I should have known...

I don't know what I was thinking when I thought that it would be a simple matter of taking the tiller to the field and giving it a go in the Congo soil. I should have known nothing goes according to plan in Congo...

At first, everything seemed to be working fine. I turned the machine on, and picking up the rear, engaged the wheels so it would propel itself forward. It only had a couple yards to go to the field, which it covered with ease, and then I put the back down to start tilling.

It was going forward and then it stopped - the tines stop pretty easily on this model. I let go of the throttle, putting it in neutral, and let the machine idle a bit as I checked out the back. Two things were "wrong." First, the depth was set really shallow so it was really just tilling the top root zone which would be the hardest part. I deepened the depth gauge hoping to till more soil and less roots with each pass, and maybe slow the tiller down. Alas, the wheels are locked to the tines, so you really can't slow the tiller down that much. The second problem was the hiller/furrower attachment that was bogging the machine down by being caught in the soil and the machine didn't have enough strength to pull it through. I could take care of that later though with a wrench. So I stood up to go again.

"What's that?" one of the students asked as he picked up a screw. "It's hot, I think it's from the machine." Oh great. Just what we ned, although not a problem. We have screw drivers and Allen wrenches, I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out. I look at it and my heart sank. Where the heck are we going to find a six-pronged star driver/wrench/thing in Congo?

The screw had come from part of the engine, and we knew it where it was supposed to go because there was another one still in the engine and a gaping hole on the other side of the part where the missing screw needed to go.

I was ready to call it a day and we took the tiller up to the Depot (the workshop) and talked to different people about what to do. We had just decided to send someone into town with the screw and either find a driver for it or come back with a screw exactly the same, but with a different head, when we started playing around with the tiller. We ended up getting it on with an Allen wrench (I left to look for something while we were working on getting the hiller/furrower part off and when I came back it was miraculously on, tight, and the Allen wrench was sitting next to it - I hope we don't have to get it off, because it probably won't come off with the stripped top). The hiller attachment bold was really, really difficult and I'm thinking it must have been knocked during transport and bent because it was loose in the hole, but the bold was extremely difficult to get off. We ended up breaking the bolt off, so that attachment came off too. Now the only thing is a slightly flat tire, but we wanted to give it a shot anyway - To the field!

We get it to the field and a small group gathers as we turn it on and start tilling. It goes into the soil marvellously, but didn't go anywhere. Oh yeah, I had to lock wheels into place. That done, we go!

The tiller went in and I thought it was going great, except the tines stopped moving. Whenever it gets the least bit difficult, the tines just stop, which is slightly disappointing because it would be good if the tines could keep working without the wheels going. Oh well. It skidded across the top. Then I reversed it and did it again. A little deeper, but still across the top. 4 passes later it looks pretty good, but there is only 3-4 inches of till depth and the weed stems (cut, but still there) and roots had also begun to wrap around the tines. And this was only in the part that was planted just last year without anything major growing in it.

So now we will have to use the big jembe (hoe) first and break the soil, remove as many weeds as is feasible, and then use the tillers. We'll give that a shot tomorrow and see what happens. Hopefully it works. I would like to get the other tiller to UCBC tomorrow too so I will see if I can get David to take it. Tomorrow we start with the jembe, then try again with the tillers. Wish us luck!