More Property Changes

More property changes

Current mood:accomplished

As many of you know, there are a lot of changes happening in my 'hood...so my eye is open and hoping that all is for the good. So far so good, as I am pleased with the direction the changes are going in for the most part.

As many of you also know, we got hit really hard a few years ago with hurricanes, and I am still working on repairs from the hurricanes damage to our structures and landscape. Most of the tree debris has been removed, but the island between my 2 houses here has been neglected due to stumps and rootballs. I just let the growth grow in around it to hide the ugly rootball and stump. The stump in the main yard finally went away after 2 years of gnawing at it and setting bonfires on top of it. The cheapest estimate I had for removal was $1000, plus fill dirt.

This is where the stump and fire pit used to be...now nice and level and growing in. Will miss the fire pit, but wont miss the stump, LOL!

Anyway, saw a guy grinding a stump, and figured I would be a smartass and get an estimate on having my rootball and stump ground. Figured this guy, like all the rest, would laugh me off and tell me to call someone else. What I didnt realize was this guy knew what he was doing and invested in some big equipment to do the job. We spent about 45 minutes talking, and agreed he would come grind the stump...and he quoted me a price that was merely 1/10th of the cheapest bid I had gotten before!

So, I told him to schedule me at his convenience, and I skeptically went on my way. A couple of days later, Arnie calls and is ready to do it...

He brought out his 48,000 track grinder, operated by remote control...the plan was to use this to get the stump and ball gone, then bring the smaller machine in to finish the job...we agreed to not only remove the stump, but to leave all the valuble ornamental trees, and flatten the rest, then till and grind all the roots and stumps to 6 inches subterranean.

This is the before shot of the island:

And now Arnie starts on the stump...the machine runs by remote control, so he can stand at the blade and oversee the job....

After an hour, the whole stump and root were gone! The next day he arrived with the smaller machine and a dump trailer...took a chainsaw and cut all the junk trees and bushes about 6 inches from the ground, then put them in the trailer and ground and tilled the earth, then levelled it all out. Took about 4 hours or so. Here is the end result:

What a difference!! I have been wanting to clear that for several years, and many times I have started, but either been discouraged by the labor involved, or discouraged by the stumps in the island...now it is clear, except for my cherry tree, banana trees, a great queen palm and a 35 year old sego palm! Today I will work on shaping it, then see what happens from there....what a difference in the look of the yard now...much less jungle-y.

Of course, Foster and Tiny probably miss the trees, LOL...