In the early spring, I got a neighbor that moved into the house next to our property. He was a heavy equipment operator and now supervises. We hit it off really well and have many common interests. He got a fairly large trackhoe to do some work around his place and start building his own pond. One day he asked if he could do anything to help me out while he had the trackhoe. I told him I would really like to deepen the pond a bit but the rock layer was too tough for my dozer. He said he would be glad to rip some of it out for me, so he brought it to the pond and started in on it.
He dug all around where the island is, and busted out a good bit of the iron ore, but the trackhoe was even having a time of it, so I told him it was good enough. I now have a deep channel in the middle and all around the island, thanks to him. I offered to pay for his time and fuel, but he said I can do him a favor sometime instead. What a great neighbor. I will make sure he is amply compensated. Below are a couple of pictures, one of the trackhoe at work on the rocks and one of the channel he dug.
