Air. Fuel. Water.

 

Air. Fuel. Spark.

 

This past summer my 1951 Ford 8N tractor would not start. Unencumbered by modern electronics which control air, fuel and spark in the internal combustion process, starting has not been an issue for seventy years. The conclusion was a failure of 'spark' in the right place at the right time. The diagnostic process involves tracing the path of current, much simpler with a few pieces of wire with alligator clips, commonly called 'leads.' At some point a handful were purchased and put in a logical location where I could find them.

 

The tractor issue has not been addressed, yet. This week the furnace failure can be attributed to gap in the triad of air, fuel and spark. OK. With the tractor you climb up, open the tank and look inside. The propane tank for the furnace has a gauge. At -13F you tap it a few times to ensure its' mobility. The high-efficiency furnace is really sensitive in the balance of fuel intake, exhaust and air pressures likewise. 'Efficiency' can only be achieve by complex electronics beyond my 'lack of skills' level. Believing the problem to be a failed thermostat I knew I could jumper the 'power' and 'heat' wires at the thermostat location (or on the furnace). That would send the message 'send heat' to the furnace and my <55F existence would end. 

 

Where was the 'logical location' that I had put the new leads? Perhaps logically out in the tractor shed, well-blocked with snowdrifts, perhaps in the the every growing box of 'electrical misc' not to be confused with the box of 'plumbing misc' or 'hardware misc' or the uncategorized box of 'misc misc.'

After looking I gave up. Owning a tractor allows one to proceed with 'farmer fixes,' rarely of good style or permanence but which allow you to proceed. At the simplest level that meant finding some wire and to avoid excessively long expediency, something to cut the wire and maybe strip the insulation. Of course I could not find my designated wire cutter & stripper but found a cutter that 'would do.' The first wire found lacked insulation but I'm only dealing with 24 volts and 'caution' would do. After further analysis which translated to "it's too thick" I decided to sacrifice the wire from a temporary light fixture. I've had temporary light fixtures in place for fifteen years...another story.

 

As I headed to 'the shop' to retrieve a temporary light fixture I glanced at a box at the top of the stairs. The package of leads was sitting in the box known as the 'misc to be put in the correct misc box' box.

It didn't matter. The furnace is shot.

 

 I'm looking forward to getting the tractor started in the spring.