Finally Starting on the Berm

[BrokenolMarine]

It has been more than a year since the fall that broke my wrist in two places, while unloading the Railroad Ties to start building the Berm for my home range. I would have had nearly 100 yards. Oh, wait, broken wrist for the Broken Ol Marine.

06 the ties.jpg (379.23 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

Yesterday, Miss T and I moved the Titan out of the covered carport, and set up a pair of folding tables, the metal cutting chop saw, and got busy on the rebar. We cut about sixty spikes to use to secure the Railroad ties, as we set them in place with the tractor. I cut three 36" long, then twenty five, 24" long. Then reset and cut them all in half with the blade reset at a 45 degree angle so we had a sharp (sort of) point one the end of each half. that gave me six Eighteen Inchers, and fifty Twelve inchers. That should do 'er. Once done, I painted the flat ends white to distinguish these from the almost the right length ones we just tossed in the bucket.

spikes cut 220521.jpg (84.38 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

Once we get a nice day again, I'll start setting the RR ties. A year late. Here is a peek uprange from where the berm will sit. The rangehouse (little gray building) is about 95 yards away.

up range c.jpg (207.93 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

This is the view Down Range...

03c range.jpg (273.22 KiB) Viewed 1989 times

More pics will follow as the construction progresses.

[Headhog]

Glad to see your back at this long awaited projected. It drives me crazy, that as we get older it take so long to heal.

Paul

[BrokenolMarine]

I would have healed much quicker. Normally recovery is a few months, even with a double break requiring surgery. But, as my luck has it, I suffered nerve damage during surgery called complex regional pain syndrome. I WOULD wish this on my worst enemy. Very painful, and near total loss of range of motion up front, lots of slow to depart swelling.

About twelve months post surgery, lots of PT, I have about 90% range of motion in the grip, 80 - 85% in the wrist. Most of the loss is in rotation due to the prosthetic implant. Grip strength is around 40%, but they say it can improve for 24 months.

[BigAl52]

Wish I was close by I would give you a hand. Looks like it should be nice when done

[Hatchdog]

Glad you are able to get started. Please bring us along on the project, it’s enjoyable to see progress.

[daytime dave]

Good looking project.

[fortyshooter]

That will be a great range area when finished!

[BrokenolMarine]

That's my hope as well. Normally ranges are laid out in the direct sun to prevent shade on the targets. This is Oklahoma. It's often in the triple digits here in the summer. If you look up High Winds, it says see Oklahoma. The location should provide both shade and something of a windbreak.

Meh, not benchresting here, and no longer training or practicing for competition, so: it'll do donkey, it'll do.

[Sir Henry]

I’ll be following your progress.

[The Wiz]

Be careful, be safe.

[BrokenolMarine]

Easy so far... Rained every day since.
But thanks, we will take it slow and easy, and be careful. Those RR Ties are heavy. I plan to make the Kubota earn it's keep.

[Rifletom]

Yeah, this will be nice project to watch. Going to be a nice range when finished Marine.

[BrokenolMarine]

This is the big day! No rain for the last three. Watch this space. Tina is bush hogging, and I'm heading to the shop after coffee to load the tools in the UTV.

Yes, this was a teaser... I know, mean, wasn't it?

[daytime dave]

I hope all goes well marine.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got at it this morning, with Miss Tina heading down to bush hog around the area we wanted to work in to reduce the chance of snakes, and me finishing my coffee then heading out to load the tools into the UTV. I loaded up the things I thought we might need and turned out I made good choices. We used everything BUT the logging chain... that still might come later.

01 tools.jpg (232.24 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

After a half hour spent laying out the exact location of the center of the lane, then deciding where I wanted the first Brick in the wall... (Hear it? I hear it.. the music.... "Just another brick in the wall.) Here she is, the first BRICK in the wall.

02 First Brick.jpg (327.83 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

That first spike was driven in with a fork on the pallet forks. Smooth as butter.

03 drive it.jpg (325.42 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

[BrokenolMarine]

From there it was just a matter of laying out the wings on either side. Get at it, slip and slide the Rail Road Tie after dropping it with the pallet forks. Miss Tina was overly protective and didn't want me lifting or pushing as that right femur has that plate and all those screws in it. The doc warned that if I torque it, ... So... we used the tip of the forks to push and twist, or I levered with the big tamping bar, basically a giant pry bar. I have this cool technique whereas she pulls up and I stab that bar in the ground and when she backs off the RR tie spins against the bar to get the angle correct, then, dump it off. It slides easily on the forks. Work smarter, not harder. The first wing in place.

04 gettin at it.jpg (398.54 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

As each base leg was placed, we drilled thru with the hammer drill and spiked them with 18" spikes. Finally all three were placed and spiked. Tah Dah, an idea what the WALL will look like in relation to the range.

05 base laid.jpg (401.3 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

The first leg of the second layer was dropped and spiked into the layer below with a pair of 12" spikes. They will stagger to interlock. The weight of the design will keep them from tilting back toward the camera, and the dirt in front will keep them from going over forward. I plan to set two posts against this side of the center wall as well. Should be pretty stable.

06 a good start.jpg (391.18 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

Miss T monitors the old guy pretty close and called it. I had begun to get tired and she said I couldn't chance working tired. There is no rush and we'll split the job up and spread it out rather than risk further injury. THAT, or hire it done. There are plenty more TIES to lay, so we quit for now.

07 plenty more to go.jpg (328.43 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

At least you have an idea where I'm going with this... you see the dirt pile we'll start with. Plenty more around the farm to bring in once we are done with the wall.

Stay tuned.

[BrokenolMarine]

Of course, once the wall is completed, we will move the dirt back against the wall, filling tires with the dirt in the lowest levels to help prevent erosion. I can get the tires for free from tire shops. That way they charged customers the disposal fee, but don't have to pay it out... Pretty slick.

In watching some berm videos, some tire/mechanics shops charged the berm guys a couple bucks for tires because they were charging the customer a disposal fee, then selling the tires to recyclers who ground them up for various products. Win/Win for the business.

[cooperhawk]

I once built an berm out of tires just as the NRA design called for. Just be SURE you pack the tires solidly with
dirt. My problem was that 9mm rounds would bounce back off the tires!

[BrokenolMarine]

I once built an berm out of tires just as the NRA design called for. Just be SURE you pack the tires solidly with
dirt. My problem was that 9mm rounds would bounce back off the tires!

I had read that on several posts, and seen that comment in several videos of folks that put up HOW to build berm videos.
I have NO intention of having exposed tires in my berm. I will have tires along the bottom couple layers of the wall, packed with dirt to help HOLD the dirt in the base. I will pack dirt in FRONT of the tires and keep dirt packed in front of the tires for just that reason, but thanks for the warning, I don't need spent rounds flying back. THEY can still hurt.

[BrokenolMarine]

Do plan a session on the range berm today, but have to wait by the phone first. We found someone willing to come cut / rake / bale our hayfield. He is going to come look at it today, and give us a quote. CAN'T miss that call. Hay is scarce with the spring drought this year, has doubled in price, almost triple in some areas. Some people are just selling their herds.

We'll work on the berm after that appointment.