Keeping character, or restoring a pond

[wroughtn_harv]

The 506C is about the most fun you can have by yourself with a piece of machinery.

Early this year I'd drive this puppy into gumbo clay unitl all four wheels were not contacting anything to grip. Then I'd use the forks to pull myself forward or push myself backward.

With the four wheel steer it can turn inside of itself.

It is an amazing piece of equipment.

Unless of course it does what it did to me last night. Some way some how it went into crab steer. That's where the wheels are pointed straight by the body is at a thirty degree of so angle of the path of travel.

It looks great. And I'm sure it's important when one is trying to traverse bad terrain and not have one wheel following another's track.

But when you're trying to load an eight foot wide machine on an eight foot wide trailer crab steer is the last thing you want.

She'd run up and down this access like it was a piece of the tollway across Oklahoma.

 

[bmac]

Harv,

That deck, like the rest of this project, is impressive. Did you bring an engineer in for the planning, or is this a product of your inginuity? Can't wait to see that fancy pool filled with water.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I wish I had a close friend that was an engineer. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'd probably drive him crazy. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Actually I figured five of those beams would be sufficient. But since I've been wrong at figuring before I decided to play it safe and use nine.

 

[jwnge]

Flowers and now hearts, what else you gonna think of? check post 747557... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif....JohnJ

 

[wroughtn_harv]

My wife and a friend mentioned there were some stones shaped like valentines in the baskets of rocks. Then she mentioned that we'd installed one of the valentines upside down in the north side wall.

But the guys get credit for the rock placement. It would be nice to have the time to put each rock in place. But I don't have it.

We got one of the floating boulders in place the other day.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I left the house this morning at six thirty, my usual time, and I got home after eight, usual time.

But we had a good day.

Four of the five floating boulders are up.

Here's three of them. They appear a dull grey. In reality they're salt and pepper with salmon streaks and pieces of crystal.

I've tried to arrange them where from one side of the pond they all appear to be grey with a little pink. And from the other they've got a lot more pink and some white streaks.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Yesterday morning I removed the access ramp we've used for so long.

After grading in a terrace we placed block and a beam for the back wall.

This morning we laid the block and this afternoon we covered it with the flat river rocks.

Except for the ladders scattered about you'd never know we once had it any other way.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The client installed the fighting stream fountains in the new deck today.

What we're doing is using a pvc form around the access box. We'll use weak mortar mix inside the form in the concrete slab and where it comes up through the flagstone deck. This will make repairs much less complicated. Hopefully it won't be needed. But if the need ever arises a screwdriver and a small hammer will remove the mortar the access box will be free and there will be more room for doing a repair.

And yes, there will be another deck behind this one. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Installing the boulders isn't really that big a thing.

When we placed the columns we put in conduit for pulling a water line. We also made three quarter inch rebar an integral part of the column.

This is what a column looks like ready for prom night.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Then I make a pattern of the rebar pins and their location relative to the conduit and water line.