Free dirt

WV Sawmiller · May 31, 2018, 08:28:38 PM

The road department is cleaning out the ditches around here after all our recent flash floods and such. I caught them when they came by my house and told them if they had excess dirt I'd like to have it and showed them a spot on the lot in front of my boathouse. About 50-60 yards away is my creek and the lot has washed and dropped over time. I had brought a bunch of fill several years ago but it has settled since then.

I went and hauled down some 10' & 12' ash logs with my ATV and log arch. When it dries enough I will take my JD 750 up there and bring down the bigger logs. Anyway when I got done and checked my mail I found one load of dirt. Went in and took a shower and ate lunch and heard Sampson barking as the county dropped off a couple more loads. I guess all together there might be 10-11 cubic yards of dirt. There a few rocks and a couple of pop bottles but it is generally pretty clean and I have plenty of places to use the rocks too. I got out this afternoon and got all the dirt moved to the lower area. I will have to let it dry our a few weeks before I can dress it up as tractor just bogs down in it right now. It was a productive afternoon anyway.

Three different loads of dirt. One pile would have been easier to clean up but beggars can't be choosy. it was well worth what i paid for it - $0 (Well except for my time and a couple gallons of diesel).

thecfarm · May 31, 2018, 09:10:27 PM

I got some like that too. But mine had ALOT of rocks in it.

WV Sawmiller · May 31, 2018, 10:00:27 PM

A couple of years ago the USDA folks put in a water line up where my son lives and he got hundreds of cubic yards of free dirt and really extended the usable area of his back yard. At the back he raised it a good 10' or more. And the people dropping it were real good too - if they tore up his drive they added new gravel to fix it like it was before. Could not have asked for better results than that.

We try to work well with the utility people in our area. we sometimes let them park or stage equipment in my lot which is handy and convenient for them in an area where flat space is at a real premium. As a result we get pretty good service from them. One time while I was working overseas my wife had a goat to die here and the road people came by and she got them to reach over the fence with a backhoe and dug a hole and buried it for her. She dragged it up with our little Gravely tractor. That was before we had ATVs where she could have taken it in the woods for the coyotes to eat and no large tractor with a loader or anything.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · May 31, 2018, 10:04:13 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on May 31, 2018, 09:10:27 PM
I got some like that too. But mine had ALOT of rocks in it.

You and your rocks. :D :D :D

mike_belben · May 31, 2018, 10:57:09 PM

Ive gotten around 70 triaxle loads of free fill dirt since a project started a few miles away. Lot of trash but also a lot of needed shot rock and crushed limestone. Whenever we have rain finish i send my kids out with buckets to pick crushed stone for the driveway. 50cents a bucket.

The whole yard is piled in dirt but what a huge blessing.. Just what i needed, when i needed. The yard has been brought up nearly 5 foot and flattened a fee degrees. Shop can now go way further off to the edge and leave me a big lot park and turn around in. Setting up for a semi to do a U turn without backing.

Roxie · June 01, 2018, 04:32:13 AM

Mike, the picture of your boy in mid flight is priceless. :D

Raider Bill · June 01, 2018, 07:55:56 AM

Here in Florida the city or county won't drop dirt on your property. It's a liability issue they say.

In Tenn I got a few loads from the highway dept. It had kudzu in it.

WV Sawmiller · June 01, 2018, 08:39:48 AM

Raider,

Doesn't everything in Tennessee have Kudzu in it? ;D

I guess we are still too backward to worry about liability to the county. They probably know our county does not have enough to pay off a lawsuit anyway. If someone asked for the dirt no jury in this county would likely award damages anyway. In fact, dropping the dirt off to residents close to where they are collecting it saves the county money and time by the drivers not having to travel further to unload it. Saves fuel by not transporting as far and gets the driver back on the jobsite quicker.

thecfarm · June 01, 2018, 08:52:00 AM

Now if you ask the state for dirt...............That is where the paper work comes in. I guess what started it was a women asked them to dump it,husband got home and did not want it,state had to come back and remove the dirt that they had dumped.
My Father got a bunch of dirt. At the time we did not have a loader. The state even leveled it out. Did a great job. It was kinda of a wet spot, but 3 feet of fill cured that.

Southside · June 01, 2018, 09:34:59 AM

You mean they did not bring you Rocks Ray? :D

WV Sawmiller · June 01, 2018, 10:34:46 AM

Quote from: thecfarm on June 01, 2018, 08:52:00 AMMy Father got a bunch of dirt. At the time we did not have a loader. The state even leveled it out. Did a great job. It was kinda of a wet spot, but 3 feet of fill cured that.

Actually this makes sense if the equipment is in the area and it is faster and gets them back to their prime task faster than taking it to a landfill or other site further away but some busybody neighbors would likely complain about your Dad getting something for free and spoil it for everybody. It only takes one person to ruin a good thing for everybody.

My neighbor a mile away got several loads before I did but he was closer to where they were working and likely saw the crew and asked first. No harm, no foul IMHO. Good for him. He is a good neighbor and a good citizen of the community and deserves it too.

mike_belben · June 01, 2018, 12:17:53 PM

Some friends of mine in hudson NH let a "logger" come in and do a "view cut" and take all timber for free. They thought the view would help sell the place. Well he took every stick and it looked like hell, i cut up tops for 2 days to help improve it.

It was one of the luckiest things i ever saw, when a nearby municipal project brought hundreds of loads of dirt and graded it out very nicely over the mess. All he had to do was seed. Went from him living on a clearcut cliff to having a grass plateau on a beautiful view which did sell the place.

Ill bet it was a tense month or two for their relationship.

mike_belben · June 01, 2018, 12:19:39 PM

Quote from: Roxie on June 01, 2018, 04:32:13 AM
Mike, the picture of your boy in mid flight is priceless. :D

Thanks roxie.. One of my favorites, kinda captures my daily life. Me trying to work, him insisting that is this moments ideal play pen.

Raider Bill · June 01, 2018, 02:01:42 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on June 01, 2018, 08:39:48 AM
Raider,

Doesn't everything in Tennessee have Kudzu in it? ;D

I've been lucky so far. Aside from what came in on those highway loads and another small spot I'm kudzu free.
It's in the area less than a mile away so it's just a matter of time before I won't be able to say that.

Southside · June 01, 2018, 04:02:17 PM

Quote from: Raider Bill on June 01, 2018, 02:01:42 PMless than a mile away

Wouldn't that be about two weeks worth of growth for that stuff?

Resonator · June 02, 2018, 09:31:32 AM

My current job is doing quad axle dump truck work for highway construction, here's a few tips how the pros do it. Spread the dirt out in layers, (these are called "lifts"), compacting as you go. Spreading it out will help to dry it if it is wet muddy material. If your building a parking lot like Mike, it pays to borrow/rent a laser transit level to check your elevations. Then you can set final grade, and if want some slope to shed water off. If possible keep the black dirt separate from the fill dirt, as this can be reused later for topsoil. A word on safety too, make drivers aware of any overhead power lines, or low hanging tree branches on your property.

WV Sawmiller · June 02, 2018, 09:42:26 AM

Resonator,

The wires are a good point - we have a line from my meter on my boat house out to the shed and it was broken by the last crew providing fill there several years ago. That is why I them dump at the front of the lot and I move it with my undersized FEL. I don't need that precise grading and leveling on my lot as not going to build on it. I will just mow it.

We built the embassy in Haiti and my job was to build the man-camp we all lived in. I had a contractor from San Antonio overseeing the project and remember his site prep. We used about 8 acres in a big rectangle. He scraped the vegetation then brought in fill in dump trucks. He had about 2' of drop from front to back. He did a great job. Once leveled and compacted he put in the foundations/footers and leveled them so when the pre-fab buildings arrived he just set them in place, connected and tied them down to standards required.

mike_belben · June 02, 2018, 10:19:41 PM

A triaxle will do a number on your leachfield too.

I dont really have good means to compact so i push out a lift and let it rain and dry a few cycles. This also help let the silty clays wash down. I actually make little sand traps and scrape out the stuff that collects then toss it in non critical areas. There are lots of types of clay and some are a lot more durable/waterproof than others.

Scouring things up with a root rake is a great way to get air into persistent mushy spots to dry it out, so you can then cap them to shed water correctly.

sprucebunny · June 03, 2018, 06:46:44 AM

Last summer I got about 80-100 yards of free dirt because my neighbor built a big addition.
Being right across the street, the trucks were coming pretty fast.
I had them dump 3 loads over an embankment in my driveway that was too steep and 2 loads to block runoff from the town road into my woods and piled the rest up where I had started a trail into the other half of the 5acre lot.
Still have a big pile that I shaped into a 'road' but too tall. When I figure out just what I'm going to do over there, I'll rearrange it.
They could only dump in one place because it's forested and I didn't want to mess up what wasn't so I had to move every truckload to 'down the road' a little further with an excavator.

Ljohnsaw · June 03, 2018, 04:13:31 PM

Obviously you need to find some dirt work going on somewhere, but what is a reasonable request?

Last year and the year before (before I was ready for fill), CalTrans was widening I-80 up the Sierras to make a slow truck lane. They disposed of 100's of thousands yards of various dirts and rocks. They had to fill a couple of gullies/side hills to make a lane in part of the grade but still had a LOT of dirt to move. So, they hauled it 10 or 15 miles up hill to fill a low area near a rest stop. Probably 5+ acres and piled it 30 to 40 feet high! This is when it was in progress.

Some they hauled down the "hill" about 20 miles and filled a huge hole next to the highway. Then they took more (days/weeks of trucks every few minutes) somewhere further off a side road.

They have had a few slides and might be looking to move more. I'm about 30 miles up the hill from the work zone. Is that too far to expect it to be hauled? Being state workers, I don't think I can actually pay for the dirt (don't really want to go that route anyway), but is there an expected "payment" to the drivers (food, six pack...)? Just want to be prepared!

WV Sawmiller · June 03, 2018, 06:36:33 PM

ljohnsaw,

I would be very careful in offering any payment to the driver or any of the crew. You could get yourself in trouble and get them fired. Be extremely courteous to all of them (I try to increase my courtesy efforts commensurate with the employees pay grade - the lower the grade the nicer I try to be) but don't get them in trouble. Offering the crew members a cold soda or water is fine but personal profit is a no-no.

If the road dept is in your area and they have to pass your place or go further to unload they can justify to any auditor (or local busybody) why they dumped it at your place. If it is going to cost them more to bring it to you than dump it elsewhere they have to be able to justify the time and expense. Maybe dumping at your place prevents washouts to the nearby road or a neighbor, is more environmentally sound, or such and can be used to justify.

If that is not going to work you might get on their calendar and go before an open County Commissioner's meeting, or equivalent person in charge, and ask for and offer to pay/reimburse for extra disposal costs for the fill. Make sure what those costs would be and if it is worth it to you? Be careful going one on one or he may think it is a chance to pad his pockets - not that your local politicians would ever do something like that.

Keep everything above board, be careful, be patient and understanding and good luck. Bad experiences for one person, as mentioned in earlier responses, spoil it for all of us.

Resonator · June 03, 2018, 08:05:20 PM

On the jobs I've worked, the lead foreman of the construction project decides where materials are dumped. You would want to speak to him/her to make a request, (the driver only goes where he is told). Often on highway projects they will check first with landowners directly on the highway being worked on, if they want material. Trucking is a huge expense, and they will usually try to find a site close by. That way the trucks can return and be reloaded quickly, and the heavy yellow iron can keep digging. Also speak with your local town/county government, and learn who does road maintenance, they may be able to help.

Ljohnsaw · June 03, 2018, 09:11:16 PM

Quote from: Resonator on June 03, 2018, 08:05:20 PMAlso speak with your local town/county government, and learn who does road maintenance, they may be able to help.

The only problem is, I'm waaaay out in the boonies but only 1 mile from the Interstate. The only road crews are CalTrans. No "locals". My road is a "not a county maintained road" :-\ I'll have to stop by when CalTrans is working - I'm usually going through there before they start (0800) or after they finish (1530) for the day. :

mike_belben · June 03, 2018, 11:28:01 PM

30 miles is really far but ya never know. The little things do help.

Priority 1 is make it easy for them. You have to be home, with quick access, nothing in the way, no trees or lines that snag the truck, no mudpit. What has gotten me all the free dirt and woodchips has been a good driveway that can be backed into or out of, fully loaded in the rain. Thats very rare where i live. Most of my dirt came in the rain when other closer sites wouldnt work.

I also always had equipment ready incase a truck got stuck or rolled, always had a shovel right there and scraped the tail gate then made sure the grabbers got the pins so the driver didnt have to get out. And i passed out a lot of granola bars, coffee and egg sandwiches. The drivers were gonna choose me over anyone else as much as they were able.

What management wants to hear is that youll take any type of fill theyre hauling without complaint. Dirt, sand, rock, demo, glass, trash, wood, pipe, rebar, mud. "Bring me anything, bring me the worst of it.." Thats how i got those trucks flowing. But i got load after load of great fill, great stone, black topsoil, etc.