• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

Leveling landscape

treegump

Romans 3:22-24
Messages
2,296
Reaction score
981
Location
Martinsville, IN
I live in town, but I think the answer could carry over to any piece of property:

If I want to level my yard, how would be the best way to do so?

Pull behind tiller, plow, box grader, or other?

I was looking into a box grader because I think it'd be handy for the alley way, my drive way, and in general. But I have a friend that said they'd lend me a pull behind tiller.

Thoughts?
 
How much material is the important question.
I had to level off my back yard about 15 years ago and have excess hauled off. 11 loads of 40’ end dump semi trailers worth. That is nearly 1000 yards. If I had tried that with a small piece of equipment it would take a year and a thousand gallons of fuel.

Take the time to measure: length, width, then a simple line level on a string to determine height. Once you know the cubic yardage then one can determine best route. People often under estimate how much dirt there is to move.
 
How much material is the important question.
I had to level off my back yard about 15 years ago and have excess hauled off. 11 loads of 40’ end dump semi trailers worth. That is nearly 1000 yards. If I had tried that with a small piece of equipment it would take a year and a thousand gallons of fuel.

Take the time to measure: length, width, then a simple line level on a string to determine height. Once you know the cubic yardage then one can determine best route. People often under estimate how much dirt there is to move.
You could have had that hauled to My yard, then, I would have been elevated above flood level. LOLOLOL
 
My yard is a small yard, maybe 75' x 75'. It's very densly packed because no matter what vehicle or trailer I pull through it, I don't think I've ever left a rut. That's why I thought either a tiller or box scraper would help - if I loosen the surface and level the 1"-6", it should be relatively easy. May take a while, but relatively cheap and easy.
 
Skid steer with a harley rake. Either ride in if thats to big a stand on like a Dingo

Had to google that one. Looks like it'll cost me $200/day for the skidsteer and $145/day for the harley rake from Sunbelt Tool Rental - assuming they lend to private individuals.

Cheaper, I suppose, than purchasing something for the tractor. Might be a good time to pick up a few loads of gravel with the truck and pull it out with the bucket and somewhat smooth it out. Rent the equipment on a weekend - maybe they'd only charge for a day...
 
Are you just trying to get rid of bumps and lows spots or actually try to change the grade?

The first and try to grown grass. PO had a pool so there's an indention that no grass will grow well in. I hadn't considered changing grade but there is a storm drain in the alley to the northeast of the property that I wouldn't mind both the sump pump and yard drainage to go to...
 
So it'll probably take several attempts to get a fairly smooth yard unless you use a compactor. The material you fill in the low spots with will compact and leave the low spot there again just not so bad. It's pretty amazing how you can smooth out an area and then come back later and it won't be all that smooth anymore.
 
My son has a box blade to pull behind His JD tractor, not sure the tractors size, one of them with a loader and a backhoe.
The box blade has, I think, four ripper teeth. He has a weight that He has attached to the top of the blade. He drags that device in his driveway and it does a pretty decent job. The driveway is hard packed dirt and gravel.
Might be such a thing, if Your yard is too hard for a box blade and all its ripper teeth, remove a couple of the teeth and take a run at it like that. It might sink in pretty good. Get it ripped up so its manageable, then, borrow that pull behind tiller to bust it all up to a workable grade.
 
How much material is the important question.
I had to level off my back yard about 15 years ago and have excess hauled off. 11 loads of 40’ end dump semi trailers worth. That is nearly 1000 yards. If I had tried that with a small piece of equipment it would take a year and a thousand gallons of fuel.

Take the time to measure: length, width, then a simple line level on a string to determine height. Once you know the cubic yardage then one can determine best route. People often under estimate how much dirt there is to move.

If you do not need to mess with grade and slope, it might be easier and faster to have some fill brought in for the low spots. Or maybe a combination of everything
 
Meh . . . For that size yard I'd just call a concrete company, float the surface to have runoff go where I want it, and paint the stuff green. End effect is that for the next ~ 80 years you get a quickly drying back yard, no need to mow the grass, and no worries about killing some shrub that is in the way. Jealous neighbors is a bonus :D
 
Back
Top