need to level some ground

[Bansil]

the project is to somewhat level an area to build a pvc/emt green house for some trees next winter.
the area is roughly 40' x 60', doesn't need to be perfect since runoff will be good, just need flat enough for plastic and some gravel so trees dont fall over

I do not have the $$ to hire a dozer for a couple hours, I have a FEL(weak in my mind) and a plow

so I thought to plow it deep to loosen the ground ~2 ft deep and then use bucket or box blade(which I do not have yet) to move soil,

will a box blade be able to do this job? start at the top high area and slowly just skim off layers to get it level?

I have a bout a 4 to 6 foot difference in height to change

 

[docone]

Depending on your setup, a BB would do the job nicely. I use my 7 footer to maintain and landscape my 7.5 acre plot. Just a thought, why not move the high spot to fill in the low areas, then smooth, level and compact the area for your footings.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I levelled the area for my shop using the FEL and box blade with my Yanmar 4220 (tractor I had at the time. I used the box blade with scarifiers set deep to loosen the soil and then the FEL and box blade to carry the dirt from the high side to the low side. My brother in law used his 750 JD with a back blade to drive in circles grading and packing the dirt that I moved. I ended up with about a 4 foot cut from the high side pulling it to the lower side in and area large enough to set my 30x52 shop with enough slope outside the area that I can mow the hill. It took about a half day to work the area level enough for the building. I dug up some big rocks in the process along with 4 pieces of concrete 3 feet long x 12" diameter where post had been set for a one time something than no longer existed.

 

[Bansil]

definitely going to use the high dirt to fill in the low area, I guess my next question is this:

Since it is not flat and tractor will be at an angle, how would I use a BB or blade to level it? I only have about 6" of tilt in my arms(guessing)

I would need to eyeball the 1st pass level? then follow through?

 

[woodlandfarms]

In my experience this is a drawn out process. Making sure you establish what is level is the most important thing (are you level by eye or by measure). String and stakes are very popular... run a tight string and get it level with a level... Even if it is 3 feet higher than your ground you can get a good idea of how things are going.

As I said though, every time I do this it takes more patience and time than I ever budgeted for. But it can be done.

Oh, I would use your bucket for 90% of the work. Box blade only really works on the final level

 

[tractorshopper]

The box blade is fully adjustable side-side and front to back. To start moving the high side, put scarifiers deep and you can back up the hill, drop BB and pull until it's full (shouldn't take long), slightly raise BB to not dig more, but carry that load down the hill and slowly raise where you want the bulk of it to drop to kind of feather how much you're letting out at a time. Repeat. As you get closer to the actual level you want to be at, put a less aggressive angle on the box and put the scarifiers up and continue pulling smaller layers at a time. When finish grading/smoothing, back drag with bucket or tilt BB back a little and drag on back edge. There is some finess to it, but a BB is a very valuable tool for this. You can also come at angles by adjusting BB side to side to pull more on one side than current grade. You could do a couple tractor widths from the top side with blade angled to dig down to final desired depth, then turn tractor and use loader to dig the rest. Or any combination of the above. If you use the loader for most digging, a tooth bar is invaluable for this type of work.

I've done both methods pulling down hill with BB and then using loader back up hill, etc. You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. The only PIA is adjusting BB for angles frequently, so I end up setting it once for one direction, then use the loader a lot. If I had hydraulic top and tilt on the BB, I'd use it like crazy. Very good tool.