French drains, land grader, tree trimmer, machine operator, snake trapper, diver, abandoned truck recovery, demolition, engineer, and youtuber. Man what a talented man you are. I live in an apartment in Los Angeles, with absolutely no plans or needs for your services, but boy, you have fascinating videos. Great Job. I love how your videos, its like taking us along and hanging out with you.
Wow thank you! I’ve got a bunch of videos that are waiting for rain footage and a couple more personal hobby videos coming soon!
Lady, I don’t blame you one bit for yelling! To me, my opinion is the only good snake is a dead snake! Great videos,ALL of them. Stay safe and healthy y’all !👍👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Haha, snakes are pretty interesting to me and I respect most Earthlings. Parasites, that's another story.
Everybody gangster with culverts till post 10 parks his car and reaches for the rake.
Oh, same with cutting down trees and inbred Jed starts sharpening his chain
“Nice” and ‘snake” are two words seldom seen used together in the same sentence. LOL
@@GCFD
Me too, the only problem is I don't know what most snakes are.
Rattlers and water moccasins I know. Any snake swimming in water is a water moccasin, at least to me. Lol
Yeah, Get post10 to round up his beavers and bring them over. They will find that leak in the dam and plug it!
Since he mentioned it was a galvanized pipe, how about a metal detector?
There is a bio and fish safe polymer that sinks to the bottom of the pond dam. It expands and seals the leak. It was designed for pond leaks. Don’t know the name but saw it on Bama bass CZcams channel fix this problem when he was building his pond. I think it was his 3rd or 4th video. I recommend watching the whole process from video 1. Thanks for you video. Great content.
I can tell you exactly how to fix that pond. I’ve watched all letdig18’s videos and I stayed at a holiday inn express last night. Lol, nice video Shawn.
A leaking pond...
Sounds like the PERFECT time for a collab video with Chris from letsdig18...
I feel like Ron and Jeremy could fix that pond -
those two can do anything!!! Great stuff Shawn.
"Hi, this is Shawn" = Click the Like button, 'cause it's gonna be a great video! 😁👏👏 Very awesome maneuvering of the excavator over the empty culvert!!
I guess fire moves alot different here in the dry desert... Out here you NEVER burn your brush anywhere there is other trees and such, it goes up like a matchbox in seconds.... You have to light your pile far away from anything and watch it with a massive hose ready to put it out
Yea for sure Mike! I lived in Colorado for a few years and I visit the SW every winter to ride mountain bikes. It's dry out there.
Man. When you first went in with the excavator and a little bit of concrete dust went flying I thought for sure a pipe would be getting broken. I underestimated your power
It’s weird being local and knowing where you’re working in Ramseur of all places 😂
Yep! I never travel down to the 'seur for work, but I do all the time for Carson.
Removing trees is such hard work. I find removing the stumps much harder than removing the trees. Those roots can really take hold. Good luck with the pond. 👍
I like your subtle sense of humor, the sign at the end.
Also the flag cowboy hat had me cracking up.
Very good video. The lady screaming at the snake was funny. Reminded me of my wife when we had a mouse run through the house years ago.
It was just lucky that the camera was still rolling when she found that snake. I got permission to include her scare in this video. She loved it.
That driveway is nicely done.
Thank you! Carson worked very hard on it. Check out the other parts of his property.
There's a snayke in that thang!
The only thing I can think of to find a leak is use some type of dye that is safe for water and drop some slowly till i find said leak.
A follow up would be cool
Thanks for sharing Shawn, perhaps you could advise Carson about getting some safety gear/eye protection before he gets injured?
👍 Great idea. The best luck I've had with PPE is saying "it's for the video." They don't mind wearing PPE for the video.
@@GCFD Carson needs to call Chris at Letsdig18. He could fix it in a hurry.
Interesting video. Good to see different types of jobs. One rainy day when you need a random video you'll have to share your vast collection of "bad" hats.
I have not commented before, but feel that I should say you did a bloody great job , have watched a few of your drainage work videos and love your work ethic and knowledge, keep up the great content... Best wishes from me here in the Isle of Man. (look us up)
What a great video! The end result was perfect. The pond situation is interesting. Let us know what happens with that. Have a great day!
Wow that pipe is a little bit bigger than what you usually work with. Great work on bring the trees down!
Do you ever do any Collabs with Upstate Brush Control? You and John both have great channels! Let us know when you get some merchandise available for purchase. Id love to have a Gate City Hat! Thanks
You got to get bigger more beautiful machines! Love your vids btw keep them coming!
Great job Shawn. That looked like a ton of work. You all did a great job of clearing the land. Hope you get to upload another video soon.
Great video Shawn. Thanks for sharing Brother. Have a great day.
If the highway department dug out the ditches every few years like they're supposed to he wouldn't have needed to replace that pipe.
Did you ever hear of granular bentonite, to repair pond leaks ? Good Luck.
What a mixture of content, great stuff, well done you
Keep that in mind for my next video Alec. I'll be looking for feedback. Should be up within two weeks.
Another great vid from Shawn, the "I'll try anything" man! I can honestly say, after watching all your vids on this channel, I am never disappointed by the content you are putting out there. Looking forward to the next one already! Tyfs 😊
PS...forgot to add that I like your new studio set-up 😊
Tracy - Keep that in mind. My next video will be drastically different than anything on this channel. I'm considering putting some other content up here because my personal channel isn't doing much....I will be looking to you and other fans to steer me in the right direction.
Ooooh! Sounds exciting! Maybe you could mention your personal channel on here to direct the GCFD fans in that direction. Maybe. If you want. No pressure or anything. Just if you feel like it. At some point. 🤭😊
PS...as to the steering, I'm fine going forward but not great at reversing! Just in case you need to know that! 😊
Good one, Longer footage is always a + She didnt like that snake, that was hilarious...
Trail transformation and remake into a driveway entry.
That chain saw guy never looked up...Scary.
He's getting better. I've watched a ton of chainsaw safety videos and tutorials so I'm always worried when sawing.
The issue with the pond is, the builder, did not dig a deep and/or wide enough core.. Also it could be that there is not enough clay in the dam, too much organic material in the dam, but I would bet money, there either is not a compacted clay core, not enough clay in the core or the builder screwed up.. I have helped build dozens of ponds.. Loved the video.. Great job..
This man isn't scared of anything. He just be picking up snakes, wildebeests and such.
On tree cutting no one got hurt, and no barber chair! :) For those joints some grout or cement would have been better so you have no leaks. dot stuff is good for the bigf trucks.
Go kubota i was suprised by a smaller unit and got a big rock out putting a nds drain in. Use those 15" further back where there is a wet spot or near the dam.
Stand one of the concrete pipes around the spout, put dye in the pipe, it will reveal the drain in the pond.
Great video Shawn! Loved that you covered many months worth of footage.
Heads up, the audio at the end sounded like you were in a fish tank.
Great video and interesting to see another owner's project, although I'm getting a bit envious of some of these properties! 😅
Hello Shawn, I hope you can follow it up since it is a very interesting video, the placement of cement pipes, cleaning the entrance by removing trees and stumps, the removal of the house to recycle the blocks, really very interesting, my congratulations Hopefully we know what happened to the water leak ...
"so he may be a little ticked off..." And you stick your hand in there???? Mate that's brave. Glad it seemed harmless!
Rat snakes are some of the friendliest snakes around. They occasionally bite once and then are fine.
@@GCFD That's awesome. It did look very cool. I'm trying to think of the equivalent for Australia where we wouldn't think twice about it.
We're told to be really careful around dams. Is there a danger of getting stuck in mud?
Greetings Shawn, some great content as always.
I'm in Oz, if you ever visit downunder, best to leave the snakes.
Cheers
Yes for sure! We only have a few venomous snakes here in NC and they are easy to recognize by distribution (most are on the coast) or by coloration/appearance.
miss seeing your videos haven't seen as many
It's been dry here Matt. Plus I've been working on the studio background and some other projects. My next video will be completely different content, more that I put on my personal channel, so i'll be looking for feedback on whether you like it or not. 👍 Hopefully within two weeks.
Great job Shawn .Like your channel alot.I saw a gasket system for concrete pipe but sincei its just a water culvert guess its not needed? Stay safe.Peace from S.Philly.Pa.
Put some strategically placed colour dye in the pond and see if you can narrow down the spot.
Culvert went together well but it would be easier if you had some strops for lifting.
You should have compacted the backfill in layers, your machine is not heavy enough to compact more than 100 to 150mm depth (4 to 6 inches). When you placed the excavated material there would be air voids between the soil particles. It is "relatively" easy to compact the soil to remove most of the air voids. Without compaction those air voids will fill with water which will weaken the soil so it is more likely to rut. You are correct that with time the the water will trickle out and the soil will settle but it is likely that the soil will never be as dense as if it was compacted.
PS I would have used some of those blocks to build head and tail walls.
Good point John. It sat for more than two months before the gravel went in which is why I wasn't worried about compaction during the install. If we are adding gravel the same day I get the gas jackhammer with a tamper and the plate compactor out. 👍
I would want some traffic cones that is at least 28in tall but I would probably have 36in tall with reflective collars
I totally enjoy watching your videos and the follow up after a rain is incredible. I was curious why you cut the PVC at a sharp angle right before it daylights? The rip rap type of rocks near the daylight pipe is a nice feature. Is the cut PVC for aesthetics, or does it have a function? Thanks
That Baumalight stump grinder is the best I have one, didn't finish watching the video so not sure if you show it in use :)
Great video. Did your friend try using vegetable dye to find the leak in his dam?
He found a broken overflow pipe that was rotted away. Hopefully he can wait for me to help him dig it up and plug it.
What about using some dye in possible areas to see if it comes out of the hole? or do you already know where the pipe is?
It makes me sad to see perfectly healthy trees getting cut down :(
What does your mate have on the back of his tractor/loader?
Did the pond builders ever come in and fix the leak? Another great video! Btw, noticed your diploma! App State!!
(3rd generation NCSU grad!)
Hey Shawn I like where you're going with your channel , but you're gonna need a bigger machine at some point, keep up the good work.
What good is the wood of sweet-gum trees?
I don't think it's good for much of anything. I learned that they have massive tap roots!
What kind of king snake do you guys call those? When I was a kid they were California King snakes according to my snake book. Caught one in Virginia. Thought it was an odd name. Many years ago.
That's an eastern King snake here in the southeast. We do occasionally get california kings but those are pets that escape or are released. California king snakes live out west. Scarlet kingsnakes are my favorite. They live in the pine barrens closer to the coast.
ugg those black snakes in the blocks. Every fall, those things would invade my garage foundation because it was open on the inside of the garage. Finally had to cover it up and boy did those snake come back and were not happy. Big suckers too.
Those are great animals to have around. Rodents do so much damage and these snakes keep them down.
what made the tooth on the bucket fall off?
Hey Rob! Nice to see you! Pulling on those stumps popped a tooth, which I had replaced when I returned and it popped again!.
That driveway looked really nice, and we got to see 2 snakes, I dont like snakes, but its way nicer to watch on a screen :) I hope the dam situation will get good, best of luck that you find the issue, but why didnt the ones that made the pond take responsibility about it?
@@GCFD Nice that you managed to find it, hope it worked out well to repair that :)
And many thanks for informing us, its these things that makes it enjoyable to watch your channel, we learn a lot from you!
I can see people using a chainsaw without ear protection or a helmet, but using a chinasaw without cut protection pants is really, really dangerous. This is a small investment more than worth if things go wrong...!
I totally agree which is why I invested in forestry helmets, cut resistant pants and gloves for everyone. Safety first! 👍
When I handed them out to the guys I told them they had to wear regular pants with the protective pants. 👍 LOL
Maybe they are called different in the usa, but you guess the idea - it stops the chain when hitting your legs instead of cutting trough them...
Good morning.
I had something pucker up. At one point he took his eyes off the tree to look at shawn. Now while shawn may be handsome and all, 🤔 he shouldn't take his eyes off something that could roll out and kill him.
Just poking a little fun.
I get upset when I see that in some jobs you have to and orderd cut down beautiful and nice trees.
Would you happen to know anyone in the Indianapolis area that is as good as you for drainage solutions? THANKS!!
Hey Jeff - that's my most common question. I don't know anyone who does what we do with levels and drainage work, which is why I started doing it. I started the channel to try and help people but I never dreamed it would become so popular. Best luck with your stuff - Shawn
FYI.. if he would have called his local NCDOT office they would have installed the culvert pipe he purchased for free..
He tried for months and got nowhere. I have had much, much better luck with the city streets department than with DOT. City of Thomasville is wonderfull to work with.
he needs to dig through the center of the dam to find it then try to pack with clay
I understand burning the brush/leaves but why the wood? Even if the land owner can’t use the wood sell or give it away.
Wood is a liability here. There is so much that the best you can hope for is to find someone who will let you drop it on their property. We burn when we can.
I see a bigger excavator in your future.🤔
I'm struggling right now. I'm signed up to take the CDL exam but would need to buy a truck and trailer, and then the bigger excavator. Like much of my life, I lack clear goals.
@@GCFD I’ve spent the last 65 years without clear goals. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I was lucky to have married a goal setter 44 years ago.😉
I always appreciate your respect for nature. I feel I'd do the same when I encountered a critter if I was doing dirtwork and destroyed their home.