Forms

I started the forms to get a better idea of where I need to move dirt for final grading.  This is my first time putting in forms.  Maybe I should not have picked curvy forms and ground with elevation changes for my first attempt.  Oh well, I will learn as I go.

When we did the rough grading we did not move the chicken coop.  That area is quite a bit higher than the rest so I need to move some of that dirt.  I think I will need to put on the disc and break up the dirt so I can grab more at a time with the scraper.

Curves are pretty but a lot of extra work.  I actually made better progress than I expected.  The curve nearest in the picture is supposed to be a fire pit, but we aren't sure if that is what we are going to do.  You can only sit about 5 around it and usually we have fire with people sitting 360 degrees around it.  If nothing else, it will be a nice area for a planter.  I thought maybe it should be a pit bbq area...the boss wasn't too thrilled with that idea, even though I said we could cook a whole pig in the pit!

Relaxing at the days end with some some home brew (Dirty Blonde - an all Brett Belgian blonde).

In the last picture you can see some disc lines.  My method for moving dirt is to disc an area then switch to the scraper to move the dirt.  It's quite effective allowing me to lower the grade by about 4 inches, but quite time consuming having to change from disc to scraper.

I am having to move quite a bit of dirt where the chicken coop was, lowering some areas about 5".  Unfortunately, most of that fertilized dirt is going under concrete.

Rough Grading

I tried to do some grading on my own with my tractor and scraper and had a little success but decided this is a job for someone with experience.

I considered renting a bobcat and trying to do it on my own, but the rental is about $275 per day. I got three bids from folks on Craigslist and they came in at $400, $500 and $700.  Since 2 of those quotes werent much more than the cost of the rental, it seemed like a no-brainer to hire out this job. I chose the $500 quote since he is also a concrete contractor and he will grade with the next step of pouring concrete in mind.

The grading left quite a pile of dart.  It was estimated at 20-25 cubic yards.  

Growing pile of dirt.

 The kids had fun on the dirt pile.  I think only 2 pairs of flip-flops were lost in the pile.

The kids enjoyed the dirt pile.

More fun on the dirt pile.

Even more fun on the dirt.

As we saw the dirt pile growing I told Trista to post on her Facebook page that we have 20-25 yard of fill dirt available free for the taking.  Within about 5 minutes we already had a taker.  They came and took the dart on Memorial Day, May 26th.

Timber

Once again I started on project that I didn't take before pictures of. 

There are two small trees right on the fence that needed to come out.  Here is a picture of one partially out:

As I was pulling it out I realized my chain was a little short.  Had I kept pulling it would have ended up on me.

One down...

...One to go...

The second little tree turned about to be the challenging one.  The tractor pulled it over some, but couldn't pull it out of the ground.  The tractor tires just spun and dug a hole in the ground.  I think I will try soaking the roots with water and see if that loosens the ground enough to pull it out.

Getting started....demo time.

Fortunately we don't have a lot of demo, just this pesky sidewalk that needs to be removed.  I sure am glad we have a jack hammer.  This would be easy if we didn't have to worry about hauling off and disposing of the debris.

20 ft. of sidewalk removed...

...and in the trailer.

Update:  I searched "Concrete Fill" on Craigslist and found someone that needed old concrete to fill a large pit, so I found a home for my concrete.  I unloaded the trailer load pictured and later that evening when I came back two helpers and myself finished the remaining demolition on the concrete and loaded the trailer again.  

The sidewalk is gone.

I still need to get a concrete saw and cut out some on the side yard, but that can wait.

In the beginning there was dirt.

We've been in our house for 3 years and it's time to start on the back yard.  We are going to do most, if not all of the work ourselves to keep the budget to a minimum.  We did decide to spend money on a professional landscape designer to give us a road map for our project.

We have a large back yard, approximately 85' x 100'.  We want it to be have a natural park like feeling with lots of room for the kids to play and enjoy the outdoors.

Here is our blank slate:

The chickens used to be were the tall weeds on the right are.  Maybe that ground is extra fertile.