A Lull in the Action

It has been so cold lately that the dogs aren't even tracking up the snow much. They  go out briefly, then come inside where it is warm.  If you drive by, unless it is chore time, you probably won’t see us outside much. But just because there appears to be a lull in the farm action  doesn’t  mean nothing is happening. Au contraire. Big things are happening --really big things! Big expensive things!

A few days ago, our commercial pizza oven arrived. It is that huge metal box in the trailer in this photo. Yes, it is true that we already have two wonderful pizza ovens, much prettier than this one (so far) but we are not allowed to use them for commercial baking. This is an NSF-certified wood and gas-fired oven from a former pizza place in Mankato. It will be able to bake 30 loaves of bread at a time! When it is installed it will be covered with brickwork, so it will not look so industrial.
The night before it was to be delivered, Rog had fitful dreams all night about having to take care of a nuclear warhead, so apparently he was stressing.

Unfortunately, the equipment we had lined up with our farmer neighbor to unload the 4600 lb. oven was not able to do the task,  so the oven has been sitting on the trailer in the driveway waiting to be unloaded.

Early this morning a contractor drove over his Lull, a large machine with a forklift that comes from the back of the machine, over the top. I don't know why the  fork operates this way, perhaps for a better center of gravity with such a heavy load.

Long fork extensions needed to be added to the existing forks.

Sliding the fork extensions onto the forks.

Rog supervised the unloading, wearing his farm duds over his architect costume.  The dogs and I tried to stay out of the way. You can’t tell,  but it was very cold.

Now for a real Lull in the action! The Lull lifted the oven out of the  trailer.

The oven is very top-heavey, and I know this was a nerve-wracking part for Rog. But these guys are experts - I bet they often unload fancy, heavy medical equipment like MRI machines for Mayo- all went smoothly.

The  pizza oven has landed.  

The Lull headed off into the sunrise. It will return on a warmer spring day, once we have the concrete slab poured in the barn, to move the oven to its ultimate destination.