Brian’s Backhoe Drainage Project

My John Deere 1025R and I recently had the opportunity to help my friend Brian fix/improve a drainage problem in front of his tractor/trailer storage shed. Perfect problem for the 260 Backhoe!

There is a link below to watch the highlights of the project.    This posts explains the project in a bit more detail, as often our videos bring as many questions as answers.  So, enjoy the video, and then read on (below the video link here) to see some more details.

Location and Setting

Brian’s property is located in/near Jolietville. Not sure it is really a town, more of a ‘cross-roads’ so to speak. The most interesting business (to me, anyway) is the Urban Farmer store which is located there. Not sure if this is a second location, or if they are moving from 161st in Westfield. In any case, it might be worth checking out their site, as almost all of their business is online.

Back to Brian’s property. He has approximately 2 (very nice) acres there, easy access, shaded backyard, and tremendous soil in the back which makes a wonderful garden. Yea, you figured it out, I am a little jealous!

Weather

The aforementioned shade on the western side of the property came in handy for us. We arrived later in the evening after we had both put in full days at our ‘real jobs’ writing software and managing a software team. The day had been incredibly hot, but as the shade took over, it was actually quite pleasant to work, especially since I didn’t have to do much manual labor!
We had recently experienced large rains (2-3 inches). I’m sure these rains prompted Brian to ‘finally’ take action on the project. We’re all the same, right? Put it off as long as we can!

The Backhoe Project

Brian would experience flooding/ponding in front of his tractor/trailer shed when big rains came. So, he decided to install a drainage channel next to the concrete slab which would provide a professional looking surface while giving the water a place to escape. He chose to get this plastic drainage channel from Menard’s. It wasn’t cheap, but it looks very professional when completed.

Additionally, he had some corrugated tile on hand which we were able to attach to the end of the drainage channel. We routed this tile away from the building to a location with suitable slope allowing the water to flow freely.

The iamge below shows where we ended the corrugated pipe run. we ran it ‘through’ the wall, where it finally saw enough fall for the pipe to resurface without going uphill.

Notice the confined space in which we were working. Perfect problem for the 1025R. To use a larger backhoe, like a Case 580, would have required moving a bunch of junk (er…stuff) out of the way, but the 1025R was able to slide right in there no problem.

The Surprise Challenge

Digging 6″ depth or so with the 260 Backhoe for a 30 ft. length is a nearly trivial project. However, we almost always encounter a surprise. In this case, we encountered concrete which had leaked out under the bottom edge of the form when it was originally set.
This photo shows the situation fairly well.

The video (above) clearly shows that the 260 Backhoe was not up to the task of breaking this concrete. This is likely a good thing, as I probably would have broken the slab if I had pulled much harder on these annoying hunks of exposed concrete.

We finally convinced Brian to bring out his air hammer (which he had been bragging about for 1/2 hour). By the time he finally brought it out, I wasn’t even sure it REALLY existed. I didn’t see the brand name. I suspect it was ‘Tool Shop’, as Brian mentioned it came from Menards. I didn’t find a ‘Tool Shop’ brand on their website, but this one should be close Menard’s Air Hammer

The air hammer made light work of the situation. By the time Brian finished with that, I was finished with the rest of the trench.

Hanna helped us put the drainage tile in, and we were able to declare victory.

Another project “made easy” (and fun) by the John Deere 1025R TLB.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Don’t forget to save money while showing your support for Tractor Time with Tim. Buy John Deere parts @ GreenFarmParts. Use coupon code TTWT for a significant discount.