Better Now

As it turned out, last night's shift was better than "glass half full".

24 hours of sub-freezing temps did wonders for the piste. I actually ran with a roll of snow in my blade most of the night, in fact I did a push project for a good hour, vastly improving two adjoining trails that we opened earlier in the week. Boy howdy, that felt good!

A look at the remote sensors says "Springtime Conditions" Saturday night due to the afternoon high of 45°F. The mercury is falling fast, and should fall past freezing by 7PM-8PM.

I expect tonight's shift to be mostly making corduroy, with some light pushing and patching...in short, another satisfying shift.

On the mechanical front, my old favorite BR350 ran like a Ferrari last night. My oil pressure was back where it should be after an oil change. The wrenches said I had fuel in the oil.

This was a little less than a surprise. Over the last three weeks, the engine oil levels have been all wacky, the injector pump failed, and the working tractor has a new smell...like a "solvent" smell, once I have it up to temperature, and it's nose to the grindstone.

That's a lot of fuel and engine oil connections...oil analysis will tell the tale. Industry sourses say the Caterpillar six cylinder engines in the BR350's need rebuilding after 10K hours. Mine is clocking in at 11K, plus another 100 hours a week, or so...

Even with the mystery lubrication issues, the ol' fave is running strong, and no engine temperature changes are evident. Hydrostatic fluid temps haven't changed either...Triage continues...