Another great video, more how-to is welcome! ;) I'm from Belgium studying industrial engineering with my own gardening company since 3 years as a 'student-entrepreneur' which is a special statute here which allows you to study and start something of your own at the same time. When it's exams time I love to watch your videos as a break and inspiration. Love it!
I wish America would get with the education program. As it is we’ve got a bunch of classroom educated people with no experience or people really good at what they do from experience who get no credit for educating themselves. VOTE MORE DOLLARS FOR EDUCATION. Too many “poorly educated” in America.
What's refreshing about your videos is watching the entire process including the 'oh darn' moments... Not edited for slickness... You explain (and show) the mental process well...
Stan - perfect walk through and learning about the variables behind a successful boulder retaining wall. It’s like you came out here and looked at my project! The only difference is my boulder wall has to absorb high springtime lake water and pounding waves: absorb the impact, control the flow of the water back out, and contain enough appropriate back fill and base, which you’ve taught in your other vids, to handle that. I’ll be watching this video a 100 times as I complete my project. You’re the man!
Exactly all the info I was looking for. Thanks for going into some depth on rock selection. Also very reassuring to see you build a wall out of stones that you had no control over.
I just opened my own LLC at 35. Been doing this and related work for years and finally clicked that I make a really great leader and could make a ton more money by running it all my own. Won my first bid and it is a 2,000 sqft paver driveway on a steep pitch. Start sometime in late spring. I’m devouring your videos as refresher courses. Thanks Stan! I’m originally from Eden Prairie, worked at Final Grade and later Lake’s Erosion, living in the Southwest U.S. now, really glad to get inspiration from other Minnesotan’s.
Love the content. Landscaping apprentice here in New Zealand and I'm still yet to find someone who explains the theory and reason behind things as well as you do. Also interesting to see how things differ between our way of doing things and overseas.
Stan - I've been following you on UA-cam for a while now and commenting on your retaining wall videos. I don't know how else to send you this, but thought your viewers might also like this. I engineered and built a 125 foot boulder retaining wall specifically according to your videos. I'm very much a greenhorn and a DIY-er. I live on the lake and it's high water season right now and the wall has been enduring 3-4 foot swells of water beating against it and it's working like a charm. Your focus on drainage aggregate, slope, and handling surcharge are spot on...emphasis on drainage aggregate and handling surcharge. Your teaching is legit! Thank you so very much.
do I like these kinds of videos? dude, you are THE primary way I learn new things and grow my business by adding additional services that I feel CONFIDENT providing. I want to shake your hand, buy you a beer, give you a hug. just, THANK YOU, so very much
This was awesome. trying to do one in my front yard, i was just picking out random boulders - awesome explanation of good and bad boulders, i had them TOTALLY backwards ha. Was looking for 'cool' looking ones that now i realize wouldn't have fit together at all when in yard. Great great video, not filler it was all helfpul for new guy doing this. thx
Lol, nothing wrong with "Shimer". Language is about communicating as clearly and concisely as possible. People create new words all the time, and use other words in new ways. As long as the usage is clear, and conveys the message simply and clearly it's all good! In this case, you are talking about the job of placing "shims", therefore, the person who does that is naturally the "Shimer". Great coms my man. By the way, absolutely love this video, it's actually one of your best. I work alone for the most part, doing only really small projects, I have a Bobcat S570 and a little 418 excavator. All the advice and info you gave us in this video is awesome and immediately applicable. So, yes, these sort of videos are actually the very best sort. And yes, I'm subscribed and have the bell checked.
you clarified a lot with that video. i have been just looking at rock wall around me trying to figure it out. your driveway video from a week or 2 ago helped out a lot as weel
In my opinion it's easier to use a strap to lift the bolder with the machine and lower it into place . It speeds up the process alot when you can rotate the stone to the right face and drop it in place
Hi,Stan. I am currently building a retaining wall using manufactured retaining wall blocks. To do this wall I had to dismantle a fireplace that was built using large rocks and small boulders. My next project is going to be using those rocks and boulders to build a retaining wall that will (hopefully) level out one of the most difficult parts of my yard to mow. This video helps a lot. The only real problem is that the only tools/equipment I have to work with are a shovel, a digging bar, a stone chisel and a sledge hammer. Thanks. Take care.
Yes i like videos like this. So for base layer blocks you want rocks that are in diameter 1/2 to 1/3 the height of the wall so like 6ft wall 2 to 3 ft size bolders, or 9ft high wall 3 to 4.5 ft diameter bolder and ideally as rectangular or square as possible. You want the top surface of the bolder to be flat or sloping towards the soil slightly. Adjustable forks on your machine. And smaller rocks on top of the base layer and then smallest rocks on top and minimum size is about 1 ft cubed rocks so the weight does the job. got it thank you.
Important to remember that dirt behind and between the rocks in places with winter the water that the dirt is holding might freeze and push the wall out. So not all places are an good idea to pack with soil and grow plants. But really good video with awsome explanations 👍
Great video I have been wanting to put in a retaining wall on the side of my house. On the cheap and this is perfect will cost me nothing a have a lot of rocks and boulders in my yard. Thank you.
Liked the use of toy blocks & showing us the differences in boulders & placement. Came in handy for ya. Also, got to really looking at your home office, & like the pics/decorations on the walls/shelves, along w/ the screen savers👍🏻 I’d also imagine that if your able to use other machinery to build a boulder retaining wall, you’d recommend that; instead of using a skid loader w/ forks, right? Thanks for the vid✌🏼
Another excellent video Stan. You know, one of the things I like the most about your content, other than the education I receive, is that you're actually a working man. You get your hands dirty like we do and it makes you super relatable. One could easily imagine a person of your celebrity status ONLY operating the camera and talking, but not only do you also operate the machinery, but you (un)stack wood and throw broken cinder blocks. Not an apprentice in sight, clearly you're there to break a sweat. #rolemodel
I learned this when i did sea wall construction. Only difference is the fabric and the ¾ clear were also used. The super thick fabric laid down first the agg over the top to hold it down in the water the boulders laid upon it ...then the agg brought up to the height of the 1 st row then the fabric is wrapped around and over the aggregate pulled back more aggregate as a base on top of the fabric then another row of boulders...until you have proper height basically the same way you build retaining walls ... supposedly this method has longevity over other options
Chaining the boulders and suspending them from the forks can help tremendously to position the boulders properly. Safely doing this technique certainly requires experience and patients, remember rushing when doing this type of work is how people get injured or worse. Good luck out there!
this is fascinating, here we have a traditional way to build retaining walls and field boundaries that's been around since the beginning of human civilisation, it's called Cornish Hedging, it's amazing hearing you describe exactly the same techniques and concepts, we have both random and coursed patterns, largest stones at the bottom, gradually getting smaller with each course, skilled men can use stones less than 1lb in weight and build a hedge that is guaranteed to last a century.. then there's the few ancient ones that _do_ use stones this big... and those men had no skidsteers!
14:40 and that's one thing you're incorrect about, sheer size makes your life easier, but with tightly organised stones in neat courses and densely packed earth behind, any stone the size of your fist and bigger is usable. i know you're talking in the concept of boulders, but this isn't limited to boulders.
Keep these vids up I may never need to build a boulder Wall but if I am buying a home I now know if I am looking at a good wall or a bad wall and would take that into My offer on a house
This guy literally never stopped playing with his building blocks. He keeps them in his office as an adult ..... grow up, dude. No, don't, you're the kind of seasoned, humble gangsta O.G. that respect above all others, a true kung-fu artist of your life's work. You understand your duty and master it by your awareness. my assertiveness is owed to those of you who I seek as a prospect to you, to aprintace in your ways. I take all I can get from the ol time alley cats like yourself and hope to add something wonderful that you'd be proud of to the legacies yall leave behind. One day, I hope a smart young person sees the path made for him and looks to me for knowledge in the arts in which we commonly find passion in .. bye remaining teachable and egoless one can become a passionatly inducted master in his ways. To be taken under the wing of an eagle is the best place to be if you want to learn to fly . To lean to much weight on thy own understanding is a sure way to fall from the sky . Those who learn to fly never stop watching the eagles' ways, they never stop improving thier form, they waste no time in gaze with an unfocused eye , he that learn to fly dont fly to high for they can see it takes more than thy to tame feather . If you met a young flyer who knew he could fly much higher they would tell you about thier flying desire rather then distance and statistics for your edmire. When knowledge is past on its behalf, its best kept a secret from those who do not truly inquire and desire understanding to make for an honest path , for in life many people who do not fly pretend they can and thier ego breeds corruption and deception and the leading of the youth astray wasting the very thing that creates a beautiful world .. witch is passion and discovery and sharing yourself with the good people for genuine reasons . Most people who believe they are great are self proclaimed and truly missing the point of this life.... the guy in this video was not just playing around he is completely doing what he can the best he can and loving every minute of it. He has his 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
Could have used this info 12 years ago. My contractor built a retaining wall using native rock. It stayed together ok, but its not pretty like your boulder wall. Stone masons who recently looked it over thought it was too irregular and would have to be dismantled and rebuilt. I have tried your idea about planting vines to fill in the gaps, but its an ongoing battle with deer damage.
I'm building a Boulder dry stack retaining wall to raise and level my front yard. I did the same thing at my last house, but this one will be about 6 or 7 ' tall (down to one course on the other end. ) I am fortunate that consistent thickness sandstone slabs up to 9 feet long are all over my area along the street on the vacant lots. They've been there for 50 years.. My base course is 2 to 3k lb slabs about 14-16" thick. I bought a BIG Hilti hammerdrill to pin the courses together w #6 rebar, to prevent movement . Water Will run down to the wall. There will be a lot of force pushing against this wall. Top course will be 4" thick. I put forks on my backhoe, So much easier to scoop up the slabs rather than chasing them all over creation trying to get them in the bucket ! Need a thumb for the hoe. Staging boulders now. Next is carefully grade 10 foot level stairstep sections ( The hard part ) IDK if I should start at the top of my slope, where it will be a single 9 foot wide, 6" thick slab ,or the bottom? I guess for the sake of properly breaking joints I better start at the downhill end. Been 20 years since I've done this. Planning on establishing blackberries in the joints.
Stanley can you publish or share the video that you talk about the customer suing you and the other contractors after you did the work . I want to share with some contractors who live an work in Minnesota thank you and love your channel and your videos
@@Dirtmonkey that's not the video. The video that I am referring to the customer sued you for double the bid price you charged for the work and did that to 2 other contractors they chickened out going to court an you didn't .sorry to be a pita
Once again lovely work. How would you go working with lifting slings on your tongs or make up a jib that slips on to the tongs. Aussie for forks. The Jib should have a 360 degree rotating hook. Only after you have transferred all your material to build said rock wall. Should have cut to some people dancing then shimmer or shim ,shimmy would have worked. Travel well. Aussie Jeff
When using smaller stones can you mortar them together for a stronger effect? I see flood areas often have river rocks bound in cages, would mortar have a similar effect?
I LOVE VIDEOS LIKE THIS! 😍 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love to know how things work. Even if I never do the thing It makes me smarter! You’ve got amazing skills and you communicate beautifully. Why isn’t shimmer a thing? The guy doing the shimming is a shimmer. Why not?
Good information. On the round Rock and triangle rock. You could put a triangle rock between two round rocks and a triangle on each side of the round rocks?? Just a thought. I'm picky too. LoL
sky williams I think it could be even more beneficial as it will eventually rot away until you get just the boulders. The only issue would be that you have to engineer the wall to be able to hold the hill by itself
do you have a video that shows the best way to pick and remove surface boulders weighing anywhere 50-1000 lbs. I'm thinking of a track skid steer with a skeleton rock bucket as opposed to a mini-ex with a grapple/thumb. Am I wrong?
My retaining wall that I will be fixing with rocks is only 2 feet high. The previous owner has used dirt bags. Should I keep the dirt bags? Or should I put the fabric tarp over the bags then the boulder?
"Dirt Monkey": Well executed work/walls shown in the video! So, yes, the video got a *_BIG_* 👍from this old viewer! FWIW, would like to see this type wall used as the inside wall of a small garden pond and/or ponds stepping down a fairly steep grade, w/ interconnecting waterfalls between the ponds as these step down said slope. Have _you_ constructed such? That you'd be willing to show? 🤔
Do you have any advice or techniques for moving landscape/ornamental boulders by hand, without a crane, skip, bobcat nor heavy machinery?? I want to move/place more boulders by myself, without any heavy machinery. I moved 12 small boulders last year with a large hand-dolly + ratchet-straps, but they are only small, about 16-28” at longest edge. (was still heavy and a lot of work tho, but fun lol) I want slightly bigger boulders in the future, maybe 3-3.5’ at its’ longest edge (or maybe up to 4’ long). But, wondering if those can be moved by hand and if there’s any other special techniques besides a dolly. Or, is a dolly really the best if doing it by hand? Any help appreciated! Would love to see a video/s how to move 3-4’ long boulders by hand. 🙂🙏
@@Dirtmonkey it already has a lot. i had no idea you could use a skid steer to build a wall but the forks make total sense. that never even crossed my mind. i live in reno and the soil here is literally like concrete. so much so that 30 miles from my house the army is using similar soil to store like 40 thousand vehicles including thousands of 120 ton tanks. so i have to rent a excavator(302) to dig everything out and a skid steer to run everything out.
Is there ways around what you said regarding sloping the ground away from the rocks? I need to build a wall at the end of my yard but still allow the slope to go towards the rocks essentially. Can I build a French drain or something right in front of it?
I'm using boulders and stones from a big pile, collected by previous landowners (picked from a hay field). So very irregular. For a triangle stone (17:18), could I just fill in with shims (via a shimmer, of course) to provide support to the whole stone?
Would I still need engineering/permits to build a boulder wall if it was over 3’ tall? That’s the requirement for standard retaining walls in my area but not sure if it’s the same for boulders.
Another great video, more how-to is welcome! ;)
I'm from Belgium studying industrial engineering with my own gardening company since 3 years as a 'student-entrepreneur' which is a special statute here which allows you to study and start something of your own at the same time. When it's exams time I love to watch your videos as a break and inspiration.
Love it!
That's an interesting program, thanks for watching and hope the company goes well!
I wish America would get with the education program. As it is we’ve got a bunch of classroom educated people with no experience or people really good at what they do from experience who get no credit for educating themselves. VOTE MORE DOLLARS FOR EDUCATION. Too many “poorly educated” in America.
I love more natural construction techniques such as these. Please do more it turned out great!
Thank you. I can do some more of these.
What's refreshing about your videos is watching the entire process including the 'oh darn' moments... Not edited for slickness... You explain (and show) the mental process well...
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Stan - perfect walk through and learning about the variables behind a successful boulder retaining wall. It’s like you came out here and looked at my project! The only difference is my boulder wall has to absorb high springtime lake water and pounding waves: absorb the impact, control the flow of the water back out, and contain enough appropriate back fill and base, which you’ve taught in your other vids, to handle that. I’ll be watching this video a 100 times as I complete my project. You’re the man!
Thanks Justin and I am sure your wall is going to be awesome !
I have the same kind of project coming up!
Exactly all the info I was looking for. Thanks for going into some depth on rock selection. Also very reassuring to see you build a wall out of stones that you had no control over.
Awesome, thank you!
I just opened my own LLC at 35. Been doing this and related work for years and finally clicked that I make a really great leader and could make a ton more money by running it all my own. Won my first bid and it is a 2,000 sqft paver driveway on a steep pitch. Start sometime in late spring. I’m devouring your videos as refresher courses. Thanks Stan!
I’m originally from Eden Prairie, worked at Final Grade and later Lake’s Erosion, living in the Southwest U.S. now, really glad to get inspiration from other Minnesotan’s.
Love the content. Landscaping apprentice here in New Zealand and I'm still yet to find someone who explains the theory and reason behind things as well as you do. Also interesting to see how things differ between our way of doing things and overseas.
Thanks Oliver, really appreciate the comments !
Stan - I've been following you on UA-cam for a while now and commenting on your retaining wall videos. I don't know how else to send you this, but thought your viewers might also like this. I engineered and built a 125 foot boulder retaining wall specifically according to your videos. I'm very much a greenhorn and a DIY-er. I live on the lake and it's high water season right now and the wall has been enduring 3-4 foot swells of water beating against it and it's working like a charm. Your focus on drainage aggregate, slope, and handling surcharge are spot on...emphasis on drainage aggregate and handling surcharge. Your teaching is legit! Thank you so very much.
P.S. Stan did not ask me to post this. :-)
I love the natural look and learn some things from watching them keep doing them
Will do, thank you for watching !
do I like these kinds of videos?
dude, you are THE primary way I learn new things and grow my business by adding additional services that I feel CONFIDENT providing.
I want to shake your hand, buy you a beer, give you a hug. just, THANK YOU, so very much
This was awesome. trying to do one in my front yard, i was just picking out random boulders - awesome explanation of good and bad boulders, i had them TOTALLY backwards ha. Was looking for 'cool' looking ones that now i realize wouldn't have fit together at all when in yard. Great great video, not filler it was all helfpul for new guy doing this. thx
Awesome to hear that the video helped you out, thanks for watching !
Lol, nothing wrong with "Shimer". Language is about communicating as clearly and concisely as possible. People create new words all the time, and use other words in new ways. As long as the usage is clear, and conveys the message simply and clearly it's all good! In this case, you are talking about the job of placing "shims", therefore, the person who does that is naturally the "Shimer". Great coms my man. By the way, absolutely love this video, it's actually one of your best. I work alone for the most part, doing only really small projects, I have a Bobcat S570 and a little 418 excavator. All the advice and info you gave us in this video is awesome and immediately applicable. So, yes, these sort of videos are actually the very best sort. And yes, I'm subscribed and have the bell checked.
Thanks for all the support William and I really appreciate your awesome comments !
you clarified a lot with that video. i have been just looking at rock wall around me trying to figure it out. your driveway video from a week or 2 ago helped out a lot as weel
That's awesome Ryan, happy to help !
The wall you created with boulders you had on hand is awesome Stan! Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Chris and thank YOU for watching!
In my opinion it's easier to use a strap to lift the bolder with the machine and lower it into place . It speeds up the process alot when you can rotate the stone to the right face and drop it in place
Thats true to but my 78 year old uncle wasn't able to move around all that well. and strapping is definately a 2 man job
More boulder videos please. Awesome job and great learning experience.
I like how eloquent you are - Glad I came across this channel!
I also love it when you use your sense of humor to entertain you are a funny guy I laugh my ass off
Thanks Brad !!
These types of videos are the reason I'm subbed. Still waiting on a video about quoting jobs strictly with rental equipment and still making a profit
Thank you Devon and thanks for the suggestion !
God sent this guy here to help us build better walls... this dude is one part Egyptian and one part Roman
Hi,Stan.
I am currently building a retaining wall using manufactured retaining wall blocks. To do this wall I had to dismantle a fireplace that was built using large rocks and small boulders. My next project is going to be using those rocks and boulders to build a retaining wall that will (hopefully) level out one of the most difficult parts of my yard to mow. This video helps a lot. The only real problem is that the only tools/equipment I have to work with are a shovel, a digging bar, a stone chisel and a sledge hammer.
Thanks.
Take care.
All you need chap
Yes i like videos like this. So for base layer blocks you want rocks that are in diameter 1/2 to 1/3 the height of the wall so like 6ft wall 2 to 3 ft size bolders, or 9ft high wall 3 to 4.5 ft diameter bolder and ideally as rectangular or square as possible. You want the top surface of the bolder to be flat or sloping towards the soil slightly. Adjustable forks on your machine. And smaller rocks on top of the base layer and then smallest rocks on top and minimum size is about 1 ft cubed rocks so the weight does the job. got it thank you.
Important to remember that dirt behind and between the rocks in places with winter the water that the dirt is holding might freeze and push the wall out. So not all places are an good idea to pack with soil and grow plants. But really good video with awsome explanations 👍
Thanks for the input and for viewing !
Great video I have been wanting to put in a retaining wall on the side of my house. On the cheap and this is perfect will cost me nothing a have a lot of rocks and boulders in my yard. Thank you.
You're welcome Scott, thanks or watching!
Liked the use of toy blocks & showing us the differences in boulders & placement. Came in handy for ya. Also, got to really looking at your home office, & like the pics/decorations on the walls/shelves, along w/ the screen savers👍🏻
I’d also imagine that if your able to use other machinery to build a boulder retaining wall, you’d recommend that; instead of using a skid loader w/ forks, right?
Thanks for the vid✌🏼
Yeah a skid is sub optimal. But I used it because thats the only thing many people have. I wanted to show how it can still be done.
Lol and then I see how old the customer was and now I know why
Another excellent video Stan.
You know, one of the things I like the most about your content, other than the education I receive, is that you're actually a working man. You get your hands dirty like we do and it makes you super relatable. One could easily imagine a person of your celebrity status ONLY operating the camera and talking, but not only do you also operate the machinery, but you (un)stack wood and throw broken cinder blocks. Not an apprentice in sight, clearly you're there to break a sweat.
#rolemodel
Hey thanks a lot, appreciate that !
Thank you I really appreciate videos like these I know I do not say it much but I really do appreciate them.
Thanks Matt, glad you're here and watching !
I learned this when i did sea wall construction. Only difference is the fabric and the ¾ clear were also used. The super thick fabric laid down first the agg over the top to hold it down in the water the boulders laid upon it ...then the agg brought up to the height of the 1 st row then the fabric is wrapped around and over the aggregate pulled back more aggregate as a base on top of the fabric then another row of boulders...until you have proper height basically the same way you build retaining walls ... supposedly this method has longevity over other options
Starting a retaining wall job this weekend using my Kubota BX tractor with loader and pallet forks. Thanks for the info!
Great vid Stan I’m a young kid learning how to do this type of landscape work this helped a lot!
Younger guys just getting started and homeowners trying to build their own wall were the 2 people I had in mind for this video.
Love this video and this type of video.
Always looking for "how to" rock videos 👍👍👍
Cool, thanks for viewing !
This was a great video. I believe that I am much more informed on the how to part of the job. Keep these type of videos coming.
Will do , thanks for the great comments!
More boulder wall videos please! Can we put perforated drain pipe at the back of them like a normal retaining wall?
Nice working.
I'm very interesting your vedio. from🇰🇷
Chaining the boulders and suspending them from the forks can help tremendously to position the boulders properly. Safely doing this technique certainly requires experience and patients, remember rushing when doing this type of work is how people get injured or worse. Good luck out there!
this is fascinating, here we have a traditional way to build retaining walls and field boundaries that's been around since the beginning of human civilisation, it's called Cornish Hedging, it's amazing hearing you describe exactly the same techniques and concepts, we have both random and coursed patterns, largest stones at the bottom, gradually getting smaller with each course, skilled men can use stones less than 1lb in weight and build a hedge that is guaranteed to last a century.. then there's the few ancient ones that _do_ use stones this big... and those men had no skidsteers!
14:40 and that's one thing you're incorrect about, sheer size makes your life easier, but with tightly organised stones in neat courses and densely packed earth behind, any stone the size of your fist and bigger is usable. i know you're talking in the concept of boulders, but this isn't limited to boulders.
Keep these vids up I may never need to build a boulder Wall but if I am buying a home I now know if I am looking at a good wall or a bad wall and would take that into My offer on a house
Thanks Walt, more to come !
Really like the videos like this. I always have clients wanting to use material they have on site.
Glad you liked it , thanks Ashley !
This guy literally never stopped playing with his building blocks. He keeps them in his office as an adult ..... grow up, dude. No, don't, you're the kind of seasoned, humble gangsta O.G. that respect above all others, a true kung-fu artist of your life's work. You understand your duty and master it by your awareness. my assertiveness is owed to those of you who I seek as a prospect to you, to aprintace in your ways. I take all I can get from the ol time alley cats like yourself and hope to add something wonderful that you'd be proud of to the legacies yall leave behind. One day, I hope a smart young person sees the path made for him and looks to me for knowledge in the arts in which we commonly find passion in .. bye remaining teachable and egoless one can become a passionatly inducted master in his ways.
To be taken under the wing of an eagle is the best place to be if you want to learn to fly . To lean to much weight on thy own understanding is a sure way to fall from the sky . Those who learn to fly never stop watching the eagles' ways, they never stop improving thier form, they waste no time in gaze with an unfocused eye , he that learn to fly dont fly to high for they can see it takes more than thy to tame feather . If you met a young flyer who knew he could fly much higher they would tell you about thier flying desire rather then distance and statistics for your edmire. When knowledge is past on its behalf, its best kept a secret from those who do not truly inquire and desire understanding to make for an honest path , for in life many people who do not fly pretend they can and thier ego breeds corruption and deception and the leading of the youth astray wasting the very thing that creates a beautiful world .. witch is passion and discovery and sharing yourself with the good people for genuine reasons . Most people who believe they are great are self proclaimed and truly missing the point of this life.... the guy in this video was not just playing around he is completely doing what he can the best he can and loving every minute of it. He has his 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
I would have liked to see the final product, please. Thanks.
Could have used this info 12 years ago. My contractor built a retaining wall using native rock. It stayed together ok, but its not pretty like your boulder wall. Stone masons who recently looked it over thought it was too irregular and would have to be dismantled and rebuilt. I have tried your idea about planting vines to fill in the gaps, but its an ongoing battle with deer damage.
That is the way I do it for years. But a grapple makes it easier. Thanks good video
Stan that beak attachment you have would be great for those types of walls
Great video. Much better than equipment reviews all the time.
Thanks Derek!
Wow! No fabric to hold the fill in and cement block shims I think I’ve seen it all now what a hack job wall
A great effort to educate and inform from an obvious wealth of knowledge, well done. Much appreciated!
I'm building a Boulder dry stack retaining wall to raise and level my front yard. I did the same thing at my last house, but this one will be about 6 or 7 ' tall (down to one course on the other end. ) I am fortunate that consistent thickness sandstone slabs up to 9 feet long are all over my area along the street on the vacant lots. They've been there for 50 years.. My base course is 2 to 3k lb slabs about 14-16" thick. I bought a BIG Hilti hammerdrill to pin the courses together w #6 rebar, to prevent movement . Water Will run down to the wall.
There will be a lot of force pushing against this wall. Top course will be 4" thick.
I put forks on my backhoe, So much easier to scoop up the slabs rather than chasing them all over creation trying to get them in the bucket ! Need a thumb for the hoe.
Staging boulders now. Next is carefully grade 10 foot level stairstep sections ( The hard part )
IDK if I should start at the top of my slope, where it will be a single 9 foot wide, 6" thick slab ,or the bottom?
I guess for the sake of properly breaking joints I better start at the downhill end. Been 20 years since I've done this. Planning on establishing blackberries in the joints.
I have a ton of Boulder walls to build, been watching all your videos!
I know a drain isn’t necessary but what about filter fabric to stop any dirt from coming through the stones during heavy rain???
Thsnks
I will be building a stone wall soring 2024 in east Tenn. Thanks
Great video as always, specially your use of building blocks to explain the concept
Like these videos. Gives in an insight on hows it done to hopefully be able to add it to my arsenal for potential jobs
Thanks , glad to help!
This was great. I'm a visual learner so the toy blocks help a lot
Stanley can you publish or share the video that you talk about the customer suing you and the other contractors after you did the work . I want to share with some contractors who live an work in Minnesota thank you and love your channel and your videos
It was the 3 scams contractors pull video.
@@Dirtmonkey that's not the video. The video that I am referring to the customer sued you for double the bid price you charged for the work and did that to 2 other contractors they chickened out going to court an you didn't .sorry to be a pita
Very informative, learned a lot from this video....just in time my next home improvement task.
Awesome Elmer, good luck with your wall!
What plants do you recommend for planting a boulder wall?
Very cool and good video. Just one question for you and that’s about drainage. How do you manage the drainage on a rock wall?
Once again lovely work. How would you go working with lifting slings on your tongs or make up a jib that slips on to the tongs. Aussie for forks. The Jib should have a 360 degree rotating hook. Only after you have transferred all your material to build said rock wall. Should have cut to some people dancing then shimmer or shim ,shimmy would have worked. Travel well. Aussie Jeff
Thank you so much!! We will be building one this weekend. Now I feel more confident!!
Love your channel man I started with nothing also hard work and dedication always leads to success
That's for sure, thanks so much!
When using smaller stones can you mortar them together for a stronger effect? I see flood areas often have river rocks bound in cages, would mortar have a similar effect?
I LOVE VIDEOS LIKE THIS! 😍 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love to know how things work. Even if I never do the thing It makes me smarter! You’ve got amazing skills and you communicate beautifully. Why isn’t shimmer a thing? The guy doing the shimming is a shimmer. Why not?
Good information. On the round Rock and triangle rock. You could put a triangle rock between two round rocks and a triangle on each side of the round rocks?? Just a thought. I'm picky too. LoL
Love your walls, keep making them. Really enjoy the how to.
Great video... I was wondering if you could you leave a wood wall behind a boulder wall?
sky williams I think it could be even more beneficial as it will eventually rot away until you get just the boulders. The only issue would be that you have to engineer the wall to be able to hold the hill by itself
These videos are amazing extremely knowledgeable man
Thanks, appreciate that!
do you have a video that shows the best way to pick and remove surface boulders weighing anywhere 50-1000 lbs. I'm thinking of a track skid steer with a skeleton rock bucket as opposed to a mini-ex with a grapple/thumb. Am I wrong?
My retaining wall that I will be fixing with rocks is only 2 feet high. The previous owner has used dirt bags. Should I keep the dirt bags? Or should I put the fabric tarp over the bags then the boulder?
Absolutely love your Retaining wall and paver project videos!
Well, I can't say u hit the wall and cracked the joints. Glad I watched to the end.
No cement, no sand just big stone, that is what we need💪
If only I had a Bobcat...and a neighbor with boulders in need of a new home!!!
Rent one for cheap
...but I'd still need a neighbor with boulders to get rid of!!!
"Dirt Monkey": Well executed work/walls shown in the video! So, yes, the video got a *_BIG_* 👍from this old viewer!
FWIW, would like to see this type wall used as the inside wall of a small garden pond and/or ponds stepping down a fairly steep grade, w/ interconnecting waterfalls between the ponds as these step down said slope. Have _you_ constructed such? That you'd be willing to show? 🤔
Great presentation brother
Great video! So what about a large wall over 30 feet high and 300 feet long?
Well done!
It was one of those things that you do the best you can with what you have.
You should make a video on the proper drainage behind the wall for walls built on a property line 😉
This is the video content I want.
Thanks, what do you like about it ?
That looks amazing! I really enjoyed learning from this video!
Thanks Levi! Appreciate that bud!
I learned a lot from this video
I actually only use the loader and forks to do this. To many times with an excavator do they fall into the wrong place
Do you have any advice or techniques for moving landscape/ornamental boulders by hand, without a crane, skip, bobcat nor heavy machinery??
I want to move/place more boulders by myself, without any heavy machinery.
I moved 12 small boulders last year with a large hand-dolly + ratchet-straps, but they are only small, about 16-28” at longest edge. (was still heavy and a lot of work tho, but fun lol)
I want slightly bigger boulders in the future, maybe 3-3.5’ at its’ longest edge (or maybe up to 4’ long). But, wondering if those can be moved by hand and if there’s any other special techniques besides a dolly. Or, is a dolly really the best if doing it by hand?
Any help appreciated!
Would love to see a video/s how to move 3-4’ long boulders by hand. 🙂🙏
Choker straps work nice.
Can you make a video for natural limestone retaining wall? Not manufactured block but lime stone chunks that are about 14”x14”x 24-48”
Thanks for the suggestion Cody!
I like videos like this
Thanks Gman!
Yes, excellent help.
Excellent video. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
When should you use a fabric? What about a drainage pipe?
If the block wall failed behind the boulder wall could it push the boulder wall over?
dad have you seen my colored blocks 😂😂😂
Dude im in the freaking middle of trying to do a boulder retaining wall, its like you made this just for me
I hope some of the pointers maybe help out. Will you Let me know if they do?
@@Dirtmonkey it already has a lot. i had no idea you could use a skid steer to build a wall but the forks make total sense. that never even crossed my mind. i live in reno and the soil here is literally like concrete. so much so that 30 miles from my house the army is using similar soil to store like 40 thousand vehicles including thousands of 120 ton tanks. so i have to rent a excavator(302) to dig everything out and a skid steer to run everything out.
Very helpful! Thank you!
Happy to hear that, thank YOU!
How to do a project video is very interesting!
Thanks Michael, glad you find it interesting !
Is there ways around what you said regarding sloping the ground away from the rocks? I need to build a wall at the end of my yard but still allow the slope to go towards the rocks essentially. Can I build a French drain or something right in front of it?
you most certainly can but a French Drain is really only for providing relief to incorrect grading practices.
Great vid mate
Thanks 👍 Appreciate that Tom !
Thanks for the knowledge stan
You're welcome, thank you for viewing !
Very enjoyable please keep the videos coming
Thanks Terry , more to come !
I'm using boulders and stones from a big pile, collected by previous landowners (picked from a hay field). So very irregular. For a triangle stone (17:18), could I just fill in with shims (via a shimmer, of course) to provide support to the whole stone?
Great site video love these site visit videos!
Thanks Dominic!
Would I still need engineering/permits to build a boulder wall if it was over 3’ tall? That’s the requirement for standard retaining walls in my area but not sure if it’s the same for boulders.