The weeks news. It’s fall, the UTV is fixed, and assholes chase moose
It’s been a quiet week up here on the mountain, my little slice of heaven in the great northwest.
Our rainy season has started; sort of. A big storm was headed our way, but just as it got to the border, it turned north, missing us altogether. There’s more headed our way; only time will tell if it hits us.
I have talked about troubles I have been having with our UTV lately. Back when we bought it, the shop said that to handle tracks, we needed heavier axles, 8-ball instead of the lightweight 6-ball universal joints it came with. The shop told us that they were all the same for front and rear, so I ordered all four. When I got them, I discovered that they wouldn’t work for the front, the shaft going into the differential was a half inch too long on the left side. The right side fit just fine. I looked online, found what was supposed to be the correct axles, ordered them, but when they arrived, they also weren’t the right ones.
I went to the shop we normally use and found out, after a few phone calls to two different companies that sell heavy axles, that for some reason, heavy duty front axles for that machine don’t exist. This seems odd, but it’s true. What to do? Well, one fit the left front just fine, but the other was too long. I took it to a machine shop and had a half inch cut off the shaft that goes into the differential. Everything is back together now, I still have a few adjustments to make on track tension, and making sure everything is right. Then I will see how my heavy axles will work. I did order a new one that’s a 6-ball just in case. (One shattered during the last winter, and it was the first one replaced with the heavy duty one.)
We have all five tons of pellets in and stacked now. We’re early this year, which is fine by me, more time for other things, and we have had to light the stove a couple of times already due to frosty temperatures. I’m still waiting for carburetors to be cleaned by the shop on both my snowmobile and the lovely wife’s, her whole machine is at the shop, when I looked at the three carbs and how hard they were to access, I decided that the shop could do it. They are also removing the seat so I can replace the seat cover, something that I will be ordering this coming week. It’s a shock being ready so soon for winter, normally it’s a rush to finish before the first snow. I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do with my free time.
Our nights are cooler, and the bats have been out, swooping and diving after bugs that are still around. We start to see them at dusk, and so far I have spotted three. They come really close to our front window, almost hitting it, before turning and climbing away after another insect. They are fun to watch, and if one of us happens to be outside when they start their evening flight, they get really close to us in their hunt.
The other day, late afternoon, I had to head to town to pick up the lovely wife from work. As I rounded a corner in the road, not far from the cabin, I spooked three moose, my mamma moose and her calf, and a young bull that was around three or four years old, judging by his size and size of his antlers. Mamma and calf left the road quickly, and I stopped to give them time. The bull, on the other hand, ran a bit down the road and stopped. I gave him plenty of space, not wanting him to feel threatened, but I had to get down. He ambled down ahead of me, until around the spring, before I saw him leave the road. One thing I want to mention is that it’s almost mating season here, what is commonly called the rut. Bull moose get aggressive and have been known to charge trucks and cars, so it’s a good idea to give a bull lots of room, which we do.
I picked up the lovely wife, we went to grab a pizza for dinner, then headed home. I was telling her about my encounter with the moose as we headed up the old logging road, when the bull and one of the other ones (couldn’t tell if it was mamma or calf) came barreling around the corner, chased by a couple of idiots on four-wheelers. The moose missed running into our truck by inches, and the four-wheelers stopped a little ways away. I started chewing ass. I have no tolerance for people who think it’s fun abusing animals. They are lucky that the bull was young, as an older bull would have turned and made short work of them. They are also lucky the rut isn’t in full swing right now, bulls are stupid, and will charge anything that gets in their way of mating.
Well, that’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.
