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Some days I hardly ever see Michael at all, he’s like a buzzy bee that whizzes past me zooming off to deliver some important part or paint or some other such thing to Peter Jones in north county Dublin.
Or other days he has me chained to the computer helping him communicate through the intricate World Wide Web to some distant part of the globe about some tractor part or other, before he zooms off again. I don’t mind though, it’s all getting very exciting now!
The D40L tractor is almost ready. Almost. Everything has been cleaned, either by sandblasting or using the Evaporust product, and is now painted. There are parts from the Netherlands and from Air Cooled Technology in Galway that he is waiting on.
Earlier in July, Michael brought the front rims over to Peter Jones, who is helping with the restoration, but they weren’t the right size. So now he is waiting, nervously, for new rims, which are coming from America and should be here in under a fortnight.
As new locking pads for the wheel nuts couldn’t be found anywhere he got them made by Yoruba Ltd in Kilcoole. All of these parts were then brought over to Peter along with copious amounts of paint. The tyres have been mounted onto the rims and are ready to go onto the tractor.
What is slowing the process slightly is the electrical end of things. They are waiting on electrical components and it is easier to fit them and trace the wires and then assemble the body-parts rather than the other way around. It’s a bit like building a house but really quite a large part of the job is assembling the tractor together!
The plough has been completely taken apart and transported to Soda Blast Ireland, also in Kilcoole, to be stripped and blasted down there. Michael couldn’t get proper bolts to fit the original bolt holes so he had to drill out a bigger size. He couldn’t do this at home as the steel was too hard to drill and needed a bench press to get the job done. C+C (Springs) Ltd made new springs for the back of the plough as they cannot be got anymore.
The usual farm work has been ongoing at its normal hectic pace, with our own potatoes being sold in the shop. I feel the customers are really latching on to our ‘fresh, local, Irish, quality food’ ethos and it is great to see it so busy, especially as our plans for a tea rooms are underway and it will hopefully open mid winter.
This latest venture has taken up a good bit of time lately and has really focused the mind. My garden did turn into a jungle of weeds but I did battle and thankfully my peas are bountiful and the carrots and beetroot are thriving as well. I am all brimmed up with hope and bubbling with anticipation, I know how much this whole tractor project means to Michael and his family and we are nearly there!
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