40
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2019 Newt schemes to rescue Kenneth’s tractor When we left off last time,
Deborah was thinking out loud to Birdie that she was little more than a trophy wife to Kenneth as
Woodshed
Chronicles by BOB COLLINS
they were getting ready to go swimming with the pigs. On the home front, Susan Henderson was gushing all about her picnic lunch with Newt Pullman to Ashley and Christopher. Rural Redemption, part 116, continues ... The morning after his
grandma’s picnic, Christopher went over to Mr. Pullman’s to check his 4-H heifer and tidy up in the barn. Newt and Rocky found him sweeping the alley. “Morning, Chris. Did your dad happen to mention having any plans about dragging the tractor out of your barn and fixing the roof?” Christopher shook his
head. “Nope. I asked him about it
twice but he just got mad and told me not to worry about it.” “Well,” said Newt, “I’ve been
thinking about it. What would you say to you and I taking the job on while he’s gone?” “Sure, I guess. If you think
we could do it.” “I’m pretty sure I could talk
Doug McLeod and Tyler Koski into giving us a hand and we could probably get it done in
a couple of days.” “Cool,” said Christopher.
“Let’s go for it.”
Newt phoned Doug McLeod who said he figured it was a good idea. Tyler Koski was just back from a consulting job on a bridge project in Africa. He hadn’t heard about Kenneth Henderson
knocking the barn down on himself with his new tractor. Newt filled him in and said he figured it would be a good idea if a few neighbours got together and sorted it all out while the Hendersons were off on a holiday. “It’ll probably save all the
firemen from having to rescue him all over again if he comes back and tries it on his own.” Tyler said he’d meet Newt at the Henderson for a look- see so they could see what they were up against. Tyler was perplexed as to
just how someone might crash a tractor through his own barn. Newt said they could probably chalk it up to pilot error. Tyler met him at the crash scene an hour later. “This shouldn’t be too complicated,” said Tyler. “It would be good if we had something to lift some of the beams.”
Newt nodded. “Jack Ricci has a Hiab truck.
I could probably cook something up with him. I’ll give you a call after I hunt him up.”
Hunt him up was just what
Newt would have to do, but he had a pretty good idea of where he was likely to be. Jack Ricci never answered his phone or returned any messages and dismissed texting as a waste of time. He figured anything worth discussing deserved to be said to his face. Jack’s real name was Horace, after his grandfather. After several set-tos in the school yard, he’d shortened it to Ace. As soon as school was finished, he hired on to a logging show and shipped out to camp. On his first day the woods foreman asked his name. “Ace Ricci.” The foreman shook his
head.
“I don’t think so kid. You’re a long way from the top of the deck on this claim. We’re going to call you Jack.” Ace complained to the
rigging-slinger when he called him Jack “My name’s Ace, not Jack!” The rigging slinger spat a
stream of chewing tobacco. “If the push say’s you’re
Jack, I ain’t going to argue with him.” “But my name is Ace.” “Hell, kid, hardly anyone
out here gets to be who they think they are. Trust me, if you start belly-achin’, it might get a whole lot worse than Jack. Look on the bright side – you might not be an Ace anymore but at least you’re still a face card.”
Jack stayed in the woods
for the next 40 years, the last 15 pulling wrenches in the
shop. He took a buy-out and retired when the forest industry went haywire. After three months, his wife Brenda told him she was ready to tear her hair out and he needed to think of some way they wouldn’t be at home together all the time. Jack bought himself a single-axle dump truck and a little excavator and started doing small jobs here and there.
When his neighbour
started complaining about living next door to an excavating business, he struck up a deal with Junkyard Frank for space to park his equipment. That deal had evolved to include space for an office and use of the shop. The business took off and Jack hired his logging shop pal Harb Singh to keep his growing list of equipment working. Officially, the company was
called W-3-Like Contracting. The name puzzled most folks but made sense after Jack explained. “We work doin’ What we
like, When we like, and for Who we like.” Jimmy Vincent said he supposed it would be a good name for the Internet because there wasn’t likely to be another website called that. Jack said he supposed Jimmy was right except he had no interest in a website anyway, so it probably didn’t matter.
Work party Newt found Jack and Harb
drinking coffee on a bus seat in the corner of the shop. He explained his plan to fish Kenneth Henderson’s tractor out of the barn and rebuild the smashed part, and Tyler Koski figured it would go a lot quicker if they had some way of slinging the beams and such out, and what kind of a deal could they make to get the Hiab truck to come for a couple of hours to do that? Jack wondered what kind of money Newt was figuring on making or if he was just being neighbourly. Newt said it was a way of
sparing the fire department another visit. Harb was a volunteer fireman and though he had missed the rescue, he’d heard all about it. Harb said he’d be willing operate the crane, and Jack said he could take it as a gesture of community goodwill. Harb asked what time it was needed, and Newt said they’d get started about 10 the next morning. After Newt left, Junkyard
Frank came into the shop and poured himself a cup of coffee. “What did Pullman want?” “He came to see if we’d
take the Hiab down to Tiny’s old place tomorrow. He’s figuring on fixing up the barn.”
“Is he?” said Frank. “Ain’t
that right neighbourly of him? Lemme tell you, fellas, he’s got another thing coming if he thinks I’m just going to sit by and let him worm his way in there.”
Jack and Harb exchanged
glances. “I’m not following you,” said
FAST MOWING, FAST DRYDOWN
Harb. “Figgers he’s God’s gift to
women.” “Who? Newt?” “Yeah, Newt. Mr. Newton, high-and-mighty Pullman. Him and his fancy Packard car and special picnic lunch. Well two can play that game, you know?” “What in hell are you on
about?” asked Jack. “Calm down. You’re going to give yourself heart failure.” “Mark my words, the pair of
FC TC CENTER-PIVOT MOWER CONDITIONERS • Standard drawbar or 2-point Gyrodine®
• Lubed-for-life Optidisc® cutterbar and Fast-Fit® 10’2” - 14’4” working widths
Matsqui Ag-Repair Abbotsford, BC
604-826-3281
Country Tractor Armstrong, BC
250-546-3141 Kamloops, BC 250-851-3101
Northline Equipment, Ltd. Dawson Creek, BC
250-719-7470
you, I’m not going down without a fight. I met her before he did, and I deserve just as much of a chance as he does!” Harb and Jack both started
swivel hitch for tight turns blades
• Finger, rubber roller or steel roller conditioning - adjustable to match any crop • Allows wide spreading to over 90% of cut width for accelerated drydown
INVEST IN QUALITY®
KuhnNorthAmerica.com
Huber Farm Equipment Prince George, BC
250-560-5431 Visit your local KUHN Dealer today!
to chuckle after Frank left. “Whatever all that’s about might make tomorrow a real interesting day,” said Harb. To be continued ...
WEEKLY FARM
NEWS UPDATES
FARM NEWS
Sign up for FREE online.
YOUR Helping You
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
