Filling a Hundred Holes (6-feet across, 4-feet deep)

[4570Man]

I assume the holes taper and aren’t cylinder shaped so I calculated the volume at half depth. That’s about 2 yards per hole so not as much dirt as I originally thought. I’d say 4 full scoops on your tractor FEL would about fill one. Although that’s packed yards vs loose yards so maybe 5 or 6 scoops.

 

[60047]

Yeah, just waiting on the jurisdictional determination from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The wetlands should not fall under their jurisdiction, so pond-building is high on the to-do list. It might take a month or so, since it's 4 acres of wetlands. In the meantime, I would like to fill these holes and also build an embankment slide for the kids.

 

[JethroB]

Be aware of the quality of the dirt from low areas. It may be silt or muck. It may not be good fill material. Nasty stuff when wet.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Might check around and hire a good grader operator. They can move a lot of dirt short distances and do so fast. Leaves a level surface. Also can do ditching, and build many types of embankments.

 

[Jchonline]

It can be done with a smaller machine if you have a few years . If you dont want to wait big iron can make quick work of it.

 

[bdog]

You can buy dirt cheap by the semi load. Maybe $350 a load? Get a load dumped right by your holes and it will be easy to move the loose dirt into the holes with your loader.

With my skid steer I bet I could fill and smooth a hole in under five minutes if wasn’t having to move the material too far.

 

[4570Man]

You can buy dirt cheap by the semi load. Maybe $350 a load? Get a load dumped right by your holes and it will be easy to move the loose dirt into the holes with your loader.

I can buy it for $100 but that’s a very area dependent price.

 

[bdog]

I can buy it for $100 but that’s a very area dependent price.

That is super cheap if you are talking semi and not tandem and cheap even for a tandem. Around here you are going to pay $100 minimum just for the trucking plus the cost of whatever you want hauled. Granted dirt is cheap but the people digging it up and loading it want something for their efforts.

Regardless I think OP is far better off trucking in material than trying to dig it up to fill these holes unless he already had a backhoe or excavator and a means to haul the dirt.

 

[bcp]

Craigslist ad here a few months ago offered free dirt, delivered, but you had to take at least 100+ loads.

Bruce

 

[Scar0B2150]

You can try putting your name out to a few "dirt" contractors in your area. There are always some around my area who a looking for places to dump waste dirt from another project. My neighbor did exactly that and received 10 tandem dump truck loads of clean topsoil withing a week from a housing project totally free. He was very specific that he only wanted top-soil! Free sure beats paying for it.