redoing old lane on the farm.

[boggen]

redoing an old dirt lane, back to a lake/cabin, to make it shorter and to put in ditches on both sides of it.

some things i need to over come.

--the guy or i should say family that actually farms the tillable area on the farm. needs approx 28 feet wide areas to get through gates. due to driving them big 8 wheeler tractors with nearly everything computer controlled. with majority of tractors and implements only a couple years old. he be one of them folks that buys new stuff and trades in after a couple years. An with him, it seems he just keeps on buying bigger monster toys.

it would be nice to have a 12 foot wide lane, with ditches on both sides. say 4 feet wide going from 1 to 2 feet deep. but i honestly don't know what the
requirements might be for the large size tractors.

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attached picture has more details.

 

[boggen]

the new lane change, will reduce the entire length of the lane by almost half! WOOT! grading, and maintaining, a dirt lane is no fun. then mowing the dusty sides *coughs, hacks up dust ball mud*

i bought 3 20 foot, 12" diameter dual wall culverts. to put into the area that goes into the creek. ((not actually a creek))

there are multi field tile that run off into this area. and i wouldn't be surprised if there was an actual spring running into this area. on average i would say 1 foot wide by about 1/2" deep water running through it year round. it never gets more than that. except right as it is raining then a couple days after as the rain slowly trickles through the dirt and drains down into this area, and then into the lake.

i thought about going with 15" culvert, but just didn't see the need, i could of prolly gotten by with 8" or 10" culvert. but figure 60 feet length of culvert, and only a few bucks more for 12". so 12" is what it ended up being.

i am hoping i can gain enough dirt by only digging in one ditch. that is furthest away from the fence / property line. to fill in on top of the culvert. to get any were from 40 to 30 feet wide lane going over the creek area.

and if i need more dirt. i will either start digging more to make the front lake bigger ((there be a lot of dirt to be moved)) or slowly start digging the ditch nearest to the fence / property line, and in that taking out the old lane.

i need to keep the old lane that goes clear up and around the sharp corner. till the new lane has a couple years of settling and being compacted down.

though digging out the old lane is going to be some tough digging. the old lane been there for years, at least 50 plus years.

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since the ford 555c needed new back tires recently. *poor pocket book*, they guy that came out. attempted to save the tubes in them. but after i saw the hassle of what he was go through. i got out the saw zaw. and cut right up near the rims on both tires.

i plan on using the old tires. to help deal with some erosion problems. directly around the culvert ends. and will most likely dress the culvert ends up with some concrete as well.

i doubt i will try and build up using a retaining wall. as the lane goes over the creek. if i have to do that. then i will be buy another 20' section of culvert. and bringing in more dirt from around the farm.

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i don't have a box blade. but i am sure looking for one. that and a snap coupler to 3pt hitch. for the old 1950's allis chalmers CA tractor for helping to dig in the ditches and put in final grade on the ditches and the new lane.

but most likely, what i will end up doing. is taking the 2 bottom plow and put on the allis chalmers tractor. and turn up the ground a few inches deep. then come back with the 555c loader/backhoe, and use the front bucket on that to haul dirt from ditches, back to the creek crossing.

the front bucket doesn't have a tooth bar on it. and regardless. in hard compacted dirt. 1st gear is digging 2nd gear is for loose dirt and small rock / back grading, 3rd gear is driving on the farm, 4th gear is road, and it be to bumpy on the farm to run at that speed.

so figure instead of bouncing myself to death trying to work the front bucket into the dirt. just take a little bit of time to run the plow before hand.

 

[boggen]

wanted to bookmark this site here, for my own reference A Landowner's Guide to Building Forest Access Roads - Introduction

getting ants in my pants and wanting to get started. hope rains stays away for another 2 days. so i can get the teeth of the backhoe sunk into the ground.

i will be skipping any sort of fabric.
still un-decided if go with 4" river rock or not. i might go with a smaller size base rock.
then top it off with CA6 (3/4 to 1/2) crusher rock.

i haven't neared point of base rock yet, so i might see what prices are for recycled concrete, or old asphalt and go from there.

 

[Kyle241]

Sorry no idea as I have something 'similar' I need to do on my property to get to the back 40. Thanks for the link as it will come in handy as I try to determine my approach to the low areas that are wet most of the year.

 

[boggen]

i will need to be making me a water level, here soon enough to help tell grade, without using them fancy gadget things with lasers and like.
DIY: Water Level Gauge

along with rigging something up, to help pull out a couple trees.
will eventually edit this once i find the link here on the forum again. hopefully i will see link show up later tonight.

EDIT: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/129506-tree-puller-hard-get-trees.html

 

[boggen]

some photos of the driveway.

last year, i ran new eletrical, water, telephone, security, internet out to the shed. and in another direction ran a new gas line to the same shed.

November / December 2010 i got 3 loads of 16 tons 1/2 AC6 ((crusher rock)) to redo the drive and to go back over the trenches.

the last couple weeks have been the worse for me. all the snow melting and more so slowly allowed a lot of water to soak into the ground.

when i put the new rock on. i most likely at most put on 3 inches over the trench spots. and maybe 1/2" to 1" on other parts of the drive way.

i also tossed some rock down the one lane. near the gate. i had to get into the back of the farm to check on things since it been a month. and ended up making some pretty big mess of things in the 555c loader/backhoe. as you can see in some of the pictures.

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it doesn't matter how stable the base is around here at this time of year. ground is just to soaked with water. and best you can do is try to only use gravel driveway when things are starting to dry.

and then once dry, regrade things.

the trenches were ya see the ruts and were ya see mud on top of rock. will most likely need some additional rock say 1" to 2" thick. and i should be good to go for a few years. and then keeping a little more gravel in a pile some place to fill in a spot or 2 here and there. ((mainly the 2 drives that go down to road (u shape drive way), no ditches, and water runs straight down the drive way. washing a portion out in extremely heavy down pours.

besides were the trenches were. there is a good i would say 3" to 6" layer of rock below it. that has just accumulated and sunk in as more and more rock was put on.

 

[boggen]

hit a snag, popped out a tree that was going through the creek area. the root bulb is about size of the 555c tractor. and because i didn't have a chain saw readily available. the trunks on the tree are about 24 feet long. i can tip it any direction, just can not lift it, or pull it out, at its current size. the bulb sunk down about 3 feet down into the creek. and then both sides of the bank are to steep to even try and get the FEL under it. and poor backhoe, just doesn't have enough grunt. well it does pick up front end of tractor as it teter toters on back wheels. but buy the time i would FEL with dirt. i would never be able to get enough traction to do anything.

so guess i will wait till i get a chain saw. and until then. there are some old concrete, and bricks laying up stream, that looks like they were put in, to help reduce wash out. will be gathering some of them up. and piling them up. to place under the culvert.

 

[boggen]

still have not decided how to place the 60 feet of 12" diameter culvert.

i like the easy idea of just tossing some rocks in current creek area. then placing culvert over. and just start bringing tons and tons of dirt to fill things up.

but, i also kinda like idea of building kinda of a make shift settling pond. so run off from the fields and field drainage tile that might have any silt or dirt or other in it. will settle on one side, before it goes through the culvert and into the lake. nearly everything is clay around here. if ya don't provide some sort of run off for water. it just sets and evaporates away.

my only worry. is if culvert plugs up. and flooding right over the road way. i suppose i could place some grating. in front of it. to help catch sticks. and keep pesky animals out of it. and if the grating every plugs up. i guess i will be going snorkeling. to remove the plugged up mess.

 

[boggen]

take the front bucket. and scrapped across the area were the new lane, going across the field. some when the farmer i have comes in. there is no guess work on his part were the lane will be today.

got details from the boss lady of how she wants things done and were to get dirt at to fill in. **thanking lucky stars** only a couple hundred feet away. and for most part i can most likely run the backhoe and break stuff up. then once that is done. run the loader into the softer dirt. and drop the back hoe and get a pile of dirt. and just flip the switch into reverse and drop it were it needs togo.

i thought i was going to be putting in ditches, but that is a no go. at least for now. i am guessing after a year or 2, and things have time to settle. and then sees muddy mess, is when the ditches will be put in. but at least i don't need to worry about dirt now. so digging out the ditches for dirt. is in a way kinda of a relief. **no 20 plus projects going on at one time** just **19** (ughs)

 

[boggen]

got a chain saw for a day, and clipped the one tree in the creek. thought i could pull it out with about 6 feet of trunk left on it. but ended up breaking a chain. thankfully i pulled at an angle or at least tractor was at an angle vs how i was pulling. so when it snapped, things went flying passed me.

so got the back hoe back down in there. the trunk was more of 2 large trucks split right at the ground. and was able to use the bucket, to basically pry one trunk up and out of the way. i got the BH bucket wrapped around the log. with some muddy roots still hanging on. and thought i had everything under control. as i slowly swung the bucket to the upside portion of the hill. when it went by by. and hit the fender of the 555c. ((i am actually thankful for having flimsy plastic fenders for once!!)) so i by that time, i knew i couldn't do any more damage than already did, and poped the log with the back hoe, to push the trunk / log off the fender. got out and looked at things, and only nicked the (flashers/blinker/tail) light, about size of a dime. and nothing else cracked or broken.

i felt kinda silly. yesterday, took my pup out to the lake, were he got his first taste of being in lake water. and i was trying to get him use to it, by tossing a stick out, and have him go get it. once the stick floated out so far, he would take his paw and slap the water trying to get the stick to come to him. well that is about like it was with the remaining trunk and root bulb for me. i finally got trunk half way situated were i could cut it with a chain saw...

so got out the bran spanking new wadding boots, that been seating at least a year or more. in the original box. got a couple cuts on the under side of the trunk cut, and went to move.... i was past my knees in thick glued mud. thankfully my mom was around. and was able to take chain saw, and grabbed another chain so i could pull myself out. ((had to take 15 min breather after that episode))

made last couple cuts, i didn't cut all the way through the trunk. i was in a bad place and no were to run, let alone possibly not being able to move. got the back hoe in there again. and twisted the root bulb around. and the trunk around for about 10 minutes and finally was able to get things situated were i could apply pressure in the correct spot to push the trunk over. and break it off the root bulb.

got the BH bucket wrapped around the trunk. and started off slow like normal. and front end got light. ((few inches off the ground))... when and got some dirt in the FEL, backed up the area one more time. and was finally able to drag the trunk out.

finally the root bulb! so again, get the backhoe out. and filling a tad silly once again, pushing the root bulb back and forth in the creek area. i thought i had it so many times were i could get it almost flipped all the way over on dry land. and I would either run out of BH space in how much i could pull things in. or the relief valves would start kicking in. after about 15 minutes, i was finally able to get the bulb up on to land.

i tried picking up the bulb with the backhoe. with full bucket of dirt in the FEL. and front end got light on me once again! so i repositioned myself on top of the hill. and was able to drag the root ball per say with the BH. by lifting up the rear of the bulb and scooting it to me. and repositioning the tractor every foot or so. I finally got it on top of the hill and thought YES. i can maybe pull out riggers up and just drive off with it. Nope. emptied the dirt in FEL and went at it with the FEL, the root bulb decided it wasn't happy on top of the hill. so ended once again using backhoe to pull it back up. this time i pulled it 15 more feet further up. to a point were i could get the FEL and tractor behind it. so it could not roll back down the hill. i was finally able to pickup a portion of it with the FEL and push it off to an out of the way area.

needless to say one tree. took me little over half day granted tree was approx 20 to 26 inches in diameter. but boy did i feel silly a good portion of the day. as i used my paw to try and real in that stick, without going swimming for it.

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it starting getting to dark and with clouds in the sky to see the boulders and old concrete that was tossed into the creek area over the years. to help slow down errision. so i ended up busting up some dirt with the BH. and moved dirt to the top side of the hill were the culvert will be going. so once i get to point were culvert can go in. i can just swing the BH side to side and place dirt as needed. went at this for about an hour to 2 hours. then i looked up and was pitch black. and looked like thunder in the sky. ((heck i didn't pay attention, had the front / rear lights on)) so i high tailed it home, with my tail between my legs. were my puppy was waiting for me, as he looked out the back sliding glass door as i parked the 555c loader/backhoe.