Inexpensive Laser Level

[/pine]

It's not an issue of being perfectly level, but when lawn is reasonably level it is easier to water, mow, and care for in general. Same with a pasture.

If you are working with any nearby slope or contour, using your eyeball to determine what is "level" is simply not reliable. So for a small amount you can have a laser level that gives you that information.

Another project I used the laser for was a ledger I needed to affix on the outside of the house for a raised deck. I set the laser level at the height I wanted for the top board. It painted a bright red line where all the top sides of the ledger board should mate up to. Deck came out perfect.

...In the first sentence the OP said he lived on the side of a mountain...if you don't already know it...water runs down hill...water from higher up will always push water across a lower flat area...every time it rains as the flow of runoff slows it deposits material on the lower side of a flat area eventually turning what was a perfectly flat area into a bowl...

In the mountains...storm water control is a primary issue and requires constant maintenance...water and gravity are a powerful force...

 

[MossRoad]

My father built a house on the side of a hill. He graded the land away from the hill edge so any water would flow back away from the edge of the hill. Then he installed drains at the low point at the back of the yard, and ran those drainpipes under ground, down the hill, and out at the bottom.

Three of our next door neighbors graded their properties towards the downhill to take advantage of the views. We had a 100 year rain. Their yards had massive wash-out damage, and one of them almost lost their house.