Either I'm Freaking Slow or...

[Haoleguy]

If someone told me they didn't have time to do something because they had to go home and bury rocks, I'd think they were pullin' my leg. Obviously, in your case, that ain't true. You have got to be the only person I ever knew who buried rocks. I'm sure there are others, but you are brave enough to post pictures.:laughing:

What's the big deal with burying rocks. They're not too pretty and would not make good wall making material. I think everyone in New England has to deal with rocks in the wrong place. I need them to be buried in a place where I reliably know where they are. I have field tiling, trellising posts, & grapevines in my future which means I cannot have rocks in the 2 fields I have cleared. I must admit that I'm getting tired of burying rocks. On the bright side i have lots of extra subsoil and topsoil to use........Cheers, Gary

 

[Haoleguy]

What's the trick to packing fill dirt around the boulders to keep the driveway from settling again and again over the next few years? Seems like it would be difficult to get a solid pack that wouldn't settle after rains.

Picker 77 - No real magic to it. I add subsoil back after each layer and the second layer of rocks get dropped to add some vibration. I do expect some settling over the next couple of years with rain. As it settles I'll regroom. In about 2-3 yrs time a house will be constructed at the end of the driveway and the cement trucks will pack it in more. After construction I will recut top, possibly roll, place geotextile, layer 2 courses of stone. I hope that does it. ...Gary

 

[Haoleguy]

Agreed!:laughing:

Those are some nice big rocks. Are you SURE if you placed an ad on CL that no one would come get them and pay $$$??

Not in these parts. CL has ads for raw wall making material all the time but these are rounded glacial rocks of low value. My spouse had me save a couple for a table top(?) and a lookout perch(?).....future projects I'm sure.....Gary

 

[racerboy832]

When I bought my house. There was a rocky hill side behind it. I saw an excavator across the street. I called the man up and said come look and give me a price. He showed up. Said 2 weeks work, 8 hours a day. $1000 a day. Figure about 14K. I said i'll let you know. Well a friends dad said if you want to store my JD450 Trackhoe at your home feel free to use it. Ran it on and off for about 2-3 months. Spend entire days digging out rocks too big for the machine. Broke the machine couple times. Made progress but nothing major.

A friend of mine that moves equipment said, give my brother a call. I did, He came up and said. I get $125 an hour. I said how long. He said 3 days tops. Only charge you for running time. He said, I'll move what you want, All the big rocks will go over the bank, all the smaller ones will be piled so you can make a retaining wall on your own, and I'll make you a nice dirt pile.

9 Hours later he was done. Moved rocks the size of the JD 450. I rented a Takeuchi 135 with Thumb from United rentals. Loaded trucks with dirt (100 yards) and built the wall. All said and done cost me about $2200.

I guess my point being, I'm cheap and I prefer to do stuff my self. If you can get someone in that isn't wasting time, the amount of work you can do with a excavator is amazing.

 

[Haoleguy]

.....
A friend of mine that moves equipment said, give my brother a call. I did, He came up and said. I get $125 an hour. I said how long. He said 3 days tops. Only charge you for running time. He said, I'll move what you want, All the big rocks will go over the bank, all the smaller ones will be piled so you can make a retaining wall on your own, and I'll make you a nice dirt pile.

9 Hours later he was done. Moved rocks the size of the JD 450. I rented a Takeuchi 135 with Thumb from United rentals. Loaded trucks with dirt (100 yards) and built the wall. All said and done cost me about $2200.

I guess my point being, I'm cheap and I prefer to do stuff my self. If you can get someone in that isn't wasting time, the amount of work you can do with a excavator is amazing.

Locally I have a earthmoving guy that I will use to do the really large boulders(>6 ton) and he charges $100/hr. In the same time period I will have him rip and cross rip a 5 acre field to get it ready for planting. He's fast and good quality work.

As an update by tomorrow I will have finished a 400ft(l) x 15ft(w) x 8-10ft(d) roadbed filled with boulders(~350 to 400) and covered with subsoil. That leaves me 2 days to trench for tile drainage. Weather is starting to change and cool down. The first 2 inches of soil is lightly frozen. Also I'm using about 8 gal of diesel for a full 8hr day. After a few more days I will be ready to recouperate and recharge my batteries. With recharged batteries, and some better winter wear, I'll get back out to make everything start to look reasonable and not like a bomb went off. I have lots of extra top and subsoil now....Gary

 

[jinman]

Gary, you do know I was just bustin' on you before about burying rocks, don't you? I know you have to do it and you seem to have had a great plan. The satisfaction of getting a job completed is awesome. I always end up taking at least twice as long as I plan for and my recuperation periods get longer and longer as I get older.:laughing:

 

[Haoleguy]

Gary, you do know I was just bustin' on you before about burying rocks, don't you? I know you have to do it and you seem to have had a great plan. The satisfaction of getting a job completed is awesome. I always end up taking at least twice as long as I plan for and my recuperation periods get longer and longer as I get older.:laughing:

Jinman - Sure I know that you were playfully busting my chops. Finished the driveway bed a couple of days back. Yesterday and today I ran 3 trenches 250ft(l) x 2ft(w) x 5ft(d) for the subterranean tiles. Did this as an angled contour against the gentle slope to maximize interception of water movement. Also fit in a few more rock pulls and crude grading of the driveway. Driving rain today left the CX130B very muddy. Had to do a quick clearing of the mud off the machine and hope the rain washes away more tonight. Excavator goes back tomorrow. Definitely got my monies worth and am very impressed with what a 14-15K ton excavator can do. I definitely need a rest for a couple of days before I start laying tile and backfill with my JD and get a quick dose of lime down. Then it's back to my spouse's projects. Take care & Happy Holidays..........Gary