Magnatrac with new power plant

[LXT]

Well, last I posted the Kohler engine was giving me some issues so i decided to put a new power plant in the machine. HF was having a great sale on the 22 hp Predator motors so for $849 I bought one. this required some modification to the "firewall" area of the machine, some longer Hyd hoses a coupler with mount and a little modification here & there.

I did have a buddy fab me up a guard to cover the Hyd motor & it's on (just no pic) any way I have been running the predator for 2+ months now & so far so good, power wise no difference & the fact that I dont have to worry about the engine just stopping in the middle of a job is a plus. this is an older machine & I have done a lot of work with it, last year graded for above ground pool for granddaughter, moved and spread more #4 rock than I wanted to & am currently digging out to put in a basement door (will post pic), so I need this lil guy for the foreseeable future and a new engine will mean more projects get done (momma will be happy) - Just thought I'd share in case someone out there was interested.

 

[LXT]

My current project, I have dug it down more & had to switch over to the front loader hoe to reach down deeper, now I have around 25+ tons of dirt on the side to deal with - LOL, gonna put versa Loks on each side to retain and paver walk with versa lok steps - this will be an all summer job, im currently figuring the drainage aspects out on this project , I now at the footer & founf the old terra cotta french drain - doesnt look to be a working french drain???? I have the interior french drain in the basement so not sure what to do with what I found.

gonna put in a trough drain and feed any accumulated water to a sump & pump it to the yard, might tie the terra cotta in to this system - if any one has done this................... advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sandman2234]

I have never understood how you keep water out of a basement. Don't have anyway to learn around here because almost nobody has a basement!
David from jax

 

[ultrarunner]

Build it like a swimming pool in reverse and if grade is with you a drainage system to daylight for backup.

Had a home once with a sump which did a great job until the power went out and 6” of water pooled up…

Had a plan to drain from sump to daylight but got an offer too good to pass up so sold the place… with a new sump pump of course.

 

[LXT]

Ultrarunner,

Yeah, no power would be a problem - can't ditch pipe to daylight as the elevation is too low & I dont think my neighbor who owns the property I'd have to evacuate out onto would like that, as well I have Electrical id have to ditch under.

I'm trying to put the door in to have all swimming pool users go into the basement to use the rest room instead of using our upstairs restrooms - kids ya know. I'm retaining the wall with versloks & going to put in pavers with pitch away from door to a trough drain which will basically back feed the water to a sump basin & pump to send water through Sch 40 - 2-inch pvc behind the wall to evacuate to daylight in the yard driveway area.

I really dont see any other options, I'm good with the hard scape as I owned a tree & Landscape service for years & did many projects (working for utility now). but im not a drainage expert, I've worked with some & watched what they did but doing with knowledge is different than doing with hope that it will work & that's what I'm going through. I've mentioned this plan to many & I've gotten positive feedback so we`ll see!!!!

Ill update as I move forward - as for the machine - runs like a champ & the front loader trenching Hoe has helped big time, I know many on here kind of laugh & think it's a toy but I'll tell ya its better than a shovel & surprises many that I know, it's a niche piece of equipment for sure - my biggest problem is people who want me to do jobs for them that they can't find anyone with a machine to access their project to do it all the while I'm doing my own projects & dont have time.

watch....... I'll have time and no side work will be available, LOL

 

[LXT]

Well Thought id provide an update, got all the hand work done and the drain / evacuation lines (2inch PVC 40) a buddy of mine is a hydro geologist and I presented him my idea which turned out he thought was pretty good (imagine that).

Had to use the magna trac to widen the area by the door for the sump, I've gotten further recently & am getting ready to install the door within the day or two, cleaning out that was a PITA but I parked the machine up top & hand loaded the bucket, no matter how small the machine there is always hand work when digging. ill keep updating as I go but thankfully I got the machine to get it done, just the aggregate, cleanup and other odds n ends the magna trac does pretty good.