Arena Project

[Casimir]

Alex_Mendoza asked to see pictures of our arena project, which finally gave me a reason to sit down and organize them. When I figured out how many I needed to tell the story, I decided to post them here, since I know you guys and gals always like photos, and it would take a long time to attach them and download them from email messages. (I am basically lazy, so I prefer to do things only once, if possible /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.)

The area we had for the arena was wooded, so the first step was to hire a professional with the right tool for the clearing job. There is a Cat Track Hoe in there:

 

[Casimir]

More clearing:

 

[Casimir]

Had to pile and burn the stumps and anything not used for firewood /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Casimir]

We somehow missed getting photos of the next phase, which consisted of using the York Rake and a LOT /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif of hand picking to remove the roots and branches left from the clearing operation.

Then I started in with the Box Blade. The area only sloped a couple of feet in the 120 Meter length and about a foot in the 20 meter width, so I didn't hire a dozer:

 

[Casimir]

I got a lot of practice with the Box Blade:

 

[Casimir]

The area was longer than it seemed /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Casimir]

I thought I would never get through with the Box Blade /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Casimir]

The weather being what it is in Virginia, I had to stop several times when it rained and give the area time to dry out. As you can see, at one time, we even had weeds sprouting between work sessions. The good thing, however, was that it helped to settle and pack the sub-base material:

 

[Casimir]

Since we do get a lot of rain, I decided to install a French Drain to help carry the water away faster. Since I didn't really have anyplace for the water to go, I just dug a big hole at the end of the perforated pipe and filled it with gravel.

Also, since I don't have a backhoe, I had to rent a Mini-hoe to dig the trench and hole (FUN /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif). Wish I could afford one full-time.

 

[Casimir]

French Drain filled to arena level with gravel: