I’ve spent the last couple of days pulling the stumps from the trees that I cleared off of the building site.

If I had to choose between the two activities I would take falling trees over pulling stumps! My neighbor warned me that birch trees (mostly what I cut down) have extensive root systems. Naively I did not pay attention to him at the time. The roots on these trees are massive; the main ones are literally thicker than the larger tree branches, and they are extensive. I admit I was getting bored limbing and bucking trees, but now last week looks like a dream job …

The backhoe has been invaluable for this job. I have been digging a three to four foot deep hole (really a crater) around the stumps that allows me to cut the roots off. I have only managed to hit the house once during all of this. Sandra claims that I hit the house twice (the other strike was actually on the back stairs … like that counts), and that the one that actually hit the house made everything rattle (really it was just a glancing blow). I did manage to drive the backhoe over a covered and back-filled service junction that I had forgotten about. The cover collapsed and tilted the backhoe alarmingly. It took a while to level the machine and get it out of that spot. Good thing I found that junction before it got dug up and damaged. I think the electrical and water lines run through it.

My list of tools on this job has grown to include the forklift, both chain saws, a shovel and all of my lifting chains. I now truly appreciate a forklift that can lift 20,000 lbs. The stumps come out of the ground pretty quickly chained to the forklift. The backhoe is too light to lift the stumps, and I have actually been working with a really large rock in the front bucket to keep the front on the ground while I am pulling stumps. This is possibly not an intended use for a BlueChip forklift, but it sure is impressive.

I have one more stump to pull tomorrow and then I think we are ready to layout the footprint of the building and start excavating!