CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[brokensword]

Well - I'm waiting for life to settle down a bit and for me to wake up one morning younger, stronger, and with more energy! Ha ha!!! Seriously, though -- I started digging (IN 2019!) with more enthusiasm than money. I bought some of the supplies as I saved for them and kept on digging that giant hole. (Honestly very fun and satisfying!) Then - to reference the kids' books - came A Series of Unfortunate Events. A temporary pay cut. A giant deep freeze that started a slow death, requiring me to spend my rock money to avoid losing my groceries. A month-long illness for me. A very serious and life-threatening illness for a young person in our family. Then a month spent out of state helping an elderly family member through surgery and a 3 week hospital stay. Everyone seems OK as of now, Thank God. But it has been exhausting and very stressful. I'm hoping for brighter days ahead and I'm trying to exercise every day to get some of my strength (and enthusiasm) back. The plan right now is to use these Dog Days in the air conditioning lifting light weights and getting some muscle back. (It's starting to work!) After the leaves have fallen and it's cool again, my plan is to do the pond!!!!!!!

awww, so sorry @bagsmom ; I didn't know. I was just poking fun popping in on peeps and sort of being the spur of the ponding ride. Glad life seems to have settled back into some comfort for you. Looking forward to your Autumn zeal rejuvenation event! LOSSA PICS! Even if you have to set your cam on time lapse on a fence nearby!

 

[bagsmom]

awww, so sorry @bagsmom ; I didn't know. I was just poking fun popping in on peeps and sort of being the spur of the ponding ride. Glad life seems to have settled back into some comfort for you. Looking forward to your Autumn zeal rejuvenation event! LOSSA PICS! Even if you have to set your cam on time lapse on a fence nearby!

No worries whatsoever!!!! It was just literally a series of things that had to come first, before the fun backyard project! I'm crossing my fingers and saying prayers some smooth sailing ahead! And I'm sure CW's progress will get me fired up to get creative again! That little excavator looks like big fun!!!!!

 

[GBBUDD]

Ok so it's not the size that got me with a good laugh nor was it your post "SO MUCH" but the COLOR and coming from the west coast, where things seem to have gone haywire did get me chuckling but again color doesn't get the work done. And it beats a gold plated oak handle shovel any day. The big bad bummer is there is no thumb when working by your self the thumb is beyond helpful. I'm sure you have seen endless slings ? shackles ? There is one other tool i found very helpful and that was a log hauler it's tongs for hauling logs there's a pic of it in my blog. maybe worth the buck to rent or buy one . All depends on THE SIZE OF your rock HERES THE PAGE I WAS REFERING TO ITS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE THOUGH in the pic i am not using it as how i was refering to how handy it is . in that pic having the rotating head was helpful but i picked the rock with a sling instead of the tongs as it was heading to the bottom and the pond was deeper then i could reach

Going for it! phase one 12,000 gallon pond.

Looking awesome. I didn't realize how wide around it is. You might want take that extention cord out of the water though. No water my good man and that's due to the cord as it is hooked up to THE BUG a cheap little water pump to keep the water level down and this little thing does a pretty good...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[combatwombat]

@brokensword / @GBBUDD: the only description I use for this machine is “free.” That’s better than any other adjective. Of course, I’ll give our friend a chunk of change for letting me use it, but I get it for basically as long as I want + the dump trailer with no expectation of payment. Pretty good deal.

The machine has a mechanical thumb (no hydraulics) that isn’t here. I plan to just strap everything.

As for color, that’s how it came off the factory line. It’s a Komatsu.

if/when I need to set bigger boulders w/ a further reach, I’ll rent a really big machine for a day.

 

[GBBUDD]

free.” That’s better than any other adjective

Thats what the gold plated shovel was referring to hydrolic beats man power hands down. I have seen many a komatsu never one so vivid. Again if you move the handle and it moves thats a score. And the 6 ton dump trailer, man good friend. Might be worth having it installed for them and you. If its just a pinched line etc .

 

[combatwombat]

Might be worth having it installed for them and you. If its just a pinched line etc .

It's not a hydraulic malfunction, unfortunately. There is no accessory line to run a thumb at all. His is the kind that you weld on and it works via gravity. Watched some youtube videos about how they work and I don't think I'd feel too comfortable using that type of thumb over a pond liner. Not with my skill, anyway. Wish he'd brought it along, though. My dad is a welder and I might have been able to get him to install it.

The log grapple is an interesting idea. My dad suggested the same. I have to stop by the logging supply store in my folks town before long to pick up some more culvert. Maybe they'll have one I can rent.

 

[brokensword]

It's not a hydraulic malfunction, unfortunately. There is no accessory line to run a thumb at all. His is the kind that you weld on and it works via gravity. Watched some youtube videos about how they work and I don't think I'd feel too comfortable using that type of thumb over a pond liner. Not with my skill, anyway. Wish he'd brought it along, though. My dad is a welder and I might have been able to get him to install it.

The log grapple is an interesting idea. My dad suggested the same. I have to stop by the logging supply store in my folks town before long to pick up some more culvert. Maybe they'll have one I can rent.

Hey CW, bet you can't wait to be done so such as myself gets off your back, huh! Ha, then YOU can join in the fun as we DO LOVE to watch others work!

Looking good, though. A huge thumbs up!

 

[Jhn]

Niiice, color could definitely use some work, Kinda tiny too, but I would use that too if I could get it for free. Definitely better off with out using the mechanical thumb, for the obvious reasons. Use one all the time on a much larger machine, it doesn’t happen often, but occasionally a rock will squirt out of the thumb, happens on hydraulic thumbs too.

Haha the dreaded logging hook/tongs….when I was much younger remember dragging 20’ long piles around with a 2 man logging hook. Thank god, for excavators now…the crap we did to get work done when I was younger, that excavators and attachments do now….makes my work so much easier.

 

[combatwombat]

@brokensword: I am indeed ready to make some more progress.

@Jhn: I love the color! Unique. It’s definitely smaller than I thought. I read that the specs on it were 6k lb but this looks smaller. The top # on the chart in the cab says 2090 kg but all the labels are in Chinese so I really have no idea what any of it means.

 

[GBBUDD]

A fyi any boulder the size of a beach ball will be an potential issue for that machine when extended you'll learn as you go.

Just met a woman who just left your area she did not have a good experience with all the summer of love out there her home was burned and armed hoodies were all over her town poor woman could see she had been traumatized.

 

[combatwombat]

I’m going to practice picking up big rocks in the yard for a good while before I try to do it over the hole.

maybe it really is a 6k machine, though. I saw a Jd 35g today, which is a 10k machine, and it also looked smaller than I remembered.

 

[addy1]

Having fun watching! My lil kubota did everything I needed, but it was heavy enough to handle huge rocks.

 

[GBBUDD]

Just rember cw the speed / throttle does everyting travel speed and equipment speed

 

[combatwombat]

Back on that "cover material" for the cistern..

What do you all think of using 2x6 composite decking? I would lay it out across the top layer of crates to tie them together and then cover w/ about 12" of soil. Found a guy close by who just demo'd an old composite deck and is looking to get rid of his boards.

 

[GBBUDD]

YOU SURE THEY ARE 2X6? 5/4 by 6 would be my guess usualy the decking is composite and 2x6 would be very heavy stuff. but either way it would help to display the weight across to the supports of the milk crates