The Big Dig Begins 

Wife just comes down from bed and says to me, "so, honey, what have you done this morning? My answer; I watched a guy dig a trench on RU-vid. She shakes her head in confusion and walks away. I work an EXTREMELY technical job and watching your videos takes me to a simpler time and relaxes me. Thanks!

Those rocks remind me of a story I heard my grandpa tell many years ago. A Traveling salesman was calling on farmers in the area. But he was a city slicker. He noticed a farmer pulling a wagon load of rocks with his tractor, so he stopped to chat with him. He asked the farmer, "where did all those rocks come from?" The farmer wasn't in the mood to chat much so he simply said, "Glacier brought em." Then the salesman scratched his head and asked, "where's the glacier now?" The farmer said, "went back to get more rocks", and drove away with his load.

Hope you feel better and thanks for making videos. They calm my day.

This is so much more than a farming channel. People from all over the world watch, comment, fantasize, commiserate. You have created a community which is exactly what we need and are hungry for. And your little cooking demos even address our hunger 😁😘. Thank you Pete and Hilary. The world needs more of you.

Pete, there are so many reasons why this video, actually every one of your videos, are valuable. I won't list them all here because your fan base regularly points them out. As I watched this rainy sunday morning from Alberta Canada, I instantly realized that it is your HUMAN-NESS.... i think that's a word, that resonates so well. In a world that is moving too fast in the De-humanization direction, you have slowed things down to a familiar and comfortable pace. Yes, you have the qualities to convey knowledge, the patience to explain your message. But there is something more, you "get it". what is "IT". I think the only way I can explain it is in all of my years of experience, self empowerment and Self-help and learning how life works, I tend to gravitate towards the people that are selfless, genuine, wise and noble. You are that and more. Thank-you for your Human-ness.

What a project Pete! The drone footage helped to understand the totality of what you are trying to accomplish. Your cows are always such critics!

Pete, your attention in addressing one of the many forgotten externalities of agriculture, vis a vis your water discharge, only raises the esteem in which I hold you. Bravo sir, and thank you once again for being a constant inspiration.

Pete - if the excavator was a little bit bigger there would be room for a "TONKA" sticker! 😀

Dublin, Ireland, 2.15pm GMT. Great to see that you're well again. Wonderful video and fantastic work on the digging with the Case. Many thanks Pete for my Sunday therapy. Regards to Hilarie and all your family - Paul.

You are living the dream I wanted . I'm glad to see your up and about and feeling good enough to get out . God bless you , strengthen you and keep you well :)

Pete I enjoy watching your videos. You are an intelligent and talented man. Lots of respect.

Hopefully inspector Patty approves of your work. Keep up the great videos.

Every farmer needs a backhoe. My wife says that I never outgrew my sandbox. Digging is fun and educational.

RU-vid and Google really did change the world ! How else would we get access to the genius of people like Pete? I wonder how many other fascinating people live on farms in relative obscurity? Pete, when your kids go to college they will come home and have to admit their professors don't know as much as their Father".

I'm glad to see you are feeling better Pete

Properly laying out a drainage field is an art. Sometimes tthings go by intuition, knowing what's in the ground and the lay of the land. Cows wanting to join the fun and loudly belly aching as they intently glaze .

That’s a great shot of your root depth. That’s rewarding - isn’t it?

Hey Pete I ran heavy equipment for a living years ago and two thumbs up to you. You picked it up like a pro.👍👍

THANKS TO JUST A FEW ACRES FARM FOR ALL OF THE GOOD POSTS

I replaced my inlaws sewer system that they had since my wife was a toddler. It had a reverse pitch to the tank. Almost 4 inches up to the tank from the house. I would have bet money that would not have worked, but it did for 40 years. It even was only 1 foot deep, and went under the driveway that was plowed. It never froze. The sewer system was in place when he built the house, he just ran the pipe,,,,,, uphill. LOL! I ran the transit and could not believe my eyes.

At my father's farm, I had a fascinating experience with the rocks during some construction work. While digging for the foundation, we discovered an unusual layer of ancient, fossil-rich rocks. It turned out they were filled with marine fossils, hinting that our farm was once under a prehistoric sea millions of years ago. The geologist we consulted was thrilled, saying it was a rare find in our region. It felt like we were uncovering a hidden piece of history right beneath our feet, making the construction project much more exciting and memorable.

Hey Pete! I see you made the big time! Got my copy of "Lancaster Farming" and saw you got a mention and a picture in the article about the "Red Power Roundup". 😊😊😊 Getting pretty good with the little excavator. That was a real good investment for you. 👍👍👍

We were on the way back from Maine and stopped at the finger lakes. That night sitting by the fire I was chatting with a retired New York farmer. I asked him what he grew on the farm when he was working. He said, "mostly rocks".

Someone is having fun under the guise of hard farm work. ENJOY your "work" as much as I enjoy your videos.

Always enjoy the country way of life!! Nothing better Pete!

Those minis are great machines. Can’t imagine doing this stuff in the olden days.

Really nice to see you back mate and thanks again for sharing your experience and loving what you’re doing good on you and your wife and your family.

The view of the deep roots is great! It gives us perspective on just how deep the plant effects the ground. Oh, and jealous on the excavator 😅

Farming around sloughs, and such was the old way. It appears to be the right way in retrospect. In 81 I had a coarse in farm drainage when I worked a season with a contractor. We dealt in less rock, and more clay. This interests me. Thank you Pete.

Now I want an excavator and a cat. 😊 Love this video Pete.

Work is progressing at a 'glacial pace.'

I've always loved excavators.❤ I never thought cows would cheer for an excavator. 😅

Oh those rocks! Grandpa had a big rock that he farmed around for years. When the farm sold the new owners removed the rock. What a hole they dug. Looks to be a fun and necessary project. Your cows are like mine...as soon as they see you they are bawling at the fence knee deep in grass....

I live in Putnam County NY. The county flower is the rock. I had a large one sticking out of the ground just enough to make mowing grass a pain. I got rid of the rock by using Feathers And Wedges. A time consuming job but the results were satisfying.

Love when you leave the chickens out. They are always so happy to be free . Thanks for sharing this with us

That little excavator is sure gonna come in handy! Looks like it’s doing a great job.

Our family farm, which my dad sold out of, to work at nasa in 64. It's in the Great Black Swamp in Ohio. My uncle and cousins have laid tile to all the fields with electric pumps to send it to the river, which borders the farm. Some of the best farmlands in Ohio. Looking forward to the rest of this project. Thanks, Pete!

Hey Pete, Recently, you asked for input regarding your channel content. Due to mass inflation and a changing time, cost is out of control for young adults, trying to make a difference in Farming. Your videos that talk about how to take something that is old and make it productive provide options for people that do not have the means to spend Tens of thousands on new tractors, bailers, and other items that are so important for farmers. Just showing how you operate provides hope for those in a time where hope is hard to come by.

I hate digging, but then I don't have a machine 😂 Those roots are amazing. A little C4 might help

Now that you’re a Case owner,you should know the Case Eagle has a name- old Abe. Bonus points if you know why!

Boy, those glaciers did a number to your yard.

Thanks for the video Pete, looks like that excavator should have come with a jack hammer attachment to help with those giant rocks!

Glad you're feeling better Pete. You sound like your old self again. Thanks for the video.

Looks like a "hole in one" to me.... Was golf ever in your blood Pete?? It's so great when a planned purchase pays off.

Oh that chicken looked fabulous! Mmmmmm. Love seeing you trenching. I really enjoy seeing all the varipus colors in the diffetent types of soil. Gods handiwork is AMAZING!

Alot of work out of that small equipment. Congratulations 👍👍👍

4th of July coming up. Great time to set off some dynamite in the trench and blast that rock out! 😂

The glaciers certainly left their mark

This is the earliest I've ever been able to catch one of your videos. Loving the content. And as someone who's raised hogs in the past, I can attest they're a pain

Dynamite, Pete Seni seviyoruz çalışmaların daim olsun Durmak Yok Çekimlere Devam Ülkenin Sana ihtiyacı var 👍🇹🇷

Dynamite, Pete.

Thank you for taking the time to point out the depth of your pasture topsoil AND the depth of your pasture grass roots. Most people don't appreciate what is possible when pasture is developed over time by the good animal husbandry you practice, Pete. I also appreciated your call out as the headwaters of the Chesapeake. Wonderful stewardship of the land and the watershed, friend. :)

One thing for sure you taught your self how to operate the little machine.. Man those were some big rocks. Thanks for another very interesting video.

D Y N A M I T E is your friend. I love your channel, your personality, your family, your business decisions, and am aligned completely with your philosophies and moral edifices. I've been a big fan of your channel's content for a good long while now. Keep up the good work Pete. Good luck with the drainage project; I'm looking forward to seeing your design concepts for the winter pasture drains themselves. I'd love to drink a cold beer with you sometime, and eat one of those beautiful chickens. Best wishes from Seattle!

Thanks for another enjoyable Sunday morning video Pete. Nice job digging with your Case. Stay safe

Happy digging Mr. Pete and enjoy that chicken!

you have a pretty good crop of rocks this year

I thought we were going to see some drilling and blasting on the Just A Few Acres farm. Plan B is almost always blasting. Great edit, Pete. Thanks for sharing. -EZ

De-Nile! ❤ to you, Hil and family.

Excellent footage. The drone gave us a perspective of the task.

You’re having way too much fun with that excavator. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a moat in future episodes 😂!

I was so sad for a moment at 4:10 . And hello from France . Merci pour tes vidéos .

Your de Nile joke was one of your best! Love watching your videos no matter what you are doing. Do miss the pigs and your interactions with them. Watching your interactions with the cattle is amazing. So happy to see more of Hillary.....you are quite a team. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your life with us.

Yay! A big new project to spice things up. And some old favorites, like Ezra commenting on dinner. Great video, Pete!

Go around it??? Bro lets have some excitement, as a farmer you can buy some Dynamite to blow a hole in that rock.😁👊👍

Thank you, Pete, for another wonderful video .

You have a good channel to watch. I have a helpful suggestion, when digging a ditch put topsoil on one side and subsoil on the other that way you can put topsoil back where it belongs. Very valuable to a farmer. Farmers put a lot into topsoil.

Lots of belly aching from the cow crew….❤🖤

Amazing to think WATER moved those rocks into place. A LOT of water, as ice which may have started as a snowflake somewhere. Too bad you don't have access to a jackhammering attachment to bust through those boulders. It's almost July 4, some dynamite would be fun too. Probably scare the cow-patty goo out of Patty, revenge is sweet. God bless you, Pete. The yard bird looks delicious.

Great video. A skill worthy of making a video on. Thank You

Owning a small excavator is such a blessing When you rent one you loose time picking it up and returning it. Then while working you are not constantly feeling rushed to get finished up to return on time.

There are few rock problems that a proper application of dynamite in sufficient quantity can't solve.

I'm actually very impressed with the little excavator! I don't think a bigger excavator would go much faster.

Glad your feeling better❤ I love your videos

Those rocks were dumped with all that glacial movement in central New York. Wow!

I appreciate your dedication to your channel! I always look forward to Sundays so I can watch your latest adventures! Great job 👏

Glad to see the drainage plan coming to fruition. Thanks for the video!

I can dig it, he can dig it She can dig it, we can dig it They can dig it, you can dig it Oh, let's dig it Can you dig it, baby I can dig it, he can dig it She can dig it, we can dig it They can dig it, you can dig it Oh, let's dig it Can you dig it, baby.............

Holy mackerel, those were some massive rocks. Glad the plan B worked. Loved the aerial shots, pretty cool. Thanks for the video Pete. Have a great week.

Thanks for keeping with the Ithaca times tradition 👍 👌 no more no less

Watching your channel is like therapy it helps me relax. Thank you.

Enjoy your day off sir. Excellent work

I thought for sure when you found that 1st big boulder that you would be banging your head on the wall with this one, but by golly you got through... Way to go.... I am a civil engineer so I understand your process.

Good day to all peace and Dig it

Got so much stone, you could build an old fashion stone wall around the various area of the cow's fields replacing the temporary electrical wires.

Great thumbnail, made me go "the heck is Pete up to now"

Wow that is a lot of digging. Good thing you enjoy it so much. As always it is so satisfying and relaxing to watch you work. I think it may be because it is you and not me. Just a thought. Keep up the good work and again, thank you for sharing your families life with us. This reminds me of Leave it to Beaver. Just a wholesome nice show to watch.

Thanks Pete, big job

I have to say, I look forward to seeing your videos,

Great addition to the farm with that piece of equipment Pete!

Beautiful soil layers and roots thanks for showing them Pete. I Really dig this episode :)

That new excavator is worth every cent. To bad it couldn't lift just a bit more. So interesting learning about field drainage,sure helps to be an e engineer. Have a great day, love the jokes

Hi Pete. Just a small suggestion from across the world. I'm sure you've already thought about it, but I would connect all the rain water from the roof(s) directly to the drainage, or even better directly to the closed outlet pipe, and not let it out on the winter pasture first. Would probably keep the ground in the pasture much drier.

You know, if you didn't have that fancy excavator you could've easily got those big rocks out with a pick and shovel. Love the channel.

Love all of your videos and especially when you are grilling for Dinner ….yum

I love your videos, a very different way of life to me as an electrician fitting car chargers in Cheshire England.

Currently in Madrid Spain watching your videos! Will return to the US in the am!

Thanks for the video Pete. Looks like the cows were your sidewalk superintendents

Gotta love, a big kid with a new toy 👊

Dexpan for splitting those rocks. Pete and anyone with a similar rock collection, if in the future you have need to break up those rocks, a product called dexpan works wonders. It's a powder you mix into a slurry. A series of fairly substantial 1 1/2" holes are drilled and filled with the slurry which swells overnight and cracks the rock open. Hammer drills can be rented. Yet another option to keep up your sleeve.