tire terracing

[magicheater]

Anyone use tires for building walls, terracing or what have you? Here are some pics of what I have done over the past several years. Read an article in Mother Earth News way back when and used that idea on my south east hillside. Way easier with a tractor than the five gallon buckets the author in the article used. Made a special tool also to facilitate filling the tires with dirt.
I plant comfrey in the open areas which quickly shades out the weeds and has lots of purple flowers which attracts bees to the garden area. Once the comfrey is up it is hard to see the tires.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

I like it! You could put an add in Craigslist offering to take old tires for a $1.00 disposal fee.

 

[The Haymaker]

We have a wash forming at the back of one of our fields. I've been considering building an earthen dam in it, using this technique to eliminate erosion. Getting rid of our garbage and saving the land, all at the same time!

 

[aczlan]

Made a special tool also to facilitate filling the tires with dirt.

What is this tool? Sounds interesting, as we may be doing something similar soon.

Aaron Z

 

[Egon]

Looks good.:thumbsup:

Useful use of old tires. Where I live it would probably not meet Environmental standards

 

[magicheater]

Thanx for all the encouraging comments and compliments. Every tire I have I have been paid $1-2 for each. Been doing it for years. I put in a shot of the tool I made, and in use. It is imperative that the dirt be packed in the tires other wise they will compress in a year or two and the wall will get wavy.
Of course it is much easier with a tractor/loader/tiller combo. I usually level a row I want to start, layout the tires, fill-tamp-fill some more, tamp, etc till I am satisfied. Care should be taken as to diameter and width of the tires for a nice looking and evenly spaced wall. I learned the hard way, just passing on what I have learned about this through the years. Also best to plant right after you build, otherwise weeds will take over and gets to be a mess. As I said before, Comfrey seems to like the tires and is a perennial, I really like it and believe me it is prolific. You don't want to try to rototill it away in your garden, every and I say EVERY piece will grow! Tires tend to hold water and is why they should not be left outside uncovered as they will breed mosquitos as you probably know, however filled with dirt they do not. They still hold the water which is good. The last pic is of the beginning of a retaining wall for manure. I will grow Tomatoes in front and use the wall to anchor some plastic for a makeshift greenhouse to extend the season. Posts were salvaged and had been in the ground for 40 years, they look almost brand new, wish they still made them like that! The longer ones I have will be used for another project.

 

[bontai_Joe]

Great idea and it looks a lot better than I imagined. I'm wondering if strawberries would work as well?

 

[valley]

The tires should hold a little water also. My wife likes the idea of using tires in that way, I had always been against it but it looks rather well.

 

[magicheater]

Some added tips: I try to put ALL white walls/lettering down. Inspect tires for wire showing and put where not exposed. Try to use similar sizes in each layer. And again, Pack those tires full, a sagging wall detracts from the symmetry. Plant right after you build. If unsure about a plant doing well, experiment first before planting your entire wall, or for that matter before you build it. I would think strawberries would do well but don't know for sure.

 

[magicheater]

Finally got at the wall. Had just enough material to go to the top of the shortest post. Will be planting the tomatoes soon and getting that load of manure for the other side.