Frank J. Buchman

Cowboy • Horseman • Writer

Stalled Vehicles Major Ordeal

 “It won’t start.”

When the rodeo clown says that about his funny car he can’t get out of the arena, everybody laughs.

Yet when somebody’s own vehicle “won’t start,” it’s far from a funny matter.

Just about everybody has been in such a predicament and typically there’s quite an ordeal getting the vehicle going again.

Likely the most common issue is a dead battery. More than once long years ago, the pickup battery went dead in the hayfield waiting for bales to load. It was the young hay handler‘s fault because he was listening to the radio when the truck wasn’t running.

Without more than a scowl the first time, Dad pulled the tractor with square baler alongside the pickup. It was an easy task to jumpstart the truck so the boy could get the hay loaded. There was more than a frown the second time it happened.

Jump starting from another vehicle when there’s a dead battery is very common and generally works well. Yet, it’s not always safe.. That lesson was learned a half century ago, when the old pickup was hooked to the 1939 John Deere B tractor.

Uncertain the reasoning behind it, but the tractor battery exploded. Of course, sparks fly when the positive cable is hooked to the negative but whenever there’s fire it’s best to try another method.

Sometimes, the car dies and won’t start, because it’s out of gas. That’s not too much of a problem even when one must walk a couple miles to get the gas can filled.

But when driving to judge a horseshow 300 miles from home and the fuel goes dry it’s a more serious issue. Fortunately that nearby farmer was nice kindly providing gasoline out of his farm tank.

A couple of the old ranch pickups used for feeding big bales have been giving fits this year. They’ve often been overhauled and put back into work. However, there was recently another major pickup breakdown. The “It won’t start” had to be pulled in for repairs.

Fortunately, the herdsman drove the runnable pickup to pull the old man steering and braking the inoperable truck. Thank goodness for those who know how to fix a truck so “it will start.”

Reminded of Second Chronicles 34:33: “He got everything started fresh and moving forward again.”

+++ALLELUIA+++ 

XV–17–4-25-2021

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