My LoveJoy is worn out....but the sun is a shinin'

Yes it happened to me finally. I mean the way we were working it, it was bound to happen at some point and it did. We worked my LoveJoy down to a nub, just to the point that it wouldn't function anymore. And it would have to happen right when I need it the most! Production came to a sudden halt, and we just wrapped it up for a few days....which is good I suppose because it has been raining since. Now it is indeed a funny name to give to such a thing....why I don't know. I personally refer to it as a 'coupler' because after all that is it's function. All I know is that without it, life as a wood whore would be daunting. You see, the LoveJoy is a part that couples the shaft from the motor to the hydraulic pump on the wood splitter. It "is" what allows the splitter to split. There is a rubber insert that sits between the 2 halves of the LoveJoy that over time wears out or just breaks. This actually began to occur back in Dorrington towards the end of the wood run with friend Scott, I think, as I do remember that the splitter was starting to make a weird noise....kinda sort of. It held out this long and we are going into our 8th cord of wood now....and still growing.... and for this I am thankful. But the summer season here is short and we are starting to see signs of Fall coming and desperately want to get as much wood split as possible while the sun is still shining and the warmth lingers in the air. So for the LoveJoy to fail now is just plain not good. I was able to get a new one in Soldotna though and with it mounted again this afternoon the machine is humming and the beautiful sound of cracking and popping wood is filling the air! The sun did come out this morning finally and man does it feel good! You don't know how much you come to appreciate days like this until you have experienced many without it. But all is good nonetheless. We are going to make one last good stand the next few days to get all we have here split, and then start hauling in more to either continue to build this seasons stock, or begin the run for next season, however you want to look at it. Keep in mind we do have a central furnace so we won't go cold. We are just really trying to preserve the cost of fuel for the furnace and burn what we have come to know so well and depend on for so many years in Arnold and Dorrington....wood! And you wonder why I adopted a name such as "the wood whore"?!