No Drain Hose?

I thought that it would be ok. After all, the instructions said "install drain hose, if available". So that must mean that it is possible to accomplish the task without the hose, right? So I knelt beside our poor tractor, determined to minister life-giving fluids. But first, "out with the old"! So, I found an alternative - a long orange funnel. If I put it's lip right under the plug, it seemed that the dirty oil would pass by the "clean" tractor, spill right down the funnel and into the waiting drain pan. At least, I was pretty sure it would. The angle was a bit flat, but what the heck! The procrastinator was actually accomplishing something, and she wasn't about to stop now. I slowly loosened the plug and then jammed the funnel underneath.

As you've probably guessed, my plan backfired. Literally. The oil was coming out way too fast and backflowed all over my poor tractor and onto my (thank you Lord!) cardboard that I had intelligently placed under the tractor before surgery. I kept telling myself "don't cry over spilled oil".

No drain hose? Don't despair. Just buy up all of those truly wonderful blue shop towels :-) (And while your at it, when your kids leave their milk right by their elbow, just get used to having towels handy. They'll learn more quickly when you smile and toss them a towel).

I used nearly all of the blue shop towels (did I tell you how wonderful they are?). And I am happy to report that when my dear husband came out I was just finishing up the breathing filter operation. A tractor needs such a thing - it's awfully dirty out in the country :-)