Looking great!
syncro's trail blog
Outrageously good work. Thanks for stopping to document, I know it's hard to interrupt the momentum.
Nice rock tips. I've been using the Caveman method of propping up too-big-rocks and slamming off pieces with a sledge at the fractures for years. Works, but it's a lot of effort and anything but guaranteed.
I like your methods, precise and consistent
Thanks! The money invested in the tools is not cheap, but the amount of work that can get done goes way up.
Now that is a nice rock.
First job was to get it out of the hole. I picked up a lever block or lever winch for helping to move things around. It works way better than a come along and
can pull up to 3T, it also has a chain length of 20ft which makes it more practical for pulling stuff long distances. I've made a couple mods to it, including
making a side handle so it's easier to keep it steady when pulling horizontally and I got rid of the castle nut and put a coupling nut on there so I can run it
with a drill which makes it way faster. Unlike a come along, the lever winch has a reversible clutch so you can crank the handle 360°.
Picked up this new drill to power the lever winch - works great.
Got the beast rock close to where it'll go. Now it's time to slice the fat bastard up so the bottom is flat and sits more stable. It's going to fill the gap
between the two ramps and raise them both up so there's not as much of a compression at the bottom of the leading one and so that it flows a
bit smoother into the second one.
And a vid
Last edited by: syncro on April 2, 2024, 6:20 a.m., edited 4 times in total.
You, sir, are an ANIMAL! Instead of snapping my fingers in appreciation of a master at a poetry slam, I ratchet my come-along in salute!
ps. I hope you're using a respirator when you're going to town with the angle grinder and the diamond wheels (even with the water dribbler)
Posted by: WeTYC...
You, sir, are an ANIMAL! Instead of snapping my fingers in appreciation of a master at a poetry slam, I ratchet my come-along in salute!
ps. I hope you're using a respirator when you're going to town with the angle grinder and the diamond wheels (even with the water dribbler)
No, but I'm using my squints and nose plugs to be safe. I breathe through the mouth so that nasty dust doesn't go into my nose and fill it up with crusties. /s
The lever winch is a game changer when it comes to moving big rocks. Adding the drill takes it to a completely different level. There's something called a Lewis winch which attaches to a chainsaw power head and has the advantage of using a steel cable instead of a chain so you can pull something over a 100ft. I think you can also set them up with ropes as well. But they are around $1000 buck and it means tying up a chainsaw or swapping out the bar and winch when you want to use it. The lever winch can be had relatively cheap and the advantage of getting the drill is I can use it for boring holes through stringers/posts to bolt structures together with ready rod instead of using nails.
Looking good, and good tip on the lever winch.
I've broken come-alongs to the point I've given up. Am just really lousy at gauging rock weights.
Posted by: syncro
And a vid
that‘s the trailbuilding equivalent of a cheating ebiker :D
Last edited by: Sethimus on April 6, 2024, 12:36 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
Today was beam time - milling some replacement for a bridge that were a bit undersized when I first put them in. After the cutting was done I was able to recruit a bunch of riders originally from Mexico who were able to help me carry these down the hill to the trail. These things are about 7x7 and 22ft long.
L to R: Adrian, Valeria, JP, Luciana, Emiliano
Getting what will be called Mexican bridge ready, with the old one already taken out. I salvaged nearly all the rungs from the old bridge which will get re-used, including the nails, on the new one.
Part of replacing this bridge involved fixing up the log ride it leads onto. When the tree was felled and left a hundred or so year ago the top part snapped when it hit the ground.
I "fixed" the gap between the two with a small slab but decided to improve it to make it more feasible to turn this into a drop instead of a roll down. I excavated the log that was half buried, cut off the rotten ends and then put a lip on one end where it was split. I then spun the log around lengthwise so that the lip would overlap with the longer part. I've got a few options in terms of the height for the drop and the angle of the landing. I'm thinking I'll raise the bridge up a bit so the drop will be about 3ft and make the angle of the landing a little steeper than it is now. I'll probably include a roller off the end still but make it super steep, almost vertical.
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