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What's your hoe doing?

NH575E

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
1,183
Location
North, FL
Occupation
Retired Machinist
This is my latest little cleared spot. The area behind has had time to get overgrown and is fairly thick with large pine stumps, logs, and wood debris. I just use the loader bucket to push my way in until I find a stump then turn around, dig it out, and start all over again.

In the past I had to level as good as I could with the backhoe's loader then disc harrow and drag a landscape rake over and over and over. I just bought a 6' PTO tiller for my small tractor that digs out roots pretty well and has some leveling effect so I can finish drag it.

IMG_2245.JPG
 

s.mil

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2020
Messages
13
Location
Alberta, Canada
We went to Costa Rica last year and was fascinated at their fences... They have a stretch of trees in more or less a straight line, they then cut the tops off so only about 5 feet is sticking up, and they staple fence to it. No post hole digging!

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Costa Rica fence&ko=-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http://lfs-agroforestry.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2013/02/Coppicing-2_Costa-Rica.jpg
In this part of the world, it would take 15 - 20 years to grow a fence. :) But I will be opportunistic and staple to a tree that happens to line up with my fence.
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,040
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
In this part of the world, it would take 15 - 20 years to grow a fence. :) But I will be opportunistic and staple to a tree that happens to line up with my fence.
Yeah, & they tend to be too far apart. Right here I see piles of small stones small enough to lift. If one were to dismantle the pile they would see that there is a hollow core. Impossible to drive a fence post, near impossible to dig deep enough to set a fence post, Usually they dug a foot, then piled stone to support a fence. As decades & centuries passed, nobody kept a horse, fewer kept a cow. Fences became property boundaries, not animal containment. Don't need wire, just a stone fence to show the neighbors where to stop.
 

NH575E

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
1,183
Location
North, FL
Occupation
Retired Machinist
We went to Costa Rica last year and was fascinated at their fences... They have a stretch of trees in more or less a straight line, they then cut the tops off so only about 5 feet is sticking up, and they staple fence to it. No post hole digging!

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Costa Rica fence&ko=-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http://lfs-agroforestry.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2013/02/Coppicing-2_Costa-Rica.jpg
I have a row of Murray Cypress planted about 6ft apart for a future privacy fence.
 

Swetz

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
1,360
Location
NJ/PA
Occupation
Electric & Gas Company
On my property, they used stone walls to keep the livestock corralled. I literally have miles of stone walls on my property. Stones were in the way, and free, and will outlast any other fence type I guess....lot of work though...this was over 100 years ago, I would bet hydraulics didn't help them build the walls:).
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,040
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
On my property, they used stone walls to keep the livestock corralled. I literally have miles of stone walls on my property. Stones were in the way, and free, and will outlast any other fence type I guess....lot of work though...this was over 100 years ago, I would bet hydraulics didn't help them build the walls:).
I'll say these people were NOT afraid of work.
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,040
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
I think of the settlers. I'm a hundred miles as crow flies from the Atlantic Ocean. While New England was being settled, Indians dominated the area I live. Then there was the unpleasantry between New York claiming governance & Governor Benning Wentworth in New Hampshire selling Vermont. In the years other New England states were becoming well established & civilized, VT was struggling. Those who bought "Proprietor's Lots" were investors. They paid a tiny sum for each 160, or 100 acre lot. They had no way to know if it was in a swamp, middle of a lake, or top of a mountain.
Ultimately, these Proprietors sold their lots to settlers, who typically gambled as to what they were buying.
Many settlers paid for land they knew only its size. Most was difficult, if not impossible to homestead.

In Mount Tabor's case, there was a 1 time tax of $5.oo for each landowner to buy Right Of Way for the new, not yet built railroad. Mount Tabor had 7 miles of railroad to buy. Railroad was along the extreme Western edge of the town, hard against the Village of the next town, Danby. Most Mount Tabor residents were on the wrong side of a mountain range to benefit from a railroad. Summer, it took all day to reach a train, winter, it was impossible!

Many of the residents failed to pay their tax. I never knew if it was inability to pay, or refusal to pay. Many farms were taken by the town government for non payment of tax. By the Civil war, the practice of taking every able bodied man same day further decimated the town. Somewhere near 1865, the Town of Mount Tabor sold 21000 acres of seized land to the richest kid in Danby for $1100. Roughly $00.19 per acre. Thus ended Mount Tabor's existence as a populated town. Theoretically left 4000 acres in resident's ownership.

Still, the farms are evident! Stone walls abound. Cellar holes with fireplaces are still there.
 

T-town

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
353
Location
NE PA
Occupation
retired !
You needed dirt..... free of trees and rocks.... and water. The rest you grew and raised and butchered.
A gentleman who grew up in the area round our land, and who has been passed on for some 15 years or so now, talked about remembering his "old timers" pulling stumps with a team of oxen.

I'm sure that along with spring plowing every year ( once you got to that point) was also rock picking time. When you work the soil those things seem to float their way towards the surface. You grow corn and rocks !!...... eat the corn, feed your horses and throw the rocks to the side of the field..... or build some of the most beautiful 'dry' walls you've ever seen.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,250
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
We went to Costa Rica last year and was fascinated at their fences... They have a stretch of trees in more or less a straight line, they then cut the tops off so only about 5 feet is sticking up, and they staple fence to it. No post hole digging!

I know CR well, my father retired there and the wife and I lived there for a stint. Kilometers and kilometers of living fence posts. The farmers will chop the off shoots for future fence posts - just stick them in the ground and let them go. It's amazing how fertile that volcanic soil is.

There will be "generational" fence rows as the farmers will weave the newer shoots into the fence rows amongst the older growth.

What part of the country did you visit?
 

aighead

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
2,541
Location
Dayton, OH
@CM1995 We were right in the middle, Canaan ( Specifically here: https://goo.gl/maps/CN49hMhRMbrnrnej8 )? It looked like this a lot!

20190409_113043.jpg

Just east of San Isidro, I think. We also hung out for the day in Dominical n the beach, those waves are serious, I'm much more used to Atlantic Ocean and consider myself a strong swimmer but got my butt handed to me there.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went, then it wasn't what I was expecting at all. It was beautiful and a great trip but I had a fair amount of culture shock (not speaking really a lick of Spanish), and we were much farther away from interesting things than I would have liked. If I did it again I'd stay in a more touristy area for a week, then go back to a place like we went to the first time, out in the middle of nowhere, when we are a little more accustomed to the ways.

The people were all lovely and forgiving of my English and terrible Spanish speaking attempts, the little town we were near was neat, with a cheese shop, butterfly house, nice little bakery, and restaurant, it was all just a bit too adventurous for me and my wife. Converting money was always interesting, grocery shopping was nuts, the driving was insane... You name it I was kind of overwhelmed by it!

20190410_112653.jpg

20190408_132214.jpg
 
Joined
Nov 24, 2020
Messages
17
Location
Seneca Kansas
Hi All, I saw a thread or two in other areas that are a showcase of the projects you have but I hadn't seen one in this section... I'm curious to know both what projects you've done, and what get's your BHL's use most.

I'll post a few pictures below and I'll have to update some as well. My biggest use is knocking over dead trees and dragging them back to a pile or two and digging holes in the pond to build the big dirt pile seen in one of the pictures or creek to fill in holes from removed stumps. It's really incredible how much labor can be saved with these machines. 50-100 foot trees are no match and work that would take days by hand is done in a couple hours. Then filling in holes or ruts, again, would be backbreaking, but is make fun by the ol' Backhoe Loader.

I think the order goes (though it's probably pretty apparent):

Pond digging for a hill I built for the Fiance in a picture to come;

Stump removal. That stump was really in there and is bigger than it looks. I had to dig about 6 feet deep and maybe 15 feet wide to get it out;

Bridge work over the creek, if you haven't tried it leave some bags of Quikrete or whatever just laying around outside for a bit and they turn into pretty decent giant bricks, these were leftover from the previous owner of the house:

Digging out some of the creek to fill in for that big stump.

What's yours doing?
Packing trash in a semi-trailer, got no pictures, I will take some, it's kinda gross.
 
Last edited:

T-town

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
353
Location
NE PA
Occupation
retired !
Taking advantage of the continuing fall weather ...... have many of 'these' to deal with over time.
On top of a ridge.... smaller trees than other places, mostly oak( reds). A fews of these are sprinkled through the woodlot and are a hickory. My goodness..... what a mass of roots!!
this one was 'bout 14'' or so wide.
KIMG0094.JPG

KIMG0093.JPG
I've learned a new way ( for me) to bring these down. At first I was dropping them with a saw, leaving 3-4 ft and picking out the stump. Lots of digging and moving round and resetting.
Now, with any small or medium size..... I'm just using the hoe. Digging roots on the "uphill" side and then reaching up and pushing over. The tree brings the root ball right out with it.

These forks (clampons) help to no end with this job too...
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,040
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
Taking advantage of the continuing fall weather ...... have many of 'these' to deal with over time.
On top of a ridge.... smaller trees than other places, mostly oak( reds). A fews of these are sprinkled through the woodlot and are a hickory. My goodness..... what a mass of roots!!
this one was 'bout 14'' or so wide.
View attachment 228768

View attachment 228769
I've learned a new way ( for me) to bring these down. At first I was dropping them with a saw, leaving 3-4 ft and picking out the stump. Lots of digging and moving round and resetting.
Now, with any small or medium size..... I'm just using the hoe. Digging roots on the "uphill" side and then reaching up and pushing over. The tree brings the root ball right out with it.

These forks (clampons) help to no end with this job too...
33 years ago I bought a Power Wagon. It is equipped with two winches. I learned that a safer way to bring down a tree involved an extension ladder. A tree trunk is a heck of a big lever. Most trees I take down I want the stump out too. I now use backhoe for most trees. I've done up to 4' diameter this way by digging roots first. Some of the stumps are too heavy to lift.
 
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