Would this work?

[DaniR1968]

We need to have dirt brought in on our property. We only have two acres but we are low so it floods fairly easily. The worst spot is right in front of the house where the lines for the sprinklers for the septic are. We get a pond for weeks after every rain.

DH's dad has a tractor he would let us borrow but this is not a weekend job. In fact, I really prefer to do it piecemeal because of the different fenced areas.

I have discovered that there are attachments you can get for your larger riding mowers (garden tractors). It looks like something really cool, but do they really work?


Thanks

[rambler]

How much dirt are we talking about?

Are you even allowed to fill in a low spot, in my farm fields that would be under heavy review as to filling in a wetlands....

Anyhow, are we talking a pickup load of dirt, a big dirt truck full of dirt, are we talkig 100 big loads of dirt?

I've seen well-made garden tractors with well-made loaders on the3m (you are talking aloader right?) that can stand up well to work, but if you got a real cheapie garden tractor and want to attach a very cheap pressed metal toy loader, it won't hold up to more than a truckload of dirt.

Otherwise, what sort of attachment are you talking about, do you need to trasport the dirt, or will it be spread & you just need it leveled, or what we got going?

--->Paul

[Alice In TX/MO]

We got a front loader for our Craftsman lawn mower (Sears.) It was a piece of garbage, and we returned it.

[DaniR1968]

It is a Craftsman mower and I saw that Sears makes a box blade for it. There might be other makers that would have something that would fit.

We are allowed to fill the low spots. We flood because most of the other properties on our street have had dirt brought in. So, we are about the only property on the street that has standing water after anything more than a light rain. No natural wetlands to worry about.

At this point we aren't sure how much but it will be dump truck loads. Probably no more than a few at a time as we have the money and time. The idea is to have it dumped where it is needed and just spread it, not move it.

Thanks for the replies.

[Joshie]

Will this make your house lower than the filled in area?

[rambler]

One uses what one has to get the job done.

A Craftsman mower (belt drive?) with a box blade on it would not be my choice to move dirt; it isn't heavy enough to pull much, the tires (and belt drive?) aren't agressive enough to get traction in loose dirt, and a small stamped steel blade isn't strong or heavy enough to really accomplish much - it will skip over the dirt, very narrow to move much at all.

Probably beats a shovel tho.

--->Paul

[Bearfootfarm]

Save your money until you can get enough dirt delivered to justify borrowing the tractor.

A lawn mower will just frustrate you

[ejagno]

Do you really realize how much dirt will be needed to raise 87120 sq. ft. of land even just 6". That's approx. 3226 cubic yards of dirt. I would not waste my money on implements for a home tractor but would instead definitely borrow FIL's and do as you suggested, an area at a time. This would be cost effective and allow you to set aside one weekend per month or so until you have reached a satisfactory grade to your land. JMHO

[jwal10]

Put up a sign for clean fill dirt. Leave a little low and then top with good garden soil so you don't pay for so much of it. Get enough and have someone level it with a dozer. You can work with the few inches of top soil....James

[DaniR1968]

Okay, the mower is out. The ground the house is on is built up enough we would have to bring in a lot of dirt to make it lower.

I'm not sure about borrowing FIL's tractor. He's 2 hours away and has 10 acres of his own to keep up. I think he also does mowing on the side. So, borrowing it long term might not be good. Now, if we could get all the dirt and once and then spend spread it all over the course of the next week or so, that would probably be okay.

jwal10, if what I was told about not having any real weight on the lines for the sprinkler are right, a dozer would crush them. That's why I need a smaller tractor. I even thought of buying a small tractor for this job and selling it when we are done.

Thanks all for the replies.

[Wolf mom]

Buy dirt as you are able. Then hire a guy to level or grade as you wish. what an experienced person can do in one day would take an inexperienced person a few. Tractor issue resolved.

As far as the sprinkler system is concerned, pull it up then relay it as it'll be deeper than before and the heads will be too low.

If you run a tractor, or a big truck over your drain field, you'll regret it. I'd check with somebody that really knows septic systems before doing anything.

[motdaugrnds]

Well, not knowing the size of the area you are speaking about; but since you stated you only have 2 acres and already have a house setting on it, I am guessing it is not over an acre and half that you are wanting to work with.

I have no idea why one would want a sprinkler over a septic system; however, apparently others do. Thus, if it were mine and I wanted to keep that sprinkler system over that area, I would definately pull it up "before" I added dirt to the area. Also, I would not want any heavy dozer running over my septic system; so I would have a dump truck deliver what I wanted and use wheel barrows and shovels (hopefully with a few friends) to get it where I wanted it. Oh yes, I know it would take a lot of work; but better work than ruin!

[DaniR1968]

Thanks for the advice guys. Despite the fact that I would really LOVE to do it myself (really, not kidding) we will probably hire an expert. I do like the idea of saving some money if I can get clean fill dirt. I'll will have to see how the expert feels about that. The expert might even know where we can score some clean fill dirt.

[DaniR1968]

The sprinklers run from the aerobic septic system, not over it. We don't have a drain field either. But the lowest spot needing the most fill will be the area where the sprinklers and lines are, which is in my front yard. The whole front is low. The pasture and areas for the animals could use a bit of fill but it's not nearly as bad there as my front yard. If we were to do nothing else, it would be to do the front yard.

Someone mentioned that we would have to remove the sprinklers to do it so it's going to be more of a job than we thought. Good thing I sought advice first or we would never have thought of that.

[LittleRedHen]

I know its a lot of work and will take awhile but I recommend a shovel, rakes and a wheel barrow or dump cart. Spread it out yourself! Seriously! that is what i do! I have several projects this year that involve dirt and a shovel! we just have 2.24 acres of sand. I am moving black dirt in for top soil and it is my desire to eventually cover every last bit of my property with at least 3 inches of top soil. I am also moving sand OUT of the low area and making a foundation for a leanto for my goat hay. All by the shovel! I have dug out a pond doing it too. Its excellent exercise but I admit it takes a lot of work to get it done. But its cheap When i moved dirt in 2008 I lost over 100 lbs! But that was doing it 4 hours a day for 7 or so months

[rambler]

'Here' we have regular drainfield septics, and mostly 'mound' systems. I am not at all familiar with the 'sprinkler' type, but have heard of them.

Any sort of septic system tends to be designed for where & how it is now, and does not do well with modifications like adding dirt on top of it. Be sure you understand what you have and what you can get away with.

Because of your septic system, I think everyone is gonna shy away from real help here, and just ask more questions.

How much are you planning to raise the ground? Are we talking inches, or feet? It's probably not level, but can you give us an idea of how much depth you are trying to get? I'm guessing perhaps an acre of ground you wish to raise?

A big heavy dozer would probably do the least damage to pipes under ground. It spreads out the weight over the whole tracks. The dump truck delivering the dirt will be the worst, concentrating a whole load of dirt on the rear wheels. A tractor will be somewhere in between.

If you wish to raise the dirt more than 6 inches, it becomes interesting. As the truck dumps it off, and you let it set a while waiting to get around to leveling it, parts will settle hard, and other parts will stay soft. You will have uneven settling, and over the next several years the dirt will settle in different ways, making mogels out of what you think is flat ground. When making fill for a road, or buildind, or other construction, they always have to add about 6 inches of dirt, pack it well, then add another lift of 6 inches of dirt, pack, etc. This won't be critical if you are just making a back yard; but if you are adding 3 feet of dirt and dumping piles of dirt & much later coming back with a small farm tractor or lawn mower you will get bumpier ground than you were figuring.....

Just some idle thoughts. I don't mean to make this more complicated than it is, people build up ground all the time & it works out. But your septic is a real concern; and if you ever plan on placing a building on top of your fill area you'd do better to do the spread a smooth shallow layer, compact it, and repeat....

--->Paul

[wyld thang]

google the permaculture technique of making a swale. WHat you need is a low spot(pond or drainage ditch kind of thing) to collect the runoff. Here in Oregon I've seen swales used in a few suburban yards and of course out in the country with enough space people make ponds, the swales are usually lined with rocks and a few swamp plants are planted(the small ones on suburban lots). You'll get faster and better results with a swale, then trying to raise ground elsewhere.

[DaniR1968]

LittleRedHen, that is my preference but DH is allergic to doing manual labor. LOL I have a run-in shed that was started 2 years ago that is still not finished. It's at least got a roof.

We have two teenage boys so we really should be able to knock out a load or two at a time. Maybe I can promise to get a bulldozer or his dad's tractor in for the rest but that we really need to do this area by hand. Of course, I really wouldn't mind a little tractor. I love doing the mowing on my little lawn tractor. I would be in heaven if I could have my own tractor. We just don't have enough land to justify it.

The area we need the most fill is maybe a quarter of an acre. We are only looking to raise it a couple inches and see how that works. We don't want to raise it so much it causes the neighbors to flood or make any other part of our property flood. We only have one other area that really NEEDS it and that's less than a quarter of an acre. The rest could use some dirt but isn't too bad unless we get a heavy rain.

wyld thang, we actually have drainage ditches behind us and beside us. I think we are unlevel enough that we don't drain properly into them. I'm not sure if a pond would work. I think we would have to look at the layout. I know we have several areas in the front that are almost a bowl. That would probably still have to be filled in to get it to drain to the pond.

[DaniR1968]

Rambler, I have to say I would prefer a drain field. We've had a regular septic in the past and it was easier to take care of. And then there's the fact that the sprinklers go off at the most inconvenient time, usually while I'm mowing.

We could get dirt delivered without them driving over the lines. There is room on either side of the lines to back up along side them. This particular area is fairly small. It's maybe a quarter of an acre. I'm liking LittleRedHen's idea of just doing it by hand. Then we don't worry about a tractor crushing lines or running over sprinklers or having to take them out first. I will need to look and see how much of the sprinkler head needs to be left. There is actually quite a bit sticking out so I don't know if that would give us a little bit of play.

As for the rest of the property, we can get a tractor or bulldozer in for that.

Thank you everyone for your input.