# Full dirt



## cookr68 (10 mo ago)

Where is the best place to source fill dirt.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

Well for starters, what are you using it for? Another thing, you need to know where it came from and the reputation of the broker. The last thing in the world you need is some kind of contami soil and there is plenty out there looking for an unsuspecting home


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## cookr68 (10 mo ago)

My land is a sandy loam and maybe clay on the bottom its just stays gooshy. I want to stabilize it for a road.


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## cookr68 (10 mo ago)

Hayman1 said:


> Well for starters, what are you using it for? Another thing, you need to know where it came from and the reputation of the broker. The last thing in the world you need is some kind of contami soil and there is plenty out there looking for an unsuspecting home


Very informative btw.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

cookr68 said:


> My land is a sandy loam and maybe clay on the bottom its just stays gooshy. I want to stabilize it for a road.


If building a road, strip and stockpile the topsoil, having a stockpile of topsoil is a very handy thing to have and gravel will just disappear in it, especially in wet areas. If you have any rockpile around backfill the stripped topsoil with that to provide a stable base. Now for road fill, as sub base, a clay loam or sandy clay loam is ideal as it compacts well and has reasonable strength. Silty soils tend to pump badly. clay fill is fine as long as it is not shrink swell clay. What ever you fill with, grade it out and compact the snot out of before water gets in it. Very hard to dry it out and compact it after it’s wet.

As for a source of dirt- do you have any development going on in your area -houses shopping centers etc? Most projects try to earth balance in their design but there are exceptions where they want to get rid of dirt. Just make sure you are getting subsoil and that it’s what you want and not full of boulders and other waste like big roots or stumps. Figure out how many yards of fill you need before you go shoping. A compacted yd of soil is about 2100# and decent size tandem dumps can haul about 12 tons or less of loose dirt.


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## ttazzman (Sep 29, 2019)

Just call excavating companies in your area....also another source is quarries in our area will sell various grades of overburden


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

If you want a realy good base use rock on the bottom after stripping it.Depending how heavy of traffic a base of 6”-12” of 1.5”-3” rock then a couple inches of gravel or smaller crushed rock will hold up semis,etc a lot better.But cost a bit more up front.But maintenance in long run will be minimal


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

cookr68 said:


> My land is a sandy loam and maybe clay on the bottom *its just stays gooshy*. I want to stabilize it for a road.


First thing you need to consider is if you need better drainage. If the water table is constantly high in this area, then you will need to tile it out or you will always be fighting problems with your lane sinking under traffic, no matter what type of soil or aggregate you use. We had severe problems with subsoil moisture in our 1/4 farm place lane in 2019. There were areas that sank at least a foot under heavy traffic, and this was a graveled lane that had been in use for probably 75+ years. Had there been a tile along side it I think none of the problems would have occurred.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Gearclash said:


> First thing you need to consider is if you need better drainage. If the water table is constantly high in this area, then you will need to tile it out or you will always be fighting problems with your lane sinking under traffic, no matter what type of soil or aggregate you use. We had severe problems with subsoil moisture in our 1/4 farm place lane in 2019. There were areas that sank at least a foot under heavy traffic, and this was a graveled lane that had been in use for probably 75+ years. Had there been a tile along side it I think none of the problems would have occurred.


I agree 100% on drainage.
But had a highway engineer disagree.

I was at a bid opening to bale hay along interstate.There was a question and answer between the engineers and other DOT officials With us.One of the bidders asked why they didn’t tile out the ditches and the engineer said he can build a good road 1’ above the water table And tile would not help at all.The room of farmers,hay producers busted out laughing.The engineer was pissed and said us hayfarmers shouldn’t be allowed to bale it anyway.They shut down the haying of the interstate a couple yrs later.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

swmnhay said:


> engineer said he can build a good road 1’ above the water table


Yea, so can I. It’s called a bridge. LOL!

2018 and 2019 were horrendous wet here as you probably remember; one of the things I learned was that I had a perched water table under part of my cattle yards . . .


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

swmnhay said:


> I agree 100% on drainage.
> But had a highway engineer disagree.
> 
> I was at a bid opening to bale hay along interstate.There was a question and answer between the engineers and other DOT officials With us.One of the bidders asked why they didn’t tile out the ditches and the engineer said he can build a good road 1’ above the water table And tile would not help at all.The room of farmers,hay producers busted out laughing.The engineer was pissed and said us hayfarmers shouldn’t be allowed to bale it anyway.They shut down the haying of the interstate a couple yrs later.


That is funny. We are after all dumb farmers. I have had issues on Penndots records for years. Last year when they were working near me I questioned about my issues and said they were still active. One directly affects our yard and there is a drainage pipe that runs under the road and because there is no record of it they refused to bring equipment out to look for it on my word that there was really one. This year with the snow melt had a huge pond and I sent in another request. Picture of the pond along with all the back pressure we were able to find the exit. The picture really helped because they were there in hours of me sending it in. However, still no record of it so the kid was stuck on how much he really could do with his boss calling the shots and no records. I give this kid all the credit. He called neighbor and my uncle to see if they remembered the drain pipe and my uncle did. All it took was confirmation and last week there was an excavator here cleaning both sides. Kid came back at night stuck in pipe markers permantly marking the spot and recorded it. He quits in 2 weeks because he can't stand dot's work methods. Go figure.

The other issue is there is a cement culvert under the road. 2 sections have broke off so the bank of the road is caving in. I look at it as fix it before it gets worse. The pieces are still good just needs reset but dot knows better. It is not within their 15 ft. right of way so it is not an issue. Must wait until it is affecting the roadway. I have never measured but it must be within few feet of that measurement.


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