Tips for my spring project??

[fried1765]

You're gonna remove 30 stumps and then hand till the area, that you estimate to be 1/2-3/4 of an acre? And then use a box blade on a 23hp tractor to change the grade on that area? How deep of an area are you going to drag out of there?

1/2 an acre is 21780 square feet. If you're estimated 1/2 acre is only 100' long, it's 217' wide.

Let's look at it from a side angle. And, let's say you want to regrade 6" deep from one end to the other to "flip" that area.

And let's say its a perfect slope, so it's a 6" high wedge at the far end and 0" at the other end. You really only need to move an area of dirt 50' long by 217'.

50' x 217' = 10850 square feet with an average depth of 3", or 1/4 of a foot.

So divide 10850 by 4 = 2712.5 cubic feet.

There's 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard, so 2712.5 / 27 = 100.46 cubic yards of dirt you have to move.

You're not going to do that with a hand tiller and a box blade on a 23hp tractor in a couple days. You have probably a 1/3 yard bucket. That's the equivalent of about 300 bucket loads of dirt that you're gonna try and pull with a box blade, which won't pull 1/3 of a yard at a time.

Someone can check my math, as I suck at math, but I'm pretty sure that's what it comes out to.

You're way underestimating the size of that job.

"You're way underestimating the size of that job"

"way underestimating" .......commonly done!!

 

[donconnery]

After a few attempts I finally got this to upload!

 

[DMW]

It will be a lot easier to redirect the water. I'm not sure about your water flow, but this would my initial plan.

 

[rgr33]

Been following this with interest, as this is similar to a rental house issue I have. In this case, removing any trees is a big no no with local authorities.

After seeing pics of your situation, it would seem to me that attacking the problem with strategically placed ditches or culverts would be a whole lot simpler and easier. My 90 year old dad had a small pond form on his driveway after it rained. A trencher and catch basin solved the problem in one day.

 

[donconnery]

It will be a lot easier to redirect the water. I'm not sure about your water flow, but this would my initial plan.
View attachment 599296

I got a good chuckle when you knew that puddle was a culvert. You must really know your stuff. I think thats a pretty good idea and I might roll with it. Only problem is I would have to wrap around the side of my garage down to the river bank...or else I'll flood the neighbor. There is a house about 50 feet past the end of the garage.

 

[DMW]

You really have to determine what the water flow is. Direction, volume, ground saturation. It looks like the ground beside the garage doesn't drain anywhere now, so when it rains, can't absorb any more moisture, so everything just flows off. Keep an eye on things when it's raining, look at the patterns. You can't just dam off things, they have a tendency of washing out, causing more problems. The backhoe gives you a great ability of being able to install 8" culvert, or 4" plastic (drainage tile/french drain). Avoid digging any deep ditches. A gentle swale that allows a riding mower to cut without scalping is just as effective, just takes a bit more room (which you seem to have). Get a plan, do it in sections, evaluate. Nothing worse than getting everything done and finding you still have the same issue.

Keep a few things in mind:
Is it possible to divert the water before it gets to the garage?
Can the water be directed past the garage?
Where is the water going to end up, and how can you get it there.
What is the ground saturation like?
How much water volume do you have?

And you're right, never flood out a neighbor.

A video I like about drainage
Fixing a drainage issue on a driveway - YouTube

 

[donconnery]

You really have to determine what the water flow is. Direction, volume, ground saturation. It looks like the ground beside the garage doesn't drain anywhere now, so when it rains, can't absorb any more moisture, so everything just flows off. Keep an eye on things when it's raining, look at the patterns. You can't just dam off things, they have a tendency of washing out, causing more problems. The backhoe gives you a great ability of being able to install 8" culvert, or 4" plastic (drainage tile/french drain). Avoid digging any deep ditches. A gentle swale that allows a riding mower to cut without scalping is just as effective, just takes a bit more room (which you seem to have). Get a plan, do it in sections, evaluate. Nothing worse than getting everything done and finding you still have the same issue.

Keep a few things in mind:
Is it possible to divert the water before it gets to the garage?
Can the water be directed past the garage?
Where is the water going to end up, and how can you get it there.
What is the ground saturation like?
How much water volume do you have?

And you're right, never flood out a neighbor.

A video I like about drainage
Fixing a drainage issue on a driveway - YouTube

I think my new plan is going to be to try this in stages. Trees first. Then clean out the pine needles and other foliage. (The culvert has been neglected, on both sides.) Still till and level (it's pretty bumpy under all that.) And then maybe try a swale first down to the river and see what happens.

 

[fatchance]

Why would you get rid of all those trees? Seems like a lot of earth moving and cursing for nothing. Go with water redirection. Plus some of those trees are gonna have a **** of root system down there that your box blade is not gonna contend with.

 

[Overtaxed]

Why would you get rid of all those trees? Seems like a lot of earth moving and cursing for nothing. Go with water redirection. Plus some of those trees are gonna have a **** of root system down there that your box blade is not gonna contend with.

Yeah, I agree, especially since you have a TLB. Dig a trench, install drain tile (hard PVC would be my first choice) and call it done. Cutting down or working around all those trees to adjust the grade just sounds like a whole lot of work to me. Frankly, if I was feeling lazy, I'd take the picture with the "proposed ditch" on it, put on a plow, and just plow a deep furrow (which will take a few passes because of the tree roots, for sure!) along that path. Level out the scarf with your BB and call it done. I use my plow or my rear blade a lot to move water around, both work well depending on what I'm trying to do. If you do use drain tile, go with 6in, it'll last a lot longer and move a lot more water.