My Yanmar is the greatest toy - er - tool! 
I started this new project tonight after dinner and quit at dark - the photos are 'hot off the press'.
Basement access on this old farmhouse was made difficult by a sunporch addition years ago. The basement is excellent for storage of fresh-picked fruit, but the tortuous access with only 4ft headroom between the sunporch and a concrete walk had made it difficult to get the fruit in and out.
After cleaning a few trailerloads of junk out of the basement I got to looking at the post-and-pier foundation. I found one span that isn't crisscrossed by bracing. I realized the driveway is just outside - and its lower than the house, so a new access door there is feasible. I don't know why a door wasn't put there originally.
Measure, cut, dig. Presto - new access! In a day or so I'll add a door and some concrete to stabilize the piers.
The photos show my view from the backhoe seat, and the project underway.
As for the tractor: Aint she purty! As I've noted before, my focus in this Yanmar is the projects I can do with it, rather than the tractor itself. Nothing ever breaks. Scheduled maintenance is cheap and simple. I just bring it a jug of diesel a few times a year and get on with my projects. There's nothing to improve, Yanmar got it right years ago.
I know, Mark, I should take it all apart and paint it and everything - but it's too much fun to just run it!
I started this new project tonight after dinner and quit at dark - the photos are 'hot off the press'.
Basement access on this old farmhouse was made difficult by a sunporch addition years ago. The basement is excellent for storage of fresh-picked fruit, but the tortuous access with only 4ft headroom between the sunporch and a concrete walk had made it difficult to get the fruit in and out.
After cleaning a few trailerloads of junk out of the basement I got to looking at the post-and-pier foundation. I found one span that isn't crisscrossed by bracing. I realized the driveway is just outside - and its lower than the house, so a new access door there is feasible. I don't know why a door wasn't put there originally.
Measure, cut, dig. Presto - new access! In a day or so I'll add a door and some concrete to stabilize the piers.
The photos show my view from the backhoe seat, and the project underway.
As for the tractor: Aint she purty! As I've noted before, my focus in this Yanmar is the projects I can do with it, rather than the tractor itself. Nothing ever breaks. Scheduled maintenance is cheap and simple. I just bring it a jug of diesel a few times a year and get on with my projects. There's nothing to improve, Yanmar got it right years ago.
I know, Mark, I should take it all apart and paint it and everything - but it's too much fun to just run it!
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You're getting your monies worth from it already