Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Just Plum Tired! Container Update - Buried (Picture Heavy)

It's taken me three days to finally get around to posting.  I have lots of things in my head for posts, but after this extra long weekend, I'm living in a fog of too much sun, and too much physical labor.

Our weekend started out Friday afternoon, anticipating the arrival of a rented bobcat.  I was told by the rental company it's not called a bobcat, it's called a skid steer.  "Bobcat" is a name brand.  Any idea why she chose to correct me?  If she knew what I was talking about, why did it matter?

As we approached the end of the delivery window, I called to find out where it was.  Yep, you guessed it, I was told it wasn't on its way, it has mechanical problems and wouldn't be available.  Now, why did I have to call to find this out?  So I pushed a bit harder to see if there was anything else she could deliver and her first response (and easiest for most people) is "sorry no". 

I proceeded to explain we had a number of people already at The Compound prepared to begin work, and without a piece of equipment all of our time and expense getting there was out the window.  Magically it seems, there was in fact another piece of equipment we could get.  It took some wrangling on their part, but we ended up with a John Deer tractor.  (Sorry Preppy, no cute girls posing in my tractor photo!)


Unfortunately, about 30 minutes before it showed up, it began to rain.  This rain along with the rain from the past week or so made for a real mess!  The delivery driver got stuck and wouldn't let us help him get out, he waited over an hour for someone to drive over with a pick up truck and pull him out.




But the guys were up to the challenge.  That container was going to get buried come hell or high water (literally)!  The thought of not getting it done and having to shovel and move dirt by hand just wasn't an option.  Besides, they could hardly wait to get on that tractor! They worked until 3am Saturday morning.  The first few hours were spent just filling in the low wet spots so we could move the tractor around.

 
Saturday morning the Moose and I were up by 7am and started our normal chores.  The boys followed a couple hours later, and the rest of our group showed up shortly after.  We worked until around 3pm and took a short break for lunch and a quick nap.  Then the guys were back on the tractor, moving dirt again until midnight.  Folks it took a tremendous amount of dirt for this project.  In excess of about 25 loads, from what I can figure.  Yes, some of it was spread out to make it easier to move the eqpt, but in the long run it will also help solve some of our standing water issues.









There's a bit more to do along the front of the container, but until we have the solar panel array set up, that's on hold at this point.  There is already a huge difference in temperature inside the container.  That was our goal, have a place to store reserve inventory in a temperature controlled space.

Again, we were up early Sunday morning and began work on a "house" for the air conditioning units that are inside the container.  (More on those later)  But the units stick out of course, and they can not be covered with dirt, so we built a house over the top of them.  It has also been surrounded by dirt and a thin layer on the shingled roof.  The Moose also installed a vent for the hot air to vacate the space.

They also got back on the tractor finished moving dirt and moved our mulch and wood piles.  Reworked the shooting range and backdrop a bit.  They worked with the tractor until late Sunday afternoon. 

When all was said and done, they put on 25 hours with the tractor as well as a lot of man hours moving and raking dirt by hand.  All of us are plum tired out!  But ever so glad this project, a year in the making is just about done.  Next is shelving inside, and setting up the solar panel array and control box.

So in the end, it was actually a God send that we got a tractor rather than the "skid steer".  Someone was looking out for us! 

11 comments:

  1. Izzy,

    It sounds like you made good use of this tractor. What a shame, if you didn't call the rental place you would have never known, and would have been without the tools you needed to do the heavy work. I'm glad you called, you and your family, and friends got a lot done. The place looks great, and now I can't tell you have a container :-)

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    1. Thanks Sandy! The place will look even better in a few months when as you know, the FL jungle will take over.

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  2. That is a lot of work, my friend! Glad it all worked out...why are we amazed? Truly a God thing!
    xo Lisa

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    1. Maybe I should have said, we were grateful instead of amazed. Truly, I was having a conversation with God earlier in the day asking "why of all days he had to let it rain" last Friday. He knew it was going to rain, and the bobcat wasn't going to help us accomplish what we needed. So, he gave us the better option. So I am amazed at how he works in our lives, and grateful he saw fit to help us out on this one!

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  3. So happy that you all got that project done. I know its such a satisfying feeling when you reach a goal that has been an ongoing project...there is a sense of accomplishment and finality. I agree that "someone" was looking out for you all and made a way for you all to do some other needed things! He will make a way when there seemeth to be no way! :o)

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    1. That is so true. I was told once that in God's original Hebrew language, there is no word for coincidence, which means it does not exist. It is all part of a plan, nothing happens just randomly. We have so much to be thankful for.

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  4. Looks like all your hard work has paid off. Mini loaders will always be "Bobcats" they are the first, copiers are always "Xerox", soda will be pop in the north and etc. Now begs the million dollar question....What kind of landscaping are you planning?? Grass, trees, bushes?? I would hate to see all that dirt wash away.

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    1. Rob, we are planning on bushes primarily. I want them to be useful, so likely blueberries, or other fruit bearing bushes, small trees. We have solar panels going up on top, and we don't want to block the sun in any way, so it has to be manageable. We may plant some citrus along the backside, I'm also considering some aloe plants which need very little maintenance.

      Give it a few weeks to a month and it will likely be covered in an aggressive weed/vine of some sort. We are constantly battling them along the edge of the garden.

      Thanks for tagging along.

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  5. That tractor just doesn't look right with out a girl hanging on it, maybe PP could send one to your place for a few days, he has lots of them you know.
    That was a job no matter what equipment by any name was used.

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    1. The first thing I thought of when the tractor pulled in was it's missing something; a girl for Preppy! Yes, it was a tremendous amount of work. Glad it's behind us.

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  6. Sadly my quest to find my own models for the tractors never seems to pan out so I have to hunt the internet and swipe them when I see them. Luckily pretty girls who are not in my personal presence seem to love to pose on tractors. I guess the truth is I must be the anti-tractor girl guy.

    God now you guys have made me depressed. :(

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