[BikerPepe`]

Hope it all goes well for you bud. Snap a pic of two for us when the muzzled construction crew shows up to start making your vision, reality.

 

[cobrajoe]

No muzzled construction crews for a while. I spoke to my neighbor yesterday and I can use the excavator when I come back from hunting. I'll stump the trees first and then dig the foundation. Once I get that done and back filled, I'll probably wait until spring to build, all along hoping the price of materials comes down.

 

[MS88Bronc]

Better get digging before the ground freezes! I want to build a deck on my back porch, and just for a simple pedestal footing for the corners of the deck, I have to dig down a minimum of 48” to get below the frost line.

Way different from my old home in SC! Lol

 

[Festus]

I don't know how I missed this thread. Very sorry for the loss of your Dad. Sounds like you have been through a lot of soul searching over the past few months.

 

[cobrajoe]

Thanks Festus, slowly starting to figure things out.....

 

[cobrajoe]

Well, I got it all stumped (sorry, no pictures, I was doing it after work and kept running out of daylight) and I ripped up the concrete pad I had for my trailer. First load getting ready to go. one or two more loads and I can start digging my foundation; well....as soon as I get my building permit.

 

[TS 90F150]

Don't know how I have missed this thread. I think I have spoken about the loss of your dad before, but again, I am sorry for your loss. I know it has to be hard.

I understand wanting to be less indebted, but having all the work you do into a beautiful Bronco I would truly hate to see you sell it. It is only money, just borrow it. lol

Yeah, old age creeps up very fast. I have a retaining wall I built 15.5 years ago. The "blocks" weigh 80lbs each. A section of it fell this early fall near deer season. I still haven't put it back cause damn is it a lot harder than the first time.


Best of luck either way, and I promise to try not to be a stranger.

tim

 

[cobrajoe]

Thanks Tim, gonna see how far my money takes me.
I hope to start digging for the foundation in a week or two.

 

[TS 90F150]

Good luck. Keep us posted.

tim

 

[cobrajoe]

Well, I started stripping the loam off before I started digging for my foundation and I wanted to remove my old D box from my septic system while I was at it.
I have always had about a 4' X 6'-8' area of grass that would burn every August as there was only a couple of inches of loam on top of it. Hey, the garage is going to be pretty much on over it, so now's the time.
What I wasn't expecting as I started uncovering it was finding this 30' long monstrosity:

 

[cobrajoe]

I had never seen anything like that in my life so I sent a pic to a friend who does excavation work and he asked me what it was,..... not a good sign.
I told him it was my leaching field distribution box and he asked me why it was so big...again, not the answer I wanted to hear.
I opted to try and see if it had a cover I could lift of and after a few minutes of work, I was surprised.
Within an hour, i had removed three of these D boxes and was surprised to see that there were no pipes going out to a leaching field, just these empty boxes surrounded by sand and pea stone. I later found out that these systems were used years ago in areas with a high water table, like living on the ocean.

 

[cobrajoe]

I was pleasantly surprised to see how "clean" it was under them as I had visions of digging and burying some "brownies"

 

[cobrajoe]

I spent a little time breaking them up to get rid of them. Amazing how they reduced to a small pile of rubble:

 

[El Kabong]

Congrats on them not being a big deal. No brownies or bodies is a good thing.

 

[leatherneck]

I haven't heard of that type of system, how many hours do you have working an excavator...looks like it's not your first time.
Also like your new avatar, not crazy about Clooney tho...if that is him. Don't like his Politics.

 

[cobrajoe]

Thanks, not much really....maybe 6-10 hours of seat time over the years; spent more time in a skid steer. I just like playing with them, and it saves me a bunch of money too. My neighbor has been more than generous over the years in allowing me to use them.
It's Clooney, I like him as an actor, but like you, I hate his political views, as I do with most of Hollywood.
The only celebrity I agree with on Political views, is Kurt Russell:

Kurt Russell wishes his fellow Hollywood players would keep their traps shut when it comes to politics, so they can remain the “court jesters” he believes they all are.

“As far as I’m concerned, you should step away from saying anything so that you can still be seen by the audience in any character,” the 69-year-old told the New York Times this week. “There’s no reason entertainers can’t learn just as much as anybody else about a subject, whatever it is. But I think that what’s sad about it is that they lose their status as a court jester.

“And I’m a court jester. That’s what I was born to do.”

 

[leatherneck]

Thanks, not much really....maybe 6-10 hours of seat time over the years; spent more time in a skid steer. I just like playing with them, and it saves me a bunch of money too. My neighbor has been more than generous over the years in allowing me to use them.
It's Clooney, I like him as an actor, but like you, I hate his political views, as I do with most of Hollywood.
The only celebrity I agree with on Political views, is Kurt Russell:

Kurt Russell wishes his fellow Hollywood players would keep their traps shut when it comes to politics, so they can remain the “court jesters” he believes they all are.

“As far as I’m concerned, you should step away from saying anything so that you can still be seen by the audience in any character,” the 69-year-old told the New York Times this week. “There’s no reason entertainers can’t learn just as much as anybody else about a subject, whatever it is. But I think that what’s sad about it is that they lose their status as a court jester.

“And I’m a court jester. That’s what I was born to do.”

Well, all I can say is you leaned fast...and a skid steer is a whole different animal. Nice to have good neighbors..

Glad K. Russell has that view of his role...always liked his films and Clooney's also...Jon Voight doesn't beat around the bush as far as his political views which is refreshing to know...for me at least. Stay safe.

 

[cobrajoe]

Glad I worked late and stripped the loam off last night, 1.5" of rain between last night & today:

 

[leatherneck]

Rain and result of rain, mud, makes it a lot harder when using heavy equipment. I had Dozers and would rent Trackhoe's when needed and tried to work year around. Wide track Dozer greatly enhanced that ability.

When you mentioned skid steer, I was thinking of a Skidder for logging. Front and rear tires will move independently...
those are the different animal I was referring to.

Putting in the late hours probably saved you a lot of misery if you had to deal with the effects of ground soaked soil today.
You've got the touch as a machine operater...looks good.

 

[cobrajoe]

thanks, here is the end result today....