Re: A little of this and that
|
A little of this and that August 01, 2016 03:25PM |
So it's the really hot and muggy season here, no where near comfortable enough to shoot anything outside. Sad to say I've only been able to shoot the .25 a couple of times when it was a bit cooler out, I'm anxious to get it back out when things cool down.
However! It is cool enough, not, to do some stupid hard work around some 26 year old oak trees. These trees have been causing havoc with my sprinklers, sidewalk, grass etc. So it was recommended to me to do some root pruning. I think to myself, it can't be THAT hard, these guys want way too much money and will just wreck everything with their blunt instrument style.
.......So it took my oldest son Andrew and I about 10 hours of work over a couple of weekends to extract the largest offending roots. In the process, I cut the fiber line to the house (more on that later) and broke a couple of sprinkler lines (not a big deal and kind of expected). I also managed to break two shovels, both covered by Lowes lifetime warrantee (can't beat that).
I've been dealing with a patch of grass that just would not grow, soil analysis, visits from "experts", no one could tell me what was wrong. Well, I'll tell you, the second picture shows the area clear now but this is where the grass wouldn't grow, it was completely inundated with roots. The growth was so thick, we had to cut it out in cubes, break them up, release the soil and cart the root nests back in the woods to dump them. The third pic shows the larger roots we removed (many thicker than my leg), old school style with axe and shovel. Difficult but satisfying work.
The last picture is of a mobile tool bench of sorts I've been wanting to build since I moved in. The old bench was made of scraps almost 20 years ago, was immobile and didn't fit all my junk. The idea was to be able to move it out into the center of the garage where I could work unhampered. When I finish a project, I can blow it clean and park it back in the corner where I can so smaller projects. I don't own a table saw or miter saw, I have to do all my wood cutting with a skill saw.
So I cut the fiber line, no internet, tv, phone etc. for a week and because there is no cell signal in my house and I rely on a micro cell to connect cell phones and the micro cell relies on internet.... no cell phones either. My kids almost lost their minds, booo hooooo.
The guys come out to repair my mistake and tell me that the previous line that was buried was of the improper type and was fiber only, thus making it impossible to find underground. Apparently they are two types of fiber, one that is fiber only and one that has a copper line of sorts attached making it able to be found underground with one of those fancy tools. Well, this line runs across the root bound front lawn, under the driveway and into another tree, past an underground propane tank and a mess of other communication lines. The guy with the line burying equipment looks nervous and says "I'd rather shoot it around the back of your house" I'm like ARE YOU NUTS? By "shooting" it around the house he means to bury it about 6 inches deep and give me thousands of future opportunities to cut the line into fancy little sausage links the next time I do any work in the yard. After volunteering myself to go in my attic and do all the work up there, I convince them to run it a simple 50 feet to the side of the house and let me run it across the attic into the garage, never to see another root again! Problem solved, forever.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2016 03:28PM by Sal.
However! It is cool enough, not, to do some stupid hard work around some 26 year old oak trees. These trees have been causing havoc with my sprinklers, sidewalk, grass etc. So it was recommended to me to do some root pruning. I think to myself, it can't be THAT hard, these guys want way too much money and will just wreck everything with their blunt instrument style.
.......So it took my oldest son Andrew and I about 10 hours of work over a couple of weekends to extract the largest offending roots. In the process, I cut the fiber line to the house (more on that later) and broke a couple of sprinkler lines (not a big deal and kind of expected). I also managed to break two shovels, both covered by Lowes lifetime warrantee (can't beat that).
I've been dealing with a patch of grass that just would not grow, soil analysis, visits from "experts", no one could tell me what was wrong. Well, I'll tell you, the second picture shows the area clear now but this is where the grass wouldn't grow, it was completely inundated with roots. The growth was so thick, we had to cut it out in cubes, break them up, release the soil and cart the root nests back in the woods to dump them. The third pic shows the larger roots we removed (many thicker than my leg), old school style with axe and shovel. Difficult but satisfying work.
The last picture is of a mobile tool bench of sorts I've been wanting to build since I moved in. The old bench was made of scraps almost 20 years ago, was immobile and didn't fit all my junk. The idea was to be able to move it out into the center of the garage where I could work unhampered. When I finish a project, I can blow it clean and park it back in the corner where I can so smaller projects. I don't own a table saw or miter saw, I have to do all my wood cutting with a skill saw.
So I cut the fiber line, no internet, tv, phone etc. for a week and because there is no cell signal in my house and I rely on a micro cell to connect cell phones and the micro cell relies on internet.... no cell phones either. My kids almost lost their minds, booo hooooo.
The guys come out to repair my mistake and tell me that the previous line that was buried was of the improper type and was fiber only, thus making it impossible to find underground. Apparently they are two types of fiber, one that is fiber only and one that has a copper line of sorts attached making it able to be found underground with one of those fancy tools. Well, this line runs across the root bound front lawn, under the driveway and into another tree, past an underground propane tank and a mess of other communication lines. The guy with the line burying equipment looks nervous and says "I'd rather shoot it around the back of your house" I'm like ARE YOU NUTS? By "shooting" it around the house he means to bury it about 6 inches deep and give me thousands of future opportunities to cut the line into fancy little sausage links the next time I do any work in the yard. After volunteering myself to go in my attic and do all the work up there, I convince them to run it a simple 50 feet to the side of the house and let me run it across the attic into the garage, never to see another root again! Problem solved, forever.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2016 03:28PM by Sal.
|
Re: A little of this and that August 02, 2016 12:50PM |
|
Look at all that nice bench space ..... Ahhhhhh
Roots!!! The bane of Civilized mankind. Well, one of them. Florida is a mix of roots, sand, mold, and pollen. Near as I can tell ....ha.
Nice work.
Ahhhh .... We are getting more rain ..... It's been ..... hours ....
Ok. Saddle up. When you cut roots, you make them mad ya know. Sleep with one eye open .....
Thanks for posting Ssl!
Gary
Roots!!! The bane of Civilized mankind. Well, one of them. Florida is a mix of roots, sand, mold, and pollen. Near as I can tell ....ha.
Nice work.
Ahhhh .... We are getting more rain ..... It's been ..... hours ....
Ok. Saddle up. When you cut roots, you make them mad ya know. Sleep with one eye open .....
Thanks for posting Ssl!
Gary
|
Re: A little of this and that August 03, 2016 04:54AM |
Lets hope those weren't the exact roots keeping the tree from falling on the house. 
Not too many oak trees up here in AK (as in none) but the spruce and hemlock we have up here have root systems which are surprisingly shallow. Sometimes after a windstorm we'll see a 70-100 foot tall tree tipped over along with a 20-30 foot wide disc of roots, none of which are deeper than a foot or so. It's really surprising that such giant trees can grow so tall just sitting on a platter of roots with no real taproot to speak of, but I've seen it dozens of times.
Not too many oak trees up here in AK (as in none) but the spruce and hemlock we have up here have root systems which are surprisingly shallow. Sometimes after a windstorm we'll see a 70-100 foot tall tree tipped over along with a 20-30 foot wide disc of roots, none of which are deeper than a foot or so. It's really surprising that such giant trees can grow so tall just sitting on a platter of roots with no real taproot to speak of, but I've seen it dozens of times.
|
Re: A little of this and that August 03, 2016 12:41PM |
|
I believe ya Sean,
Sal's ok though. An Oak is roughly the same size and shape under ground as it is above ground!
.
Our pine trees are Long Leaf. They are flippers too. Ahhhh .... Maryland .... I hear THATS a beautiful state .....
Gary
Sal's ok though. An Oak is roughly the same size and shape under ground as it is above ground!
.
Our pine trees are Long Leaf. They are flippers too. Ahhhh .... Maryland .... I hear THATS a beautiful state .....
Gary
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
Online Users
Guests:
13
Record Number of Users:
4
on March 10, 2022
Record Number of Guests:
234
on February 21, 2021