The gully to pond project

[jinman]

The key words strip mine? Now the Feds are involved.

Bring 'em on! I need somebody to hold my surveyor's rod while I run the transit. I'll give 'em a job doin' REAL work.:laughing:

Dear Fed,

Please only send big guys who can handle a shovel and help me install culverts.

Your loyal subject,
Rockin' Anchor Jim

 

[ronjhall]

Dear Fed,

Please only send big guys who can handle a shovel and help me install culverts.

Your loyal subject,
Rockin' Anchor Jim

Will your backhoe not do this work?

 

[jinman]

Will your backhoe not do this work?

How silly of me!:ashamed: I've watched gummit workers installing culverts, and there is always 4 or 5 guys leaning on shovels.:laughing:

Truth is, the backhoe can do 60% of the work and the loader 35% (backfill), but there's still about 5% of good ol' elbow grease on a shovel and rake to make the bottom of culvert trench perfect before dropping in the culvert.

EDIT: I'm gonna get out there this morning and try to get another foot on the dam. It's slowly rising like Atlantis, but a big rainstorm would sink it like the Titanic.

EDIT2: The other day in the Texas Fall/Winter thread I was bragging about my LB75B Backhoe. Well, Mr. Murphy heard me and caused two hoses to start leaking. Both were boom lift. One on the side of the boom that had been replaced before and failed because the bend orientation was wrong. The other is the bottom hose in the side-to-side swivel clamp. It looks like an original hose that is just suffering fatigue. My dealer had one hose in stock and is ordering the 2nd to be here on Wed. I don't have a backhoe to use right now, but my clay strip mine has been supplying all the clay I need by just using the loader, so I'm still working. Maybe I should add this to my signature: If you own a used backhoe, you WILL be buying hoses.

 

[pacerron]

How silly of me!:ashamed: I've watched gummit workers installing culverts, and there is always 4 or 5 guys leaning on shovels.:laughing:

Truth is, the backhoe can do 60% of the work and the loader 35% (backfill), but there's still about 5% of good ol' elbow grease on a shovel and rake to make the bottom of culvert trench perfect before dropping in the culvert.

EDIT: I'm gonna get out there this morning and try to get another foot on the dam. It's slowly rising like Atlantis, but a big rainstorm would sink it like the Titanic.

EDIT2: The other day in the Texas Fall/Winter thread I was bragging about my LB75B Backhoe. Well, Mr. Murphy heard me and caused two hoses to start leaking. Both were boom lift. One on the side of the boom that had been replaced before and failed because the bend orientation was wrong. The other is the bottom hose in the side-to-side swivel clamp. It looks like an original hose that is just suffering fatigue. My dealer had one hose in stock and is ordering the 2nd to be here on Wed. I don't have a backhoe to use right now, but my clay strip mine has been supplying all the clay I need by just using the loader, so I'm still working. Maybe I should add this to my signature: If you own a used backhoe, you WILL be buying hoses.

So you have Murphy in Texas too! Amazing how he/she gets around.
I have found getting hoses made locally to be sometimes cheaper than getting them from a dealer. Also have used screw in fittings with success.
I always keep some hose and fittings of different sizes around.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/hydraulics/158654-re-usable-hydraulic-hose-fitting.html

 

[jinman]

The photo below shows the two hoses that blew out. The first one circled in red shows an over-bend bubble at the fitting. This fitting should have been rotated forward. That's the way the other side is, and it has no bubble at all. I installed the new one correctly. The 2nd hose is the bottom one in the stress relief clamp. It just gave up from old age and fatigue since I regularly swing the backhoe boom to full left and right. It's going to be a challenge because I have to get big wrenches into tight spots.

EDIT:I have to tell a funny story on myself. Yesterday, I started the backhoe and noticed a red light on the panel did not go out. OH BOY! Just what I need. I didn't have my glasses on, but it looked like a low oil pressure light. . . now it's gettin' really bad! I got off the tractor and checked the oil. It was only down about 1/2 qt, but I refilled it anyway. I restarted the engine and the light was still there.:confused3: I was ready to just shut off the engine and walk back to the house when my hand bumped the parking brake handle and the light went off. Sheesh! I put on my glasses and could easily see that the light had a big "P" on it instead of the engine symbol. What a dope! . . . but a lucky dope.

 

[jinman]

Here are some shots of this weekend's progress on my dam. I cannot believe all the clay this dam has "inhaled." When I look at the area I'm mining for clay, it must be twice as big as the dam. I think compacting the clay in the dam causes it to compress by 50% over what it is naturally. My clay mine is about 60' long x 40' wide and 6' deep. That's about 535 yards so far and I'm sure I have another 250 yards to go. Whew! That's a lotta trips down the clay highway.

I tried to arrange the photos to show the progress over two days. The first photo of a series is Saturday and the other is Sunday. I put in a photo of my road across the bottom of the pond. If we get rain as predicted the next two days, this will be the last time this road is visible. It will be under water soon.:thumbsup:

The 2nd pair of photos is taken from the top of my nearly completed dam and looking over the dam in progress. You can see how far I have to raise the dam so that I can drive across. It won't be complete until it is up to the level of the hillsides on each side. Oh yes, there's a tree laying on the bank inside the dam. I bumped it with my tractor and it broke off and fell. I just may leave it there for fish structure. What do you think? Since it doesn't have the root ball, I'll probably need to find some way to weight it down.

 

[pacerron]

The photo below shows the two hoses that blew out. The first one circled in red shows an over-bend bubble at the fitting. This fitting should have been rotated forward. That's the way the other side is, and it has no bubble at all. I installed the new one correctly. The 2nd hose is the bottom one in the stress relief clamp. It just gave up from old age and fatigue since I regularly swing the backhoe boom to full left and right. It's going to be a challenge because I have to get big wrenches into tight spots.

Jim,
Were the hoses actually leaking or is it just the outside rubber coating getting ready to crack off? You did a great cleanup job if the hoses were squirting fluid at 2k+ pressure.
The Dunham Lehr FEL I purchased with my old Ford 3910 over 20 years ago
has all the hoses exposed along the rails instead of being hidden in them.
The sun made them start shedding their black brittle skin 4-5 years ago. Hydralic folks said no problem till they leak.
I hope "Murphy" isn't listening, but no leaks yet.:thumbsup:
Ron

 

[jinman]

Jim,
Were the hoses actually leaking or is it just the outside rubber coating getting ready to crack off? You did a great cleanup job if the hoses were squirting fluid at 2k+ pressure.

No, I would not replace hoses for cosmetic reasons. This is a photo from when the tractor was delivered to me after being pressure washed by the dealership. The swing cylinders are an oily mess right now from the hose dripping on them. The hose on the side of the boom was clearly visible and I stopped using the hoe instantly when it started to squirt. BTW: The backhoe's relief pressure is set to 2850-2950 psi and pump flow is 40 gpm. This ain't no weenie backhoe.

 

[pacerron]

The swing cylinders are an oily mess right now from the hose dripping on them. The hose on the side of the boom was clearly visible and I stopped using the hoe instantly when it started to squirt. BTW: The backhoe's relief pressure is set to 2850-2950 psi and pump flow is 40 gpm. This ain't no weenie backhoe.

Sure ain't no weenie backhoe!
When I bought the old Ford 20 years ago they wanted to sell me one of those weenie ones from New Holland. I said, that's not a backhoe, just a toy.
I got a big Kelley instead with it's own seperate pump and reservoir. Sure glad I did. It still had a hard time on some of the big stump roots.

 

[pacerron]

:The 2nd pair of photos is taken from the top of my nearly completed dam and looking over the dam in progress. You can see how far I have to raise the dam so that I can drive across. .

How are you getting good compaction on the water side?