What a brute!!!

   / What a brute!!! #51  
You may say you don't know what you're doing but by taking your time and thinking it out the job has come out really nice. It looks great.
 
   / What a brute!!! #52  
I envy the ground you are working on. Doesn't look to be 98% rock like I have here. :D
 
   / What a brute!!!
  • Thread Starter
#53  
The attached picture was going to mean something... but instead it's just a pretty picture of my tractor on a beautiful day with my man-made mountain range in the background. :laughing: I spent 8 hours in seat today sloping the cut back to a mowable slope. I made 4 passes for about 20' and then I got into some good dirt... that's why I hopped off the tractor to check things out and snapped the pic. I switched up my game plan and began harvesting topsoil to place in a separate pile. Once the topsoil was harvested, I went back to sloping the cut. I got done with one end of the slope with the sun low in the sky, so I spent a little time dressing up what I'd worked for the day. I put the tractor up with just enough daylight left to take a picture of what I got done... pulled out my phone to snap a pic and the battery was dead. So, instead of a before and after... the only pic I have is before. I'll try to get a pic in the morning of the after.

2012-11-01_12-43-30_678cr.jpg
 
   / What a brute!!!
  • Thread Starter
#55  
Ok... here's the before and after.

2012-11-01_12-43-30_678cr.jpg 2012-11-02_17-24-59_355sm.jpg
 
   / What a brute!!!
  • Thread Starter
#57  
two_bit_score said:
You moved a lot of dirt. Looks like a great job.

Will you need to do anything to prevent erosion or will grass growing back take care of that?

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Click to expand...
Grass will take care of it. It's a nice gentle slope... about 5:1, or 1:5... however you want to look at it. I can comforatble operate the FEL sitting sideways on the slope, so mowing it will be a piece of cake. I'm going to dig a trench down the level pad along side the barn and bury two pipes bedded in 1/2 inch clean rock... one perforated for a subsoil drain and another tight line to pick up the downspouts off the barn. Both of those pipes will be routed out past the barn and towards the pond where they will daylight. I'm trying to capture all the run off I can and direct it to the pond to help keep it charged. Then the level pad will get graveled and will become a parking spot for my 24' trailer and other "stuff" behind that. I'll dress the slope with topsoil I harvested during the dirt moving and sow some Kentucky 31 fescue. I didn't want to mess with a retaining wall.
 
   / What a brute!!!
  • Thread Starter
#59  
What a bummer...

I'm so close to finishing this project that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still have some more of the slope to cut back and a little more leveling to do in front of and behind the barn, but the old girl is laying down me. Was out using it today and the blow-by smoke from the vent tube has gotten a lot heavier and just getting worse. After several hours today, the engine is now laboring to do what it was doing with ease when I started this project. I don't know if she's got enough life left in her to complete this project.

I pulled her into the barn and pulled the injectors to run a compression test. All three cylinders were reading about 300psi. Spec for this engine is 498 +/- 14psi with a low limit of 384psi. Not good. While I was at it, ran a leak-down test. All three cylinders were passing a considerable amount of air past the rings and No. 1 cylinder was also passing air past the exhaust valve.

I was planning on finishing this project up and then getting into the engine over the winter. Now, my plan is to mount the backhoe and open up a few places along the cut on the low side to allow water to drain out and prevent ponding. Then I'm going to take the tractor out of service and pull the head to take a look at things... re-ring and hone or bore and oversized pistons. The head will also get a valve job, guides, etc.
 
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