It’s Hammer Time

Well, after some "lost in translation" moments, we finally got the pins we needed for the bucket from Puerto Rico.  After a visit to St. Croix, the pins arrived last Sunday evening, and I picked them up Monday morning from the dock in St. Thomas.  Tuesday morning brought us some real excavator action.  Wayne made it from the bottom of the property to the top and finished the week knocking some rock with the hammer.

While we hate losing any trees, it is an unfortunate part of the process. Most of the trees on the lot are small as this was a farm for a very long time. However, it is kind of cool to see how the trees are efficiently removed and tucked off to the side. Wayne simply extends the boom to the crown and then "palms" the tree in the bucket and shoves it downward. About a foot off of the ground, he curls the bucket and pulls out the root ball. Quite efficient.

Plenty of excavating and fine tuning to be done over the next week. Our priority at this point is to make a passable driveway so we can get trucks in to drop off our lumber, steel and work container along with temporary power. While supplies are delivered, we'll begin excavation of the first villa and begin framing for our footings.