mlmartin
Silver Member
As has been previously mentioned, you are going to deal with keeping erosion from washing dirt into the creek. You may need all three of those law degrees if you start getting cease and desist orders/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Talk to your local Conservation/Wetlands/whatever commission. It's their job to make certain that you do what you need to do without damaging wetlands.
If all you want is to keep water from standing in the swales, I'd go with the french drain suggestion, assuming that the drains wouldn't be under water.
Failng that: If you aren't going to be dealing with large rocks, boulders and ledge get the largest box blade you can reasonably use with your tractor. Mine is 5 1/2 feet wide and can dig deep enough to cause me to lose traction in loose soils. Drag the topsoil off the high parts (the low parts too if they are dry enough) you will need it later. Then use the circular transfer technique described elsewhere.
If you have boulders to deal with, it's time for a backhoe. Pull them out of the high side and bury them in the low side. You'll find that the box blade can help you move them without having to put the entire tractor into the wet spots.
One more thing, schedule yourself for (at least) two months of weekends for this job.
Good luck,
Matthew
If all you want is to keep water from standing in the swales, I'd go with the french drain suggestion, assuming that the drains wouldn't be under water.
Failng that: If you aren't going to be dealing with large rocks, boulders and ledge get the largest box blade you can reasonably use with your tractor. Mine is 5 1/2 feet wide and can dig deep enough to cause me to lose traction in loose soils. Drag the topsoil off the high parts (the low parts too if they are dry enough) you will need it later. Then use the circular transfer technique described elsewhere.
If you have boulders to deal with, it's time for a backhoe. Pull them out of the high side and bury them in the low side. You'll find that the box blade can help you move them without having to put the entire tractor into the wet spots.
One more thing, schedule yourself for (at least) two months of weekends for this job.
Good luck,
Matthew