The Great Smaug

[campfire]

Some pictures from earlier this summer. To the left of the barn is a fence, but you can't see it because of the mounds of dirt, concrete, and timbers (from right to left)

Can't really see the fence from this side, either.

Pictures from yesterday (after removing 7000# of concrete). You can now see the fence (though I removed another section).



I'm breaking this stuff up, mostly via sledge hammer. Then using the tractor to load 200#-300# pieces into the trailer. Just light enough I can tip them out the back by myself.





It's too dark for current pictures, but it's looking better yet. Most of the sand is gone and the concrete pile is shrinking, one piece at a time.

 

[campfire]

The timbers are interesting. Various large sizes. 8"x12"x10' is probably representative. With round-drilled holes, not railroad spike marks. They're also quite rotten, so I don't think they're ties. My guess is wooden decking from an old bridge?

I know they will sortof burn if you add sufficient quantities of diesel fuel, and they are home to ground hornets. Beyond that I can't tell much.




It has been a fun project, and a good excuse to put SmaugTruck to work.

 

[campfire]

I just gotta say your burb looks way better with the van rear axle. Gotta get spacers for mine sometime. Changes the whole look

Thanks. It's a side perk, though. I chose the van axle for the removable drums. Much funnerer to work on.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

All that land and you don’t have a low spot somewhere in the back that needs filling?

 

[campfire]

All that land and you don’t have a low spot somewhere in the back that needs filling?

I live in a flat swampland. The largest gradient is the small depression surrounding this lone tree. That's where most of the sand went.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Huh. I grew up in hilly Michigan so that seems foreign to me.

Then again my dad was Mr Cheap so we dumped all our debris in the woods (that wasn’t ours) behind our land.

 

[campfire]

Huh. I grew up in hilly Michigan so that seems foreign to me.

Then again my dad was Mr Cheap so we dumped all our debris in the woods (that wasn’t ours) behind our land.

Yeah. Not everything is flat here, my land just happens to be along the river bottom. It's...different.

And I'm trying to undo the actions of a former Mr. Cheap.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Yeah. Not everything is flat here, my land just happens to be along the river bottom. It's...different.

And I'm trying to undo the actions of a former Mr. Cheap.

Well, to be fair to my dad we burned anything burnable and the massive pile of rocks in the woods isn’t hurting anything.

I forget, how many acres do you have?

 

[campfire]

Well, to be fair to my dad we burned anything burnable and the massive pile of rocks in the woods isn’t hurting anything.

I forget, how many acres do you have?

Three and a quarter. Just enough to get in trouble.

 

[campfire]

@imiceman44, your idea paid off. I dumped 3 more loads at my local concrete yard, free of charge. As a thank you, I'll pay the shipping on that heavy box of manifolds you were wanting to buy.

 

[campfire]

I have half a load in the trailer now, but 100% of the concrete is gone, the area is flat (& kinda smooth), and the tractor is back at its home.

For the last run I loaded the trailer quite a bit heavier than the earlier ones. I didn't get scaled at the concrete plant. But let's conservatively guess each load averaged 3600 pounds. 5.5 loads means I hauled 20,000 pounds of concrete. Each piece was loaded by hand into the bucket. Lifted up to the trailer, where I loaded it by hand again. And then pushed out the back, by hand. I'm a little sore, but this was such a fun project!

The truck has put on a bunch of semi-local trips with no new issues, too.

It has been a good week.

 

[GWeakland620]

I'd say that's a massive success!

 

[campfire]

I'd say that's a massive success!

It is!

Pictures from yesterday:

 

[campfire]

Pictures from this morning. Landscaping remains, but the heavy work is done. Or it's as done as it's going to get.



I'll keep burning that pile until it diminishes.




The flat trailer by the other burn pile is loaded with scrap metal that we pulled out of the debris field. Oh, and spare diesel parts, too.



Here is the largest dumpsite for the sand pile. This should be an improvement when it's smoothed out.

 

[campfire]

But back to the trip...


We got up the next morning and got ready to convoy into Houghton.













In Houghton folks scattered to buy supplies. The meeting point was on the other side of the liftbridge ('cause Luke didn't wanna try convoying through the Yooper Loop). We were running late, but managed to be less late than several of the rigs.












This region is full of washouts since this summers floods. Made route options fewer than usual. And it left little hints all around the landscape. Even this small roadside turnout had some water channels.




And then we crowded into a clearing on top of one of those washed-out hills.

 

[campfire]

Here at the Hungarian Falls Gorge there were two train trestles. We walked across the lower one, while most of the group went up to the falls itself.







It's now a nice ORV trail.



@AgDieseler, here is your official cameo.




The trail is closed to traffic while the washouts are getting rebuilt. But if you look past the artificial roadblock you'll see the foundations from when the other train line passed over top of this one.




Speaking of which, here's what remains of the higher trestle.



And the view from the bottom.



It's a pretty gorge, from either angle.

 

[campfire]

So this year's theme was dust. Lots of dust. One of the other guys dubbed this the best pic from 2018:



Because we had a lot of miles like this. Driving blindly is particularly fun when your brakes are broken.

I finally popped the cover on my air filter today. The dust is thick enough to start bridging the gaps between pleats. It's a K&N borrowed from YouKnowWho, and it's still flowing enough air that I forgot to check it.

There's a small dust streak in the air plenum, otherwise it's clean inside. Surprisingly clean, given how thorough the dust is everywhere else under that hood. Maybe K&N filters don't deserve the bad rap they get?

 

[noJeepshere]

K&N filters are great, unless you live where there is very fine particles of dust. I grew up in eastern Washington, and the dust there got through the K&N in my Yukon all the time, but that stuff is finer than talcum powder. Here in Utah that same K&N lets nothing pass. They're good filters, but others are better still.

 

[campfire]

K&N filters are great, unless you live where there is very fine particles of dust. I grew up in eastern Washington, and the dust there got through the K&N in my Yukon all the time, but that stuff is finer than talcum powder. Here in Utah that same K&N lets nothing pass. They're good filters, but others are better still.

Ever since I left the dusty cornfields and moved to a soggy swamp, dust really hasn't been a concern. This year caught me by surprise.

I don't expect it to be a problem going forward, and I'm even less concerned now that I've seen how clean the intake is.

 

[KirsL]

K&N filters are great, unless you live where there is very fine particles of dust. I grew up in eastern Washington, and the dust there got through the K&N in my Yukon all the time, but that stuff is finer than talcum powder. Here in Utah that same K&N lets nothing pass. They're good filters, but others are better still.

K&N filters are some of the best when properly cared for. Most folks forget to clean and reoil them and then complain when they don't work as advertised.