Well done! Moved a few boxes over the years. They do tend to have a mind of their own.
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Cleanup.... Now that most of the timber was stacked, we could start to clear the surrounding area and accurately plot where the house is to be. Until now the block had felt small.. We had also settled on a name for the place. "Tirrangka", which means 'Hidden' in the local Kaurna (pronunced Gahna) Aboriginal language. A friend of ours works with one of the Elders, so through her, we asked if it would be ok to use an Aboriginal name, and suggested a few English words to base it around. We were told that this was good, as we recognized the heritage of the area, and selected our favorite.
Tirrangka is very fitting, because unless you know its there, you'd never find it! Just the way we like it!
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'Stump and grind' [biggrin] So, here's our old neighbor Mat with his stump grinding machine, removing the stump from the recently felled tree. This machine came in handy, as we removed several old stumps and a mound which were home to white ants.. There are plenty of them on the block.. Just part of living in South Oz I guess.
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So, as we go on, I'll introduce my helpers! Here's 'Max Factor the tiny tractor'! He's an 80's Case International 234 (Mitsubishi in disguise). I bought him when we bought the house in Cockatoo Valley about 9 years ago, and he's been invaluable ever since. He arrived sat on turf tyres, with 4500 worked hours. I then spent several months re painting him, building and fitting the loader and shodding him with the tyres you see. He has done all the groundworks you will see in the coming pictures. I'll leave it here for a few days, and will continue on another day. :)
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Time for a little more.. well, a lot more.... The time had come to spend some money... 'Max Factor the little tractor' needed a back hoe, and somehow I needed to haul the rocks I had decided to use into site... The backhoe was the easy bit, but the rock carting was the harder bit.. The next few months were a bit manic... I bought, adapted and fitted a Massey Ferguson CB65 backhoe to my Case tractor, I found a home for the 101, and bought a 4x4 truck with a crane! The 101 sale had been thought about for a little while, as we wanted a bigger tourer... in the form of an overland truck. I then happened to find a Mercedes 1222 for sale in Tamworth.. at the same time as a guy from QLD found my 101 for sale! The stars aligned and the 101 sold, and I boarded a flight to Tamworth a few days later! Love the truck, but do miss the 101!
Anyway, within days of getting home with the Merc, we collected our first load of rocks. Placing rocks for a rock garden is one thing... Placing rocks that weigh in excess of 500kg is another. Let round two of the Sitec Antics begin!! ;)
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It's kinda handy working at an Ag dealership.... I get access to lots of large toys! This is the first new piece of equipment I have ever bought, and I tell ya its been one of the best investments! The little CB65 retails at about $5500 inc and it has paid for itself over and over! We were quoted over $35000 by 'CreekEuca' the builders, and I said no way!! I went out and bought a truck and a backhoe, I have retaining done, and I still have the toys!! Win win!
The first pic is of the bracketry I made up so the backhoe would sit on the lower link arm pins, and lock in place using the top link jaw. The second pic is of the initial size up... 'Is it going to work?'.... Well, it did, and well!
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I'm more excited reading this thread than a 16 year old watching his first porno... [emoji1303]
And civil gingerbeering. [wink11]