Notes from Windward: #71

New Road Sign

displaying the new entrance's new name

Walt:

     While our neighbor George had his trackhoe on site, we took a few minutes out to prepare the location for the new entrance's road sign. There was a cluster of oaks growning where the sign needed to go, and just cutting down the oaks wouldn't work since it would have been very difficult to dig a hole for the pole through the oak's root cluster.

the trackhoe starts to push over the oak
  


     This is the best time of year to remove trees because the ground is soft enough for the roots to slip and allow the tree to be pried out of the ground, roots and all.

one oak down
  


     The smaller of the two oaks came out easy enough, and the trackhoe drug it out of the way to be dealt with later. Then it was on to the main event.

the second oak breaks off near its base
  


     The second, larger oak wasn't as easy, and actually the trunk broke and gave way before the root ball did. No matter; a few digs with the bucket around the base of the oak, and it came out too.

Opalyn shows where the new sign will go
  


     Another reason for taking out these two oaks was to enhance visibility as we turn onto the county road. In deep country, it's easy to get lax and not pay close attention to potential traffic. By opening up the view up hill, we increase the liklihood that we'll see on coming traffic, and that they'll see us.

Nicole whips out a quick hole
for the new sign
  


     The next step was to dig a hole for the new sign post. The digging was easy in the sense that it was freshly disturbed earth, but tricky in that there were lots of roots left behind from the two oaks that used to occupy this location.

attaching the sign to the 4x4 post
  


     While Nicole was digging the hole, I attached the sign to the 4x4 post using the nifty, purpose-made bracket that came with the sign.

Nicole confirms that the sign
is plumbed correctly
  


     The sign post was placed into the hole, and braced in place to keep it level. The lower portion of the pole was wrapped with a black plastic trash bag to keep the cement mix from getting on the above-ground part of the post. Then we mixed up 9 gallons of concret and poured it. The last step was to bulk out the mix with the addition of a dozen fist-sized rocks. That adds mass and volume to the sign's base, making it all the more stable.

Notes From Windward - Index - Vol. 71