What I did on my Christmas vacation

[ejtaylor822]

Something I enjoy as much as fishing sometimes - is working with (and when necessary -  on - ) my tractor.  Even though I came down from the mountains to the city years ago and work in an office all day, guess I am still just a country boy at heart.

After all the Christmas festivities and traveling settled down, I got some long overdue seat time the past couple of days.  This spring will be putting in an outdoor play set for the little girl.  Going to put this behind the house, roughly where the current tree line is at.  So, the plan is to take down a few trees and do some clearing and leveling out back.  My little girl gets her swing, Mommy doesn't have to trek to the park and Daddy gets seat time on the tractor a win for everyone.

Really want to save a few of the trees, especially my Dogwoods but almost everything else can go.  So, first thing was to do some clearing and knock the smaller trees out of the way.  I would then have some room to lay down the bigger trees and haul them down to the brush pile.  

We have had a lot of rain recently and the ground is soft.  So yesterday I was able to just knock down the 8 to 10 trees and haul them to the brush pile.  Today, however, I was going to have to get off the tractor and do some work  .  One of the first trees I need to take out is a pine that is about 18 dia.  This tree has been dead about a year so the thought was to saw it down leaving about 4' of trunk on the stump, make a few digs then yank it out using the length for extra leverage.

The ol' husqy made short work of taking the tree down.  Got the trunk all cleaned up and hauled off.  I then took out a few scoops from the back of the stump.  Expected the stump/roots to be a little rotted and with a little tugging thought it would just pop right out; especially with the ground so soft.  Pulled around to the other side, hooked the chain to the stump, got back on and started moving forward.  Well, the chain tightened, the tractor stopped, the wheels spun and that rotten stump did not budge not a bit.  Backed up, unhooked the chain and drove around to the other side.  Gave the stump a nudge with the FEL and it didn't move.  Knew it was time to start digging  Oh, how I wish Santa had brought me backhoe..

After about 30 minutes of digging in the soft soil I had the stump loosened pretty good.  The tap was pretty deep and I had to dig down about 3 feet on three sides.  Most of the feeder/runner roots were pretty rotten and dried up.  Ran into a couple about 6 to 8 that I was able to just snap off while digging out.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/ejtaylor822/Play%20set/DSC02713mod.jpg

Another shot of the stump and what was left of the root ball.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/ejtaylor822/Play%20set/DSC02717mod.jpg

Out it came without a single spin or much effort.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/ejtaylor822/Play%20set/DSC02719mod.jpg

Another view of the stump and the hole.  Sure would be nice to have a backhoe.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/ejtaylor822/Play%20set/DSC02722mod.jpg

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Maybe if you get a bigger stocking, Santa could then get you a backhoe.

Nice to see folks who see projects like these as "fun" and not "work". It's all relevant I guess,huh? If you drove a tractor 5 days for a living, you would crave an office job. lol Grass is always greener.

Your little girl must be psyched, seeing the excavation and all the hubub, all just for her and her new swingset. awesome.

Surely post some finished pics.

[ejtaylor822]

Thanks, LBH.  Like I tell my wife - just because I enjoy it, doesn't mean its still not work.

Yes, the grass is always greener.  There are days when I am very thankful for the office job.  But, tractors are more fun that computers anyday.   ;D

Eddie