Building a dirt Shop Pad

[ovrszd]

Last Summer we built a dirt pad for my Son to extend his existing shop. The pad is approximately 70ft x 150ft. At the lowest corner we elevated 11ft. We also extended the pad on two sides of the existing shop. Estimate that we moved 1,750 yards of dirt for the pad. Estimate we stripped 350 yards of top soil and then replaced it.

I started the project with my Kubota M9540 pulling a 5.5 cuyd clamshell scraper. Took me 40 hours to do that. I piled it in two separate strip piles that I could drive on and dump.

Once the pad build started I pulled a 9ft Sheep's Foot, dual drum, filled with diesel fuel. A pretty constant load on my tractor. 2,000 rpm, 4th gear, FWA engaged.

The pad dirt was placed with a 425hp JD FWA tractor pulling a 13 cuyd scraper.

Turned into quite a project that took us a couple weeks to complete. This pic is after I stripped the sod. My tractor and scraper setting in the left side of pic.

 

[ovrszd]

Here's some pics after I stripped the sod, before we started hauling fill material.

 

[ovrszd]

Here's a video of pulling the Sheep's Foot. Those things drag hard. This one is full of diesel fuel. Guessing it holds 300 gallons per drum, so 600 gallon of fuel plus the weight of the drums and hardware. It was about all the Kubota wanted.

 

[wmonroe]

Nice project. You can definitely hear your tractor working in that video.

 

[EddieWalker]

Great video and pictures. Why did you use diesel for weight?

 

[ovrszd]

Fr

Great video and pictures. Why did you use diesel for weight?

Friend of mine owns it. He filled it with diesel 25-30 years ago when it was very cheap. No worries with freezing. No worries with the drums rusting thru. At the time it was cheap, long term weight. Seems kinda weird now doesn't it!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

Here's a drone video I shot of the 13 cuyd scraper in action. I was busy packing so didn't get any pics of him scraping virgin soil. This is relaying the top soil.

 

[EddieWalker]

I misunderstood. I thought you filled it all the way up with brand new diesel, and that it was totally empty when you filled it up. Makes sense that you are just topping it off and that it's really old diesel. I never thought about it never rusting through.

 

[ovrszd]

Eddie, I didn't put any diesel fuel in the drums. My friend filled them a couple decades ago when fuel was cheap. No freezing expanding and busting the drums and no corrosion were the reasons.

I misunderstood. I thought you filled it all the way up with brand new diesel, and that it was totally empty when you filled it up. Makes sense that you are just topping it off and that it's really old diesel. I never thought about it never rusting through.

 

[Rob41]

Wow, thanks for sharing your project. It's really interesting to see what can be done with this equipment. It kinda drives the point home that nothing happens fast.....good planning and patience pays off!