Jex Martell

Thank you. I have piles and piles of woodchips to move around, and the ole wheelbarrow thing was getting old.

Thank you for the suggestion! I don't have a grinder, unfortunately. I looked at my dremel tool and a utility knife but they didn't look up to the task.

I got out my cordless reciprocating saw aka sawzaw aka sawzilla and it made short work of the truck bed liner sides. I was worried it would make a mess but the cuts were pretty clean. Some tiny plastic bits came off the edges.

I used a drill to make a few holes. I didn't find any decent rope on hand so I used thin orange haybale twine and will replace it later. With heavy gloves on it worked fine for now.

So, now I have my own DIY rock sled! I hauled 3 loads of chips and I have to say loading and unloading with a rake was a breeze. Lugging the sled was not the easiest, but when I get my mower out for the season and new rope for the sled I imagine it will go a lot faster for going across the property. But for now... total success. And only cost $20!

I secured an old truck bed liner for $20 off facebook marketplace, thanks to my friend with a pickup. We tied it down securely and hauled it to my place.

Now I need to figure out best way to cut off the sides with the wheel wells. If anyone is handy and has suggestions they would be welcome.

I used to have a riding mower with a trailer attachment for moving bulk materials, which was great -- but not the easiest to load/unload.  Now I have a zero-turn and no trailer.

I've also manually dragged stuff using a tarp, or loaded/unloaded materials using a wheelbarrow. But the tarps get pretty torn up, aren't good for heavy materials, and I find the wheelbarrow hauls tiring and inefficient

Today I came across an ad for YardGlider, a tool that is flat and moves like a sled led by a chain. It pulls bulk materials, logs, etc., either manually or with a mower. I learned there are some old-fashioned names for this like "stone boat" or "rock sled".  In the comments under the ad, several people complained about YardGlider's $100 - $300 price. In response, YardGlider answered politely with a DIY suggestion to make your own sled with an old truck bed liner. It was super nice of them to offer that suggestion! I'm going to try it out.

Sounded like an interesting tool for permies so I am posting here.

I wonder if anyone has used or made a rock sled, and if you have any suggestions. For example someone on the ad thread mentioned using a discarded polyethylene dumpster lid as a rock sled.

I have a large area I'd like to plant a garden and a food forest. It's currently covered in bermudagrass. I have sheet mulched, solarized, tarped, and broadforked part of the area before, but the bermudagrass sneaks in through the edges and takes over when it's too hot for me to be out there fooling with it. Ugh!

To reclaim the planting area I plan to remove the top layer of bermudagrass with a spade, dump it far away, and pull up as many rhizomes as possible. A one-time dig. Then I'll sheet mulch a-fresh by covering the area with 2 layers of heavy cardboard and several inches of mulch.

What are some ways to keep the Bermudagrass at the border -- and halt it from waltzing back in, overground and under.

- cardboard + woodchips moat around the growing area

- several layers cardboard placed vertically 10 inches deep, like plastic edging. Worms and moisture will make short work of it though.

- same, cardboard vertical edging, but brush it with soybean oil or something waxy to dissuade the worms?

- cotton sheets, jeans and clothes buried as vertical edging.

- wool carpet - make a big moat; also as vertical edging.

- find a pyromaniac to torch-weed the area for me with one of those propane thingies

- spray with glyphosate or sethoxydim that the extension agents keep suggestion (yeah, not gonna)

- plant comfrey around the perimeter, or other plants that might stop bermudagrass with thick roots + shade

- plastic lawn edging (though the big box store stuff is way too shallow, the rhizomes will laugh as they jump over and swim under it); or vinyl siding. And I hate plastic or vinyl in the garden.

- concrete or stone/brick/mortar perimeter ($$)

- 10" cor-ten steel edging ($$$) dang I gotta start playing lotto

Suggestions / wacky ideas welcome.

I finished filling my new bin today. Merry Christmas to me! I will eventually build a permanent series of compost bins but I haven't decided where yet, so this nimble setup is great for now.

I bought the foldable dog exercise pen and dog crate via online classifieds for $35 total.  I lined the crate with some hardware cloth. The crate is in the middle of the pile, surrounded generously by chopped leaves, filled with kitchen scraps, leaves and coffee grounds. Hoping this will discourage rats and raccoons. The crate door faces up for when I want to add more scraps.

The pile is a little on the dry side so I'll cover it after this week's rain & snow. I'm looking to scavenge an old wool, cotton or jute rug for the cover. I have some burlap coffee bags from the same cafe where I get buckets of coffee grounds and those will work until a pretty rug shows up.