Barn progress...

Barn progress...  All the junction boxes are installed for the fifteen lamps going into Debbie's agility arena.  Now I just have to wire them up.  I probably have a couple days more work on those.

The big excitement for the day yesterday was the surprise arrival of my new lathe.  According to the tracking information, it was expected about a week from now.  I'm not complaining about it coming early, though :)  The lathe arrived on a single long pallet weighing 980 pounds (according to the packing label).  That's just barely within the specs for my tractor's loader capacity, but fortunately I was able to get it off the truck with no problems.  It loaded the engine down a bit, and there was a little groaning from the tractor's frame ... but I picked it right up off the truck's floor and drove it into the barn.

On unpacking the pallet, I discovered (naturally) that this is one quite massive kit.  One thing that's a little unusual: the weight of this kit is such that I will either need three helpers to move the parts with me, or I'll have to figure out how to use the tractor to do the lifting.  Once I get the thing assembled I don't think I'll be moving it – so I definitely need to get it in the right place the first time :)

Update:  I just discovered the existence of something called an “engine crane”, designed to allow mechanics to lift an engine out of a car and move it around the shop.  They're not all that expensive, and they can easily lift any of the tools in my shop – so I can move things around, and assemble the lathe, all by myself.  I have one on order now...