May 21, 2012 editor1 Construction, Equipment

Finishing the Building Pad

Amidst a bout with kidney stones, extremely hot and windy weather, we finished our building pad and foundation lay out. I started by staking out a general layout of the foundation, placing corner stakes for the foundation in the location that we wanted the house to sit. This was not an exact layout just a general one done with a tape measure, stakes and string lines. Since we sit on 5 acres with no required set backs and no easements, I was not concerned with citing the corner of the house +/- ¼”. It was sorta a “looks about right” placement methodology. Had we been building in a subdivision, I would have used surveying equipment to place the foundation exactly in accordance with the plot plan.

With my foundation line in place, I used a Bobcat and removed the top few inches of top soil under the foundation and scraped away the vegetation around the foundation for several feet. The solid material under the pad has been undisturbed for millennium and we are about 16-24” above the first rock layer. My footers will extend, in most cases, through the soil and rest on the rock. Combined with rebar, 3000psi, fiberglass impregnated concrete; I think we will have a very solid foundation.

I then placed corner stakes for where I wanted the pad built up. I placed them 5’ on the outside of the foundation perimeter. That will give me a good buffer to work with when doing the trenching for the footers, and provide material to create a suitable run-off grade sloped away from the foundation. I then used the CST/Berger 800’ Dual Beam Rotary Laser to set a perfectly level string line at 6” above the highest grade. The lowest point on the pad was 6” below the existing ground layer.

I ordered more than 200 tons of fill dirt and with a Bobcat I moved layers of dirt around the pad, using the string lines as both a perimeter guide and a height guide. As I moved the dirt I ensured I compacted as I drove the Cat in reverse with a majority of the weight of the machine on a nearly level bucket. The weight of the Cat and bucket being drug across the dirt aided in compaction. It is essential to compact between layers (4-8” recommended depending on soil quality) rather than filling completely and then compacting. Such a manner will result in only the top 6-12” being compacted and the bottom layer rather “fluffy” Over time the ground will settle resulting in foundation complications.

After the boys finished school, the assisted me in getting a fairly level pad (+/- 2”) by running supplemental string lines across the pad. Wherever the string touched the pad it was too high so I removed some dirt. Where the string was above the pad, I added fill and compacted. I was surprisingly able to build a fairly level pad using this method. During the evening and into the next day, we sprinkled the pad heavily allowing the water to trickle down into the layers as best as possible to aid in further compaction. I rented a walk behind vibrating roller and ran across the pad at least 4 times resulting in an even greater compaction.

I waited for the top of the pad to dry somewhat to prevent the caking of mud on the rollers. My concrete sub and a very seasoned home appraiser both were impressed with the work. Since I had never built a pad before I wanted a few folks to look at it.

The next step was to accurately (+/- 1/8”) lay out the exact perimeter of the foundation so that the footers could be trenched and the form boards could be placed. I purchased the CST/Berger 800’ Dual Beam Rotary Laser to do the work. I figured rental on the device for as many days as I would need it for the pad, the foundation, interior work, etc. would begin to add up. It thought it would be well worth my time to buy it. It took me a while to learn the nuances of the device and make sure I was taking accurate readings and properly setting up the level. In the end I will have a lightly used, well cared for device that could be sold. I am certain this is a cost effective decision.

Foundation Outline — String lines, batter boards and orange marking paint define the outside edges of the foundation.

I established a system of string lines and batter boards which defined the entire perimeter of the foundation. I used conventional methodology for this task, relying on 36” steel stakes rather than wooden stakes, given the density of the ground. I took several diagonal measurements where possible to ensure everything was square. Given the dynamic nature of the perimeter, with lots of corners and 45 degree angles, taking the diagonal measurements was not easy. My worst measurement was 3/8” over a 60’ length. I was striving for ¼”, but moving one stake impacts several others. It’s not as easy as squaring a rectangle with four corners. I think I will leave well alone and refine the “square-ity” in the framing stage. Once I was pleased with the work, I used line marking spray to trace the outline of the foundation, which you can see from the image. The next phase will include trenching the footers and placing the form boards, followed by rough in plumbing.

April 30, 2012 editor1 Construction, Equipment

Site Preparation — Building up the Pad

Building site - marked with stakes — Before the buildup

This past week has been spent with various aspects of making life a bit more comfortable on the homestead. Such things as repairing a burnt out water heater caused us to learn a few new things(an error made by our electrician after power was supplied caused the tank to fill to only halfway, above which one of the heating elements burned out, shorted out the tank and began leaking).

We also began unpacking those things we will need during our stay in the RV and organizing things to allow some convenience. The bathroom inside the workshop is excellent… the washer and dryer are very handy… this is so much better already than the RV living we did during our evacuation from New Orleans after Katrina.

When we envisioned building ourselves, we really had not planned to do the site preparation ourselves, thinking it must be something to hire out. However, once we got the estimated cost of $7800 to build it up, we decided to put pencil to paper and see if that seemed reasonable.

After calling the local suppliers of fill dirt to compare pricing, getting information from them about compaction and delivery, we calculated how much fill dirt we would need to build up the pad to the desired 9″ or so. We also checked pricing on rental equipment and called up a brother in law with lots of dirt-moving experience. He provided some excellent tips regarding what type of equipment to rent, how to compact the dirt properly, etc.

After all this, we figured we could do it ourselves for less than half the cost. About $2400 in fill dirt ($11/ton in large loads; $16/ton for the last 15-ton load), and about $750 for a 3-day rental on the bobcat came to only $3150. We still need to rent the roller, but don’t expect that to be terribly expensive, perhaps no more than $150. On this first thing, we were able to save about $3500 by doing the work ourselves. Granted, it took a bit of time to master the technique of spreading the fill dirt evenly, so it may have taken an extra day of equipment rental, but it was still well worth the effort.

The work on preparing the site for building the house began on Monday morning with the renting of a bobcat for site preparation. Over the weekend, DH and the boys used the laser leveling gear to determine just how much slope there was to the building site. As it happens, it was only about 6″ total, so pretty level to begin with. After that, DH used the bobcat to scrape away the vegetation and dig the (very hard) surface off to prepare to add fill dirt.

The delivery of the fill dirt was very interesting. Arriving in very large trucks, they delivered 25 tons per truck (100 tons total) the first day… another 100 tons the second day and a final 15 tons in a smaller truck to finish off on the third day. On the second day, during the dumping of the load from the second truck, we had a bit of a scare.

The truck backed up very quickly, coming within 6″ of the RV. My not very excitable husband got excited and yelled at the driver to stop… just in time. I was filming at the time, so it is documented… the noise of the trucks are such that you can’t really hear my husband saying (as he walked away): “Boy, that was close!”

DH took time to teach the boys how to drive the bobcat… both of them thought it was great fun. No doubt their computer game skills helped them a great deal! We have some vids to post showing their skills… The first is of the oldest boy (13 years old), working the magic:

The next video is of the youngest boy (11 years old), at the controls of the Bobcat:

The pad has now been built up to a fairly level state, with extra space built-up around the edges to allow for porches, patios, etc. This weekend has been spent watering the pad in preparation for rolling to compress the soil further next week.

December 30, 2011 editor1 Equipment

Restoring a WWII Clark Airborne Tractor aka Dozer

Chicken Dozer — Used as a chicken roost by the former owner...

Why the heck would I want to do that? I have been doing research for a book I am writing on the 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion. They were the combat engineer element of the 17th Airborne Division who fought just west of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and they rode in gliders during Operation VARSITY as the 17th Airborne Division invaded Germany on 24 March 1945.

As I pored through the archival material at the National Archives I came upon an entry that said simply: “AIRBORNE CLARK TRACTOR damaged by mine. Operator injured.” It was 4 February 1945. For some strange reason I had to have one of these things. It’s not logical or practical, it just is. Since I am an avid collector of all things associated with the 139th it seemed logical to me!

Gooseneck Trailer — Gooseneck trailer with winch

A two month search uncovered a suitable project just south of Buffalo NY. I scheduled a pickup date, and I and one of my sons drove with a friend from work who wanted to visit his father in Buffalo. We arrived after a 928 mile trip. It took us exactly an hour to inspect, and winch the dozer onto the 20’ gooseneck trailer behind the Chevy Dually. I was impressed with the efficiency of our loading/safety team. The Dozer is not running, but free-wheeled nicely and the winch and pulley system tugged it right onto the trailer. I secured it with 4 heavy duty class 80 chains and 4 ratchet binders and off we went.

Since I am still three months (93 days, 4 hours and 27 minutes) away form the move to our homestead, I cannot disassemble the big parts. I still have to move it on and off of the trailer to get it to NM. I am able to work on small things such as distributor, generator, carburetor and a few other components. The time I have now has been used diligently to do research, find missing parts, connect with others who are doing the same (and there are dozens of other folks rebuilding Clark Airborne Dozers!!) and to learn more about the project. I filled the fluids, checked the basics and charged the battery. I have found that a recharged battery will turn the engine over, but there was not spark or fuel. I checked the compression and had between 90-99 psi across all 4 cylinders. The TM (Technical manual) calls for 85 psi minimum with no more than a 10psi difference between cylinders. I think I have a solid engine which needs some TLC.

So far I have rebuilt the distributor, found and had a generator rebuilt, worked on the carburetor, and am tending to minor details. It’s a fantastic project and when we get the home built, the boys and I will have a blast resorting this thing to fighting condition.

The value of what we are learning is immense. I see and appreciate the practicality of a non-electronic ignition system and an engine that you can reach all the components for and do not need ANY special tools to do all of the basic work, and much of the advanced repair. Hand tools, a manual, a source of spare parts and some confidence will allow me and the boys to tackle the

project. I know there will be some pitfalls and parts disappointments, but each of those will be challenges that will mold the young men into future problem solvers. You can follow the progress at the following sites:

A forum thread on the restoration progress here, and for information on parts, another thread devoted to that topic here.