wet dirt leveling

Polishammer

New member
Jul 22, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
Hey guys,

My neighbor is building a detached garage on his property and he had a bunch of dirt delivered to level the yard. Unfortunately we had couple of hard rainstorms here and he did not have a silt fence installed. Estimated 6 to 8 dump trucks of dirt washed down the hill into the small creek behind my house leveling the creek and sending the water and fill dirt all over my yard.
Unfortunately, the creek is in the woods, so lots of roots and getting a tractor in there is not an option. Just have to wait for this whole thing to wash out.
A one huge mess.

We tried to clean it as much as possible, digging the creek out a bit to direct the water where it should go. I put all that dirt in an empty area that was flooded as I had no other place and dragging all that dirt back to his place would just destroy my yard even further. We figured, just damp the dirt in flat area and level it out. But now I have a mud pile that does not seem to dry out. Before, 2 days after the rain I could drive my tractor in the area without any issues (the water was draining very well - sandy soil), now week without rain and this thing is still damp and muddy, as soon as I get my small BX in it just bogs down. The dirt just seems to hold the water.

Any ideas how should I level it, or do I just have to wait till it completely dries out?

Here are few pics.
 

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85Hokie

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Jul 13, 2013
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working with any dirt wet .......only pisses off the dirt!!!!

Ask any "farmer" - moving wet dirt is a no-no......
 

groomerbuck

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Nov 14, 2015
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Palmerton, Pennsylvania,
Im not sure what kind of equipment or attachments you may have, but i see you have at least a box blade to work with.. if i were you, id lower the ripper teeth as far as you can and scarify the whole area your having a problem with. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but try and go as deep as you can. The ground will dry out 10x as fast if its all broke up. Plus side of things is, once the dirt is dry and work able, youll be able to shape/grade it up very nicely.
 

D2Cat

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Mar 27, 2014
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If you're going to go in there and try anything with your tractor, I'd suggest you remove the belly mower. You will get stuck, and when you're bottomed out on the mower deck....you really are STUCK.

It's got to dry us some even to use the box blade. If it's not dry enough to see the furrows from your rippers, it's too wet.
 

troverman

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Jun 9, 2015
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Like others have said...remove the belly mower first. It is likely to get you stuck fast. I notice you also have turf tires...which are not ideal for mud either. I think you are definitely best off to wait for it to dry up at least some. Sorry to hear about the loss of the dirt that was brought in, bummer.
 

Flienlow

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Mar 9, 2015
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snohomish
Working wet dirt is like pissing in the ocean and trying to fill it up. Not going to happen. They only thing I have ever remotely been able to do with wet dirt (both times were bailing myself out of a disaster of my own doing.) was to use a hoe and thumb with a rail road tie to "Screed" the mud somewhat flat. A tractor will just sink, make a hole and get stuck.

Patients will be your friend here.
 

Polishammer

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Jul 22, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
Yeah, working it wet just pisses it off, but also making it dry to be workable is tough. Seems that we never have more than 5 days between the rain, and even 5 days is not enough to make it dry to be workable.

MMM is removed, so should be a bit better.

I had my neighbor install a silt fence to keep it contained on his side, and we had more rain today. Seems to work, but barely. this is just from 20 min heavy rain.
 

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bambam31

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L3800HST 4x4,R1,FEL, 6'disc, 5'bush hog,piranhaTB,6'grader,6'rake, 48"forks
Apr 3, 2014
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Mobile, AL
We have a ditch that's filled in with sediment similar to your situation. We plan to rent a small track hoe to tackle the job.
 

Polishammer

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Jul 22, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
Something not right here... You said hill? In Houston?
Nothing wrong here. Yeah, South Houston is very flat, but North Houston has some serious hills. Have you ever been here? :D

JK, I guess I have to update my location in a signature. Used to live in Houston TX, but couple of years back moved to Atlanta, GA, very different terrain. :)
 

In Utopia

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L175 FEL
Apr 21, 2013
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Utopia,Tx/Pasadena,TX
Serious hills?
Same as the ones here in Pasadena, they are called freeway over passes.

Now my place in Utopia, serious hills there.
Altitude on my property rises almost 250' from one corner to another and I'm at the foot of Wernette Mt. Yep, real mountain, over 2000'.
 

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skeets

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Oct 2, 2009
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WOW Im only 1450 ASL and we aint even thought of the foothills in Pa