along for the ride and wisely grabbed ahold of the OJC handle on the passenger side of the truck. We tried starting out in second gear and the truck took off with no hesitation whatsoever. Some day soon, we will be taking the HUP back to the big field for some more cross country fun. I'll be sure to bring the video camera.

A big thanks to Bob for the timing adjustment and the subsequent adjustment lesson.

Photo: The HUP warms up (-2oC at 1300hrs) while Bob heads over to chat with Joyce