Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place!

[picframer]

Well for two hours I am sure my blood pressure was through the roof, I slid off a piece of bedrock with the excavator and in went on it’s side against an old crock, it was also hung up underneath, there was no way to move it without damaging it, the controls were hard against a rock also, so......just bring in another Deere, lift it upright and fill in the area where I slid into, it drove right out and I was back to work, just frustrating and I know better, I should have made sure all areas leading down into this drain were flat. Thought you might like to see a stone slingers, this unit throws the rock through the air up to 125 feet and man is it accurate, the operator was simply amazing, batteries died or I would have taken more images. All in all I guess the day went well

Attached Images

	hungup.jpg (104.4 KB, 24 views)
	onside.jpg (97.6 KB, 18 views)
	Pushing.jpg (93.1 KB, 23 views)
	slinger.jpg (65.3 KB, 13 views)
	slinger2.jpg (74.6 KB, 14 views)
	Upright.jpg (85.9 KB, 19 views)
	waterrocks.jpg (86.4 KB, 12 views)

__________________
Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[lawncrafter56]

Lawn care business tips

As a seasoned hoe hand I might suggest a little bit bigger hoe andy. Looks way undersized for the project

[picframer]

Originally Posted by lawncrafter56

As a seasoned hoe hand I might suggest a little bit bigger hoe andy. Looks way undersized for the project

I agree for the top part of the drain and I have a 35D which has five times the power however there is no way for me to get that machine in there without damage.

The other issue is for 125 feet, between the house and that fence, trees and a shed in the back, I only have 4 feet of space, I can't even swing the excavator to dump product into the bucket of the tractor and have it hauled away.

The client understands all this, and the cost of having to do it this way, as I mentioned he told me others turned it down as they did not have equipment to do the job, it's a tight spot excepy for the head, then I have a propane and oil tank that is right on the edge of the trench, I filled this area bach in with the pipe and clear stone installed yesterday as we have two inches of rain today.

[Steve]

That is incredible. I can't believe the one was able to lift the other!!!

How much weight is that? How much can it lift? That must be some serious weight!

Why did you decide to go with that stone thrower? Was it just a faster way to get stone into the area it was needed?

Here is some listening music as we discuss.

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[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

That is incredible. I can't believe the one was able to lift the other!!!

How much weight is that? How much can it lift? That must be some serious weight!

Why did you decide to go with that stone thrower? Was it just a faster way to get stone into the area it was needed?

Here is some listening music as we discuss.

The 17 can lift about 5,000 pounds, twice it's wheight but you have to know what you are doing and how to do it.

The 17 would come in at aount 3,000 pounds dry.

We had no choice on the stone slinger, there was no place to dump the clear roak for the drain and yes it is faster but quite expensive, it's more cost effective for me to have the rock dumped.

[lawncrafter56]

I think you are doing a fine job andy and love to hear about your company doings. I have at times taken the bucket off the machine for that little extra lift. best wishes, bobby

[picframer]

Originally Posted by lawncrafter56

I think you are doing a fine job andy and love to hear about your company doings. I have at times taken the bucket off the machine for that little extra lift. best wishes, bobby

Thanks Bobby, we will get it done with the 17 just taking a long time, we could not work yesterday so it was a maintenance day, very heavy rain here most of the day.

Weather is not on our side anymore, they are calling for 6" of snow tomorrow, just what I need, if I can just get the front done today all down 8' 6" I will be fine as I will be lower than the footing and this should stop the water issue, in my heart we have found quite a few springs but I honestly do not feel we have found the one, 240 gallons of water being pumped a day is a lot. It's just a wait and see. I can always backfill next year and the client is very much aware this could happen.

I have a new excavator here and a new operator starting Monday, we have a contract to do the ground work for two skating rinks, with three excavators we could get them both done in two weeks and even if it snows it wont stop them, our deep frost doesn't really start until mid December.

Monday night I was fast asleep when the phone rang around 11:30 it was the customer, said we had a major issue and my heart sank, he said they lost power due to an accident that cut a pole off and something went through what we call a distribution box, I should look the accident up, Deere told me yesterday they herd about it and a young boy was killed, I never listen to the radio so I am not sure.

Anyhow he has a new gas generator and of course it would not start and water was about 3" on his basement floor, I have a generator however requires a tractor with a PTO and 3 pt hitch, the only thing I had access to was my X749 however it had the leaf collector attached and when attached you have to take the three point hitch off, anyhow I was on site within 90 min and we ran his sump pump plus I have a portable that we sometimes use on sites to check flow rates in test holes to see how much water we found, it too has 2" pipe, the two pumps ran for an hour non stop to drop the water down, that is nuts, according to an online calculator we were pumping 45 gallons a min, that's 2,700 gallons of water and that buildup all happened within 2 hours, that is how crazy this problem is, anyhow I left the tractor and generator there running with instructions on how to shut it down, being a diesel it will go a good 15 hours on a tank, left and got home around 4am so I am glad yesterday was a day off.

The client called me yesterday and said he was telling everyone how we bailed them out as they just finished the basement for the second time so it saved them thousands of dollars, I was happy, although beat tired to help.

Will post some pics of my own driveway, when it cleared late in the afternoon I ordered 19 tons of crushed granite and topped my driveway off, this stuff is like cement when packed and because of the rain conditions were perfect, I always wanted it but it's almost $900 a load however being a contractor I now get it for $425, it turned out perfect, I rolled until way after dark so I haven't really seen it yet......guess I was tired as I laid down on the couch around 6:45 with my dog waiting for criminal minds to start, it's the only show I watch, I woke at 5 this morning, dog seemed fully rested and I have one sore neck<G>

Hindsight being what it is I probably should have passed on this job but it's the challange when no one else will do it that gets me going, I suspect I only have another week or two of weather which is a major drag as we are doing so well but I have to admit I don't recall a fall in 20 years this mild, generally by Rememberance Day which is the 11th of November we have snow and it more often than not stays, I recall two years ago going out on rememberance day on the ATV's in 18" of snow with the kids and their friends....

I have two high school kids working for me after school every day getting chores done and they are doing great, I leave a list each day and it's always done when I get home, they now have all my firewood in and tonight they will start wrapping equipment with tarps that will not be used again this season and ones that I don't have storage room for, I can get everything else put away in a day with a couple of helpers.

Had something strange happen, two weeks ago I took one of the trucks in for an oil change and asked them to check the brakes, pads were pretty much gone, rear was fine so I had them put Ceramic pads and new rotors on (Ford Dealership), three days later one of the drivers called and said the truck was shaking a bit when braking at high speeds (50 mph as we have a lot of highway travel) I took it back yesterday finally, both front rotors had cracks, one small crack was wide enough to get paper through, thank the good lord nothing serious happened, they had never seen this before, just a defect I guess as they were not heat cracks.

Well it's now 6:10 am, time to hit the road. Have a great day everyone!

[Steve]

thank the good lord nothing serious happened, they had never seen this before, just a defect I guess as they were not heat cracks.

Can those cracks be caused by heat? Or how can you tell the difference?


Also I was wondering, when you get that trench dug, do you fill it up with stone to give the water a way to flow out or how is that drainage handled?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Can those cracks be caused by heat? Or how can you tell the difference?


Also I was wondering, when you get that trench dug, do you fill it up with stone to give the water a way to flow out or how is that drainage handled?

Heat cracks are on the surface, these were all the way through in a few places.

Let the water flow for a day, lay 20 year landscape fabric, 2" of 1" clear stone, 4 or 6 in weeping tile that is sock wrapped then cover with 12" of rock cover and 20 year fabric again, you want to keep the silt out or if it is a drain to intercept surface water, then rock to surface