#233 Fixing the Mountain Road – Things Don't Go Quite as Planned

Right, we've got a lot going on this week. I got the digger here. It's a bigger machine than last time's That was a 0.8 ton and fine for all the trench work here, but this is a 2.5 ton The farmer brought it here this weekend and we're gonna work on the road over there Which is always a very difficult section in winter because it's pure north and it's it's gone very bad now. So I always have difficulties to come up there So we're gonna level it out, bring in some gravel, cut roots and stuff because, they are also in the way Yeah and in the meantime we're also doing some roof work. Pascuale is here from Italy and Florian from Germany. So we're sanding the boards and putting those on, staining them. I think the weather is gonna stay beautiful. It's very sunny, so it's nice.

I need to do them again because I just feel it and then it was smooth But I didn't look at it so now I'm doing it again. Yeah. Alright. We're not in a rush making the track wider and getting rid of some big rocks

Can I service? Yeah sure! Smells good! Risotto Oh nice, pumpkins. No? Mm-hmm. Yeah. no it's carrot. No no no, pumpkins Nice. Well I made a first pass on the road. Salami grissini... Oh, what a gorgeous day It's so quiet now. Take a seat, man!

Yeah, it smells amazing Well you're with the German and the Dutch person, they're easy to please. But these ones also like up to this size I would say. These can stay, not a problem. But these bigger ones they need to come out So just on the side? On the side but like properly.. like outside and not not here I think because it needs bit further And then slowly I come back and I level a bit more out and everything is very... I mean, this is gonna compact a lot, right? now it's very rough... that, and also the roots This is fine, but these things are there's some parts of the tree that came out. Pull them out and throw them away.

I would say if you start at the bottom and then work your way up and then Yeah, right here there's a lot of stones. Like down there it's a little bit less. Like some parts they have a lot of stones and others are a bit less I don't know if you need it. For now, I think no. I take one, maybe. Yes. One of these ones Yeah, see which tools work for you. The big ones you get with your hand probably Yeah.

Oh, we can eat these Or you need another treatment or they ready? Honey. Huh? Honey. Honey! Okay. I'll get some honey. No, we we have some. You have it? It's like a spicy salami Yeah exactly. Ah, there's another one.

They're good tools, huh? Yeah, they're really nice. They're uh... because of that hook they grab into it Okay, that's pretty level. The rest we'll do with the compactor. Then we can see when you compact it where we need to do more leveling. But uh this looks good. Let's make a coffee and then we're gonna pick up the the guardrails, they're on the road here, with the trailer Okay, this top one looks good.

Oh we should have brought a pickaxe. recycled guard rails that will be placed perpendicular to the road to divert rain water I have two more.

Alright, just put them down here and then I'll You know when we raise this one and let's put this one out.

Okay. go go go Yeah but I know all of these [Valentin on the phone] I've worked with this one as well.

Yes. And I have one myself that size, so they're all the same. So if you have the like handle, you know So if you leave it as it is, it normally goes forward and if you pull it back it reverses and these things are actually going quite fast normally. This is not normal that it's just sitting there The rest we can rake This is this this is the amount you need here and then compact it call five like 15 cm, 20, Then you're able to keep the road dry.

This does not hold water. The problem with soil is it holds water and in March when snow melts it gets muddy It's not going very well. Compactor is not working. Um Well it works but it doesn't move forward. the mechanism that kind of like thrusts the machine forward. It needs to be able to go pretty fast, which we need here because we need to go uphill It's not working. I called assistance It's a rental. They're coming, but I don't think they can come here with a van So um and without compacting it's not really gonna be good, because it's kind of a beach now, you know, that gravel needs to be strongly compacted otherwise it's not hard Rest is going well, we leveled it out.

Bit of gravel is here, they're coming with two more trucks and then hopefully we get the compactor to work. I'm not sure. Difficult site, difficult job But if all the machines are working, it's doable. But if it's if they're not, it's an impossible job. Ciao ragazze Lets have some fun

You don't like it? Well, have fun Short update on the rats. They're still here.

The traps are not working, none of them. They're not biting. I closed everything up so it's now a bit more difficult to get in the coop but soon all the food will be gone for them. But um yeah I need an air rifle or something, but These things are difficult in Italy... Right.

Last load of gravel just got delivered It was six trucks in total. This is about 150 meter of track but it's all loose still now. I need to find a compactor that works. Because it's important that it's compacted. And more importantly the gutters still need to go in, especially on the steeper side of the hill. So water can be led away But yeah, lost today, kind of like with this compactor trying to get it to work. There was also a mechanic coming. He got lost in the mountains because This place is hard to find. It was an older guy so I had to pick him up and um he needed to look at the machine. And yeah It's always a bit frustrating to work with rental companies that deliver a broken machine. Same as the sandblaster a few weeks ago So yeah.

Um roof is getting on, a few more boards are being put on. I think next week I can close it. Uh I need to do more work on the road. Hope the snow doesn't come too early. We'll see.