Shop 4: Stump #2

Who Wins the Fight

Saturday I rented a Bobcat 334 excavator to tackle getting the stump removed. After 6 hours of cutting and digging man triumphed over the stump. The stump was so heavy all I could do with the excavator was knock it over in the hole.

Monday I got the track loader started and was just able to get it out of the hole.

On Saturday actually getting the excavator home was an adventure. We have great neighbors and I borrowed his F-350 flatbed and a big trailer to haul the machine. So youngest son and I left the house about 7 AM and headed for the gas station. The neighbor told me to get fuel in the rear tank because the front doesn't register on the gauge. So I filled 'er up and put 5 gallons in the front tank for good measure. We went about a quarter mile on the interstate and something changed with the engine. It started running rough and didn't have very much power. We pulled off of an exit and I took a look under the hood for any obvious problems. I noticed that the fuel filter level looked kind of low. We messed around a bit checking things and hit the highway again with the same result.

We took another exit and I looked at the fuel system again. Of course I didn't have any tools. Not even the Swiss Army knife I usually carry. So I called the Mrs. and had her round up some tools and come rescue us. I assumed the rear fuel tank was the dirt source so I plumbed the front tank directly to the engine line. We started out again but it shortly was the same again. I could at least accelerate so I just went and got the machine. I took back roads on the way home so I didn't cause a traffic jam.

When approaching my driveway I thought I would go to my garage so I could use my tools to fix the truck. The truck stalled going up the driveway and I couldn't get moving forward again. So I had the troops block traffic and backed out into the road and went to the neighbor's place. I unloaded the machine and went to work. It was 10 AM by now.

The neighbor "fixed" the truck on Sunday while we were at Church. During his test drive he went on Corbett Hill (12% grade) and stalled out! I went to see what I could do. I borrowed another truck from a friend that fixes RV's so I knew it would pull. I towed the truck up the hill and home. I went back and got the trailer and towed it home and loaded the excavator. The rental place opens at 6:30 AM on Monday so I had to be there first thing to get to work.

It was a long weekend. I put in a 15 hour day on Saturday. I also trenched to the existing barn to run underground water and power. I was glueing the last PVC pipe at 10 PM. Long day...

On Monday, after getting the stump out I filled in the hole. Now I am in search if fill to bring things up to level. DMP