Our excavator Troy finished the Shop pad this past week. He brought along his son Chase as a helper for the finish leveling of the pad. Chase ran the laser grade pole, while Troy operated the Cat backhoe. Troy fashioned a special finishing bucket for this type of finishing job. He welded a flat steel plate to the teeth on the bucket so it can be used as a screed to smooth the surface to a fine and level finish. Nice work Troy!
When we arrived Troy had just started fine leveling the pad in the southeast corner. Chase was running the laser grade rod.
Troy could level and smooth about 10' to 12' from a position, then he would lift the backhoe stabilizers and front bucket and move back to smooth the next section. Chase maintained constant monitoring and feedback on the grade height to Troy.
The shot below gives a good look at the bucket modification Troy made for pad leveling jobs.
Gari used the large landscaping rakes to smooth out the small imperfections left by the massive bucket.
Steve runs the vibratory packer over the finished areas. We were very fortunate for two days of decent rain right after Troy dumped and rough spread the base material. There was good moisture in the material and we think it packed well as a result.
Troy nears the last sections of the pad with his backhoe.
Chase finishes up with the vibrating packer and Troy spreads the dirt and vegetation piles removed from the original pad area. Troy made a nice driving area just west of the pad so the concrete trucks can pass without issue.
Same final touches, different angle. A spare pile of gravel sits in the front corner of the pad for future needs.
Troy parks the backhoe in front of the pad to discourage anyone driving onto the lot and from going onto the finished Shop pad. Chase packs the final area. Time to go back to the RV and clean up and eat!
Concrete forms and pouring coming soon!
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