Hauling Dirt
2007.05.24
Nate came over today and we filled his truck with dirt from the big pile that has been sitting by the garage forever. We took it to a place on N Schmeer Road… costs $20 for a pickup load, which seems expensive to me, but a big pile of clay and rocks is difficult to get rid of. Made a dent in the pile, but, still a lot left.
2007.07.03
Today we hauled off the rest of the dirt pile. First though, I called Interstate Rentals to see if they had one of those mini track loaders that you can walk behind. Sure would save a lot of backbreaking shovel work if we could rent one of those.
The guy checked and said yes, it’s available. Ok, cool. Half-seriously, I asked if they had any little dump trucks I could rent. No, those were all out, and he just had the big one. But the mini track loader is too short to dump into the bed of the big dump truck, ha!
Nate came over and we made our first run, shoveling by hand.
Insurance companies make life difficult
Since we were close to Lowes, I suggested we go over and get a trailer hitch ball and wiring harness for his truck. We picked that up, then went over to Interstate Rentals to see if we could rent the mini track loader.
Well, it was still available alright, but they told us their insurance company says customers have to have a full size pickup truck to tow it, even though Nate’s truck surely could pull such a small machine. Really? It’s sitting out there, ready to be rented, but we can’t take it because their insurance company says our truck isn’t big enough?
He said they could deliver it… $80 round-trip. Ouch.
I remembered seeing that Lowes has a truck you can rent by the hour. So we drove back over there to take a look. It’s a flat-bed truck with mesh sidewalls, but no trailer hitch of any sort. So much for that.
It’s no wonder people don’t do more DIY projects… they make it difficult to get the tools you need.
Nate said we could waste all day trying to find a truck to tow the little track loader, or we could just keep doing this by hand. I agreed, and we went back and filled up his truck a second time to get the last of the dirt pile. I haven’t seen that little square of brick pavers in a long, long time.
Regrading next to the garage
After hauling two loads, we stopped for lunch, and then came back and started digging back beside the garage, where the jungle had been. Over the years, the ground had built up above the level of the sill plate of the garage. Furthermore, the sill plate (built well before the time of pressure-treated wood) is directly exposed to the outside. I’m surprised the garage doesn’t lean or buckle in places after years of rainwater leaking in and rotting the sill. That and the carpenter ants…
We managed to get about halfway back, which filled up the truck once again. It was a hot afternoon on the west side of the garage, so we rigged up a tarp shade, using a couple bricks to hold it down in the gutter, and then draping the other end over the fence.
Of course, everywhere I’ve ever tried to dig in my yard, I’ve encountered buried junk, and this area was no exception. Every time a shovel went into the ground… “clink”. We pulled out broken bottles, pieces of metal, pavers, roof shingles…
Stumpgrinder