well, thanks for the comments so far: these are projects that i have been considering and planning for some time- did not just wake up this morning and decide to get er done. have read the legendary 590 and other fine resources from this site and others- plan to dig the first one MYSELF for practice and to see how it can be done and how long and then proceed to the bigger ones. I have watched and studied. I have spent hours at the site contemplating the amount of dirt that is going to be moved. If my jd 260 won't cut it then i can get someting bigger- if we listened to the likes of meadolark then the moon would still be green cheese.

While not a pro, i am not a novice equipment operator and am well aware of the ass-puckering situations one can get in to traversing steep slopes and digging in the earth- and i also realize that is it dry this time of the year in texas. sure glad we have such an expert as medowlark on the site however.

I have been digging at the site - know what my soil is and know there is no rock - just loads of beautiful clay.