privacy berm with trees

[kongmen]

I would like to make a dirt berm about 200' long in a c configuration about 4' tall by about 10' wide at the base and put pine trees on it. Have any of you ever done something like this? Any tips or tricks? The township has just redone the road ditch at my place and gave me the dirt and I have a 39 hp kabota with a loader, back hoe, and landscape rake. I figure I could rent a dump truck for a weekend and move the dirt about 200' to the location. I want to make it mowable. This would be somthing I would be doing next summer. Thanks for any replies.

 

[sandman2234]

Will the Kubota reach the top of a dump truck to load it, or will you have to build a ramp to get it that high?
A dirt pan or a cheaper pond scoop coupled with the FEL would increase the carrying capacity if you decide to forego the rental.
I did a smaller version of the dirt bank, but didn't plant anything on it. Mine was to keep the neighbors redirected water away from my property. They changed the direction of the run-off of their property and expected it to cross my property without me noticing. I noticed, and when I called them on it, they told me they could do whatever they wanted with their property. So... I got with the landowner behind both of us and we both built two foot embankments, which turned their property into a pond the first time it rained. Two days later they were back at it with a backhoe, straightening out the mess they made. Just to keep them honest, I left the dirt bank till I sold the property. Last time I was near there, it was still there, growing grass. The landowner behind me needed the dirt and removed his wall, but can replace it if they ever decide to pull that stunt again.
David from jax

 

[kongmen]

Do you think I could rent a dirt pan or a pond scoop? Or is this something I would have to purchase?

 

[High Compression]

Might see if you can rent a little dump trailer. The smaller ones haul at least 4 cyd. My little BX2660 will load one out, no problem.

 

[ustmd]

We did almost this exact thing on the edge of our property--our neighbor had excess dirt from foundations from the metal buildings he put up for rental storage units. It is great, it blocks the view from a common road.

Unfortunately, unless you have a really long time, I don't think you are going to do this with the tractor.

My berms is a little bigger and a little farther away from the original pile (maybe 500 vs 200 ft) than yours, but it took the neighbor's full sized backhoe and a rental dump truck 12+ hours to move all of the dirt (I paid for the dump truck @ $50/hr, he did the loader work for free). This time did not include his shaping or working the dirt at the other end.

Assuming your berm is 10 ft wide at the base and 5 ft wide at the top, you are looking at ~6000 cubic ft of soil or 222 cubic yards. To make it worse, a general rule of thumb is that you will lose 30% of volume in compaction, so to get 222 cubic yards compacted, you will need to move/have ~317 cubic yards of uncompacted material.

How much does you bucket hold? 1/3 of a yard? 3/4 of a yard? Even at 3/4 of a yard, you are looking at between 300 and 450 bucket loads to move the dirt.

Given the amount of time and wear and tear on the tractor, I would look to rent a backhoe and get a dump truck/driver.

 

[Fixemall]

I have done a similar project at my place only much larger and used 2,200 trees. Here is what I have found out...use a dozer, plan on needing more dirt, berms shrink/erode in the first year, trees are expensive!, plan your drainage accordingly, use compost under every plant if you want it to thrive and finally...don't let your wife see the water bill! I used over 100,000 gallons of city water and a lot of pond water this year.
I am in my third year and I would do the project all over again as it has made my place quieter and absolutely beautiful.
I would also add that it is a good idea to plant some backup trees in a different area in case some berm trees die off, this way you can replace them quickly with exact matches.