Unusual jobs that I somehow get involved in

Old Doug said: I understand things grow but If a person really took time and trimmed stuff would it save a lot of work ? Click to expand... This customer hired my friend to take down the tree. I'm guessing they weren't around to remind the previous owners of the property to trim the tree each year.

materthegreater said: Cost a lot less to move than to buy materials to build. Click to expand... They moved a whole town Pattonsburg Mo not far from were i did lived because of floods. It was a deal very interesting .

Old Doug said: They moved a whole town Pattonsburg Mo not far from were i did lived because of floods. It was a deal very interesting . Click to expand... In an earlier day buildings were mostly timber frames. They were always cut & fitted off site. I see them often with Roman numerals to identify where they were meant to go. Each piece was fitted individually. Depending on year, common sheathing was through & through sawed. Nails were used sparingly. A sheathing plank might have four tapered nails, might be 16" wide. A tapered nail, whether blacksmith made or cut from sheet only needed a bit of loosening, it came out freely. Wierd bit of local history where I live: Mount Tabor was a mountain town. One edge of the town contained Otter Creek, a narrow valley, and the logical place to build Route 7, a major North South highway. 1840s the railroad was built. It was presumed that having a railroad & station would make an isolated town prosper. VT towns bought the land to build the track. Few of the town's residents expected to benefit from a railroad, they had a mountain to climb to get to the railroad. There was a one time property tax of $5. Many didn't pay, some of them couldn't. Town took their property for failure to pay the tax. Decades later, a rich kid from the next town had prospered from family money & railroad, bought 21000 acres from the Town for $1100. a little more than 5 cents an acre. There had been a couple hundred farms on this land. Countless buildings were knocked down, brought to the valley. To this day, several Danby homes came from "the mountain", countless barns still stand in the next town.

I buried a horse the other day. This was not such an unusual job, except that the customer wanted me to use her equipment. No tire chains and 2wd. Had to claw my way backwards up the hill back to the barn.

materthegreater said: I buried a horse the other day. This was not such an unusual job, except that the customer wanted me to use her equipment. View attachment 356814 No tire chains and 2wd. Had to claw my way backwards up the hill back to the barn. Click to expand... I did that once, might have been the same machine, not, that one only had a bit of paint left. The one I used hadn't been greased in this century & had a crack through between center teeth much of the way through the bucket. I still managed to bury a dog.

What was the frost depth, if any under the snow? I see a few chunkers.

Willie B said: I did that once, might have been the same machine, not, that one only had a bit of paint left. The one I used hadn't been greased in this century & had a crack through between center teeth much of the way through the bucket. I still managed to bury a dog. Click to expand... I had to add fuel and hydraulic oil to be able to use it. In her defense, she is a recent widow and living in Florida for the winter. The caretaker doesn't seem to know much about equipment, but her daughter was actually quite helpful in helping me get the horse into the hole. The worst part was not getting too confused with the Deere control pattern...

HarleyHappy said: What was the frost depth, if any under the snow? I see a few chunkers. Click to expand... Little enough that I didn't notice any. The chunks are probably rocks covered in the sticky clay soil. About 18" of snow maybe.

materthegreater said: I buried a horse the other day. This was not such an unusual job, except that the customer wanted me to use her equipment. View attachment 356814 No tire chains and 2wd. Had to claw my way backwards up the hill back to the barn. Click to expand... That was nice of you.

Coaldust said: That was nice of you. Click to expand... Hard to say no to a widow.