advice frfor levelling an acreage

[knee deep in it]

I have a one acre recreational property. We are currently building a cabin. The surface is a little uneven and I will eventually have to level it. I plan on bringing in truckloads of clean topsoil where I want to plant grass. I have to make a driveway and install a longer culvert. The driveway is just going to be gravel.

The current topsoil is gravel and sand and there is light wild grass vegetation.

My neighbor paid a guy $1,000 to do this work. I am thinking of buying an 8N Ford tractor with a front bucket to do this work. I know that a cat with a blade is the preferred implement but I have all the time in the world .

I can pick up a nice tractor for under $2,000, use it to level my property and then sell it for what I paid. I can also justify keeping it to clear the snow. Can you use a smallish front bucket to level an acreage?

 

[Transporter]

Get one of those box style scrapers for your tractor.

 

[oonighttrain]

Get one of those box style scrapers for your tractor.

box blade..

how about renting one for a week or so??..

 

[snopropanther]

leave a little bit of an angle or you will be living in a soggy spot.

 

[H2SNOW]

a day with a guy that knows how to run buggy and then toss in some horses ...walla !

 

[Wolfrun]

It looks like a great lot. I think you should have a Professional grader man look at it and get some advice. It depends whether you want to reseed the whole lot or not. where the cabin and drive and drainage would be and like that. I could grade the lot with a motor grader for about 800.00 but I would rather strip all the sod and then grade, drain and finish it for 1600.00 or there about. All you would have to do is plant grass. I am talking a 150 hp motor grader with rippers and scarifiers. I am also talking US type work and funds . A tractor and box scraper are really handy but that is a lot of work for one.

 

[Sidehiller]

Wolfrun has the right idea. A motor grader would do the best job, stripping the vegatation woul make it easier. Knee Deep, if you really have an unlimited amount of time and your time has no value then it would make sense to buy the tractor and get a boxscraper and wait for spring.

 

[snowbunny chaser]

I only have a half acre but i leveled it myselfusing a small skidsteer. from the front to the back it rises about 5 feet. I took dirt from the back and put it in the front and built a wall or to to hold it all pretty much flat. water runoff is very important.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

I only have a half acre but i leveled it myself... from the front to the back it rises about 5 feet....water runoff is very important.

 

[knee deep in it]

thanks for the help guys. We have a few dips and only one spot where there is a significant elevation change so a box scraper for a weekend should do it.

I think I will buy one. I can always sell it or hire it out. Since the guy next door spent $1,000, it kinda sets the market price. One job plus my lot and it would be paid for.

 

[DaveB]

Figure out your drainage...house at the high point....

Edit: and remember: it's ILLEGAL to slope your property to drain onto your neighbor's....unless that was the natural way.

 

[w8tn4u]

a box blade with built in rippers to tear the ground up. A box blade will not touch sod or hard pan. Sod is a nightmare to work with. Rent a rototiller for the day and bust up the sod

 

[snowbunny chaser]

What i meant was that i had a 5 foot rise and now with a wall in the front it only rises about about a foot over 170 feet.

 

[Blu Du]

just hire your local excavator (me if i lived in your town) so we can eat too and you don't end up like this dude.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,544415,00.html?test=latestnews
i see it all the time guys try to takle jobs they shouldn't be doing and end up calling us in the end anyways

 

[ADRENALINE]

$1000 to level the lot vs buying a box scraper. First, they make the little boxes you can buy at the farm and ranch supply but they aren't the real thing. A real Case or JD with a ganon box scraper will run circles around them mostly because you can put hyd pressure (downforce) on them vs the cheap ones are mounted on a 3 pt hitch ie: ford 8N and just bounce everywhere.

My thought is to either rent a good one for $500 day and save $500, or pay someone to do it for $1000.

 

[Transporter]

Dont worry about leveling your land.Just make sure you have a good e-brake.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

What i meant was that i had a 5 foot rise and now with a wall in the front it only rises about about a foot over 170 feet.

i know...i was just teasing your quote..

 

[snowbunny chaser]

Dont worry about leveling your land.Just make sure you have a good e-brake.

WOW! No F-IN Way!!

 

[Dam Dave]

thanks for the help guys. We have a few dips and only one spot where there is a significant elevation change so a box scraper for a weekend should do it.

I think I will buy one. I can always sell it or hire it out. Since the guy next door spent $1,000, it kinda sets the market price. One job plus my lot and it would be paid for.

unless you have many years moving dirt you will not level that lot in one weekend with a box scraper, it could take all weekend just to break up the sod and deal with the rocks, its takes a lot of skill more skill than you think it does, I am sure you have skills, but sometimes its best to just hire a pro

 

[cpsandsons]

Hire your local excavating co, they will stake it for elevation's ,drainage etc.......they will also haul off the overburden which you will accumulate after clearing the lot of 43,560sqft thats one acre which comes out to be a chit load of material that has to be moved by you several times if you decide to do it your self.