A bad day tractoring.........

   / A bad day tractoring......... #1  

DannyD

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
1,527
Location
Indiana
Tractor
BX 23
is better than a great day working, or doing much of anything else. Due to some OT I have had some time to get used to the backhoe, and save some money in the process. This is going to be a drainage ditch around the barn, what the first guy was supposed to be able to accomplish..........move water.
 

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   / A bad day tractoring.........
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Here is after the turn. Giving credit for the back being mud and clay, I got a lot better here, this actually looks like it might hold a pipe with rock. Now I need one of those thingy's, I think they are called transits, lazer dot, measure stick, you guys know, a new tool (french for toy). Wife is all for it, just get it done. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Makes me wonder what she is up to
 

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   / A bad day tractoring.........
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#3  
This is the guy that decides how deep to dig, it is not moving. It's brother on the other side when I was building was a bucket full......FEL that is. I will leave this one as is. It is also close to an upright in the frame work of the barn, and it is not hurting a soul.
 

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   / A bad day tractoring......... #4  
I just read about your bad day of tractoring. I want to tell you about my bad day. I decided to save money and get a little extra seat time. I hooked up the middle buster to do some trenching for downspouts. I droped the plow on my foot ( hurt like hell ) . After,I recovered from that mishap, i started trenching. I could not get the plow to sink down enough. I decided to rig up some extra weight to help it dig deeper. I finally talked a friend into standing on the plow( I know dumb and unsafe ), but it worked sorta? I was digging and all of the sudden,I felt a tug and looked down and "ole sh%$". I had hit and busted the septic pipe that connected the house to the tank. What a stinky situation. I called the septic people and he came out and added a rubber sleeve and some new pipe. I decided that was enough trenching , so I hooked up the landscape rake. I was doing great until,I clipped the tube on the propane tank and pinched a hole in it. I called the gas people and out they came to fix that mistake. I manage to do all this in 20 min. or less.
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
   / A bad day tractoring......... #5  
Hi J,

Thanks for your candor. What a story. I'm just getting acquainted with my tractor, a Power Trac, and these are some of the things I dread happening. Before I got the tractor, my yardcare fellow and his brother were augering to plant some cypress trees. You guessed it. They augered up the telephone cable. Luckily, the phone company came out next day and repaired. I know the "call before you dig" rule, but we all figured there was "no way on God's green earth" there could be anything where they were digging, based on the location of the stanchion box by the road, and where the phone cable went into the house. Turns out, the guy who came out to re-trench the phone line was the original installer, and he told us that he remembered taking a circuitous path in the original trenching job when the house was built, because he didn't know what else was buried and where. Accordingly, he gave the property a wide berth and dog-legged the phone cable installation out to the property line which was where we were planting our cypress, and he kept it as shallow as their policy allows. With that lesson learned, now I'll call before any digging.
P.S. The builder told me that the landscaper he hired to plug aerate the backyard cut the same phone cable befoe we bought the house and moved in! He was using a standard 3" plugger. That cable is very shallow.
 
   / A bad day tractoring.........
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I beleive J I would have hung up the key, got a coffee, and watched golf on tv.

Man what a day!
 
   / A bad day tractoring......... #7  
You don't need a transit or a laser level..... you might want one, but that is a different situation... A 4' level is all that you need for the French drain. the slope should be 1/8 - 1/4 inch per foot. I own a laser level and I can tell you, that it is more trouble to set it up for a job like yours than taking out the old fashioned level. I have been known to set pipe with a 6" torpedo level in a pinch. This isn't a building that you are erecting, but a drain that will be covered and in all probability, will settle eventually. Just get a pitch on the pipe and don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. This lesson will allow you to save money by not purchasing a tool that you don't need and have more money to purchase a tool that you will actually have a use for. Winter is comming.... consider a snowblower attachment for the BX, or possibly a post hole digger... I am certain that you can come up with a few ideas on your own as to what attachment to get next....
If you use the 4' level, and want a 1/4" per foot pitch, then tape a 1" thick block to one end of the 4' level. When you put the level on the pipe, it should always show as being level, but will have the required pitch. Just a small trick that I learned through the years. Easier than guessing what the actual pitch is.. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / A bad day tractoring......... #8  
Once again, Junkman's advice is dead on.

I would add to his suggestion, use an 8 foot 2X4 on edge with a block under the end to create the slope you want. Just like Junkman said to do with the 4 foot level, than either tape your level to the stud or place it on top. The longer board will make it much easier and more accurate.

Being a little off wont matter too much, but if its too shallow, it will fill up with silt and you'll have standing water or mud to deal with. Too steep and you get a gully. I like a little steep to keep the water and material moving.
 
   / A bad day tractoring......... #9  
Here's a bad day for me. I did this last week. The track has a master lind with 4 grade eight, 3/4 inch fine bolts. They all broke off at the same time. I'm guessing they were never tightend down properly. They are supposed to be at 400lbs each. I drilled them out with 4 cobalt bits and only broke one. It's tough drilling. I can't get them to turn and my buddy with a torch is flakeing on me. Monday I'm just going to buy a torch and figure it out myself.
 

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#10  
The area that I am working in on the side has a natural slope, I just kept the depth the same or close by using the bucket as a measure. The area I am concerned with has no slope, it goes cross ways of the natural slope. I am going to put in 4 inch corrugated pipe with a rock bed and cover over with rock, then soil. I am thinking maybe to just cut the back to slope to the pipe and have a slotted cover at that point and grass in the back. Really, as long as the water goes away from the barn and does not congregate, I am a happy camper.

Both ideas are right on, and make great sense. I have not seen the level or the 2x4 trick, but that is one of the great things about TBN, we learn from each other.

The transit is not a fancy one, less than 100.00 and can be used for other projects I have in mind, such as my pathway drainage project for the pond, fencing next year, etc. I even thought of making one out of a rifle scope I have, mount a dove tail mount to a piece of steel, put a 1/4 20 thread in it for mounting on tripod, mount a bubble and a pair of line levels to the steel. This would work for level and straight, but you could not do angles etc with it.

Don't have a need for a snowblower yet, I have always just used the front bucket to move snow, the post hole digger.......that will be useful with the fencing, and they are around 450.00 here.
 

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