Texas Fall/Winter thread!

[EddieWalker]

You betcha I'm reeee-tired. The hardest part of my day is deciding whether to have one mug or two of coffee in the morning.

Pond building uses a lot of fuel. My neighbor bought me 20 gallons of fuel a couple of weeks ago as a pay-back for jobs I've done for him. Since then, I've bought another 20 gal and yesterday 20 more gallons. Even so, that's cheap payment for what my backhoe does for me.

I got my pond excavated enough to be ready for rain. I didn't take time to pretty-up things, but most of that I can do from the bank after the pond floods. My dam is up except for the final 3 ft. The middle of the dam (16'-20' wide) is solid clay. I added clay about 6" at a time and then packed it by driving back and forth over it with my 20k lb backhoe. I started adding excavated soil on each side of the clay so that the dam is about 40' thick at the base. I think it will hold just fine.

Here are some photos. Notice the spot with red clay on the right side of the first few photos. I can take about 8-10 more yards from there by sloping the bank, but after that, I'll have to move to another clay spot. I've used up every bit of my clay stockpile on the dam. The last photo is my grandson on top of the filled spot where all my spoils went to fill in another huge gully washout. He's 5' tall, so you can see how much I've filled this area. At some point, I'll have to add topsoil and get grass growing in all these slopes. If I can get the topsoil, I'll probably get the slopes hydro-mulched. I'm sure not walking up and down with a seed/fertilizer spreader.

Congratulations on your progress. Looks like you are getting close. How does the spillway run? It's hard to tell in the pics where the overflow is going to be.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

I don't know where all the "severe " storms went they predicted, but so far I might have got 1/10th if I squeeze the leaves real hard.

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

 

[Western]

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

I don't know Bird, I just looked at the radar and it looks like it did all last summer, you know, when Jim was watering his yard:laughing: At least the Temps are pleasant though. Looks like Eddie and TBN'ers East, may fare better on the moisture this time around.

 

[pacerron]

Pond building uses a lot of fuel. My neighbor bought me 20 gallons of fuel a couple of weeks ago as a pay-back for jobs I've done for him. Since then, I've bought another 20 gal and yesterday 20 more gallons. Even so, that's cheap payment for what my backhoe does for me. QUOTE]
Jim,
Good to see your progress photos.
I wonder why you don't have a bulk fuel tank on the place?
Up here the distributors will deliver free for amounts over 150 gallon.
No highway tax makes it a little cheaper too.
The best advantage for me is being able to fill the tractors without lifting four
5 gallon cans over my head or climbing up over the seat with cans and trying to hit the fill hole.
Ron

 

[Western]

Jim,
Good to see your progress photos.
I wonder why you don't have a bulk fuel tank on the place?
Up here the distributors will deliver free for amounts over 150 gallon.
No highway tax makes it a little cheaper too.
The best advantage for me is being able to fill the tractors without lifting four
5 gallon cans over my head or climbing up over the seat with cans and trying to hit the fill hole.
Ron[/QUOTE]

Ron, if you always have fuel, you have no excuse to go fishing!! I had a 500 gallon tank when we had a bigger farm and a few tractors, but for me now, the expense and longevity of the fuel would make it pointless for as little as I use.

There is a nice price break though on the dyed diesel though.

 

[jinman]

Eddie, if you look at the lower left of the photo below, you'll see where the overflow will be. I'll add a couple of culverts here after I build up the dam another 3' or so. I'll have to rip-rap both ends of the culverts, but especially the outlet side to prevent under-cutting. This caliche seems hard, but when you have water flowing over, it dissolves like sugar.

I really don't use enough fuel normally to get a 500 gallon tank. I've been looking at craigslist for 100 gallon transfer tanks for my pickup truck. With the way fuel fluctuates in pricing, I might find it cheaper at normal gas stations than what I paid for 500 gallons of red diesel a few months earlier. The normal stations also have the freshest fuel. I have saddle tanks on my backhoe, so 5-gallon tubs are no problem. My tractor's fuel tank is behind the seat, so I can fuel easily from the rear. The worst part about jugs is you have to keep up with the darn things when they are empty. I have 7 diesel cans and 3 gasoline cans strewn about in my barn.

 

[pacerron]

I really don't use enough fuel normally to get a 500 gallon tank. I've been looking at craigslist for 100 gallon transfer tanks for my pickup truck. With the way fuel fluctuates in pricing, I might find it cheaper at normal gas stations than what I paid for 500 gallons of red diesel a few months earlier. The normal stations also have the freshest fuel. I have saddle tanks on my backhoe, so 5-gallon tubs are no problem. My tractor's fuel tank is behind the seat, so I can fuel easily from the rear. The worst part about jugs is you have to keep up with the darn things when they are empty. I have 7 diesel cans and 3 gasoline cans strewn about in my barn.[/QUOTE]

Jim,
As long as your happy with your method it's nonpareil..
I purchased a 170 gallon tank on a stand with hose and nozzle 20 years ago and have only had to paint it once on the outside and replace the hose once from sun rot. The tanks pretty much last forever with diesel in them. The newer tractor holds 23 gallon from the caution line on the gauge to full. The old one holds about 10 so I'd be making a lot of 15 mile trips using cans spring through late fall. The fuel is what they call "Diesel Supreme" same stuff as home heating oil up here so it is already preped for the weather and it works just fine in the summer if I have some left over awhile before getting down to 150 gallon space in the tank. No water filters on the tank and just gravity fed to the nozzle. I usually do drain a few gallon into a can to get it totally empty and check for water condensation. Never seen any yet. I hope this story doesn't jinx the situation.
Ron

 

[Bird]

I think I beat you, Dennis. I'm pretty sure I got a good 0.11" of rain last night. But a bit of mist this morning and actually a light rain 2 miles south of us, so maybe it'll get up here.

I figure I got another .05" before it cleaned off and the sun came out.

 

[jinman]

I figure I got another .05" before it cleaned off and the sun came out.

We got about 1/10", and then it stopped. I went out to do some more dirt moving and had to alter my plans. With the slope of my land and the wet clay, my tractor just started sliding toward the pond drop-off.:shocked: I quickly got out of there. There was only an inch of clay, but it was like driving on banana peels.

 

[Bird]

Wet clay does one of two things. It's either slick as ice or it sticks to everything and your shoes or tires become loaded and heavy.