3rd round of Grading

November 8 & 9, 2003

I wanted to complete the rough excavation of the cut before winter set in. I'm hoping that this
will help dry things out as next spring's snowmelt from the hill will drain away thru the cut
instead of into the swamp. This time I rented the largest excavator available, the Kubota KX161.
At 12 tons, it's about half again as big as the one I rented before, but most importantly it has
metal tracks (which won't fall off!) and it's digging arm is 48" longer.

I completed the rough pass for the entire cut.
Click here to view this location highlighted on the trackplan
Notice how, about halfway thru, the soil changes from rocky-brown to silty-gray.

Here's the end of the cut, looking back the other direction:
Click here to view this location highlighted on the trackplan

The KX161 was powerful enough to lift out a 36" diameter boulder that had been blocking my way:
Click the image to add/remove the boulder (and the leaves!)

Here's the summit of the cut.
Note the large boulder on the left. There were 2 huge boulders that the excavator couldn't lift, so I dug a hole
in the side of the trench and rolled both boulders into it. Also note the mossy boulder on the right in both pics.
Click the image to add/remove the boulders.

It's been cold for the past few weeks and below freezing every night. This has created some really interesting frost
patterns - the water seems to weep out of the ground and grow bunches of fettucini-sized ribbons of ice.
Click on either of the next two pics to see a really large (1200x1600) view of these ribbons.

While we're on the subject of ice, I found this 12" diameter puddle kinda interesting.
The concentric rings were created by incremental freezing over several nights.

I extended the rough pass for the entire length of the "walkout" cut.
Click here to view this location highlighted on the trackplan

On to the next round of grading...