This week was a little more eventful than I wanted. The "surgeon" who moved my container into the in-laws yard between two cedar fence posts 9' wide in a single un-aided shot; quit to work for a different towing outfit unbeknownst to me. And they didn't tell me that when I specifically asked for him Monday.
They sent out a one month rookie and after walking the whole trip making sure I didn't overlook anything and making sure the driver (who I didn't know was a noob yet) was cool with the project and the hill - he refused my offer to spot him through the swamp (the swamp road was barely wide enough in a couple spots), and then promptly drove off the side 20' from dry ground.
Then his boss showed up and promptly drove off the edge in reverse at mach 3, and got stuck too. Then started calling the noob retarded for agreeing to take the truck over my road. Umm, excuse me? We had a 42,000# tandem dump on that road you jackwagon!
So after getting the little tow truck un-stuck, we decided to take the container off and try to pull the flatbed forward with my tractor (which was inland of the swamp).
Which worked, sort of.
20' cargo container's work great as a drag.
With the container off, we still couldn't budge the flatbed, so they called in another driver with a class 8 wrecker.
But that thing's winches were mostly shot, and jumping teeth more than pulling cable. It took a lot of monkeying to get the flatbed up out of the swamp. After all the jockeying to get the container off, and trying to use the stinger to assist in lifting it up and out, the shoulder was pretty well mashed into the soup and the truck had sunk down over the culvert even more.
Eventually we did pull the rear end up onto the crown, and got the front axel out of the hole it was in. The big wrecker couldn't drag it back any further because it was about to rip the DPF off the tailpipe. That's when we tried pulling it with the tractor again, and that actually worked great!
So once we got it un-stuck, both me and the flatbed drove up the hill to the garden, then I went back down and fixed up the road a bit so he could drive the truck back out. This time, I guided him.
No problem! But what was tight before was now really tight. My culvert is wrecked.
And the container isn't on the correct side of the swamp either. The big wrecker guy said he'd come move it tomorrow after work for free before he left Tuesday night. Wednesday morning I assessed the damages with a clear head, and called my tailings guy (who I expected to be in Texas at his hunting lease) - he was still here, and he brought me two more loads before quitting for the day.
It was 5:21 when they left after I talked with him about the culvert and how to go about fixing it proper. I walked in the door at 7:49 after all the tailings were spread. Fortunately I have kick ass LED auxiliary lights on my tractor and had no trouble working when the sun set. I didn't get any pics of the newly widened and straightened swamp road, but it's much nicer now. I've been holding off on bringing more tailings in until I start selling some wood. Seems like money just vaporizes these days, so I've been trying to limit expenses until I have better cash flow.
I did shoot a quick video driving from the garden to the street while waiting for Scott to bring my fill, so you can see how much wider the road is inside the swamp now after I got the stumps ground out. I need to decide the best way to make the turn from the shelf the garden is on, up yet another hill, to where my house is going. Either I follow the atv trail (seen just to the right at the very beginning of this video) around a slight dog leg, or I blaze a new path through a patch of poor growing aspen that are mostly dead and knocked over. But at least now I have somewhere to dump and burn the slash.
I also need to clear out the turn-out at the inside edge of the swamp road. I'll need more room to get a semi aimed up the hill than we have now. That won't be a problem for a while yet. No semi's are hauling wood for me. I'll be using that C65 Chevy to pull a trailer to haul wood to the mill.
Tuesday was pretty expensive for the tow company, and I'm not sure what resolution we'll have about the culvert. They haven't contacted me about it yet (which is disappointing), but Scott said to give them the chance to fix it. He seems to have a good opinion about the outfit, and I trust his judgment on folks up there (he's been spot-on in every case we've discussed). I'm headed back up there shortly, and get to put vinyl siding on a shed that should be demolished for my FIL - but he's paying me and he's sentimental on the old shack so I'm going to do it right for him. And of course, hopefully seeing the container to it's new home would be nice.
Thanks for looking at my thread, and for the kind words guys.
.png "Love :heart:")
Their "last stand" was trying to fight my road permit last spring which resulted in 14 letters of objection to granting it, and I still got it without any resistance from the county. Even recently, the guy who's called the county on me every year since my trail permit was issued to "make sure I was still legal" backed down when confronted by me about being a hypocrite on the lake association's fb page. He used to be good for a full blown 3yr old's quality tantrum in years past. 
I don't know what I'll do not having to look over my shoulder anymore. I've gotten kinda used to the little rat bastage and his yippie dog-like persistence. Pushing his buttons was almost a sport since he was always wound so tight. 
I asked for a quote to haul in a 45' HC container and never did get a bid back. The owner said Ben had to check it out first before he'd send another truck in. 
