Project: Front Yard

[Dmace]

Here is what I have been up to for the past couple of years. When we bought the house brand new in 2005, the contractor had only cleared just enough land for a driveway, house, and septic. I wanted more yard to grow grass and do some landscaping. The biggest concern was two very large (36"+ diameter) pine trees that both stood over 80ft high. Those will be taken care of by a pro.

ALL PICTURES ARE THUMBNAILS, CLICK PICTURE FOR FULL SIZE IMAGE

Here are a few pictures of the yard just after we bought the house.


One big problem was that the yard was holding a lot of water and flooding so I knew I needed to clear it and grade it for drainage.

Here is what the yard looked like after 1 year of working on it with my little tractor. This picture is after all the small stuff had been cut and just one large Pine tree and a few hardwoods were left. You can use the well as reference, it was on the treeline and now is in the middle of the driveway.


The Kioti made wood clearing look like fun.


I did have a little help clearing the brush from mother nature.


And here all that was left were the two huge pine tree stumps and a hill that was very uneven and steep, too steep for my tractor.


A good friend of mine brought over his excavator and made stump pulling look easy with those massive stumps.


He had fun ripping up the hill side too!


Some rocks we had to deal with.


Here is the hill side after the excavator was done and then after I cleared it up with the mighty Kioti. I am still in the process of clearing as you can see the tractor at the top. It feels incredibly stable even on such a slope.


With all that extra dirt laying around, I built a little screener with some 2x4's and chainlink fencing to sift out all the big rocks and roots. It actually worked really well.


This is pretty much what the yard looks like right now; very solid ground, good drainage, very rocky and workable slopes.


I have a boxblade to level out the rest but it does not pick up the brush and small rocks without digging into the ground. Do I need to break down and purchase a york rake for the grading or can it be done with more practice and skill with the boxblade?

Also, anyone ever dealt with an artesian well that you wanted buried? I need to bury the well since it is in the middle of the driveway and it would be crazy to dig a new one.

Thanks,

 

[bluetc30]

get a york rake where you bought your tractor 600 bucks will make that part go a lot easier

 

[bluetc30]

as for the artesian well goes how high is out of the ground? you could get a top of a sewer drain and bury that around it and raise the driveway around it

 

[EddieWalker]

That sure looks like allot of work that you've accomplished!!!! I don't know wether to be envious or glad that I don't have any rocks on my land. I really like them when used in landscaping, but would hate to have to deal with them in the ground all over the place.

Thanks for the great pictures and sharing what you've accomplished. I'm looking forward to following along with your progress.

Eddie

 

[6sunset6]

On your well head. You are in the freezing zone. NH right ?
Probably 48" below grade. If you take the cap off the pipe and look down it you will see , around 48" below grade a ummmmm forget what they call it but it's a slip joint that allows the water pipe to port through the casing but still be pulled out. When you pull the cap it the pump is down at the bottom of the well or somewhere down there , the wires will come with it. They are solid connected and go up over the top of the casing and back down. So now the pump is either down there or the pump is in the house and then there is a foot valve at the bottom with two pipes . Probably the pump is down there. In fact in one of the pictures I think I can see electrical conduit. You could cut off the casing below ground level and put a manhole around it with a manhole cover. Point is you need to get to the casing if you need to work on the pump. You do not want to bury it, although that has been done. I am assuming the water line and electric is in already. You have the machine . Put in the manhole. Might be the easiest to dig it out form a concrete shell and buy the manhole base and cover. You set the base into the pour. You will have to cut the casing. Drill a hole and sawsall take an hour . Or torch. Watch the wires. Turn off the power when doing anything . You can turn it back on if you don't finish.
OR you can build something around it but it looks like what ever you put there will get hit including the casing. Man hole is better . Leave a slot where the pipe goes out. Point is if you need to work on the well you need access to everything. And if you decide to make your own lid make it round. Thats is so cover don't fall in. But I would buy one cast. If you pour in place you don't have to heavy lift in a precast. If you pour your own make really sure you watch the mix and water content. This thing will be driven over, you need reall good concrete and cure.

 

[bradal]

Just to add, it is called a pitless adapter hence not needing a pit to keep from freezing. I our area they are about 8 feet down, you use a 1" threaded T to tap into the top of it, then pull the release cable, the pump comes right up. I actually installed these and septic fields for a couple years.

 

[6sunset6]

ahh there are some details I forgot. like fooling around with the electric conduit. It has to get shorter as well. If you decide to go this way and get stuck on the electric post . I was thinking more. You might want to go with precast , they drop it right in the hole like a septic tank.
manhole cover, manhole frame, manhole riser, manhole rings, trench grate, tree grate, water meter box, surface & valve box of gray cast iron and ductile iron casting, fabricated mild steel and plastic products from cfcpl these guys make the covers and bases
They bolt to the concrete

 

[Dmace]

Thanks for all the great info. I spoke with a local well company and if I want to bury it, I need to encase it and have a pipe (3" PVC) going from the encasement to daylight at a slope so if any water goes into where the well is buried, it will drain out and not have a chance to seep into the well cap and contaminate my well water with unfiltered rain/runoff water. The well is currently about 24" out of the ground. At least it will be cheaper doing it myself with the tractor and then I will have a pro cut the well casing and recap it in the concrete case underground.