What was forecast as a dry day turned out to be showery !!
I got set up early to finish the last 15 or so barrow loads when Scott turned up and we polished them off in no time !!
We checked a few high spots with the dumpy level trimmed off a couple of inches - ALL DONE !!
Ready for the grab truck - or so I thought !!
A phone call to a local grab truck company - Yes we can take away your pile of muck - are you sure that there is no wood or plastic in it - NONE.
That's good.
Are you sure that there is no grass or plant roots in it - ITS FULL OF IT !!
The tip will not take it as landfill - sorry.
OK - I will just have to pick it all out then, before your truck arrives !!!
That's OK then - he will be there first thing tomorrow - £180 per load - cash.
What a bombshell - my fault - I should have called them before we started moving the stuff - WOW.
So I spent the afternoon raking and picking out grass sods and root balls galore until the neat pile was scattered all over the drive.
My plan was to make the pile appear to be free of grass and roots and to convince the grab truck driver it was OK to take it. To clear the whole pile in a few hours was impossible.
Thursday
The truck turned up a bit later than they said - No Problem.
The driver took one look at the pile and said - I can get rid of it for you - It Worked !!!!
He was very skillful with the grab and soon gobbled up the pile in one load.
The website said that the truck was 15 tonnes capacity but what turned up was 18 tonnes capacity.
I was expecting to have two loads but the driver said - I'll get it all on this load - possibly a bit overweight.
All gone in 20 minutes - One load - only two bucket fulls to clean up plus a scrape up with the shovel, a brush with the stiff yard brush before the rain at 11 am !!
I did beat the rain - clearing up the dry muck just in time - then waterproof gear on - long hose right through the house ! - cleaning up all residue.
It took all the rest of the day to get cleaned up - all the roots bagged up and loaded into my poor little car - the retaining boards dismantled - drain gully emptied everything put away like it never happened.
All there is to show on the drive are the scratches on the concrete from the grab - no bother.
End of phase one - the excavation - next - set out the base - calculate the quantity of crushed brick required for the sub base - have that delivered in bulk - then barrow that round - level it out - rent a Wacker compactor plate and when that's done - build the base former.
All for now - Mike.
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