Recent content by Shblack

Got a Komatsu WB140-2N when we moved to the farm, it's a horse. 24" bucket on an extend-a-hoe can rip stumps, dig trenches, lift heavy stuff you name it. 1 yard 4 in 1 bucket great for moving dirt, picking up logs, pretty much what ever one needs to do. Only issue is it's big and at 18,000...

So how about building a wooden stairway designed with a pivot at the top. Set a pole right behind the top of the stairs, pole height greater than length of the stairs. Put a boat winch on the pole, run the cable through a pulley at the top with the cable connected to the bottom of the stairs...

Another point to consider is your creek photos show no riparian vegetation on the banks. With bare soil exposed the banks will continue to erode, costing you soil and silting up something down stream. One technique to address this is to plant willows along the banks. If you can find some...

Interesting build, enjoyed following this! Small streams have a habit of becoming much larger streams during a downpour. Be careful of putting stiffening structures under your bridge as they can serve to catch debris under high water conditions. Have you checked a FEMA flood map for your...

Standing column concept sounds attractive, maybe pull from the bottom, return to the top. Don’t need a lot of flow, larger water volume and far better thermal conductivity to the earth than 1 ½” HDPE / bentonite clay. Down side is minerals / silt in the water damaging the equipment over time...

Soil conditions are important! We tried the trench / slinky approach, I was going to dig the trench. Soil is gravel (former creek bed) with a water table that can get within 2’ of the surface when wet. It was wet when I dug the trench, water was 2’ down, contractor specified a 5’ deep trench...

When we got our place our first machine was a Komatsu WB140 backhoe. With 98hp, a 1.1 yard 4in1 bucket, 4WD and an extend-a-hoe it’s a beast. Have pulled huge trees out of the creek, dug 6’ deep trenches for our geothermal system, stumps - it’s hard to stop. But it is very big, hard to get into...

Have been following this forum for some time, you all seem like a real helpful group, so here goes my first post: End of last year I retired from a career in the high technology / aerospace world in southern California. Next spring we will be relocating to a place we purchased in mid-state...