Putting in a pool

[BigE_]

OK, here's the background:

The wife was out shopping about a month ago, sees one of these above ground pools at Fred Meyers, on sale for $150. 15' wide, comes with a filter, pump, cover, ladder, etc. Sounds like a decent deal, right? Not to mention that the weather is starting to get a bit warm.

So, she brings it home and asks me to set it up. I'm reading online how to set this pool up, and everyone is saying to make sure the ground is level. OK, I live on a hillside -- nothing is level. Not to worry says she - you have a box thingy on your tractor - just level the ground.

Well, the area the wife wanted for the pool was nowhere near an outlet (recall the included pump) and even further away from a water spigot. I walked around the house a few times and finally came up with a place that looked like it might work. It's about 8' feet away from the house, so not too close, and about 20' and 40' away from water and power, respectively.

I hooked up the boxblade, and started scraping away at the ground. I got out the level, and scraped some more. I finally got close to what I thought was level, and checked it out with the level again. At this point I was down 4-5" below grade on the side closest to the house. I still needed to come down another 4" on the house side to get level. This was getting too deep for my liking, especially considering the gutter drain pipes are buried in this area.

So, my next step was to start in on a retaining wall, and bring in some fill dirt. I checked online on Craigslist and found a bunch of places that had free fill dirt, but everyone said bring a shovel. I needed about 50 cu ft.... So, I found a place on my property that had a bit too much dirt, and proceeded with moving it (after clearing and chipping the brush and downed trees on top of it).

Loading up the trailer with the backhoe.

Another loading pic

Getting ready to dump the third load.

Dumping the third load.

I did a total of 6 loads, with each load being a little more than 10 cubic feet. If I do my math right, that's about 7 yards, give or take.

 

[boxygen]

Nice work! Looks like a good weekend project,not too big or too small. However, 60 cubic feet divided by 27 cubic feet/cubic yard is about 2 cubic yards in my book. I think you forgot the third dimension

 

[BigE_]

Yeah, I was thinking it didn't add up properly. lol. Too tired still, I guess. The hardest part was clearing out the forest where I got the dirt. I had it logged three years ago and it was covered in branches / tops. I probably spent a good 10 hours chipping, cutting, splitting, and stacking.

So, a little over two yards of dirt.... Let me see if my math is still bad:

18' long at 4" height, 15' away is zero height, 18' long. For easier math, make it 16' feet away. So, average is 4" at 8' x 18'. Or 1/3'x8'x18' = 47.5 cu ft. Bringing in 60 cu ft, I should have enough with some to spare, right?

 

[radioman]

bigE, now I don't feel foolish or alone! After seeing you using a cheapo tractor with little dump cart like I did to move dirt,(I was diggin a trench for my garage addition. MY boys drive the little tractor and I used BH to dig and fill. I got the best seat didn't I?

I thought using a small tractor and cheapo cart (I had to weld mine back together- it started to come apart at seams) I would be ridiculed.

Good start on this. Let us know how it works out. Hopefully you got it all hard packed down. I hope you watered it down a little every 4 inch of rise you did unless soil is really damp already. It helps to pack down better with no air pockets so wieght from water in pool won't make surface uneven. (dont make mud but wet it down so it can pack better)

 

[jas67]

I did a total of 6 loads, with each load being a little more than 10 cubic feet. If I do my math right, that's about 7 yards, give or take.

Actually, that is about 2 yards (1 yard^3 = 25 ft^3).

Edit: Ooops -- someone else already said this. I'd delete this post if I could.

 

[BigE_]

bigE, now I don't feel foolish or alone! After seeing you using a cheapo tractor with little dump cart like I did to move dirt,(

That little cheap trailer with lawn mower has hauled close to 25 cords of wood. Before I got the bigger tractor, it's all I had to haul with. I'd stack it up high, and it took ~7 loads to get a cord in. I don't know what it's rated for, but green wood is fairly heavy, and I'm sure I exceeded its weight rating quite a few times.

This soil is very much just clay, and I hesitate to put any kind of water on it, because it would just stick to anything it touched. I'm going to level it out with the FEL (back dragging while lifting the front wheels off the ground) to pack it down. Then I'll pick up a yard or so of sand and use that for final leveling for the pool to sit on. That should really help to smooth out the wrinkles in the bottom of the pool.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I don't know if they still do it this way, but years ago they suggested putting down a layer or two of peat moss on top of any fill. It helps protect the liner from stones to twigs poking a hole and makes it nice and soft on the feet.

 

[MarkV]

Big E, fill your loader bucket up with dirt and drive over the fill with your front tires. That will compact it way better than back dragging with the FEL. I like the peat moss idea.

MarkV

 

[LBrown59]

*now I don't feel foolish or alone! After seeing you using a cheapo tractor with little dump cart like I did to move dirt,(I was diggin a trench for my garage addition. MY boys drive the little tractor and I used BH to dig and fill. I got the best seat didn't I?

* Here is my cheapo trailer that don't dump in action.




There are 3 tractors involved in this operation .

 

[dodge man]

We just had a pool installed and I can't over emphasize how important it is to get the area under the pool smooth and rock free. I mean every little bump or rock will want to poke up through your liner. Go around on your hands and knees and pick everything out of your dirt. They also put some foam insuallation under the pool. It came in rolls and is maybe 1/8" thick. This was to help smooth out the area under the pool.

I also had a lawn cart like you have. I found it is quicker just to use the end loader to haul the dirt than the cart.

My pool is a 27' diameter and I had to move about 27 c.y. of dirt to put it in. It is about 4' deep in the ground on one side. I had about 16 hours of seat time.

Good luck with the pool and enjoy!