Help with shaving down front yard

[ive]

Hi all.

Wife wants some landscaping. I have a 60’ long, 34’ wide front yard. It’s got a hump from when the house was built I’m guessing the builder just spread out the material around the yard.

My question is, if I have a 60’ long yard, 34’ wide and I want to remove 2’ of that area, I need bins for a 151 yards of dirt. Is this correct?

Thanks so much for the input.

 

[yatg]

Your math is correct.

 

[Bent Handle]

That’s a lot of dirt!

 

[wrenchguy]

bins?

 

[ive]

Lots of bins. Thanks gentlemen

 

[dr_clyde]

You want to move 151 yards of dirt...in trash bins?

Any particular reason you don’t just hire an excavator to do it? Would take a couple hours tops with the right tools.

 

[1mikeg]

You want to move 151 yards of dirt...in trash bins?

Any particular reason you don’t just hire an excavator to do it? Would take a couple hours tops with the right tools.

Dr Clyde is on the right track. As a former landscape contractor, I always tried to use the soil on site - think "creative mounding". When we did have to export the soil, we rarely used containers (too much money). There are truck brokers that have lines on free dump sites (for clean fill soil) and all you pay for is the hourly rate for the trucks and a loader (skid-steer, skip loader, etc). If the soil is "crappy", then all bets are off!

 

[nadogail]

Maybe I am missing something, please help me understand.

60 feet long is 20 yards
34 inches wide rounds up to 1 yard
2 feet deep is 2/3 of a yard. Round it up to .7 yards

If I recall correctly, the formula for volume is Length times Width times Depth.

20 X 1 X .7 comes out to 14 cubic yards.

Please help me understand how you arrived at 151 Cubic Yards of dirt?

 

[dg57]

Dr Clyde is on the right track. As a former landscape contractor, I always tried to use the soil on site - think "creative mounding". When we did have to export the soil, we rarely used containers (too much money). There are truck brokers that have lines on free dump sites (for clean fill soil) and all you pay for is the hourly rate for the trucks and a loader (skid-steer, skip loader, etc). If the soil is "crappy", then all bets are off!

While builders often leave pretty crummy soil conditions behind, if it has been there for a while, you have build up some fertility and organic matter that I would hate to scrape off and haul away. Depending on what was done before, you could be trading some pretty decent soil conditions for really bad subsoil. Spending some money for someone to do some evaluation and probing may save some headaches.

It would be a real job either way. Assuming a conservative figure of 2000 lb per cubic yard you are looking at 300,000 lbs.

 

[rburke65]

Yes....151 cu yds. And yes, your dirt is a commodity.

 

[BillK]

34 inches wide rounds up to 1 yard

34 ft not inches

 

[dg57]

Maybe I am missing something, please help me understand.

60 feet long is 20 yards
34 inches wide rounds up to 1 yard
2 feet deep is 2/3 of a yard. Round it up to .7 yards

If I recall correctly, the formula for volume is Length times Width times Depth.

20 X 1 X .7 comes out to 14 cubic yards.

Please help me understand how you arrived at 151 Cubic Yards of dirt?

34 feet not inches...

 

[1mikeg]

Maybe I am missing something, please help me understand.

60 feet long is 20 yards
34 inches wide rounds up to 1 yard
2 feet deep is 2/3 of a yard. Round it up to .7 yards

If I recall correctly, the formula for volume is Length times Width times Depth.

20 X 1 X .7 comes out to 14 cubic yards.

Please help me understand how you arrived at 151 Cubic Yards of dirt?

Nadogail, I think you misread the 34' as 34". At any rate here is the calculation for converting cubic feet (CF) into cubic yards (CY)
60' long x 34' wide x 2' deep = 4080 CF. There are 27 CF in 1 CY. 4080 divided by 27 = 151 CY The average dirt dumpster is 10 CY. In So Cal, we were paying about $300/dumpster for clean fill dirt. 15 dumpsters @ $300 ea is a lot of $$$! Not at all practical to go that route!

 

[ive]

Thanks guys!

I’m gonna price out clean fill bins tomorrow. I’ll let everyone know what the prices are like.

 

[wondo]

So you are looking to take the entire grade down 2 feet? Or just even out the hump? Either way I would be weary of how far down any utilities are, are you on a septic? If it's just a hump in the yard with nothing underneath I would be more inclined to have a contractor spread the high spots for an even grade. You would pay for equipment and operator either way but save on trucking and disposal.

 

[scottydosnntkno]

Thanks guys!

I’m gonna price out clean fill bins tomorrow. I’ll let everyone know what the prices are like.

You would be better off calling dump truck/site prep(sod) companies or a large landscaper.

‘Bin’ or trash guys will charge you the dump weight for trash, likely 2-300 per 30yd container, which will really only hold ten yards of soil due to weight. So 15x300 is $4,500 or a rediculous price.

But if you call a dump truck company, and say I have 150yds of topsoil you can have for free, don’t be surprised if they bring they’re own skid or excavator and take it all for FREE. that’s 5 good loads on a 30yd straight dump truck or what everyone thinks of as a ‘dump truck’. I’m in michigan so our trains can do 45yds a load though.

Worst case, you’ll pay truck hours, at about 90/hour, two hours a load tops so 180x5-6 or about $1200. Possibly they’ll charge you for the loader time too, but most likely not.

To some guys, 150yds of free topsoil is like gold. To others, it’s a liability they have to get rid of/pay to dump at the dump. Think of the biggest trucking company around you that you see they’re dump trucks all the time. Theres a 100% chance they all have a list of people who will pay for good dirt, or they have places to dump it for free if you pay the trucking costs

 

[mcj115]

You may remove 151 yards of soil but you will have to move approximately 180 yards. I day that since soil is now compacted and when dug out will yield an approximate 25percent increase.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Why not just take that dirt and spread it all over your yard in a thin layer? It'll save you bins and paying someone to haul it.

 

[Stuart in MN]

If you remove 2 feet of soil, make sure that what is left is suitable for growing - you may have to dig down deeper and then fill it back up again with black dirt.

 

[Kaizen]

I suggest digging a few three feet holes in the middle of that hump. Might be a monster boulder or ledge.
If not then hire it out. You need to strip and pile the loam and remove sand/gravel under it. Then put loam back. Most cost affective solution. Two feet is really large so I’m betting there is a reason under there.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Higgins]

Check with the founding fathers, as you may require a building permit for that much of a grade change. Would this have any impact on your adjoining neighbors ???

AL

 

[Bluearmflames]

Are you sure the dirt mound isn’t a sand mound septic system?

 

[CJ7VFR]

Are you sure the dirt mound isn’t a sand mound septic system?

This was my first thought as well. If you have a septic system, you can't remove the "hump" or mound. That is there for the drainage field.

Jim

 

[3onthetree]

Unless your "hump" is a perfect rectangular "prism" enclosed by 2' high retaining walls, then you don't have 151cuyds. With slopes on a 2' max height in the middle of the hump, more like 2/3 of that amount.

Also ditto on the other comments about if it was covering up some boulders/ledge, removing down to clay may mean you add back black dirt, and usually changing grade more than a re-sod kicks in permitting.