Excavating/grading question

[CDN Farm Boy]

I'm not a soil engineer by any means so I have no idea what all that means but I'm sure it would help if you knew what it all meant. Lol

What I do know is that for a lane, the more base the better and its really hard to fix a lane that was under-built to start with. With the equipment already on site, it shouldn't be that much more in time to add more base. Going rate around here is about $13/ton (last fall price) and for easy math, 1.5 ton is a cubic yard of crushed rock, regardless of size.

 

[Jpcjguy]

I'm not a soil engineer by any means so I have no idea what all that means but I'm sure it would help if you knew what it all meant. Lol

What I do know is that for a lane, the more base the better and its really hard to fix a lane that was under-built to start with. With the equipment already on site, it shouldn't be that much more in time to add more base. Going rate around here is about $13/ton (last fall price) and for easy math, 1.5 ton is a cubic yard of crushed rock, regardless of size.

hahaha! I am with you - but there are some very technical people on here and it could be the information they are looking for.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

hahaha! I am with you - but there are some very technical people on here and it could be the information they are looking for.

I agree, I just didn't want you to think I was one of them ;-)

 

[Jpcjguy]

So I have been thinking more about the 50-80' tiered retaining wall and the associated $$$ with that... How about I make most of the wall a hill down from the upper horseshoe pit area to the "level" area. Have the grade be "smooth" enough that I can mow it. Like the following:

Below is a rough drawing of the hill idea. The green is existing railroad tie wall. This can be seen in the other pics in the thread. This would be replaced with stone. The yellow is the new proposed wall angled out into the hill. The red is where the "grassy hill" would start. This way I say money on stone and still have easy mowing.

I wonder what grade I can get away with using my Bobcat ZT mower and how long the "base" of the triangle would be. Here is the slope in yellow that I am thinking:

Thoughts?

 

[paulharvey]

3:1 is pretty unfriendly feeling, but if your careful you can do it, 4:1 (four feet horizontal to 1 foot vertical) still feels steep but you can easily mow or drive on it. It feels steeper than it is. I don't think a dozer will "stick" to a 2:1 cross slope but can go up and down, if that helps give a reference point.

Steeper than 2:1 and you'll be pegging sod, and mowing with a weed eater

 

[japody]

If you move all that dirt around, next year's Mud Bog will be held at your place!

 

[Jpcjguy]

If you move all that dirt around, next year's Mud Bog will be held at your place!

hahaha! yeah - wife will not be too happy for a while. As for mud bogging - that is a younger man's game - I don't have time to spend a day with the power washer anymore. Rock crawling for me..

 

[Xfaxman]

3:1 is pretty unfriendly feeling, but if your careful you can do it, 4:1 (four feet horizontal to 1 foot vertical) still feels steep but you can easily mow or drive on it. It feels steeper than it is. I don't think a dozer will "stick" to a 2:1 cross slope but can go up and down, if that helps give a reference point.

Steeper than 2:1 and you'll be pegging sod, and mowing with a weed eater

I agree, 3:1 was a major pucker factor the first time I mowed it.

The hanging tow rope shows true vertical.

This side is 2:1 and the mower slides sideways downhill a lot.

 

[Jpcjguy]

Whoa! Yeah - not liking the 2:1 :shocked:
In reality my total height differential is about 4.5-5 feet. My thought was to not side hill mow but up and down.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Down should be super easy with the 2:1 lol. Up should be fine also, far more likely to spin out than go over backwards.