How do you keep your sand dry?

[Zephrant]

I bought a spreader (claims it does sand) last year, and some sand. The wet sand would not go though the spreader. I ended up having to drive with the spreader bouncing on the ground behind the tractor to get anything out- each time I bounced it I got a second or two of sand.

So this year things were going to be different. I spent days digging though the dry hard-pan with the bucket to make a hole in the hillside to put the sand. With some help from my parents, I poured a 8'x10' pad at the bottom, and sprayed it many times a day to keep it wet for a week. About that time our several month dry spell ended, and it's been wet ever since...



But I was able to get the dry-set blocks in place around it- In one day I moved 2.5 pallets of blocks (97) from the ground to the bucket, then from there to the wall.



Since these pictures I've continued the drain line around to the left, but was waiting on the gravel (got it today) to finish the wall in that direction. To the right I'll dig in the line under some gravel so I can drive the tractor up that hill still, then start the wall by the trees again and continue it around to meet the existing wall.

I'm still working on plans for a roof- I'm thinking 4x4s and sheet metal...

 

[IslandTractor]

How about a tarp?

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Keep the darn Kitty cat's out of it.

 

[radioman]

hmm - it looks like you got a good start. but I hate to sound critical about something- If you have snow on the hillside and it melts, it gonna go through the blocks and into the sand since its dry set. Also whatever water is in the hillside, will it go through the blocks as seepage and get the sand wet? Perhaps the rear and sides should be tarred in. you definitely want a sloping roof of some sort. whatever material you want to use should be fine- as long the water runs off and away from your new sand building.

 

[LBrown59]

In here

 

[Deerlope]

I buy sand from a plant that is mixed with salt. It doesn't freeze. I dump it on plastic and cover it. I also keep some in a wooden box that has a hinged cover. With a covered box I don't have to shovel the snow off when I need sand. The lid is slanted.

 

[dave1949]

I ordered 100 sand bags (like used for floods) online for $46. I fill them in summer, cinch them shut, they come with a tie strip. Then I stack them in my garage which doesn't freeze. I put them in my FEL bucket and spread by hand when needed. Obviously not a commercial solution.

It's a bit labor intensive, but cheap - like me I guess I only use 40-50 bags per winter.

Dave.

 

[Zephrant]

There is a foot or two of gravel behind the wall- I was hoping the water would run down behind the blocks to the drainage pipe, and out down the hill. There is a 1 degree slope to the concrete, and the gravel is 8" deeper than the concrete on all sides.

I've heard of the sand/salt mix before- the guy who delivered the sand offered to come spray 300g of saltwater on it, but I'm not comfortable putting salt on my road every year so am avoiding it.

Nice idea on the bags Dave- A have a few of them around (ballast for the Jeep), but was hoping to have a little less manual labor involved than that.

I'm not sure how much sand I'll use- more now that I have it, but I used less than a yard last year. I plan on doing the road below my house once in a while too now that I can.