Barn Razing: cleaning up the past

[dex3361]

THANK YOU for detailing the project and sharing the pictures, I have really enjoyed following the thread as it went along...:thumbsup:

Your welcome. I will post a few more pics of the final clean up. I have mixed feelings about seeing the old building go down but it was a hazard. My nephews and nieces were telling stories about when they played in that barn and how much fun the had.

 

[dex3361]

I wanted to get a dozer in to bury all that was left but I may have to wait till next year to do the dozer work. So I decided to clean up all that I could and bury it. Well I have shoveled nails and ashes for a few days and I am making headway.

 

[JDgreen227]

The brush pile of mine that I burnt earlier this year has about 10 cubic yards of ash mixed with unburnt stuff that is going to be a huge PIB to sort out and level off. I'd love to bring in an excavator and pay them to dig a hole so I can bury the entire mess in one place. Could always buy a backhoe for my JD but it's hard to justify the expense when you don't use one very often.

 

[dex3361]

The brush pile of mine that I burnt earlier this year has about 10 cubic yards of ash mixed with unburnt stuff that is going to be a huge PIB to sort out and level off. I'd love to bring in an excavator and pay them to dig a hole so I can bury the entire mess in one place. Could always buy a backhoe for my JD but it's hard to justify the expense when you don't use one very often.

I seriously thought about a backhoe and I added all the time I have hired out a backhoe and even a bulldozer as I built the house and garage. The total amount didn't add up to half the cost of a backhoe. I couldn't justify it. I am trying to talk myself into a mini excavator to use for a few years building trails and any thing else I can think of. I love equipment and I would have at least 1 of each piece but I have a cash flow problem.

 

[dex3361]

I have spent a great deal of time picking up nails and I am so glad that I picked up the magnet on wheels from Harbor Freight. I bet I have picked up a 55 gallon drum of nails. I decided to try to get the concrete up with the grapple Here is a few more pics of the clean up where I am starting to pull up the concrete and rocks and rocks and rocks....you get the idea.:laughing:

 

[JDgreen227]

Decided to use the FEL of my JD to level off the ash pile and unburnt stuff, and start a new pile. Thankfully did not get any punctures in the tires, fished out a lot of nails with a magnet both before and after leveling the pile. It is already overgrown with grass and weeds, the soil is really good with all that ash mixed in.

 

[JDgreen227]

If you want to get rid of the rocks I will be happy to take them if you also pay for delivery, concrete chunks I have no use for though....:laughing:

 

[dex3361]

If you want to get rid of the rocks I will be happy to take them if you also pay for delivery, concrete chunks I have no use for though....:laughing:

There are a huge amount already buried and I am using the largest rocks to make a small water fall in the creek. When I was building the rock walls around my creek crossing I harvested all the rocks out of the creek that I could. If I had only known what was under the old barn.

 

[dex3361]

Thought I would add a few more pics to this thread. I have never seen so many rocks I kept pulling them up.

 

[JDgreen227]

Thanks for the update hope you have not found any nails in the wrong places....

 

[dex3361]

Thanks for the update hope you have not found any nails in the wrong places....

I have picked up enough nails and various other metal pieces to fill two 55 gallon barrels. As my luck would have it I also picked up a few nails (4) with the tires but they were easy enough to plug so its not a big deal. just had to make sure and keep the hole to the top as I patched them so I would not loose any fluid.:thumbsup:

 

[Tony_S]

Probably a little late now, but an old trick is to find an old speaker magnet...a big one like they use in PA systems (can probably find one at a music equipment store), drop it in a bucket and viola...instant nail picker upper.
My .02 for the day :thumbsup:

 

[dex3361]

Probably a little late now, but an old trick is to find an old speaker magnet...a big one like they use in PA systems (can probably find one at a music equipment store), drop it in a bucket and viola...instant nail picker upper.
My .02 for the day :thumbsup:

I bought a HF 24" roofing nail magnet on wheels and it worked great.
The magnet in a bucket is a great idea I would have never thought of that.:thumbsup:

 

[dex3361]

I just kept pulling up rocks. I finally had pulled up enough and started bringing in top soil to finish the grade as good as possible. This area is larger than it looks. I pulled landscape rake through here and harvested more than 25 FEL loads of smaller rocks.