Fill

[riptides]

I have a gully in my back yard. I am dirt poor (soil wise) and geographically undesirable for hauling purposes.

I have lots of trees, old fence posts, leaves, horse crap, sawdust, brick pieces, and did I mention trees?

I'd like to start filling in the gully. and maybe get a few truck loads of real soil to cover it?

Ideas? Discussions?

I will NOT build structures on this area, it would be used over time as a pathway, trail.

Thanks.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[tc35dforme]

You can do it, but plan on a long term sag as the bulk decomposes and gets small. Solid 'clean' fill is best. By 'clean', I mean no organics ( no stumps, logs, leaves, brush, wood, etc... )

I'd try to get some solid fill.

 

[MarkV]

As long as you can except the FACT that it will settle over time it should work for trails. I would think it would help if you could bring in a load of dirt to help fill the voids between larger items as you went.

MarkV

 

[OkeeDon]

Look at the positive side. You have a gully, now. No matter how you fill it, no matter how much it settles and decomposes, no matter how much it sags, what's the worst you could have? Less of a gully, which will take less fill the next time you bring it level. That said, in addition to the good suggestion to fill as many voids as possible now, try to break up or cut up your organic material as much as possible so there will be fewer voids, layer it with dirt, and try to compact it as you fill it -- adding a layer of dirt and then driving over it with something like a dozer will help.

We buried a lot of organic debris in an otherwise unused area of our property, but it was already very much dirt-laden (which is why it wouldn't burn), and the excavator that dub the trench ran down into the trench as it went, compacting even more. We finished up by mounding the dirt a little higher over the trench, but I accept the fact that it may settle to a lower level and need an additional layer of dirt some day. When the "some day" comes about is the question; I may not live to see it...

 

[PineRidge]

Mike if you are able to get a truck in there post a sign, Wanted Clean Fill. They will come and they will dump. Free fill is a good thing if you need it.

We did the same thing on our lot to cut down on the time it took a pan to move more serious dirt for us.

 

[Poncho]

PineRidge has a good idea... where I live you can call your local government or building contractors and let them know that you have a place they can dump if they are hauling dirt away from a site.. they are very happy to do this as it saves them time and money... which as a taxpayer saves you money.

 

[riptides]

Pineridge and Poncho:
Agree on the posting. I had not thought of that. I'll have to check into that further.

tc35dforme:
Long term sag is OK, it will be trail use, and I guess if I pack it in tight, I'll not worry about crater size holes. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

MarkV:
Long term is many years for me and as :

Okeedon:
Mentions it will be less of a gully. Which is goodness.

The science behind decomposition would be interesting, How much sag would a 40 year old Oak stump make over time buried?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
TIA
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MikeBurr]

I took mine and made a pond, and quite abit of the dam dirt came from enlarging the gully.

 

[Joe1]

Getting free clean fill is an excellent way to build up the land. When I was looking for material to raise my pad and surrounding area on a new home construction, I was able to eventually get 5,000 - 6,000 cubic yards (no exageration) at no cost. I had an easy place to drop the material and after the excavators realized they could drop 5 miles from the job site instead of 25, they were happy to do it.

One caution; people will drop some pretty dirty "clean fill" if you not there to observe it.

I also drove around to excavation sites and looked at the material before I asked for it. Other than some bricks and some rocks, most of it was pretty good stuff. For your purposes, that wouldn't matter.

You can move a fair amount of the stuff yourself with your tractor if they can't get really close. In may experience, if it's difficult to dump, many contractors won't want to bother, particularly if they take a chance at getting stuck.

Did you say you have trees? I just hate to see them cut just to be buried when they could at least be used for firewood if nothing else.

Joe

 

[riptides]

Hey Joe,

What is left of the trees after the firewood process will go into the gully. I have a number that were split during the hurricane of last year. Stumps, knots, etc. will go into the gully.

I plan on visiting a new sub-division this week to go ask if they will take a 6 mile detour and help me out.

Thanks again, everyone.
-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif