Terracing Hillside

[Van Wen]

Got a long stretch of hillside now in pasture. I'd like to put it back into fruit trees. I've mowed/sprayed it years ago, a little too exciting. What are some different approaches to implement this. My main concern is that the banks adjacent to the "roads" be smoothed enough to be mowed with a cutter bar. My first thought was to rent a dozer, but I think running along the banks would be asking for trouble. Any such thing as an offset grading blade or york rake you can angle up or down.

 

[CurlyDave]

Do you have a picture?

I have a hillside I want to terrace, so I will just follow along.

 

[dangerdoc]

Do you have a picture?

I have a hillside I want to terrace, so I will just follow along.

I know some old operators that could terrace by eye but they all do it with lasers now, without the skill of an old time operator or the lasers and technical knowledge of how to use them, you would be money ahead to just hire it done, IMO.

 

[MarkV]

I have a rear blade that can be off set and tilted. I do think that if it is steep enough to be uncomfortable mowing that it would be uncomfortable using the blade. The blade would tend to try and pull you down hill as you are cutting the terrace. I think a dozer with a 6 way blade sounds the best if I am understanding the situation.

MarkV

 

[radioman]

What if you had a forward rotation tiller? Most tractors can be setup to have one side of 3 pt higher then the other. just drive backwards tilling the dirt out with the lower side in the high side of the hill. go slow and make multiple passes 2 feet at a time to pack down the soil with tires so it wont tip on the low side on the softer soil. This can be risky if you try to hurry but doable as long you have all dirt, and no rocks.

 

[CurlyDave]

...you would be money ahead to just hire it done, IMO.

This may be a case of "your money or your life".

I am retired, and have all the time in the world, but finances took a downturn when the house I used to live in burned down. I have insurance, but 5 months later they show no sign of even beginning to settle my claim.

I actually think that I can do this with the backhoe I have, and I am even more confident that I can give it a good try without killing myself.

There is a book on TLB operating that shows the correct way to start, which is to use the hoe to establish a level bench, then turn around and dig with the loader.

I think the first thing to do, which might be a project for summer of 2010, is to measure the grade I have, decide on the width of the benches and the height of the retaining walls.

Next big question is material of the retaining walls. The area I want to terrace is next to the driveway as one approaches the house, so I would like it to look good. OTOH, as a rough estimate there is going to be about 1000' of approx 4' high retaining wall so economy of materials is also important. These may be incompatible desires.

Unless the money fairy comes by and leaves a nice present, I think this is a DIY effort.

 

[Barkri12]

If your backyard has a steep hillside, you may feel a bit daunted by the prospect of doing something with it.

Attempting to mow a steep hillside is one of the activities that frequently results in a lawnmower tumbling down the hill with the operator rolling after it.

By exercising great care at all times it is possible to mow a steep hillside, of course, but it's quite possible to remove the problem altogether with a little planning. It is imperative to have some type of growth on your hillside, to prevent erosion.

You've got two choices. The first is to remove the grass from the hillside completely, and replace it with sturdy but attractive groundcover, from the dainty look provided by 3-inch "baby's tears" to the 2-foot tall Scotch heather. Different colors are available too, of course, from the deep green of English ivy to the bright yellow blossoms of moneywort.

 

[Van Wen]

In my particular hillside it's easily mowable with loaded tires and a low cog machine. What gets my heart beating is using our larger tractor to pull a 500 gal sprayer, neither I would consider to be low profile. Another concern with not operating on the level is during harvest the fruit rolls around in the 15 bushel wooden bins, it's very hard for workers to place the fruit in the container, and though I've never heard of rolling a 7 bin trailer, I worry.
Ideally the profile, or cross section, would have a 6' road with a 7' grade going up and down hill. This would bring you to the tree row which is also a slope change. That way a 7' cutter bar could handle it.
Van Wen

 

[dangerdoc]

...you would be money ahead to just hire it done, IMO.

This may be a case of "your money or your life".

I am retired, and have all the time in the world, but finances took a downturn when the house I used to live in burned down. I have insurance, but 5 months later they show no sign of even beginning to settle my claim.

I actually think that I can do this with the backhoe I have, and I am even more confident that I can give it a good try without killing myself.

There is a book on TLB operating that shows the correct way to start, which is to use the hoe to establish a level bench, then turn around and dig with the loader.

I think the first thing to do, which might be a project for summer of 2010, is to measure the grade I have, decide on the width of the benches and the height of the retaining walls.

Next big question is material of the retaining walls. The area I want to terrace is next to the driveway as one approaches the house, so I would like it to look good. OTOH, as a rough estimate there is going to be about 1000' of approx 4' high retaining wall so economy of materials is also important. These may be incompatible desires.

Unless the money fairy comes by and leaves a nice present, I think this is a DIY effort.

I may not have a clear picture of what you are up to.

I have about a 150 ft elevation change and have terraces for erosion control. I reworked one of the terraces and use it as part of my drive using my tractor which took days and all I was doing was reshaping it.

Your project may not be what I had in mind. 1000 ft and 4 feet high, should be workable with a tractor. Building the wall is going to be expensive unless you have access to free suitable rock. Even then you are at about 400,000 pounds of rock, which makes my back hurt even thinking about it. You are looking at about 6000 landscaping blocks for a job that size much less weight but would run up a significant bill.

I'll have to keep scratching my head.

 

[workinallthetime]

I think someone said it before but a sutible landing to start on is the key.
I build something like this with my TLB, started with a natural land ing at the top and worked across the hill building a path wide enough for the tractor and outriggers as I went using the BH to rough it in. I went all the way across the hill then droped down about 10 feet and started over. By starting at the top the spoils were placed on the low side and extra material was then transfered to the next level. Using the BH to dig into the hill on the up side and x-fer the material to the low side. The process was actully pretty easy and went quick. This was hmmm I wonder kind of project that I did just to gain some time on little orange. I was very careful to plant the down hill out rigger each time so I did not go tumbling down the hill with a rock in the BH bucket.