This will definitely help!
Since we are changing our plans and beginning with a mobile home, we now have to accommodate for such an arrival. This includes widening the entrance to our driveway and adding twenty four more feet of culvert along the roadside. Recently, we added sixteen more feet on the northern side of the culvert we already have.
MORE WORK AND MORE PROGRESS
In the photo above, you can see a few things. For one, some branches on the left side of that tree needed to be removed. Also, the twenty four foot culvert needed to be cut and then installed. All of this is pretty much new "work" for me, since I've never really done much like it before. However, with the decision to first place a mobile home on the property rather than immediately beginning to build, changes like this are necessary.
Rather than just bringing in a house piece by little piece and assembling it onsite, we are now going to attempt to move an eighty foot long and sixteen foot wide foot mobile home onto the property. This change will require a wider entrance to the driveway, so I got started on it!
One of the first steps in the process was digging out the spot for the culvert to be added. I'd done some of the finer work by hand, but the bulk of the labor was done with a backhoe attachment on a front end loader than one of my neighbors owns. He's let me borrow it many times, but for this one he actually did the work himself and helped teach me some additional things about the process and what goes into a project like this.
While he was preparing the ditch, I started by removing all of the rocks and dirt from inside the existing culvert. These can begin to fill and even clog over time, so with the additional length being added to it, I wanted to make sure that we were starting with a "clean slate." It took a while to crawl into this underground pipe time and time again with a pick-axe and hoe, but eventually I cleared it all out.
CUTTING THE CULVERT
This next step in the process was an interesting one, and I certainly learned a lot while doing it. For starters, once we measured where we wanted our cut to be made, by neighbor placed some tape over the line to be cut. when cutting through metal a lot of debris and sharp pieces can be made, and cutting through the tape rather than straight through the metal made it much safer.
My neighbor does stuff like this all of the time, and his rough hands and thick skin can prove it. After he showed me the basic idea he let me have a go at it. The first thing that I did after trying it for a second was to stop and put on a long-sleeve shirt. The hot sparks of metal really burned, and while he may have been used to it I apparently was more tender.
The change in apparel certainly helped, but I also braided my goatee just to make sure it didn't start on fire. We ran through a few of these blades in the process, but in the end we wound up with two sections of culvert. One was sixteen feet long and was to be added to the downhill side and the other was eight feet long that we will add to the uphill side.
One important thing to remember when joining culverts like this is the angle. You can see my friend with a level in his hands here. The goal is to either keep the same degree of downward slope or perhaps even increase the angle. If this new section of culvert is not as steep, then dirt, rock, and debris will quickly build up at the bend and eventually fill the entire culvert, rendering it nonfunctional.
Couplers like this are one way to join two culverts. I've got another one on order for the uphill additional, but we were able to use the one that we had on hand to complete this portion. Once this piece is secure and the earth is packed around the culvert, everything should stay in place and function properly.
Burying the new section was also much easier with the backhoe attachment. I am so blessed to not have to rent equipment like this, and then even more so to have a kind neighbor willing to complete the more delicate and difficult tasks for me with it!
In this photo you can see that we are filling everything back in, but you should also be able to notice the difference in the tree. At this point I had already done some trimming on the necessary sides. While this tree is not exactly "needed," we'd rather leave it in place and let it grow, so I thought that we'd try a trim first and see if we couldn't keep it.
I'll finish up the other side once the next coupler comes in, but so far we are doing great and making progress. Hopefully soon we can get the mobile home on our property and hooked it! I'll keep you posted!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-making-a-bigger-entrance
Until next time…
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmSKT3AhEpV8JXA2eaE1HQPogXev5rzG4uxMzTi3ieE3Tc
FOR MORE PAPA-PEPPER CONTENT, CHECK ME OUT ON SOLA
Great story Papa-Pepper. Perhaps you might like my story. My wife and I just bought a trailer and got it moved this weekend. I documented the move.
https://steemit.com/story/@hippie-witha-gun/one-year-living-back-in-arkansas-the-house-i-bought-with-bitcoin
Very cool, I'll check it out!
You are so busy nowadays @papa-pepper but in spite of that, you still keep steeming and that's the spirit of being a good steemian! Kudos bro :)
Who is moving in with the mobile home? I am always late with the news.
Nice progress !.....:)...
Very nice post,the amazing your post,i like,good job my brother,@papa-pepper
Awesome to see and follow along on your journey!
If the pipe is big enough for you to crawl through, how are you going to keep Monster Truck the Pepper out?.
A yearly trip through will keep things flowing well.
As a thought, dig a small hole, depression at the entrance to the pipe so the stones collect there before going inside the pipe
Aha! Good idea my friend!
wow good post
what to do with displacing the land and the big pipe
Huge action
Weldon @papa-pepper this is a great project thanks for updating us sir
really nice mate! i wish you the best of luck with your project!
Very good post!
Little by little it’s coming along. Neighbors with machinery, and willingness to lend a helping hand. Priceless.
if the friend is really making tunnel to dig water
This project is amazing sir! Congratulations in advance!
Weldone papa
This part really got me hooked on some serious laughter lol, that sight would be amazing though hahaha, @papa-pepper beards on flames lolz. Weldone on widening the entrance, work is gradually getting better.
Your post is very good friend .. I like your writing
this work is great, in every work you always bring to success.
thank you always for sharing great experience.
this work is great, in every work you always bring to success.
thank you always for sharing great experience.
Well done, this must have taken so much work
Good to have a good neighbor, I am getting ready to start working on a 2 acre piece of ground we finally paid off. I am curious as to your thoughts on where to begin, also why you changed your mind to go with a mobile home first ?
Great neighbor... thanks for showing us how you are extending your culvert.
Wear a long sleeve shirt and gloves
when using an angle grinder with a cut-off blade.
And oh yes, heavy duty pants. (as shown)
Now you got some time to plan out how to build your house.
If you got really nice rocks on your property, i suggest you start collecting them now for your great big house heating fire place you are going to build.
I'm impressed you are doing all this hard work yourself. Probably saving a ton of money by doing so. The best of luck with such a difficult project! Great post and pictures also!
I noticed there was no guard on the tool used to cut the culvert pipe. Those things turn super fast and if the cutting disc should bind and shatter, you could lose a few fingers! Personally, I would not like to take that risk. The guards are sometimes a pain, but preferable to serious injury. One thing I was taught long ago was that power tools are out to hurt you, so ALWAYS think SAFETY when using them! For things like that, sturdy leather gloves along with a guard and a face-shield are mandatory equipment. Stay safe. Stay healthy. You only have one body.
With everything you have going on you still manage to make such a lovely post, weldone!
Nice project!
I'm so happy y'all will be moving in to your own home. I can't wait to come check it out.
That is one wide driveway. We have done the same here. It just makes getting trucks and equipment in so much easier.
It seems the most interesting is yet to come! I never thought that putting a pipe is not very easy.
Yeah, it seems that I keep learning new things as I have to!
I have a background in metalworking. The tape is a great way of avoiding problems!
Yeah, it was a new one for me, but seemed to make a lot of sense! Thanks!
Hopefully @papa-pepper work is done and running smoothly i never forget to share post @papa-pepper
My parents did the same thing with their land in Indiana. They bought the land and dug the septic tank and dropped a trailer there for a couple of years and then built the house.
I'm glad to see you are doing quality work over there Papa! Over here everything is rigged and set to blow up. The entire house is held together with wood filler and gorilla glue! lol
very cool. The culvert looks pretty shallow to me (not that I know anything). How far down is the water table where you are?
I hope all your work is successful, for now you are lucky to have a neighbor who supports you with the machinery and gives you those tips as good as the adhesive tape (small details that make the difference), you're on your way to winning luck!!
https://steemit.com/life/@irisalfonzo1/preparing-for-the-move