EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Pretty serious retaining wall. With that much height, how far down into the base do you have to go?
Eddie
Eddie
A(nother) Home in the (different) Woods
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dstig1
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Time for some updates...
I spent all last week building the lower level of the wall. It did not start well. I thought a mini excavator with a thumb would be the tool of choice for this, so I rented one. The problem was that you could not lower the bucket with a rock in it much or it would just slip out. Plus the Ex was not as big as I was expecting. After trying it a bit over the first weekend (dropped of Fri), I decided to send it back Mon, and got the biggest Bobcat I could find. Now THAT was the right tool for the job. These rocks were varying degrees of huge. The smaller ones are at least 1000 lbs, and I would say most were 1500-1800 lbs, but the ones on the lower level were likely in the 2-3k lb range. Using my forks, I was able to place rocks pretty well overall. The stone is local (quarried only a few miles from the site) and is a pretty common limestone for the area.
Here is how it was delivered:
A friend and I spent the weekend laying out all the rocks so I could access them and see what they all looked like - Important for choosing the right rock for each spot. Then we leveled and prepped the base with filter fabric and some of the 2" crushed rock (no pics of that). After that I was on my own the entire week. So here is the field all laid out (using the tractor and the Excavator).
Come Monday I got the S300 bobcat (~85 hp) and took a shot of the 3 units before they picked up the Ex.
I was concerned that this was not going to go well and I would run out of time after 1 week with little done. It turned out OK. After Mon (Day 1 of setting rocks in the wall) I was almost done with the base layer. And I lost half the morning with getting the bobcat delivered. Here is end of Day 1.
That 3rd rock from the bottom was the ba77 buster. It was the one rock that was actually heavier than the SS could really lift. I was able to get it just slightly off the ground and then half drag it in place. The SS was rated for 3000 lbs lift, so this was probably ~double that (?). Probably way heavier than my forks were rated for too. There were plenty of other big ones, but that one was the true monster. But it's in now and won't be going anywhere...
Total wall length is about 170' on the base layer. There were about 5-6 blocks left to do on the base layer after day 1.
I spent all last week building the lower level of the wall. It did not start well. I thought a mini excavator with a thumb would be the tool of choice for this, so I rented one. The problem was that you could not lower the bucket with a rock in it much or it would just slip out. Plus the Ex was not as big as I was expecting. After trying it a bit over the first weekend (dropped of Fri), I decided to send it back Mon, and got the biggest Bobcat I could find. Now THAT was the right tool for the job. These rocks were varying degrees of huge. The smaller ones are at least 1000 lbs, and I would say most were 1500-1800 lbs, but the ones on the lower level were likely in the 2-3k lb range. Using my forks, I was able to place rocks pretty well overall. The stone is local (quarried only a few miles from the site) and is a pretty common limestone for the area.
Here is how it was delivered:
A friend and I spent the weekend laying out all the rocks so I could access them and see what they all looked like - Important for choosing the right rock for each spot. Then we leveled and prepped the base with filter fabric and some of the 2" crushed rock (no pics of that). After that I was on my own the entire week. So here is the field all laid out (using the tractor and the Excavator).
Come Monday I got the S300 bobcat (~85 hp) and took a shot of the 3 units before they picked up the Ex.
I was concerned that this was not going to go well and I would run out of time after 1 week with little done. It turned out OK. After Mon (Day 1 of setting rocks in the wall) I was almost done with the base layer. And I lost half the morning with getting the bobcat delivered. Here is end of Day 1.
That 3rd rock from the bottom was the ba77 buster. It was the one rock that was actually heavier than the SS could really lift. I was able to get it just slightly off the ground and then half drag it in place. The SS was rated for 3000 lbs lift, so this was probably ~double that (?). Probably way heavier than my forks were rated for too. There were plenty of other big ones, but that one was the true monster. But it's in now and won't be going anywhere...
Total wall length is about 170' on the base layer. There were about 5-6 blocks left to do on the base layer after day 1.
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dstig1
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Day 2 I wrapped up the base layer and then worked on backfill. I needed to put perf'ed drain tile in and filter fabric up behind the wall. Then I could fill with the 2" crushed rock. That took a lot of time and I found back filling was the hardest work of the whole job. I compacted with a jumping jack twice for each layer. Very solid backfill.
Then moved on to layer 2. Made a good start on that one.
Wrapped up layer 2 and got it all filled and compacted on Day 3. Fortunately the layers get shorter as they go up as the near end in these photos slopes away decently.
Then moved on to layer 2. Made a good start on that one.
Wrapped up layer 2 and got it all filled and compacted on Day 3. Fortunately the layers get shorter as they go up as the near end in these photos slopes away decently.
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dstig1
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Day 4 I was cooking along pretty good. Got the 3rd layer all wrapped up.
Day 5 (Fri) I was just getting durn tired. It also started going slower. Since the blocks are irregular to some degree (though reasonably flat), you end up with some dips and bumps in the wall that just start telegraphing up through the layers. That can really slow down progress as you try to find rocks shaped right to compensate. This gets harder as you run out of rocks too...
I had to have the stone guy deliver a few more loads of crushed rock during the week, plus more blocks. Partly an issue of staging area, but it was also that I was rapidly seeing the wall needed more materials than he thought at first.
Day 5 (Fri) I was just getting durn tired. It also started going slower. Since the blocks are irregular to some degree (though reasonably flat), you end up with some dips and bumps in the wall that just start telegraphing up through the layers. That can really slow down progress as you try to find rocks shaped right to compensate. This gets harder as you run out of rocks too...
I had to have the stone guy deliver a few more loads of crushed rock during the week, plus more blocks. Partly an issue of staging area, but it was also that I was rapidly seeing the wall needed more materials than he thought at first.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is just going to look amazing
Eddie
That is just going to look amazing
Eddie
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dstig1
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Since I was slowing down, I only got ~2/3 or so of layer 4 in on Fri. I started late Sat (tired) and finished that row up. I had some help for Sat afternoon, so that was nice, but I was just tired. That was the first help I had all week since Sun, prepping the base.
Layer 4 takes it up to the level of the 2nd terrace/step. The terrace runs only part of the distance of the wall as I needed more cut into the hill to get the turnaround required by the town to fit. It will help make the wall a bit less massive looking as we can do some plantings on the terrace. So that was basically it for the mainlevel of the wall.
Layer 4 takes it up to the level of the 2nd terrace/step. The terrace runs only part of the distance of the wall as I needed more cut into the hill to get the turnaround required by the town to fit. It will help make the wall a bit less massive looking as we can do some plantings on the terrace. So that was basically it for the mainlevel of the wall.
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dstig1
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Sun was my last day with the SS and so I wanted to finish up what I could. I laid in the section of layers 5 & 6 that sit on the main section of the wall. Layer 5 will sweep back onto the upper terrace and continue there.
You can see the shovel leaning against the wall in the first pic for reference. That is 5' tall to the top of the handle, with layers 5 & 6 above it. Those layers will continue only to the left in the pic.
Here is a look at the upper deck yet to come:
And one overall shot of where it now stands. Main level is as done as it can be. I am now to the point that I really can't reach the top with the tractor bucket for filling. I had to shovel it out of the bucket for that last bit. That only worked since it was a short section.
Figuring out how to do the upper deck is next. Can't really get equipment up there very well and it is too far back to reach with the Skid steer.... The stone guy may help me here, but we need to figure that out still... So I am stalled for now, but pretty happy with how far I got alone.
You can see the shovel leaning against the wall in the first pic for reference. That is 5' tall to the top of the handle, with layers 5 & 6 above it. Those layers will continue only to the left in the pic.
Here is a look at the upper deck yet to come:
And one overall shot of where it now stands. Main level is as done as it can be. I am now to the point that I really can't reach the top with the tractor bucket for filling. I had to shovel it out of the bucket for that last bit. That only worked since it was a short section.
Figuring out how to do the upper deck is next. Can't really get equipment up there very well and it is too far back to reach with the Skid steer.... The stone guy may help me here, but we need to figure that out still... So I am stalled for now, but pretty happy with how far I got alone.
Last edited:
mjncad
Super Member
Looks great, and I'll bet you're one tired puppy.
PAGUY
Gold Member
Dave - This is where the excavator comes in handy. Lifting the rocks up over the wall and placing the rocks in place for the finish wall. It will require some effort to keep the rock in the bucket and extending the boom to place the rock but I believe it can be done. Good Luck. It is looking good.
PAGUY
PAGUY
