EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Ok got a question. I need to remove the topsoil, 6" down BEFORE the footers are dug. I'm not sure the best way to do this.
The backhoe
I would dig it with the hoe bucket and pile the dirt where I could get it with the front bucket, and then haul it to where it needs to one bucket at a time.
Do you really have top soil? Is it loamy and organic? I consistently see people post pictures of what they call topsoil on their places, and to me, it is not top soil, and it was a wast of time to remove it. Where I live in East Texas, we do not have top soil. Where I used to live in CA, the organic loam went down a hundred feet and required significant footings, but once you got into the hills and, there was no top soil and the foundations where designed for earthquakes.
If you actually have 6 inches of topsoil, are you replacing it with gravel that you will have to compact or clean fill that you will have to compact?
If you do not have top soil, then you do not have to pay for fill material that is very difficult to compact.