[Previous entry: "One With The Machine"] [Next entry: "Apple Blossom Time"]

03/28/2010: "Keep On Diggin'"

Click for larger image (opens new window)

I went back down this weekend to work on trenching again... it was a sunny day sandwiched between two weeks of drizzle. The ground was a bit wet still, but I figured it was my only chance in view to push the drainage project forward. The main downside was the need to stop periodically and pry the mud out of the backhoe bucket, as shown above. I learned to stop short of curling the bucket fully so as not to compress the dirt in the bucket; you only have to overshoot it once to pack the bucket so tightly that it is a real bear to get out.

The drainage system works, however; you only need to look in the trenches I dug last week to see the water pooled up. That's all water that will run out to the swale next year, if all goes to plan.


Click for larger image (opens new window)

I refined my technique a bit, though not my speed much. This time I paid more attention to the angle of the bucket top as a clue to where the bucket teeth were pointing. I was working on trying to make sure that the bucket teeth were always pointing in the direction of motion, rather than just relying on gravity and brute force to fill the bucket. As the trench gets deeper its going to get interesting as far as filling the bucket properly; these trenches can be fine-tuned by hand with a shovel if need be, but when the trench is four feet deep in front of the barn I'm not planning on jumping into it!

Hopefully the trenches won't need much hand work. I tried to dig them about two feet deep; I figure on adding soil at the road end to make the barn end deeper. Actually, I am probably going to order in a load of river rock to line the trenches. I only want to do this job once, and I aim to try and keep the lines from silting up through a combination of measures. One is to have definite grade, so that water can flow enough to clear them. Second, I want to surround the pipe with river rock to provide a barrier to soil. And then surround the river rock with a permeable plastic weed barrier.

I was able to dig another two lines, doubling the progress to four 150' trenches. I have one more trench to dig east-west, and then I have to start on digging the connector trench. Hopefully I'll get some dry days in April, or else the rain and the pooled water will wake it impossible to get the grading right.

Here's a view from the barn, looking out into the south yard. Looks good, I'd say.



By the way, I got a new camera, so I'm a bit more enthused about the photographic possibilities at the farm. I'll be making more of the images of the blog available in larger resolutions; photos that have a border with a notation below them are clickable and will open in a new window. It's not much more work, and I think it adds interest to see what's going on in greater detail.