Cleaning up after a true slob

[Will]

A friend of mine just bought a small piece of property with an old log house on it, and the question is how do you go about cleaning up the land. The grass/weeds are a couple of feet high, but the real problem is that the former owner used his own backyard as a garbage dump. He'd just pile up garbage, and when it got too high he'd burn it and start a new pile. He's been doing this for over 20 years and some of the stuff is has sort of rusted its way back into the soil. So how would try cleaning this mess up?

[Ozarker]

Hire a dozer.....dig a hole......push it all in the hole.....burn it down and cover it up.

[beenthere]

Doesn't sound like fun, but I would wait until the grass dies (fall or spring) and burn the area. Then you can see what is there easier. With a FEL or rear blade, bulldoze the area. Also, the decision about what to bury would be easier after the burn.

[RoyJackson]

Just ask my wife!

[jtn]

A dozer and/or an excavator with a grapple. If dozer, dig hole, push debris in. If excavator either dig hole or get a dumpster and use machine to load debris for transport to landfill. You may want to keep an eye out for scrap metal, tires, and hazardous waste.

JT

[EdKing]

<font color=blue>He'd just pile up garbage, and when it got too high he'd burn it and start a new pile.</font color=blue>

Sounds like the people who rented my place before we bought it. We've been here almost 3 years and I am still finding junk they dumped in various places.

[Buster57]

I bought my house and land from a slob just like you did. I had 3 acres of unmowed land. The jerk was a cement contractor who had garbage all over the property.

First thing I did was very thoroughly walk the property. I used markers to indicate where garbage was. I removed the obvious anyway I could.

Next I went to the local JD Dealer and rented a JD-855 with an aerator. I made sure to buy insurance! I then took it out and ground up the topsoil in the process I found several new garbage dumps. I used the FEL and a pickup truck to take the junk to a land fill. You do not want a garbage dump buried in your back yard because who knows what type of stuff may be in there. You may find everything from chemicals to unused bullet cartridges and more…

Fortunately(or unfortunately for the deere dealer) when the job was 95% complete, I hit a John Deere version of a land mine-a 4-foot steel cement end form. The aerator blew up. Literally took tore it to pieces.

No charge other then the rental cost and the insurance ($15).

My lesson was: Never used your own equipment in a dumpsite.
#1 You do not know what is there
#2 You can not see what is there
#3 You need to get all the stuff out of there
#4 Assume(very important) you are going to hit something solid you can not see so be sure every conceivable safe guard is in use.

My exercise worked and I was certified Organic by Oregon Tilth in 1989-and that was one tough certification to get. And, needless to say, I have no more garbage in my back yard.

Good luck!

[DVerbarg]

The first house we bought was similiar to that. Had 5 acres with junk everywhere; in the yard, in the house, in the basement, in the barn, the crib, the milkhouse, yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk! (Got a great deal though!)

After they moved "out" we emptied the house! Took a 20 cubic yard dumpster just to empty the house! (not to mention the amount of cleaning it took to realize the kitchen floor was off-white, not the dark gray it appeared to be) Had to remove carpets and treat sub floors with ammonia, bleach, etc. Wife would not use the toilet until we gutted the entire bathroom down to bare studs and floor joists and then rebuilt the entire bathroom. Took 3 weeks to get the house liveable before we moved in.

Then the yard work started! It took time and perseverence (and some seat time on the ole' Ford 9N with a boom pole for large items) but 4 - 20 cubic yard dumpster loads later we could use a mower on the yard! Wow! Don't need to go into all the details but suffice it to say that we found dirty diapers and their youngest was 11, no trash pickup in 8 years! Ughhh and , and and ....!!!

That cleaning process alone increased the property value by $15k. Sure would have been alot faster with a FEL.

Buster57's suggestion of renting a small tractor with FEL and aerator is great (don't forget the insurance)! Sure would make it alot easier and less time consuming.

I don't envy what you are facing but it sure is a great feeling when you get done.

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Buster,

I liked your idea about renting for the first time through. Unfortunately, at least with the first four places I called, there is no insurance offered. They operate under the "you broke it, you fix it (or, rather, pay us to fix it)" philosophy.

It's like that old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true..."

[Slamfire]

Old ammo isn't as dangerous as it looks, unless you try to shoot it.