A friend is bringing his JD 450 G over for me to use for the weekend. I have an area approx. 120' x 120' that my wife and I wish to strip the topsoil, level the clay base, then recover with the topsoil and finish flat and level. I only have a bit of time in the seat of a dozer though. Because of space restrictions, the topsoil will all have to go to one side of the square, and I suspect is about 6" deep before hitting the clay. Somewhere on here was a thread about someone stripping topsoil for building a barn, darned if I can find it. Hoping some of you guys can give me some advice as to the best way to go about this?
Hire a operator and offer him some $$ and beer... LOL The thread your looking for is Bobcatron... I think
This one?
That was the thread I was thinking of, but I was hoping there was more detail of the actual process. That site also looks pretty flat, whereas mine has a definite crown (about 18" at one end, and flattens out at the other). I can only push it one way, there are fences on two sides, and a swale that is very wet on the third. (I went in there with the dozer to push the scrub growth back, and had water in the track ruts within minutes!!) I seem to have got a reasonable approach going now, got the sods and most of the topsoil stripped this afternoon, and started knocking the crown off. Not nearly as pretty a job as a lot I see on here, but it'll work!! I think I'm done for today, the heat/humidity came in here yesterday like it was middle of summer, and not used to it yet. Thursday morning I was still wearing a jacket, and Friday I almost ended up with heat stroke!! Tomorrow morning I'll get my antique transit out, and get SWMBO to help me start checking grade. If I can get the sub base within a couple inches, I'll be happy, and the topsoil within the same, my friend will finish off for me. I'll likely rent a skid and Harley rake to prep it for seeding in a week or two. (We hope to have the grass on it in shape for use next year, it will be under a lot of foot traffic when it's done!!)