We Built Our Dream Home In The Woods

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As it turned out, the rototiller?like ditcher sold far much mare than my top bidding price . . . but I was able to "steal" the Jeep/trencher for $1,550. And for a good part of one summer, two of our sons had a merry time using the piece of equipment to dig postholes, leach lines, and utility ditches on our site. The odd-looking machine proved fully capable of doing all our excavation work . . . and did it better (for our purposes, at least) than any other implement could've done!

PUTTIN' THE POLES INTO THE HOLES

By June 1973 we'd dug ail the necessary holes . . . but we were so far from knowing how to set our uprights into them that?for a while?we entertained the idea of enticing some young, strong backs to our site with promises of food and drink, for a "pole-raising" party. (The idea being that we'd just raise each pillar by means of sheer heave-ho muscle power.)

Then I came up with a better idea. Earlier, I'd tried to imagine how my ancestors might have attacked the problem of raising a dozen oversize poles . . . and I concluded that most likely?they would've put their animals to work. Which led me to say to myself: "in that case, I should put my truck to work!"

So I did. After selecting a pole (and a hole) to work on, f got in my trusty pickup and drove to a spot where I could [1] hitch a steel cable to the rear of the vehicle, [2] run that cable across the top of a hole, and [3] couple it to the end of the giant log. I then got back in the truck, and slowly drove forward, dragging the huge timber behind me . . . until? thump!?the trailing end of the pole dropped into the hole (Fig. 3-B). At this point I stopped, backed up a bit, and let the pole slide slowly to the bottom of the ditch.

Next, I unfastened the cable from the big log, drove around to the other side of the hole, and hooked the cable up again as before. Then I attached another cable (this one with a portable winch?or "come-along"?on it) to the pole, and leaving ample slack in the line?anchored the free end of the cable to a sturdy stake located a few yards away on the far side of the hole. (See Fig. 3-C.)

Finally, I got in the truck once more, slowly started to drive away from the hole . . . and stopped when the pole looked approximately vertical (Fig. 3-D). Then, by making adjustments alternately to the winch and the truck, I was able to fine-tune the upright until it was exactly plumb . . . after which I steadied it with braces and disconnected the two cables.

This entire operation had taken no more than 20 minutes, and I'd done it without the aid of a single helper . . . let alone an army of "strong young backs"!

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