Junkman
Super Member
put some goldfish into the pond and there will be no mosquito's .... they eat the larvae ..... When they get big, they will reproduce that is, if the birds don't take them out.
yet another pond
- Thread starter OkeeDon
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EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Just a guess, but wouldn't the preasure of water in the earth be greater than when it's out of the earth.
I've never been to Florida, so I have no experience there, but I've dug holes in California and Texas that fill up with water before I've reached the water table.
It will come several feet up in some soil conditions. I guess it's the same principle that creates a spring.
Water follows the path of least resistance, even if that is up hill.
Just guessing.
I'm really enjoying your pictures and all the information you're providing.
Good Luck,
Eddie
I've never been to Florida, so I have no experience there, but I've dug holes in California and Texas that fill up with water before I've reached the water table.
It will come several feet up in some soil conditions. I guess it's the same principle that creates a spring.
Water follows the path of least resistance, even if that is up hill.
Just guessing.
I'm really enjoying your pictures and all the information you're providing.
Good Luck,
Eddie
have_blue
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Water follows the path of least resistance, even if that is up hill. )</font>
I've seen that too. I suppose haveing less pressure (no dirt on top) makes the water rise above the water table. Soil is heavier than water, and I suppose this helps.
I've seen that too. I suppose haveing less pressure (no dirt on top) makes the water rise above the water table. Soil is heavier than water, and I suppose this helps.
Normal progress today, almost done with the pond, the road is getting a second layer (better to compact it 6" at a time), and the dozer has not yet shown up to grade and compact the house and barn pads.
We had a bit of debris at the other end of the property, near my kids' house, and a low spot near the boundary between their property and mine, so we decided to put in a second hole in that area, bury the landscape debris, and raise the grade. The excavator came over and dug the hole, then loaded a few loads in the dump truck which deposited them in the hole. They decided to leave the hole open, as I was flitting about on the TC18 and doing some last minute, minor clearing and grooming.
Which leads me to the reason why there are no pictures today. I, uh, sorta backed into the hole.
I was back-dragging some dead branches out from under some brush, concentrating on keeping the bucket flush with the ground, and I kinda had a senior moment and forgot the hole was there -- it hadn't been there an hour before, after all.
My best guess is that the left rear wheel went over the edge. I didn't have time for any pucker factor. One second I was backing up, and the next I was falling off. The hole was about 10' wide, 6' deep and had about 3' of water in it. I knew what was happening -- it was all slow motion to me. The tractor started to flip to the left, and I thought, "oops!" I fell off to a sitting position at the bottom -- my straw hat never got wet. I looked up, and the tractor was upside down and coming towards me, still moving. I thought, "Gee, I hope it doesn't fall on me."
It didn't. It stopped about a foot above me. It was still running. From the sitting position, I was able to reach up and turn off the key. I crawled out and started feeling around for things. I pitched my hat and glasses up on the bank, then started feeling around for the digital camera that had been resting on the instrument panel. I found it a couple of feet away, along with some other things - a hammer, a chain, and a marker paint gun, that had been behind my seat. There were some spare Cat I pins and such in the tool box behind the seat; they disappeared in the soft sand under water. I noticed a trickle of red, and knew that it was the off road diesel leaking from the fuel cap vent - but it quickly stopped.
I stood up and looked at it, then felt down into the water, and discovered the ROPS was buried in a couple of feet of sand. The top of the seat was just under the water. The front of the tractor was still up on the bank, resting on the FEL arms, totally upside down.
Remarkably still entirely calm, and absolutely unhurt, not even a scratch, I climbed up the bank and started walking towards the incoming dump truck. He later said I looked like something dragged out of the swamp, soaking wet and covered with wet sand. I simply said, "I backed the tractor into the hole. I guess we ought to get the hoe over here."
A few minutes later the hoe arrived, we put a chain around the ROPS (near the fender) and around the front axle, then the hoe lifted and righted it with sort of a little "shake" like a wet dog. We changed the chains to just the front axle and he pulled it up as smooth as soft butter. There was plenty of sand on it, but not a scratch on the tractor. I guess the sand is pretty soft...
This is what I know for sure: there was no one around. If there had been any problems, it would have been a while before they found me. If the ROPS had been folded, I'd have been pinned under the tractor and likely drowned. If I had been wearing my seat belt, I would have been hanging upside down from the seat with my head in the water, possibly stuck in the sand, and I would likely have drowned. And, my hat would've gotten wet. If I had backed in where all the branches had been dumped, I might have been impaled. If the front of the tractor had come down the bank, I would have been pinned.
None of that happened - I don't know why. Wesley, the dump truck driver, said, "I'll bet you won't forget to look behind you from now on." Angie, the loader driver, said, "I'm not letting you near my big loader." Everyone was laughing, probably from relief that nothing serious had happened.
Once the tractor was up, and we had checked to be sure that no water had gotten into the oil or fuel, I fired it up. It started right up, but when I tried to turn the wheel, it stopped. A quick check showed nothing on the hydraulic fluid dipstick. About that same time, I started realizing that everything was oily - me, my clothes, the seat and steering wheel, all had an oily film. What it turned out was that the rubber plug on the top of the rear axle housing that covers the hydraulic fill had fallen off, probably pushed off by the pressure of the fluid while upside down. It took almost 4 gallons of hydraulic fluid to fill it again. I just regretted that I didn't have a hydraulic filter on hand; I'm at 285 hours, and need to change it at 300, now I'll have to do it again. It's kinda the hard way to drain the fluid, however - I don't think I'll use that method again.
Apparently there is some sort of safety overide on the the engine so if there is not adequate hydraulic pressure, it won't run. As soon as I refilled it, I started it up again, and it was fine. We lost no oil, no battery water, no cooling fluid, and only a pint or so of diesel fuel.
I did pay a price, however; my beloved old Sony Mavica FD71 was underwater and buried in sand long enough to ruin it. Just a few minutes ago, I bought another FD71 on Ebay Buy-it-now for $200; it should be here by Wednesday because it only has to come from Orlando. And, my Nextel cell phone was underwater, too, on my belt. It's junk, and they don't make the i1000plus any longer. I had repair insurance, but not replacement insurance. I found a bunch of i1000pluses on Ebay, however, and tomorrow I'll give Nextel a call and see how much of a hassle it's going to be to get a used phone activated. It looks like my maximum loss was around $350, less if I can use a used phone. I think I'm pretty lucky.
One of the first things I did after I crawled out of the hole was to yell for my son-in-law and ask him to get his digital camera, so we could get a picture of the silly tractor with it's wheels sticking up out of the hole. He brought it over, but the battery was dead. So, no pix. Sigh.
The contractors will be back in the morning, and I'll get right back up on my horse -- but I think I'll pay more attention when I'm backing up.
We had a bit of debris at the other end of the property, near my kids' house, and a low spot near the boundary between their property and mine, so we decided to put in a second hole in that area, bury the landscape debris, and raise the grade. The excavator came over and dug the hole, then loaded a few loads in the dump truck which deposited them in the hole. They decided to leave the hole open, as I was flitting about on the TC18 and doing some last minute, minor clearing and grooming.
Which leads me to the reason why there are no pictures today. I, uh, sorta backed into the hole.
I was back-dragging some dead branches out from under some brush, concentrating on keeping the bucket flush with the ground, and I kinda had a senior moment and forgot the hole was there -- it hadn't been there an hour before, after all.
My best guess is that the left rear wheel went over the edge. I didn't have time for any pucker factor. One second I was backing up, and the next I was falling off. The hole was about 10' wide, 6' deep and had about 3' of water in it. I knew what was happening -- it was all slow motion to me. The tractor started to flip to the left, and I thought, "oops!" I fell off to a sitting position at the bottom -- my straw hat never got wet. I looked up, and the tractor was upside down and coming towards me, still moving. I thought, "Gee, I hope it doesn't fall on me."
It didn't. It stopped about a foot above me. It was still running. From the sitting position, I was able to reach up and turn off the key. I crawled out and started feeling around for things. I pitched my hat and glasses up on the bank, then started feeling around for the digital camera that had been resting on the instrument panel. I found it a couple of feet away, along with some other things - a hammer, a chain, and a marker paint gun, that had been behind my seat. There were some spare Cat I pins and such in the tool box behind the seat; they disappeared in the soft sand under water. I noticed a trickle of red, and knew that it was the off road diesel leaking from the fuel cap vent - but it quickly stopped.
I stood up and looked at it, then felt down into the water, and discovered the ROPS was buried in a couple of feet of sand. The top of the seat was just under the water. The front of the tractor was still up on the bank, resting on the FEL arms, totally upside down.
Remarkably still entirely calm, and absolutely unhurt, not even a scratch, I climbed up the bank and started walking towards the incoming dump truck. He later said I looked like something dragged out of the swamp, soaking wet and covered with wet sand. I simply said, "I backed the tractor into the hole. I guess we ought to get the hoe over here."
A few minutes later the hoe arrived, we put a chain around the ROPS (near the fender) and around the front axle, then the hoe lifted and righted it with sort of a little "shake" like a wet dog. We changed the chains to just the front axle and he pulled it up as smooth as soft butter. There was plenty of sand on it, but not a scratch on the tractor. I guess the sand is pretty soft...
This is what I know for sure: there was no one around. If there had been any problems, it would have been a while before they found me. If the ROPS had been folded, I'd have been pinned under the tractor and likely drowned. If I had been wearing my seat belt, I would have been hanging upside down from the seat with my head in the water, possibly stuck in the sand, and I would likely have drowned. And, my hat would've gotten wet. If I had backed in where all the branches had been dumped, I might have been impaled. If the front of the tractor had come down the bank, I would have been pinned.
None of that happened - I don't know why. Wesley, the dump truck driver, said, "I'll bet you won't forget to look behind you from now on." Angie, the loader driver, said, "I'm not letting you near my big loader." Everyone was laughing, probably from relief that nothing serious had happened.
Once the tractor was up, and we had checked to be sure that no water had gotten into the oil or fuel, I fired it up. It started right up, but when I tried to turn the wheel, it stopped. A quick check showed nothing on the hydraulic fluid dipstick. About that same time, I started realizing that everything was oily - me, my clothes, the seat and steering wheel, all had an oily film. What it turned out was that the rubber plug on the top of the rear axle housing that covers the hydraulic fill had fallen off, probably pushed off by the pressure of the fluid while upside down. It took almost 4 gallons of hydraulic fluid to fill it again. I just regretted that I didn't have a hydraulic filter on hand; I'm at 285 hours, and need to change it at 300, now I'll have to do it again. It's kinda the hard way to drain the fluid, however - I don't think I'll use that method again.
Apparently there is some sort of safety overide on the the engine so if there is not adequate hydraulic pressure, it won't run. As soon as I refilled it, I started it up again, and it was fine. We lost no oil, no battery water, no cooling fluid, and only a pint or so of diesel fuel.
I did pay a price, however; my beloved old Sony Mavica FD71 was underwater and buried in sand long enough to ruin it. Just a few minutes ago, I bought another FD71 on Ebay Buy-it-now for $200; it should be here by Wednesday because it only has to come from Orlando. And, my Nextel cell phone was underwater, too, on my belt. It's junk, and they don't make the i1000plus any longer. I had repair insurance, but not replacement insurance. I found a bunch of i1000pluses on Ebay, however, and tomorrow I'll give Nextel a call and see how much of a hassle it's going to be to get a used phone activated. It looks like my maximum loss was around $350, less if I can use a used phone. I think I'm pretty lucky.
One of the first things I did after I crawled out of the hole was to yell for my son-in-law and ask him to get his digital camera, so we could get a picture of the silly tractor with it's wheels sticking up out of the hole. He brought it over, but the battery was dead. So, no pix. Sigh.
The contractors will be back in the morning, and I'll get right back up on my horse -- but I think I'll pay more attention when I'm backing up.
JerryG
Super Member
Thank God your all right, Don! Your are right it could have been a lot worse. Thank goodness your still with us and able to tell about it.
On the other hand /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, that is a novel approach to draining the hydraulic fluid. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif You should have put a disclaimer on that post so that no one tries <font color="red">YOUR</font> method of changing fluid at home.
On the other hand /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, that is a novel approach to draining the hydraulic fluid. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif You should have put a disclaimer on that post so that no one tries <font color="red">YOUR</font> method of changing fluid at home.
BradK
Bronze Member
Glad to hear you are ok Don. to bad about the camera and phone but they can be replaced. i think i would have needed some clean shorts if I fell into a pit with my tractor.
BradK
BradK
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 20,387
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
Don, there's nothing I can say that would make you more safe. I'm sure glad your cost is low, and you are able to walk away scratchin' your head and smilin' about your good fortune in a bad situation. I pulled an old willow stump out of one of my ponds this last weekend and found myself up on three wheels a couple of times. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif That's enough excitement for me. I'm sure glad everything turned out okay. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 58,074
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
Main thing is, you are alive /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Go hug the family /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Glad you are OK and un-injured. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Go hug the family /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Glad you are OK and un-injured. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I'm glad to hear you're alright. While reading what happend, I just kept thinking how quickly a small thing can change you and your families whole life.
You are very, very lucky!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Eddie
You are very, very lucky!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Eddie
Junkman
Super Member
Glad to hear that you are ok....... now on the brighter side, have you considered a rear view mirror?
since you didn't have a picture to show us, I searched around and found one that will give people the general idea of what it must have looked like....... without the water.......
since you didn't have a picture to show us, I searched around and found one that will give people the general idea of what it must have looked like....... without the water.......
