iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Clearing land... by hand (with photos)

Started by grweldon, November 11, 2014, 02:10:54 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

grweldon

Howdy y'all!

It's been a while since I posted anything of any consequence.  Been pretty busy with lots of things and I could easily spend way too much time here enjoying everybody's projects and stories.  I catch up when I can.

I can't seem to make up my mind what to build.  My wife wants something NOW, I want to build something myself which takes time and planning.  In any case, the latest project for "the barn" is a 40'x48' pole barn, 16' tall at the eaves with a 24' overhead only extension on one end and a 12' extension on the other.

Last spring I started the clearing process and I'm now almost finished with the 100' x 150' patch where the barn will sit.  I'm doing this pretty much without equipment.  I DO use my tractor to drag suitable logs to the mill but other than that I just cut them down, limb them and cut in to manageable lengths and pile them all up to burn.

I have an elevation issue that I'm trying to decide what to do about as well.  I have a difference of about 12' from the level that my ultralight runway is to the approximate area where the barn will sit.  I will need some fill dirt for multiple low areas of the runway so excavating the barn area is attractive to me... until I get quotes from excavators.  Seems like if I do what I want I'll have about 3000 cubic yards of dirt to move.  The cheapest quote was $2.50 a yard.  I didn't really want to spend quite that much so I'm reviewing my options.  I wanted the barn tucked back into the woods.  Not sure I want the ultralight to be stored 8 or more feet above the runway, but I might have to make that concession to keep the barn secluded and be able to afford the excavation.  I may have to move the barn closer to the runway to avoid excavating so much dirt.  I wouldn't hesitate to excavate the area with my crawler/loader/backhoe but the rear main seal is leaking so bad that when it runs it slings oil into the starter and kills it.  It's been inoperable since June.

I still have visions of a timber-framed barn but with the wife breathing down my neck to get something finished I won't be able to take the time.

Here are some pictures I took on Thursday afternoon.  I got a bit more cleared on Saturday and plan on working all day this coming Saturday.  At least I haven't been idle.  I'm going to have about 3-5 SYP that will be 18-20" DBH that I will harvest and mill as siding for my house (still standing in the pics).  It's a labor intensive process but I'm making headway.










My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

OneWithWood

Looks like it is coming along.  Remember Rome wasn't built in a day.
Are you leaving the stumps tall for a reason?  Pulling?
Just keep plugging away at it and before you know it you will have it cleared.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Billbob

Good job!  It's a lot of work isn't it?  But very satisfying knowing that you did it yourself.  Do what I do, build what you want, tell your wife that you are building it to her specs then ask for forgiveness when you're done. :D  It's easier than asking for permission!! ;)
Woodland Hm126 sawmill, LS 72hp tractor with FEL, homemade log winch, 8ft pulp trailer, Husqvarna 50, Husqvarna 353, homemade wood splitter, 12ft dump trailer, Polaris Sportsman 500 with ATV dump trailer

thecfarm

Keep at it. I have claimed back a few acres of the grown up pasture. It's all worth it. I know the money issue,but if I had the 7500 for ground work,I would have a working garage. Get it the way you want. Life is to short to put up with something that you don't like.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

grweldon

Thanks y'all.  I've got too much blood, sweat and tears in it now to stop!  OWW, Whether I or someone else does the excavating, leaving the stumps tall lets us know where there are.  I have cut many flush with the ground in order to be able to maneuver the tractor in the area.  One thing is for certain, they will be found when excavation begins!
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

Magicman

Looking good Glen.  I am thankful that my clearing days were done when I was younger.....much younger.  Ironically, much of the land that I helped to clear for pasture, I have now planted with trees.   ::)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

mesquite buckeye

You could always rent a backhoe and do it yourself. Probably could do it in a couple of days if you are any good at operating equipment. Even if not, you could probably teach yourself to do it well enough to get it done in half a day of working with it. If you are slow, you could rent it for a week and get it done. Use the hoe to flip out the stumps, then cut and fill w the bucket, dig to loosen hard or rocky spots.

Hopefully you have already considered this, but if you build parallel to the slope with the long dimension of the bldg, you won't have to move as much dirt. That said, I would never skimp on the size of leveled ground. Redoing it after the building is up is nearly impossible. Level ground is golden in hilly country. ;D

Take it from somebody who has to build level fields on hilltops. :snowball:
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

grweldon

Lynn, that is indeed ironic...

Mesquite,

I have considered renting a backhoe.  I believe moving 3000 yards of dirt in a week with a backhoe would be quite a task, if not impossible.  That is to do it the way I want.  To do it parallel to the terraces as you mention will probably be what I end up doing.  As I said, if done that way, the barn floor will end up about 8 feet higher than the runway.  This will cause me to coast uncontrollably downhill while in the aircraft (no brakes).  The logical solution is to add brakes to the aircraft, however, adding just 20 pounds will make the aircraft no longer eligible to be flown as an ultralight.  I don't have a pilot's license and I'd have to get one to fly.

The best solution would be if I could spend the time to fix my John Deere crawler/loader/backhoe shown in one of the pictures.  It's that big yellow thing.  I have to take the engine out to replace the rear main seal.  Who knows what else I'll find when I have it out.  It's extremely difficult to try to move an engine hoist on dirt which is where the crawler is sitting.  Plus, I can't raise the loader bucket at the moment, I'd have to rig up something to do it with since I have no hydraulic equipment functioning.  With the crawler working I could take my time and do exactly what I want, when I want.  That's why I bought it.  Oh well, live and learn...

Cheers y'all!
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

mesquite buckeye

You could always hook up a tow ball and run it down the hill with a big lawnmower. ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

chain

I've got to do  similar clearing in a "semi-abandoned" graveyard. I say semi-abandoned because one family had all their ancestor's monuments removed years ago to another state. That left a few other markers but terribly grown up in wild grape vines, river cane, sumac, ivy, etc.; a total thicket!

Some folks are coming in December to try and find a particular monument, they have to go through our fields to get to the graveyard, I think they're city folks. ::) I'll take my chain-saw, chopping hoe, brush cutters, and a come-a-long and get with it. Good luck in your project!

OneWithWood

Glen, a good large equipment service should be able to fix your crawler/loader in a day or so and get you back where you want to be.  It would probably be cheaper than hiring the job out and you would have a much needed piece of working equipment back. 
They would bring a service truck that could raise the bucket enough to remove it, then is a fairly simple job to remove the nose and radiator, remove the four bolts holding the engine in place and take the engine into the shop to replace the seal if need be.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Don_Papenburg

And also might be cheaper than renting a loader backhoe.  I think that they could replace the seal right there onsite. In any case it would get your machine running and you could do other jobs that will come up as you build  and do other dirt work.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

grweldon

OWW, Don,

I haven't thought of having someone come and fix it.  Might not be a bad idea, but I believe there are other issues with the engine and even the crawler in general.  I believe the interface between the flywheel and the reverser has issues and most parts are not available.  The steering clutches need to be rebuilt and repaired and I think the undercarriage is in desperate need of attention.

I didn't know much about crawlers in general when I bought it and when the previous owner demonstrated it for me it looked like it would do the job.  He DID disclose the rear-main seal issue but understated how much oil was leaking.  Really, I made a huge mistake buying it.  If I believed the only thing wrong was the rear main seal, I might consider having somebody come and fixt it.  I know seals do go bad and if it's the OEM seal from 1972, I could understand this.  I'm thinking there may be something else that caused the seal to go bad, which translates in to more dollars.

On the other hand it DOES seem like it would make more sense to put $7500 toward repairs to something that I could use all the time than to spend it on a one-time excavation.  I WILL have needs to do more excavation in the future and I certainly have need of the crawler's capabilities.

I'll have to carefully mull this over...  Thanks y'all...

My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

millwright

At least you don't have 16-20" of snow to deal with like we do here

grweldon

No doubt.  I like Alabama much better weather-wise than my birthplace of Michigan!  There are a few other benefits to living here... cheap property taxes, Southern Yellow Pine, and... uh...  maybe that's all!

To me, nothing really beats the lake shores of Michigan and the topography of the state.  I've got the Gulf beaches 3 hours to my south and my daughter lives there, but it doesn't compare to me.  They do have a nice white sand there though which is somewhat attractive.  Also all the critters that live in the sea that I'd prefer not to deal with.

As far as the snow.  Shoveling it was one of my biggest dreads and I really have a disdain for the cold.  It was 28 this morning.  Most winters it will dip below 20 for short periods but during the day it will usually warm up in to the 40s.  Oh well, enough of that though... don't want to turn this into another "the weather" thread!  ;D
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Raider Bill

Glen,
I cut this in with a back hoe. took me 1.5 days to dig it out and move the dirt. That was my first time ever running one.

I did bull doze most of the stumps out before hand though and packed it down by running a dozer back and forth.


  

 
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

grweldon

Bill, you did this with a backhoe?  First time using one?  In 1.5 days?

That's awesome brother!  I'm encouraged.  I posted about getting the JD350 crawler professionally fixed and all of the replies from owners/maintainers of these creatures all recommended against it, giving prices for similar jobs that have been done by professionals.  Most exceed my limit.

I've decided to change my plans and only excavate enough for a level pad for the barn and a 30' perimeter at whatever elevation it ends up being instead of cutting to the level I initially planned.  I'll be able to do this in a short while with a rental backhoe I'm sure.

I have a bunch of stumps that I'll have to dig up with the hoe before I can start leveling.

Thanks y'all for the information.  BTW Bill, great job on the excavation.  I hope mine will turn out that well...
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

grweldon

It was a great weekend to burn, hardly any breeze and scattered showers on Saturday, partly cloudy to mostly sunny on Sunday.  I used some cardboard soaked with a bit of diesel for the first pile.  I just used the Bic lighter for the second and third piles.  Here are a few pictures of the progress I made last weekend.  Notice that all the burn piles are gone.  The transit hasn't moved since the last batch of pictures.  I got quite the workout on Sunday dragging all the unburned pieces to the two fires pictured.  I'm still stiff and sore!  The larger trees (it's all relative, they are large to me!) shown in the pictures are no longer standing as I put them on the ground last night.

I have a backhoe reserved for the day after Christmas until New Years Eve.  I hope I fare as well as Wild Bill when I start digging!  Perka steel frames have been ordered, I have my concrete installer on notice for the 40x48 pad.  Hopefully all will come together at the proper time!


My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Raider Bill

Quote from: grweldon on November 21, 2014, 02:24:12 PM
Bill, you did this with a backhoe?  First time using one?  In 1.5 days?

That's awesome brother!  I'm encouraged.  I posted about getting the JD350 crawler professionally fixed and all of the replies from owners/maintainers of these creatures all recommended against it, giving prices for similar jobs that have been done by professionals.  Most exceed my limit.

I've decided to change my plans and only excavate enough for a level pad for the barn and a 30' perimeter at whatever elevation it ends up being instead of cutting to the level I initially planned.  I'll be able to do this in a short while with a rental backhoe I'm sure.

I have a bunch of stumps that I'll have to dig up with the hoe before I can start leveling.

Thanks y'all for the information.  BTW Bill, great job on the excavation.  I hope mine will turn out that well...

It was a  big John Deere backhoe. The rear scoop was  about 24" wide. I'd back in and tear up the dirt as I drove out then turn around and use the FEL to pull it out. Didn't have to move it far so the job went pretty fast.
The only problem I had is right in the middle of everything I hit a rock the size of Tennessee. Couldn't even get it to quiver even after digging all the way around it to about 6-8 ft. I looked for  picture but can't find one.
I didn't have any stumps and roughed it up with the dozer before coming in with the backhoe.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Magicman

Looking good Glen and I can sympathize with the sore......everything.   :D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Thank You Sponsors!