D4D roading

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Hi, Mervyn Pepper.
Nice photos, mate. Thanks for sharing.

We all know that it doesn't take a lot of intelligence to dig a hole with an excavator. It seems to me that it may take even less intelligence to dig a hole with an excavator and then try to bury yourself and the excavator in said hole - - - - and then try to pull the hole in after you.

That second excavator down the hill from the first looks to be a slightly precarious position - - - like it wouldn't need much to send it R Supp with care.

Just my 0.02.

Nice shots!
Reminds me of grading Oil Lease roads back in the mid 80's. Nobody watching you work, just doing your thing!
As far as the Excavators, must not be "Owner-Operators" nor "Full-Time Employees"?
Seen as they didn't care for the machine nor there current careers at that Company.

Gidday Deas. Yeah all of us have violated 'stuks law' at some point. Trick is knowing when to stop
Guy in 2nd one, a cow cockie pulled himself sideways into the swamp digging a drain. Got the next guy an owner operator who put his 'worker' on the machine to help get the furtherest bogged one out. All he did was get himself bogged before he even got near the digger on its side. They then got in a third digger to help, but all he accomplished was to really dig a grave for the 2nd guy ! Finally rang me to winch them out, this was next day, by which grave had filled with water up over the counterweight and motor. Electrics shorted so it couldn,t start. I could winch from on there access track, but had doubts i would move it 'dead'.
So i decided to winch out furtherest one from up on side of hill where i had some elevation. Thinking it could help me with the closest digger. When i pulled sideways on the one on its side i ripped the whole track off the track frame which was totalled buried in the mud ! Tracks were probably worn and loose. Was a old PC120-3. Got it up on tierra del firma. But it was going to be of no help. Then used same approach on the 135 kobelco. winched from up on hill, but could get a straight pull this time. They had 2 strops on it they had put on it day before . I snapped one of them half way out, but other held and managed to drag it dead from its grave. Loosened lift ram pipes so boom could 'float' on the mud as i wrenched it out ! Had about 100ft of rope out and probably 20ft of elevation was only reason it moved. Had 6 pretty well dug in and it was working fairly hard. My rope was a brand new 7/8 swaged rope knew it wouldn,t snap. Had less faith in my eye splice but it bit in tight and held. Usually like a few lighter pulls first on a new splice to bed it in.
Roads i did with D4D were just access roads for another farmer to be able to drive to top of his farm from the bottom so he had access to spray weeds. Was a 15 ft high batter on some of it too ! Certainly made man and his noble steed work abit.
Cheers merv 😛op2:

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Damn I could have sworn that was Northern California! Except there weren't a bunch of protesters complaining about your road...

Nice looking country indeed.

Greg

Damn I could have sworn that was Northern California! Except there weren't a bunch of protesters complaining about your road...

Nice looking country indeed.

Greg

Hi Mervyn,
Neil here. Live in the U.S. but spent few years logging out of places like that mostly round the lower N.I.. That track you put in would have been classed as a logging truck road at the point I left the industry : ) That said, any road put in by a dozer was ten times better than one put in with a digger - very hard to get an even grade with a digger because the operator is not running to and fro as you do with a dozer. There was always one "stretch" that was just too steep to get up without assistance. Don't know why they did that because it cost them money to push us up the hill. Did the cocky put any gravel on that?
Cheers,
Neil