Land clearing for house build, need some insite

[kenmbz]

To get my drainage plan I spent some time during and after rains to see flow and low spots.
Google maps can help you look at the area too.

Welcome to TBN and congrats on the new acreage.

 

[newbury]

I come from northern Vermont and am familiar with Darren33's soil types and climate. Glacial and cold.
First thing he should do is get a soil survey linky.
On 5 acres it may all be the same clay, but there might be some area of sand or gravel.
He needs to know what he has for planning.

 

[PuffyC]

I'm not sure there's much "fixing" that can be done besides filling in holes, but one thing I'll say is be very careful about how you and others build on that land. For example, if you have a road built, many will want to bring in a dozer and push surrounding dirt to build up the roadbed. Don't let that happen because if you do your road might end up surrounded by brand new mudholes that will almost never drain. Any earth moving has the potential to create big problems down the road that won't be apparent until the next time it rains. Learn from my mistake

 

[Darren33]

I do have some sand that I can see on the land for sure. No dozers or anything like that coming in all work is being done by myself. Did see where we are in the top 5 wettest july's of all time so in reality its just the year working against me

 

[nyone]

Hey guys, new here. Need some advice on some wet clay land. In the spring I closed on 5 acres of heavily wooded land that im looking to build a house and a garage on. I also own a small bandsaw so I need room for a building for the mill, logs, kiln, drying shed etc. Anyway, up until mid June the land was dry but with all the rain and me digging out stumps and running over all the wet low holes its created quite the mucky area. Im in upstate New York, clay ground that doesnt seem to drain very well and the rain has been insane this year but how do I fix this? I havent made my way to the back part of the property yet but before I do would like some ideas before I get there. Should I get a rake for the tractor? Disc it? Grade it? Till it? Or do I just need to be patient with all the rain we've gotten and then grade and continue filling in holes as I go? It does start to dry after a couple days but then we go right back to continuous rain. Im going to try and attach a couple of pictures. Thanks for any

I also love in NY and have cleared land I own. You need to wait.

The more you drive on things that are wet the worse it's going to get. Before you leave get the surface shedding water. Clay hardly absorbs so let it run down hill and not pool up.

I built a rock solid driveway through a swamp in 2019..they key was building up the surface and letting it sit. Road fabric over cordery road helped too.

 

[Sebculb]

See if you can dig a system of drainage ditches that take all the water to the low side of the property. Or a stream? Wide ditches that don't require constant maintenance. Stay out of the mud holes or you'll mix up a soup that won't dry anytime soon.

What kind of equipment do you have at your disposal?

 

[cliokounte]

Thanks for the sound advice! I am planning to get a new house soon, and I would like to expand it a bit before moving in. The ground around the house is wet for some reason, and I need to understand how I can fix that. The way I see it, the housing market in the US is not in the best state, so I want to have a firm plan of action now to avoid all the chaos that might follow the market crash. According to https://timthomas.co/signs-of-a-housing-market-crash/, this crash is already happening. I don’t know what the possible outcome might be, but I want to invest the money right now.

 

[old and tired]

Thanks for your precious advice! I am planning to get a new house soon, and I would like to expand it a bit before moving in. the ground around the house I will probably buy is wet, and I need to understand what the order of my actions should be.

profile = Tractor: Tractor - - - I smell a spam-bot... digging up an old thread??? Where are you planning to buy land???