Hello Everyone,
After months of delays, here is the fourth video in the dome greenhouse series. This
video doesn’t directly pertain to the actual dome construction, but instead shows the site
preparation work. If you like chainsaws, tractors, doodle bugs, and huge excavators, you’ll
love this segment!
The greenhouse is being constructed at the edge of a field. About one and a half acres
needed to be timbered. Each tree needs to be cut, delimbed, and removed from the area.
It’s a very time consuming process without the aid of large logging equipment.
Having a tractor with forks helps to speed up the clearing process. All the hardwood
logs and branches larger than a couple of inches are collected and stacked in a large
pile. They will then be cut and split and will be used to heat the greenhouse during
the winter. The larger pine logs will be sawn into lumber.
All the smaller branches are collected and placed in a large pile along the edge of the
field. This provides a habitat and shelter area for various animals such as birds and
fox. In a few years, the branches will decompose.
My neighbor stopped by with his doodlebug to help with some of the larger trees. A doodlebug
is a homemade piece of farming equipment that is made from just about anything that can
be welded and bolted together.
This one is used as a logging skidder and has large ag tires with chains, and a huge
winch for dragging logs. The winch is tied into the transmission and has an awesome pulling
capacity. It has no problem dragging a few complete trees at the same time. It also has
no problem driving over some of the toughest terrain.
It’s time to bring in the big guns! The area is filled with stumps intertwined with
large glacial boulders. They are no match for this excavator which can easily slice
through the roots and throw around the boulders.
For the size of the machine, surprisingly, it was able to do precision work by perfectly
leveling out the foundation hole in the footing locations.
When they were done with the foundation hole, we were left with large piles of rocks, topsoil,
stumps, and gravel. A nice round and level hole is now ready for footings and foundation
wall. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel couldn’t have done a better job!
As always, thanks for watching, and please subscribe for future videos!