Busy Wife This Weekend

[mike69440]

My "Wife" last weekend..

Were you the "ground guy" stone placer and rock picker so she did not have to get off the tractor?

Or did you sit and watch holding a beer?

I've done both.

Teamwork!

 

[hr3]

I give her Encouragement and I go back to building a 2nd. floor deck on the guest house,,

 

[mike69440]

It is time to cut some firewood, as my L39 is out of commission. See:

L39 Electrical fire, bad, but could have been total loss. - TractorByNet.com

As I have to haul the L39 out of the back property with my excavator, I will be ruining a bit of pasture grass and might as well do some logging as I don't have any way of moving spoils any distance and my pond pasture project is now on hold.

 

[mike69440]

My PC75UU2 wants some attention.

Saturday, my PC75UU2 had one of those days it did not feel like going to work.

I'm just puttering at this point, as my L39 is out of commission due to fire. I was going to move some large rocks with the excavator and do a little finish work around the pond.
I should know better not warming the hydraulic oil up first. My thumb uses the same hoses the previous owner used on the wrist, i.e. # 6 lines. The bucket hoses are #12.
A heavy hand will overwhelm the cushion valve on the thumb. The cushion valve is a cheapo Prince 1500-3000psi adjustable 2 way relief valve. Excavators put out more pressure at the main pump.
Put some load with cold oil or full force with the bucket, the valve goes POP!

I lost about 2 gallons of fluid on that incident. I got on my computer to Surplus Center and ordered another valve and a spare, then used a ratchet tie down to hold the thumb out of the way and decided I was going to continue working dressing up the with some rocks around the edge of the pond.

I was just about ready to shut the machine down and finish doing the little stuff by hand. I was pushing a small rock into place forcing it into the ground with the bucket teeth and oil started spraying all over.
The retract hose on the bucket cylinder let go, unrelated to the earlier problem. Stuff just happens with a 15 year old machine. I must have lost another 3-4 gallons of oil. The entire machine needs to be pressure washed. YuK!

I walked the machine to a shady spot, and got my wife to help me get the hose out of the tube bundle through the boom. (She must have been in a good mood)

I am for the most part finished with the pond. At 65' long x +40' wide x+8' deep it is big enough. ( I've nicknamed it "The Grotto") The water in the other two pond is crystal clear, and in time so will this pond. It will make a nice swimming hole.

I will use the two remaining dirt/rock piles to help fill and grade the remaining part of the field plus finish a rock wall up by the driveway.

To grade the rest of the field, I will clear the scrub, dig up the rotted stump piles to harvest whatever loam I can find, fill it the holes and low spots with pond spoils, grade, fill and, rock pick, finally spreading out whatever crap loam I have, picking out the sticks and rocks and York raking before I seed.

I will need both the L39 and the PC75UU2 for that.

Now I am down to a Kubota B7200 with a worn out hydraulic oil pump, and the RTV900. For the time being time to find another project around the house.

On an aside, I am looking for an experienced welder who has a truck with his equipment to do some on site weld repair in central NH, north of Concord. I'd appreciate any recomendations.

Attached are current Photos

 

[deerseeker001]

I thought today she would be at the chriropractor!

Hear are some more shots

GOOD JOB GUYS

 

[mike69440]

I can still taste the hydraulic oil and grease after a through scub down shower. That pressure washer just splatters back at you whatever it can blast off, dirt, grease oil, paint, whatever. I need to keep my mouth closed. The excavator is back ready to work. This last excavator break down cost a bit over $300 including gas for two round trips to the Parker Store, new fitting, 6 gallons of Komatsu 10W powertrain oil, the Prince double acting relief valve and the ratchet tie down I forgot was still wrapped arond the thumb when I activated it. (Snap? DUH!) I still have to Windex the glass, as it got really splattered, both from the hose break and then the pressure washing.

The new pond is 2/3 full, but the water is all algee filled like a big pitri dish. We need a good rain. The last batch of T storms missed, but Boston area got hit hard.

 

[EddieWalker]

Sorry to hear about your breakdowns. They can be very frustrating!!!! I've heard that's what build character, but I'm thinking all it does is wear you out. LOL

Nice job with the pond. I really like that massive rock that you have leading into the pond. Hopefully it doesn't allow the water to leak out.

Eddie

 

[mike69440]

Sorry to hear about your breakdowns. They can be very frustrating!!!! I've heard that's what build character, but I'm thinking all it does is wear you out. LOL

Nice job with the pond. I really like that massive rock that you have leading into the pond. Hopefully it doesn't allow the water to leak out.

Eddie

Spent most of the afternoon on the excavator now that it fixed. Started out real gentle, then started to work it hard as usual. As the 3'rd Pond is the almost the lowest spot on cleared part of property, water usually trickles out of the ledge.
Supposed to rain tomorrow, so I wish I had more rock in the spillway. Rain is supposed to be heavy, so the pond should finally fill.

 

[mike69440]

No fun puting a track back on!

I guess equipment operators are like just like motorcyclists, there are those that have been down and those that are going to go down and there are those who have thrown a track and those that are going to throw a track. I'm the former on both counts.

The good news is that with the help of my wife, the machine itself, planks, block,s and a 6 ft. pry bar, the track is back on the machine and it is again up and running.

Here are some lessons learned the hard way when working a machine in the woods and on rough ground.

1. Know what you are tracking over. It is all to easy to fall into a hole, get stuck or find one of many track eating boulders/ledge. Having a lot of brush and scrub on the ground tends to hide the dangerous obstacles. Be really careful cross tracking a slope.
2. Work up hill of anything that can get away from you, so it will tend to roll away from machine, not into it.
3. Work slowly, as there are many things in the woods that like to tear stuff off your equipment, Lights, wirings, sensors, hydraulic hoses and fittind, glass, paint, etc. are easy targets.
4. Don't reach out of the machine while working, lots of stuff can snap back and bite you. If you reach out, de-energize the controls.
5. Don't wear loose clothing that can get caught in controls or rotating equipment.
6. Take care handling cables and chains.
7. Know how to take down a tree. Plan for what ifs.

Also I have built a road of sorts a little less than 600 ft. long through the woods running from the nearly 100' wide by over 200 ft. long gravel area in front of the grarage and equipment building to the back pasture and 3'rd pond. I laid down 2 tri-axle loads of processed quarry tailings as gravel to make hard pack. The dirt was rutting and eroding after even s small rainfall. The tailings pack nice.

I'm still working on the pond spillway and placing rocks around the edge perimeter of the pond.

 

[mike69440]

Got most of new pasture area seeded, now need rain bad.(photos ata)

A long gentle soaking rain, not a washout is needed to kick off the 70 lbs of seed I spread. I still have a 1/4 plus acre to prep, then I get working on a retaining wall up by the drive and install water bars in the driveway so I don't keep loosing gravel in the microburst T Storms. Thunder Storms have been the only rain we have had all summer.