Advice on box blade usage

[joshuabardwell]

I am going to use my box blade and FEL (but mostly the box blade) to recondition an area of my property that, until this week, had pigs on it. The area is sloped, so all of the topsoil has washed down to the bottom as the pigs tilled it up, and there are lots of spots where they have made wallows in the clay. I intend to put the rippers to the deepest setting and rip everything up, then raise the rippers and use the box to grade everything, and possibly pull some of the topsoil back up the hill--although I think that may be a losing battle.

My question is this: One side of the area runs along my main perimeter fence--a three-rail horse fence. I took a pass at that area the other day, just to get the worst of the wallows out, to discourage water from pooling and help it dry out faster so I can finish the work. I made a pass the length of the area, parallel to the fence, and of course the box blade dug in and left a more-or-less level patch about 3" below grade. My concern is that if I keep this up, year after year, I am eventually going to dig away much of the dirt supporting the fence posts. They'll be left on a little berm, if you will. Can you picture it?

I'm not sure the best way to address this. One approach would be to push the dirt back where it came from, but that's just not going to happen. I don't know if a more skilled operator would have more success at this, but any time I move dirt, there always seems to be less of it to put back than I dug out. My current thinking is that maybe I could use the FEL to pile dirt along the fence line, then tilt the box blade so the fence side is higher than the non-fence side and run parallel to the fence. This would leave the dirt near the fence at-grade, and make the transition smoothly to the lower-grade area that is probably going to result when I start mucking around.

Bear in mind that it's not just my mucking about that is going to change the grade. Remember that nearly all of the topsoil has washed down the hill, and restoring the hill to its original grade is outside of my skill level or desire-to-accomplish. Frankly, this is kind of good news, as the hill ended with a rather sudden drop-off of maybe 24", and now that the pigs have had at it, it is more of a gradual slope, with all the topsoil washing down and filling in that drop-off. But I digress...

I wonder if anybody has any input on how to approach this, or whether there is a better way to accomplish this using the tools at my disposal?

Thanks.

 

[MarkV]

If it were me I would try to fill in the worst of the low spots by adding dirt with the FEL. It is hard to get a smooth grade when the front of the tractor is going into holes and then up hills. Every time the front moves the box moves also. Then I would set the box in a way that it was only hitting the high spots first. After several passes the worst of the low spots should be filled. I think many get too aggressive with the box by trying to cut too much with each pass. The other thing is if the area is still wet I find it almost impossible to grade mud.

MarkV

 

[TripleR]

Without seeing it, it is hard to visualize, but I am inclined to agree with MarkV and work a little at a time. Depending on how steep your slope is, if you try to go too deep and accomplish too much, a good rain is going to undo everything pretty quick.

 

[RDrancher]

This is a little more extreme than your situation, but here are two methods I use to accomplish the same thing.

The first photos are a buildup of soil to create a flat top (for a sidewalk from the door to the driveway) and sloped sides. The soil was placed in 6" lifts with the fel and compacted by rolling with the tractor. The sluff soil next to the home was cut and compacted into the mix during each lift. Then I used the boxblade to cut and shape into this profile.


In these photos the soil next to and behind the patio was laid in with the fel and then backdragged to shape, rolled in and then touched up again with the fel and more soil.


A combination of the two methods should get your fence line area straightened up.

 

[joshuabardwell]

If it were me I would try to fill in the worst of the low spots by adding dirt with the FEL. It is hard to get a smooth grade when the front of the tractor is going into holes and then up hills. Every time the front moves the box moves also. Then I would set the box in a way that it was only hitting the high spots first. After several passes the worst of the low spots should be filled. I think many get too aggressive with the box by trying to cut too much with each pass. The other thing is if the area is still wet I find it almost impossible to grade mud.

One problem with this approach is that the wallows in the clay just wash out again if I cover them with loose soil, so I'm hoping if I get in with the rippers and dig down, I can break them up again and create more of a level sub-grade, if you will.

EDIT: Well, they don't wash out from the rain, but as soon as the pigs got back in the area, they immediately recreated the exact same spots they had wallowed out before.

 

[MarkV]

Sorry, I thought the pigs were not going to be there anymore and you were trying to reclaim the area. Not sure there is anything you can do if the pigs are going back in. Those fellows love to mess up an area.

MarkV

 

[TripleR]

Having raised hogs, I think you and the hogs will just compete moving stuff around and they have more time an innate talent at it.

 

[JoeBuyer]

And they love to root any dirt you just moved. Fresh scents and yummies in there.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Just to clarify, the hogs have gone to Freezer Camp, and there won't be hogs back on the area for at least two months--maybe three. We are going to plant the area with some fast-growing cover crop to hold the soil down and to give the new hogs, whenever they come, something to munch on. Y'all are right--I don't bother "fixing" the dirt when the hogs are actually present, as it is a losing battle every time.

 

[joshuabardwell]

... and I'd still like to hear any input on how to grade the area reasonably smooth again for planting without eventually unearthing my fence line.

EDIT: @RDRancher, your advice is much appreciated.

 

[Mark Page]

I think a few loads of top soil delivered to the spot would give you something to work with.
If pigs have been in that spot for a while the nitrogen content in the soil is gonna' be out of site. Grass likely will not grow, don't ask how I know this.
Can you move the pigs to another location like maybe your freezer?

 

[jenkinsph]

I use a landplane for this type of job works fast and easy to do. First picture is of a harrow I started with for smoothing and covering seed. Second pic is of the 8' landplane and third and fourth are pictures of a grade done with the fel and landplane.

 

[rswyan]

... and I'd still like to hear any input on how to grade the area reasonably smooth again for planting without eventually unearthing my fence line.

Sounds like you're going to have to move soil back to the fence line to build it up ....

My technique for smoothing areas - which I was given by another TBN member - is this:

Go in overlapping circles and figure 8's ..... the key is varying the pattern so that any given piece of ground is attacked from variety of angles and directions.

Start with the boxblade all the way down to fill in any obvious deep ruts or holes (and to fill the box)

Then raise it bit by bit, as the area becomes smoother, until it is just resting on the surface .... on my Kubota B2910 that between 4 and 5 on the position control lever - 4 is on the ground, 5 is just above it .... and will drop material.

BTW - how big of an area is this ?

 

[joshuabardwell]

Can you move the pigs to another location like maybe your freezer?

Already been done. Actually, these pigs are for our customers' freezers, but same difference. The place should have at least a few months rest before new pigs are on it. Depending on what feed prices do in response to the drought, we may actually sit the next season out. It'll be sad not to have piggies here, but it doesn't make sense to do it if we lose money.

 

[joshuabardwell]

BTW - how big of an area is this ?

Thanks for the advice. In answer to your question, it's not too big--about 50'x40'. You can see it in the attached photo.

 

[rswyan]

Thanks for the advice.

You're quite welcome.

In answer to your question, it's not too big--about 50'x40'.

Got it.

It's certainly do-able in that area .... just be mindful of the fence

You'll be limited as to your travel path in the corners and on the edges - if you need to fill there, dump it in, in 4" to 6" lifts, and then run over it with the tractor while you have the FEL on and bucket full to compact it.

After that if you can drop the FEL nearby while you are blading the area it will make it a little easier - just remember without the weight of the FEL on, the front wheels will probably lose traction pretty quickly with a full box.

Looks like we are operating similarly sized tractors - you running a 60" boxblade ?

 

[joshuabardwell]

Looks like we are operating similarly sized tractors - you running a 60" boxblade ?

Nah--72". I really wanted to thoroughly cover my tracks and be able to get up against stuff like the fence or shed. It does get a bit too full at times and I have to raise it up to get going again, but it does the job.

 

[rswyan]

Nah--72". I really wanted to thoroughly cover my tracks and be able to get up against stuff like the fence or shed.

Right - our tractors appear to about the same physical size - but you've got about 1000 lbs more weight than I do - which should help traction-wise.

It does get a bit too full at times and I have to raise it up to get going again, but it does the job.

Yup - same deal here with my 60" Woods ....

 

[kebo]

Joshua, I would probably have a dumptruck load of top soil (or ever how many loads are needed) brought in and just spread it out over the holes. I think you would be a lot happier with the results going that route. Of course, as soon as you get it smoothed up, plant some grass right away and water it. Once it comes up, it should help prevent erosion. Good luck!

 

[Stick895]

Can you move the pig area to the left of its current location to the grassy area away from the fence to let them level out the new area?