Terracing a yard

[jeffc]

How hard is it to rent some sort of bobcat or whatever and dig out a sloped yard to add terracing bricks and make flat spots separated by a wall or two?

[timothy]

Good day Jeffc, Is it hard... um, no. Is it hard work... um, yes! I would not suggest that this is work that you should take on yourself. Using a Bobcat on a slope is not an easy task to master. Flipping the machine is a real outcome.

As stated before by Stubby, it's very likly that you will need to have the wall inspected. Depending on where you live, you may need footers for your walls. The walls will have to have the proper amount of drainage behind them.

Depending on the size of your job, this could cost $5,000 at the least. I would suggest that you have a hardscaping company come and look at what you have. Generaly a free bid from a few companies will clue you into the amount of work your looking at.

Good luck, Timothy

[Stubby]

[Stubby]

[JimR]

I didn't have any experience with a bobcat and was able to add good topsoil to a side-yard, creating a gentle slope that became a garden. It was terraced to the extent that I used a manufactured "Castle-wall" product to make a 2-high "wall" define the edges of the garden and beginning of the turf area. I had the fill dirt delivered and dumped, and I didn't find the Bobcat hard to learn. In this area (countryside) permits and inspections weren't an issue.

If the design had been more complex, required footings, etc., I would have contracted it out. -- Regards

[Dave]

Will address you question head-on, rather than presenting other plans of attack.

The bobcat will follow the angle of the ground if attacking the attempted dig 90 degrees from the angle of the slope of the soil. It also presents a problem with possible tip over of the bobcat.

Starting at the top of the elevation, you can attack the dig with the slope pointing the bobcat uphill. This takes alot of experience. It also is limited in the amount of level area of each terrace. Not much. If you can level enough area, you can use the bobcat on the level area, and slowly work in more level area up the slope. This takes alot of experience and patience.

The subsoil type is also a matter of concern while doing this. For example, loose subsoil vs. stratified limestone vs. solid rock. Dave

[jeffc]

Subsoil is clay. I see your point.