A(nother) Home in the (different) Woods

dstig1 · May 29, 2013

Time to revive this. I've been going crazy getting ready to start the build as a result of the first rounds of quotes I got late winter. Not surprisingly, everything came in too high to make it happen as planned, so I have been scrambling with redesign and got the cost down to manageable. Building permit was submitted a few weeks back and it is basically all ready except I am still waiting for the septic permit to come in. They can't issue the bldg permit without that and the plumber was a bit slow getting it in, so I probably have another couple weeks to go on that.

In the mean time, the big part of the redesign was to remove the shop building that was attached to the house and move to a much simpler detached building to save cost. But that meant I had to clear another section of trees... I thought I was done with that... So we spent a couple weekends earlier in May getting that done. Here's a few pics of the new log pile, brush pile, and the clearing. I may have the excavator come in soon to start digging out stumps and prep the pad area to get moving.

I'll show the design changes a bit later. This area is going to hold the 32x80' shop building. Shop is going up first to act as a staging/storage area for the house. It is just about the only other decent flat spot on the land, so that is why it is there. The brush pile has grown from this pic as we later cleared the ROW for the electric and gas. It's been raining so dang much, I'm not sure when the pile will be dry enough to burn. And it's right in the way. GRRR

I'm quite sure this whole process is going to drive me insane, as keeping up with all the details already is driving me nutz...:confused2:

dstig1 · May 29, 2013

Oh yeah, And I'm upgrading the tractor. New L5240HSTC will be arriving from Barlows on Thurs... I sold the 3130 to a friend from work who was storing it for me last year. I have really run into the power limitations of the 3130 and also did not want to get stuck with the new Tier IV emissions junk, based on what I have seen in the Kubota Buying forum here. That forced the decision a bit as they are running out of the L40s as the L60s start coming on line. Pics will follow, of course...

955Lincoln · May 29, 2013

Nice to see you moving along. It sure is easier to get stumps out with the tree still attached. Would that mean 2 seperate visits for the excavator though?

94BULLITT · May 29, 2013

dstig1 said:
Oh yeah, And I'm upgrading the tractor. New L5240HSTC will be arriving from Barlows on Thurs... I sold the 3130 to a friend from work who was storing it for me last year. I have really run into the power limitations of the 3130 and also did not want to get stuck with the new Tier IV emissions junk, based on what I have seen in the Kubota Buying forum here. That forced the decision a bit as they are running out of the L40s as the L60s start coming on line. Pics will follow, of course...

Congrants on the new tractor. I believe you will be suprised in the increased performance it will have over your old one.

dstig1 · May 29, 2013

People sometimes say that it is easier, but I've seen the excavator do his work, and it takes him no time on anything but the biggest oak stumps. This way I get to manage the clearing operation how I want and get the area under control on my schedule before calling in the big equipment. With what I have to work with, this seems to work out fine. We dropped almost all the trees and got almost all of them limbed and stacked in one day, and then I spent 1/2-3/4 of the next day grappling out brush and pulling out a few more logs. Then one more half day the next weekend and it was wrapped up.

Thanks Bullitt. Tractor arrives in the AM. I am anticipating a major increase in performance...

94BULLITT · May 29, 2013

dstig1 said:
Thanks Bullitt. Tractor arrives in the AM. I am anticipating a major increase in performance...

I know when I went from the Bobcat Ct235 to the L4240 it was huge.

kevin37b · May 30, 2013

You have a good plan . You can work at your pace and clear as you want . A stump is nothing for a 20 ton machine and money well spent . Good luck with the project .

scoutcub · Jun 1, 2013

Slow but sure wins the race! Congrats on the new tractor, I know I was quite impressed with the performance of a 49 HP machine versus the 32 HP.
And don't think I said it before....fantastic job on the wall!

dstig1 · Jun 1, 2013

Thanks guys. No other way for me to do it other than slow and steady...and I'll still go crazy doing all this..

dstig1 · Jun 15, 2013

Progress finally starting... Got the septic permit, and just need the plumber to connect with the building inspector with the septic permit to get the full building permit. In the mean time,l started some dirt work on the slab area for the shop. A week ago, the excavator did some initial digging and prep, and then today we got more serious about it. He brought in a vibrating roller compactor to solidify everything nicely and he did some more rough leveling. Then he packed up and I started in on the final grade. I got it about 75% done. The shop building is a thickened slab, so I carved out for the footings around 3 sides and need to add one mid point footing and the front (my access side) and that is all. Then it will be time for foam insulation and remesh.

Digging and very rough grade last week