This weekend was fence weekend! On Friday we picked up a big scary rental hydraulic auger and many pieces of wood:
At first light on Saturday, we got to work. A friend of Sara's also came by to assist. The auger did very well, digging nice straight holes in short order provided no rocks were in the way:
^That's 12" diameter by 30" deep, for reference. The auger beats the crap out of the two operators though, it vibrates, it's heavy, and rocks are a really bad time- occasionally it can pull them out, but usually you have to stop and dig out the rock, and some of the ones we hit were over 50lbs. Our supervisor was unimpressed:
The sun was going down as we began to dig the last two holes, but working as a well practiced unit we set the final two posts before the light was completely gone- an 11 hour day of dirt, swearing, and the endless drone of an industrial engine had been a success!
We got a night of very deep sleep and went at it again today, with the help of another friend. We cut rails for the short sections, hung gates, and added wire, eventually stopping when we ran out of supplies- we need another 5ft gate and 50ft more wire to be completely done, but all in all I don't think we did too badly: 18 posts, 3 of them set in concrete, in relatively rocky ground, a bunch of custom length rails, and it all seems pretty solid.
Oh yeah, and it was nearly $2k cheaper than paying to have the fence put in professionally- I sure am sore though!
For anyone interested in the process, each post goes roughly like this:
- Measure/stick a rail in the previous post to determine location
- Stick auger in ground at location
- Run auger until you hit a rock*/it attempts to maim you**/you reach 30" depth
- Put post in hole
- Use level to get post to be straight up and down
- If post will hold a gate, fill most of hole with concrete. If not, fill with dirt, tamping every 10" or so. If lots of rocks came out you will run out of dirt before you get back to ground level.
- Put in rails. If rails need to be custom cut, become some sort of sawzall wizard and shorten them while maintaining the goofy split profile
- Do it again!
* If you hit a rock, dig the rock out. If the rock is big as E36 M3, this can take over an hour- have fun!
** The auger will attempt to maim one of the two operators at least once in every two holes. At the beginning of the day, this will mean you stop the auger and line up again- by the end of the day, you're a pro/really getting berkeleying tired of this crap, so just keep it at full throttle, swing your leg out of the way, and shove it straight again.
I love the fence! It matches the house really well. Also, this is adorable:
java230
SuperDork
10/9/17 9:58 a.m.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
So much win! Those augers are awesome, and very very tiring. I had so many rocks it wouldnt even work sadly.... Next time rent a bob cat with the auger on it, when it hits a rock your sitting in a chair! Still thows the bob cat around a bit.... I think they have them for the little walk behind tracked things too.
Nicely done on the fence you two!
Maybe I'm captain overkill, but every single post of mine got a 80 lb concrete bag...
and gates/corners were 6x6's 3' deep with 160lbs of concrete...
Congrats on being done. I only have 270' of mine fenced. I've been waiting for winter to kill the poison ivy so I can clear the next 90'...
In reply to dculberson :
Kila has been known to ham it up to distract us while we're trying to get work done.
That is one damn happy dog.
IIn reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ : Early on you mention the fear of being in debt the rest of your life.
Well another way to look at things is you are now on the elevator. Rent will go up, that's a fact of life. However your house payment will remain the same until you pay it off. Then it will be insurance and taxes the rest of your life. Look at what those are and ask yourself if you would rather pay those than more and more expensive rent?
The price of your home will go up, at least the rate of inflation. Inflation while small for the past 8 years is always there. Occasionally following wars it gets crazy. America has never had a war tax. We pay for our wars( ever since the revolution) with inflation.
I remember post Vietnam, inflation approaching 20% my house went from $107,000 to near a million by the time it really got under control.
Inflation is creeping up a little in the last year and with the spending promised and needed, plus a major tax cut will really kick up inflation. When it happens don't use your equity like a piggy bank
Do t worry your income will increase with inflation (while your payment remains the same) . It will lag by a year or so but eventually catch up.
I have to wait 24 hours for the epoxy on the anchors to set- this is going to be a long day!
Ransom
PowerDork
10/13/17 10:43 a.m.
Congratulations! A lot!
That's very, very exciting.
Nice. Your gonna enjoy the hell out of that.
It looks like if your ceiling was one inch lower, that lift wouldn't have fit in there. 
Lights wired, the shop is still full of trash from that and the lift install but I'm very happy with the results:
I have always worked on jackstands in poorly lit spaces- this upgrade has been a long time coming.
stuart in mn said:
It looks like if your ceiling was one inch lower, that lift wouldn't have fit in there.
Because of the tight clearance and the slope of the roof, the install guy actually had to stand the upright up a few feet from its' target location, then wobble the 11'6" steel monster into position by hand- it looked really sketchy but it seemed like he had done it once or twice before.
A lift and heat in the shop?
You are really going to be living!
...with a boatload of brand new friends.
What's on the lift? You must have put SOMETHING on it by now. The dogs? Your wife?
mazdeuce said:
What's on the lift? ... Your wife?
Well that sure sounds kinky.
Was your fence material cedar perhaps ? Were you able to get it somewhat locally(big box store)? Well done and the rack thingy sure looks like it belongs there.
759NRNG said:
Was your fence material cedar perhaps ? Were you able to get it somewhat locally(big box store)? Well done and the rack thingy sure looks like it belongs there.
It's locust- apparently that's the good E36 M3, around here anyway
mazdeuce said:
What's on the lift? You must have put SOMETHING on it by now. The dogs? Your wife?
O_O
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!
