Burying stuff...

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( He would dig a pit every now and then, to bury "stuff". )</font>

Sounds like the previous owner of my place. I found a couple of tons of scrap iron, including rebar, railroad iron, and a couple of iron ladders, some buried some on the surface. Talk about lawnmower eaters!

Seriously, if you bury it deep, it won't be a problem. Concrete is just artificial stone - it's pretty inert. If you live in a frost area, try to bury it below the frost line, and it won't come up. The writer who mentioned backfilling and compacting between layers is right. If you just heap up a bunch of slabs and fill over them, soil can later was into the voids, causeing settlement and ratholes.

 

[riptides]

Yes, excellent advise all around, especially on the termites.

My "stuff" will strictly be concrete. Any wood from the outbuilding if not of re-use quality will be burned. Any metal on these outbuildings, unfortunately will be hauled to the dump.

I really am environmental friendly. I like the wall idea. Depending on the "work" time and "bust-up" time, I may look into that.

I do have a creek, but it is pretty carved out, and looks to need little help in maintaining its banks. So far....

TIA
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[TruChaos]

On the subject of burying things. I agree with you guys.

I used to belong to a nearby gun club. We had a 250 yard rifle range and extended it out to 300. This involved bulldozing some trees and pushing up a back stop berm.

Since the trees were already there, we piled them up and pushed the dirt up and over them to creat a backstop.

The county found out and blew a gasket. They ruled the berm an illegal landfill. Keep in mind this wasn't any form of trash. Just some trees. So we had to dig the trees out of the backstop, cut them up then transport them to the county landfill.

Makes sense right? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[unclroy]

Mike,

It looks like you got some good advice here. One thing about the burning though.. be careful about burning any treated lumber. You sure don't want to inhale any of that stuff. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Roy

 

[LBrown59]

As for the burial procedures here I have been threatened by the county about burring a few things but in town the county also has filled in a large pit next to t here shop with old bricks and other things.
* They charge 6 dollars a cubic yard here to bury anything in their local fill or put it into the transfer station.
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* This is why you were threatened .They want the 6 bucks per yard from you,

 

[LBrown59]

Find someone who has a creek bank that's washing out... The old concrete is great for stabilization of the bank.
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My brother has just such a creek bank.
I have some 3 x 4 foot pieces of busted up concrete side walk he could use.
One problem is loading and hauling it to his place only 1.3 miles from me.
Another is having the equipment to place it along the creek bank.

 

[LBrown59]

The county found out and blew a gasket. They ruled the berm an illegal landfill. Keep in mind this wasn't any form of trash. Just some trees. So we had to dig the trees out of the backstop, cut them up then transport them to the county landfill.

*Makes sense right?
=======
*Well it makes Dollars for the county.

 

[LBrown59]

There are 2 places 2 miles down the road from me that will take all the broken concrete , bricks rocks etc. they can get free.

The problem is loading and hauling it there.

 

[keeney]

There is a gravel pit near me that will also take concrete for free (if you haul and dump it) and grind it up and sell it as recycled concrete gravel. But, they charge money to take anything with steel or rebar in it, though because it slows them down having to pull the steel out.

As far as burying things goes, when tearing down my old house to build my new house, we pulled out the garage floor slab and the foundation blocks, but left the 12 x 24 footing which was 48 to 60" deep. Sure enough, when digging the footing for a retaining wall with a smaller backhoe, we ran into it and had to hammer it out in small pieces. We should have just pulled it all out when the big machine was there.

Digging the main part of the house, we pulled up a lot of large boulders. The excavator talked me out of burying them in the yard. He said the hole would not compact perfectly and would always tend to be a sinking spot. A guy working on some of my trees took them for free - he sells them to other landscape customers. He just wanted the big ones, but we made hime take the small stuff too.

We also found a bunch of old clay pipe that had been abondoned in place - we prayed that we wouldn't "find" the septic tank it was probably connected to because then we would have to pay to get that pulled out as well.

Coolest thing we found was an old fiberglass boat hull. Redevelop a piece of land enough times, and there is no guessing what you might find buried there.

- Rick

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

A BOAT HULL????? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Reminds me of digging in my back yard. We bought the house and property from my father-in-law, who LOVED old Volkswagons and old 'dozers. He would dig a hole every now and then, and shove his "junk" in and cover it up. A few summers back, we were trying to put up a grape arbor. I dug down 3 feet with a posthole digger, and hit a Volkswagon hubcap. First time I plowed what is now our garden, I turned up 2 cylinder "jugs". /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Then there was "The Chain" /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I found a couple links of 3/8" log chain sticking out of the ground in the side yard last year. I took a shovel and tried to uncover "the rest of the chain". /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Before I knew it, there was about 3' and still no end..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Enter the tractor..... I hooked to the piece of chain and pulled. At first, no movement. Then I gave it a little "yank" /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Out of the ground comes an entire VW transaxle, with wheels and tires. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Since that day, I've quit digging in certain areas of the yard. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif