DOING THE RIGHT THING? MAYBE...
Opinions will vary, but I'll tell it like it is.
If anyone remembers all the way back when @vcelier and @naru-celier came down from Canada for a visit, you may recall that Vincent Celier and I took a ride with one of my neighbors to pick up a stump grinder. The machine itself is an attachment for a tractor, and the drum on it supposedly weighs about 1000 pounds.
FREE?
The man that we picked it up from is lending it to us for free until a few of us around here get our stumps ground down to the dirt. The man picked it up about 11 years ago now, and still hasn't used it. Part of the reason that he never used it is that the last guy he lent it to kept it for a decade! Yeah, for 10 long years the last guy "borrowed" it. Then, right before he gave it back, he wound up running it up against a rock ledge, which trashed what was left of the teeth.
On this heavy drum, there are 60 teeth which are designed to shred the stump and reduce it to woodchips and sawdust. However, when the teeth on it are damaged, this machine will be able to accomplish a lot less work in a lot more time.
MY CHOICE
For @papa-pepper, I had a choice. Actually, the last guy to borrow it had a choice too. He even offered to buy new teeth for it... until he found out how much it would cost. I too figured out how much it would cost, and it turns out that would not be cheap.
Well, I made my choice. Sure, it was an expense out of my pocket, but so would renting a piece of equipment to get the job done. By being able to borrow one for free, I could work at my leisure too, unlike with a rental. Plus, with the amount of rock around the stumps on my land, there was a good chance of completely ruining whatever was left of the old teeth and returning the equipment in a state where it really didn't function at all.
Simply put, if someone was going to be nice enough to lend out such equipment free of charge then perhaps it would nice to bless him.
As you can see here, replacing the old teeth with these brand new carbide tipped ones was going to change the whole machine as far as stump grinding was concerned. If purchasing the new teeth wasn't hard enough, now I had to change them out too! Most were not that bad, but the tough ones were really tough!
Because of how far they had been wore down, not only was the tooth damaged, but the bolts too. Many of them had been ground down rather far.
The normal size for these bolts is T55. Although they are not tapered, some had been worn to the point that they would fit a T50 or even T47 size screw head. On the bright side, at least they unscrewed!
For others, I actually had to use a metal drill bit to make the holes so that I could fit my tool into them. Now this was an interesting bit of work. Thankfully, it did work on a lot of them.
Just look at how far gone this bolt is compared to a new one. I really should have bought more new bolts too, because the 20 I picked up did not last very long.
Once I replaced all of the ones that I could, which left about 8 unchanged, I got back to work. The machine worked much better and saved quite a bit of time. Not only did I finally finish grinding all of the stumps on my driveway and house site, I even drove the tractor down to take care of the ones that @bluerthangreen and @allforthegood had too, and then stopped by at another neighbors to start on his.
Soon, we will be done with the machine and it'll be time for it to head back to its owner. This time, it'll be returned in better condition. Sure, it may have cost me hundreds of dollars to do it, but I think that it was the right thing to do, and a good choice on my part since I had the opportunity. What do you think?
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-new-teeth
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNxsVBRnVBEWHG7ZnWYidTujxg5LLrrwejEPQZpPj4pVw/papapepper2.gif)
Way to go! Nice to see someone go above and beyond in doing the right thing.
In the end I think it'll bless us all! Thanks.
Yes, very good 'investment' for you.
@originalworks
Great idea, I was always taught to return something in the same, if not better condition when possible, from something that I borrow. Way to set a positive example bro.
Thanks, you know that we have to represent!
You're welcome bro. Every day of our lives indeed.
No question you did the 'right' thing as a consequence of your character and internal compass, guiding your choices towards the Golden Rule.
Another person could convincingly argue that not putting the money, time, and effort in that you did would also be the right decision, and they would not be wrong.
That person would not inspire goodwill around the community, the leadership to make something better for the benefit of all, or inspire the hope that we're all here to make each other's lives happier by taking care of one another.
A trusted leader makes the kind of decision that you made, and you pursued your objective despite the roadblocks of the stripped bolts, damaged teeth, and considerable expense of money and time.
May you inspire others by your actions.
Thoughts become actions.
Actions become habits.
Habits become character.
Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher
Wow, nicely said and good points. Also, thanks for the compliment!
T series is something different, european cars uses them.
I think you did the right thing. You could use that machine for free for many years. Now bring it back in a good state and repair it a bit.
You just showed that you care! I like people who care.
Thanks J
Thank for the comment J!
i don't know anything about this stuffs but your post made me read it until the end though it's not part of my interest. you inspires me everyday @papa-pepper lol
@papa-pepper inspires a lot of people and i think he should get an award for that
LOL - Just being here is reward enough, and being able to read comments like yours!
thanks for the information. what your news is useful for us all ..
Great job buddy. If only we all wirked this way. I alway return in better shape. I might want to borrow again. Like always great blog and when you coming up lol?
You did precisely the right thing. Good neighbors are hard to come by and one should always do their best to keep that relationship strong.
I agree, make friends with the neighbors and keep them as friends!
😂😂😂😂😂 OMG, the guy borrowed it for 10 years, mehn that's a record as the longest tym spent lending a property. we need to alert Guinness book of record publishers. Tanx nice post
LOL = alert Guiness!
😂
Nice gif man