Larro goes underground

[Larro Darro]

Day before yesterday I decided to start work on a camp on our pond land. A few years back, Sister and I divided that 40 acres, 28 to me and Margie, and 12 to Sister. So the first thing was to step off 132 yards from the north crossroads to get the land line between us.

With that done I started looking for a good site. I wanted a view of the pond without being too close in case of high water. The good high ground is all in the direction of the road, and you don't really want your camp to be visible to passing cars. So I found the crest of the hill where it crosses the road and came back to the south until I could see the pond. You can still see a flash of color when a car passes on the road, but I'll plant some trees to take care of that. I didn't nail down an exact location, but I knew it would be close, so I unloaded all my tools and started thinking about building materials.

I have a couple of tin buildings across the road from the pond that need tearing down, and I was planning to use the tin on the camp. But the drive coming in goes right by the old corn-crib. It's a concrete block building that got most of the front wall knocked down by an oak tree several years back. Building underground had been in the back of my mind all along. I figured block would be about as good as it got for an underground building material. So I backed the truck up and started loading the block off the ground. Soon I was done with them and having to pull blocks from the wall. In two loads, I got 76 whole block and about a dozen half blocks moved.

This was what was left of the front wall {the few upfront}. I was using a 2X6 to "gently" loosen some of the block, but these were more secure.



I got back to it this morning. I worked on the south wall to round out a load. {about 40 block} The south wall is kind of hairy. When the front wall went down, the rafters broke along the top of the wall and the roof made an A-frame. I will have to shore it up before I remove many more blocks. I stopped when I had my load today.



As I was stacking the block on the pile, I found a few rat nests. I'm set for fire starting material now.



When I got the block unloaded I started doing a yard by yard survey to locate the best spot to go underground. This is where I chose. I marked off a 12' X 12' square.

 

[Larro Darro]

With the four corners marked, I broke out the power tools.



. . . . And a few hours later. I'm going to dig down about 4' and use the dirt to create berms.



I'm starting the berm on the west side 12' from where the wall will be. I don't want to shovel any of this dirt twice. Until I start to fill in around the walls that is.



I had wanted to move a cubic yard of dirt today, but I had to go into work early. You can see by my yardstick that I got the 3X3 part plenty big. . . .



But I ran out of time before I got the other X3 done.



I had started the block pile before I picked the exact location, but I got pretty close. After digging this thing out, I'm not going to complain about having to carry the block a few extra yards.

 

[murphy1244]

I don't like tools without motors and that have handles.

 

[Larro Darro]

Around noon I took a break to have a cup of coffee. Since I'm going to be new to the neighborhood, I thought I would go around and say hello to everyone. I couldn't tell if these guys were home, but they didn't answer the door when I knocked.

 

[Larro Darro]

I don't like tools without motors and that have handles.

I'm sure I will be using the tractor to move dirt before it's finished, but with the garden winding down, I need something to fill my time. Digging as much of it as I can by hand will do that in spades. And I love using hand tools. If it is something that I want to do, but don't have to do. If that makes sense.

 

[murphy1244]

That soil looks fun to work with.

 

[Larro Darro]

That soil looks fun to work with.

Yep. Once you get past the roots it's easy digging. I spent far more time carrying the buckets of dirt to dump than I did digging.

 

[farmer2009]

Nice start Larro. I prefer my digging to be more mechanical. Although I guess you could get less mechanical. Laughing. Looking good. How's the water table there?

 

[Larro Darro]

Nice start Larro. I prefer my digging to be more mechanical. Although I guess you could get less mechanical. Laughing. Looking good. How's the water table there?

I have been watching a guy on You Tube build shelters with nothing but a rock and a pointed stick, so good sharp steel is pretty mechanical compared to that But the truth is I want it to blend in with the surroundings, so I'm going to use the tractor as little as I possibly can. {this could be one of the slowest moving threads on TBN}

The pond has held water for over three years now, but it's dropping fast. I think I'm a good 10-12' above the high water mark. The land to the south side of the pond is low, so if we do get high water, it all heads that way.

 

[KevT]

Around noon I took a break to have a cup of coffee. Since I'm going to be new to the neighborhood, I thought I would go around and say hello to everyone. I couldn't tell if these guys were home, but they didn't answer the door when I knocked.

View attachment 443238

Looks like a Gopher Turtle nest. Be careful of both the Government and nature. Big fines for disturbing land with in 100' of nest (govmt part) and they share their nests with Rattle Snakes (nature part).

 

[Larro Darro]

Looks like a Gopher Turtle nest. Be careful of both the Government and nature. Big fines for disturbing land with in 100' of nest (govmt part) and they share their nests with Rattle Snakes (nature part).

We have a couple of Gopher holes between the house and the graveyard that I have to mow around. This hole might have started out as a Gopher hole, but looking at all the leaves on the bottom of the hole {where the Gopher would slide down} tells me it is home to something else now. You can tell the Gopher is in the hole by the slide marks. When he is out there will be scratch marks where he climbed out.

 

[Larro Darro]

Margie took the day off, and we spent it in Panama City shopping. So all I had was three hours of daylight to work on the campsite when we got in. And then it started raining, so I only got in about two hours of work. But the rain did make my smudge fire extra smudgy. A good smudge and a good soaking rain. Good omens.

 

[Duwop]

I've pulled up a chair, you being the master of espionage and all that doublenawt heart pumping mechanical tools sort of stuff along with the technical prowess with a hoe I've settled in for the long or short tale of the swamp cabin. All pun intended. All kidding aside as your other threads have captivated me I'm looking forward to how this tale ends if it does.

 

[Xfaxman]

I also am reading and watching with interest. :thumbsup:

 

[Larro Darro]

Thanks guys. Day two on the shovel didn't go as smooth. After all the time I spent pulling roots yesterday, I am leaning toward scooping off the top foot or two with the tractor. There will still be plenty of heart pounding dirt to move after that.

 

[Larro Darro]

I had an hour and a half this morning before work to devote to the campsite. When the rain caught me out on Friday, I had cut quite a few Yaupon, so I trimmed them up and stacked the stuff that was big enough for fire wood in a pile. Then I made three brush piles with the small stuff.



With the brush cleaned out, you could see my old tree stand better. It was many years ago when I last used it. There is nothing left but the ladder. The main deer trail is about 35 yards west of the campsite. I may build a small shooting house before the season starts.



I know I said I was going to do as much as I could by hand, but I did use the 3930 and disc to soften things up a little. Digging was much easier afterward.

 

[Larro Darro]

I moved a little dirt yesterday. After doing a block count, I'm thinking of going to 18X12.

 

[Xfaxman]

I think that I am seeing some wear and tear showing on the shovel.

 

[txdon]

Larro, at what depth do you hit clay?

 

[Larro Darro]

Larro, at what depth do you hit clay?

That is a good question. I'll let you know when I find out. Out at the road at the crest of the hill, there is red clay just below the surface. I don't know if it is the remains of when they used to use clay on dirt roads, or if it is there naturally.