Projects galore

[hayden]

Here's my tractor project list for this year:

- Excavate barn foundation
- Backfill foundation
- Remove many tree stumps
- install a few hundred feet of french drain in my yard
- Install an outside water line and faucet
- Keep 5 acres of new pasture cut
- backfill and grade around a new burried propane tank
- trench out a stream through our yard
- Spread 30yds of bark mulch
- Keep 1/2 mile of unmaintained road clear of snow
- Chip up lots of trees
- Keep that same road graded
- drive around and knock things down just for fun.

The last task is of course the most fun.

 

[Harv]

Hayden -

Since I'm still a newbie, I hope you will post detailed progress reports all along the way. The good and the bad. The best part about this board is sharing information and experiences. I doubt a book exists that has anywhere near the useful data that appears on these pages.

 

[scruffy]

Hayden, I am still pondering that 'keep 1/2 mile unmaintained road free of snow' task you listed. How pray tell can you keep that unmaintained road free of snow, unless you maintain it? Are you gonna put ski's on your tractor and use it as a 'fun-mobile'? ) If you blade it other times of the year also, it is a maintained road, all be it, you are the one having the fun of doing so.
When I was a boy, my dad had the 'unmaintained' stuff, cause us boys would jump at the chance to use the tractor or old cletrac.

 

[hayden]

Ok, Ok, you got me. It's a town road but the town doesn't maintain it in any way. In Vermont, it's a class 4 road. I get to do all the maintenance, including keeping it clear of snow in the winter and graded in the summer.

 

[scruffy]

Okay, I got ya. Your Tax dollars at work, you work to pay the taxes, and work to accomplish the work that the taxes are supposed to take care of. Nice when they can have the cake and eat it too!

 

[WVBill]

That's one of the reasons I like living on a road where there is a dairy just past my property. The milk HAS to get out EVERY day.
This road is way down on the county's plowing priority so that dairy farmer is usually the one who clears the road a mile or so up to the main state-maintained road so his milk hauler can get in and out.

Bill

 

[hayden]

So far I've done the following. If I can muster up the time, I'll post some pics.

- Barn foundation has been excavated (with B2400 + Woods 6500)

- Foundation has been backfilled (With B2910 that I traded for)

- Many trees have been chipped up, many more to go

- I've cut the fields. They had 10-15 yrs of growth and were re-opened 2 years ago with a bronto. I've mowed them twice since to keep them down and cause their return to grasses. So far so good.

- I've also removed a number of stumps (also with Woods 6500), one of which was bigger than the tractor (including root ball of course) and had grown around two rocks the size of beanbag chairs. Major hassle getting that baby out, and of course it was smack in the middle of the foundation that I was excavating.

- I backfiled and graded over the propane tank and that's nice grass now.

- I also graded to road a few times with the box scraper.

- Most receint purchase is a 3PH snow blower to keep the road clear this winter.

- This weekend I'm going to do the water line and maybe get a start on the drains.

Peter

 

[Harv]

Holy Cow, Dude!!!

When did find the time to do all that?

You're not one of those wealthy retired fellas, are you? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[hayden]

No, but that's my goal if I can just figure out how to make it happen.

I did have the opportunity to take a 5 month sabbatical this spring/summer/fall and that helped provide lots of play (oops, I mean WORK) time. But now I'm off on the next venture so it's back to being a weekend warrior

 

[scruffy]

Hayden, you sure did manage to keep busy!

 

[LazyK]

Hayden...I think I know why Harv is amazed at how you do all that.
He's tied up helping me figure out which finger is best to hit the "A" key on my webtv cyber-steamer keyboard!
So far, today, he's kept Muhammad from 86-ing me from the forum for committing mortal sins of stupidity. I best stay on your subject or exit. Where did I put my brain cell?

Lazy K - Chip

 

[scruffy]

Hey Chip, nice signature block!

 

[LazyK]

Hey, my Mom and Roy would be proud!
!Muchissimos gracias!
Your lead to Master Harv was appreciated. Someday I'll have meaningful knowledge of all this secret stuff. Yea, that's the ticket.
I'll have 200,000 postings, a pool of typists gushing forth good stuff on all the post sites. Yea, Morgan Fairchild can approve all my unique ideas...
oops! I've been using too much starter fluid on the pesky flies again. I can sure smell it here in what I think is my shop. Huh Oh.. here comes my wonderful partner, Sandee. She's
put up with me in marriage, two kids, Alaska for 23 years, and many un mentionable
minor personality eccentricities for 35 years! She should be considered for sainthood. She knows I'm fiddle-farting today in anticipation of going to take care of my Pa in L.A.
'Can't rush into these tree felling and road grooming projects. A feller needs to consult with his experienced mates in tractordom before rushing out to do something you've only done a paltry 5 or 6 dozen times. I'd Best sign off. She's going to have me declared habeas corpus if I don't come up for air.
Thanks for the nudge.

Lazy K - Chip

 

[LazyK]

Harv, if a feller was running for a public office and wanted an honest answer from a great pool of diverse citizens, he'd sure get a great bell-shaped sampling curve with tight margins of probable error. Hey maybe we are a sampling universe with high degree of success in probable outcomes! Watch John Deere stockholders beat a path to the forum's
sign-in page.

I'll be looking forward to talking with you.

Lazy K - Chip

 

[hayden]

I knocked off the water line and outside faucet this weekend. 75' trench 3 feet deep. Took about 3 hours to dig. The worst part was keeping plastic down in the wind and keeping the dirt on the plastic to keep the yard from getting trashed.

It's odd too how not as much dirt goes back in the hole as came out.

 

[glennmac]

Hayden, what implement did you use to dig the trench?

 

[hayden]

4690 Backhoe. I can't imagine doing it any other way. Part of why it took so long was that I hit a bunch of super hard packed "stuff". It crumbles into sand once broken up, but is almost like soft stone before breaking up. I didn't realize how hard it was until I went into the trench with a shovel to smooth out the bottom for the pipe and tried to dig it. Yikes. Made me appreciate the BH and how well it really did.

Again, the other thing that slowed it down was trying to carefully handle the excavated material. That was key to continued domestic harmony, and continued permission to play with my toys.