Physics@$%^&*

[Cody Colston]

I live on a side-hill.
The top three feet or so of soil is sand.
We had record rains during June.
Water runs downhill. (along with some other stuff)
Running water carries unconsolidated soil with it.

That's basically how the Grand Canyon and the gully alongside my driveway were both formed. Last week, the UPS guy (a young pup, not the regular) backed into that ditch and LOML said it took 3 hrs to get him out.

So today, I had 8 yards of topsoil hauled in to fill up the gully. Been shoveling 30 minutes and cooling off for 60. :)

Well, it's about time to hook up the home-made drag to my lawn tractor and level it all out.

Cody


An amateur built the Ark
PROFESSIONALS built the Titanic

[WoodMangler]

Sounds like it's time to mix some portland sand and lime in with that topsoil.... }>

[dicklaxt]

Now what you going to do if it starts raining again?Why don't you fill with bank sand and sod wall to wall,,,,,,,,,,, done with the washout problems. Karen can lay the sod while you are off shore.}>

dick

[DaveZ]

I heard Evel Knievel's kid was thinking about a rocket jump over your gully , Cody. Might wanna consider the endorsement money before you fill it in :)

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[Sonny Edmonds]

Well, what the heck was the matter with the dumb driver that he couldn't spread that load for you?
And boy! You think we drive bad out here in California! At least we can dodge a ditch or spread a load.
(I didn't say a load of what though!) :7

My Bro's Mom, early in her 90's, told me, "If you own a home, you always have something to do."
Rejoice in that you have something to do. ;)

:D

[link:www.sonnyedmonds.com | Sonny Edmonds] http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/vortex_smiley.gif
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God!

The real problem is the fool behind the tool. :o*
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[Cody Colston]

Sonny,

I'm rejoicing in that I have it all leveled out. All it needs now is about 2 pallets of Saint Augustine grass and watering every day.

Dick,

That's a great idea about having Karen lay the sod. I'm gonna work on that. :)

Dave,

I heard Jim Rome inteview Evel Knievel Sr. the other day when driving home from Houston. That guy is still a M.A.N.

Back when, Evel took a baseball bat and broke a guy's arms that was writing some stuff about Evel that he didn't like. When Rome asked him if he would do things differently now, Evel said "Yeah, I'd send somebody else to do it."

He still puts on these "Ride With Evel Knievel" things where bikers from all over get to go on a ride with him. Does it all over the country and he's gotta be pushing eighty.

I could even get into that, I think :)

Cody


An amateur built the Ark
PROFESSIONALS built the Titanic

[TDHofstetter]

'S that drag made outta' bedframes? They make GREAT drags - they're turbul hard steel, and they last a LONG time.

Ya can make all sortsa' neat stuff outta' old castoff bedframes. :)

-- Tim --




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[HotFlash]

Gravity - it's the law.

[Sawduster]

Timmer,
You talkin 'bout them Hollywood bed frames? That's what my overhead lumber rack is made from, Chopped it up, drilled holes where they was needed, punched through the ceiling next to the truss ties and lagbolted that puppy to the joists, It is some veritable hard stuff.

Man, Cody, too bad you didn't say earlier you needed some sod. I just ripped up a swatch about 5 feet wide and 60 ft long or so from the side of the house to put in a sidewalk and garden there. Used one of them sod cutters to cut it off of the dirt and used some to fill in a bare spot I had in the back. The rest got hauled out to the place I take my leaves and tree trimmings and such. Coulda been a good excuse for me to go out to that part of E. Texas.

While I was at it, I installed a Non-French drain for the condensation line from the AC. That area was a swamp all summer. It seems to have solved the ankle sucking muck problem there, even with all of the rain we had last month.

When I first moved into my house I had 12 yards of sandy loam brought in to the back yard to spread before I started putting down the sod. Round here we got that black clay stuff and limestone within about two inches of the surface, so had to put in something for the sod to latch onto. Lucky they hadn't started building the house next door so I pulled out one fence post and two sections of fence to get the dump truck into the backyard. I ordered a bit more than I thought I needed, and that pile didn't seem to shrink a bit as I spread it out with a wheel barrow and shovel. Finally used the last of it about a year later to backfill behind a retaining wall I built to extend the patio. If I ever have to push a wheel barrow oad of dirt again it'll be too soon.

[Cody Colston]

My "drag" is a piece of 4" re-mesh that is folded over twice to about 3' x 4' size. I stapled a couple of crosstie sections on top for weight and have a 1/2" nylon braided rope that I pull it with.

It wasn't quite heavy enough to knock down the higher mounds, so I got Karen to sit on it while I pulled it over the high spots and then get off so that it would leave the dirt in the lower places. Worked great. :)

Cody


An amateur built the Ark
PROFESSIONALS built the Titanic

[dicklaxt]

Did you tell her you needed some more weight on the drag and she was it or were you more diplomatic? You must have been, as she helped you out }>m

dick

[TDHofstetter]

Not just a good idea... :) :) :)

-- Tim --




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