DIY Drainage Work

Qball

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Been working on this during this week off and on. We had our front porch steps redone and there was no avoiding getting our dry creek bed, aka french drain, tore up from the small loader they had to use to get the cement and mortar up to the porch. But this little excavator makes it easy to get it back in shape.

Btw, if anyone needs quality brick work done in the Triad area, send me a PM and I'll give you the name of the company that built these steps for us. I knew the first day they showed up that I made a good choice. This one guy was a genius with this. He had what I wanted pictured in his head and it turned out excellent. Very pleased with their work. Takes a while to get them to do the work after getting quoted, but after seeing the quality job they do, I can see why.


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@Slappy McTrigger needs you and your excavator over at his place for this same thing!

I finished using it yesterday evening and turned it back in this afternoon. Wish I owned one. Handy little machine and strong as well. It weighs 2500 lbs.
 
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Damn Dave, I just hired a heavy equipment operator for my crew. You should’ve applied
 
Good lookin brickwork.

Love a mini excavator, neighbor owns one.
 
Damn Dave, I just hired a heavy equipment operator for my crew. You should’ve applied

You wouldn't want me. I'd be that guy that buried that big excavator in the mud at that one jobsite you posted about.:D

Quick funny story. One summer evening back in the early '80's, my brother was out at a strip mine up in WV working on a great big 8000 series Allison transmission in one of those gigantic wheel loaders. The ones that load rocks and dirt in those humongous rock trucks. Anyway, he climbed up the ladder, sat down and started it up. He forgot he parked the nice new 1 ton Chevy 4wd pickup that we just purchased beside this end loader. He turned the wheel and that huge tire knocked the crap out of that truck. Fortunately, he hit the back end of the truck and not the front. We ended up replacing the entire bed. Dad wasn't too pleased when he found out.:D
 
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@Burt Gummer

This was dropped off today. Now that I got the ditch dug out, I need to put down about 12 - 15 tons of 4" - 6" river jack. I rented a 5000 lb lift but they didn't have one available. So they discounted the rate on a 6000 lb lift and sent me this monster. I didn't realize it was going to be that much bigger than the 5000 lb one I've rented in the past. The top of the tires on this thing come up to the door mirrors on my Jeep. Lol.

It'll be handy however unloading that rock and using that boom to shoot it out where I need it.:)


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@Burt Gummer

This was dropped off today. Now that I got the ditch dug out, I need to put down about 12 - 15 tons of 4" - 6" river jack. I rented a 5000 lb lift but they didn't have one available. So they discounted the rate on a 6000 lb lift and sent me this monster. I didn't realize it was going to be that much bigger than the 5000 lb one I've rented in the past. The top of the tires on this thing come up to the door mirrors on my Jeep. Lol.

It'll be handy however unloading that rock and using that boom to shoot it out where I need it.:)


View attachment 27123

Good to use to trim limbs with also
 
Wow. That's crazy flooding right there. Nope. Don't think I can help out with that one. lol.
 
So QBall, can you do anything to help this drainage issue.... it was the Boone Mall earlier today. It gets like this every time it rains hard.


Did you take that video?
 
Good to use to trim limbs with also

The boom lift I rented a few weeks ago was perfect for tree trimming. Not sure about tree trimming with this telehandler. I guess if you used the forks to knock down branches it would work.
 
The boom lift I rented a few weeks ago was perfect for tree trimming. Not sure about tree trimming with this telehandler. I guess if you used the forks to knock down branches it would work.
You stand on the forks with a saw and let the wife raise you up
 
Dave a basket on the forks makes the limb trimming a piece of cake we do it pretty frequently just recommend you get a driver you trust or on good terms with.

I will say you might want to watch the larger machine on your side walks and driveway it could be rough on it, they get pretty heavy quick with larger ones and might make the concrete crack if not careful.
 
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Look at the source of the original comment a guy without the big hazard, the wife.

My wife is nervous to operate the skid steer...but if I'm in the bucket doing something she isn't nervous anymore.... screwed up right? haha
 
Dave a basket on the forks makes the limb trimming a piece of cake we do it pretty frequently just recommend you get a driver you trust or on good terms with.

I will say you might want to watch the larger machine on your side walks and driveway it could be rough on it, they get pretty heavy quick with larger ones and might make the concrete crack if not careful.

Oh I'm sure this thing would be great for tree trimming. But I'm not going to get on those forks in a basket or anything else, especially if my wife is running it.:D If I could control it from the forks like on a boom lift I would. Yeah, I agree about being careful with it on the driveway. I've had heavy equipment on it before with good luck so far. I'll just run it slow and avoid getting it to bounce. Thanks.
 
@Qball

You're doing good work. A lot of people that make changes to landscape often forget about water. Keep in mind that whatever you 'think' the flow would be, double the capacity of your work. Once the flow exceeds the capacity the damage could be exponential.

I have a job this weekend and the owner questioned the project requirements. After explaining, he agreed on the extra materials. The labor was the same but the outcome years after were solid.

-R
 
@QballKeep in mind that whatever you 'think' the flow would be, double the capacity of your work. Once the flow exceeds the capacity the damage could be exponential.

-R

And sometimes tripling and even quadrupling the estimated flow doesn't work lol.

I had a constant flow from a creek/drainage ditch of 12 inches across and 2 inches deep. I talked to a couple of engineers and they told me a 2 foot pipe would be more than sufficient. I put in a 3 foot pipe. Literally 2 days after I finished all of the work, landscaping etc we got a 100 year storm. I had a 3 foot water, high pressure water hose.

In just that one storm, it blew out a hole on the back side of the pipe that was 20 feet long, 30 feet across and 15 feet deep. I tore the pipe out, built a bridge and had to haul in 4 loads of bolders and dirt to fill the hole back in and keep it from washing back out.
 
Well, after a long wet and cold winter, not to mention a bunch of other stuff going on, I finally got it finished. I still have a couple of pallets of rock to put down on the back side of the house. I'll have that knocked out in a few days weather permitting.

48,000 lbs of 4 - 7" river rock when the backside is finished. I used my Outlander to get it up the hill, then I carried it in a 5 gallon bucket and laid it down by hand. The ATV wouldn't fit back behind the house without tearing up the landscape.

What is underneath all of that rock? Rubber pond liner. Very strong and will block anything growing from below. My son, one of his friends, and myself put down the pond liner a month or two ago. I was able to observe during periods of rain how the water would flow and if there were any low spots with puddling. Only one area near the porch steps needed adjusting with some dirt.

Out back, before we laid the pond liner, I put down 6000 lbs of dirt to get the elevation correct. It has never been right since we built the house and had a professional landscaper do the work back there 13 years ago. Sometimes you have to do things yourself to get it done right.

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Wow...that looks awesome! Great job!


Thanks. There's folks that could have done it much faster, but I took my time and it paid off. Besides, the weather wasn't the greatest for this type of work this past winter.
 
Wow, awesome job, Dave.
 
Dave, I’m telling ya, I’m gonna be hiring an operator soon :D
 
I'll take it! :D
 
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