On 11 Apr 2013 09:42:03 GMT, Kay Lancaster wrote:
On Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:38:10 -0400, MICHELLE H. wrote:
Just to get an accurate measurement, I went out there today with a tape
measure, and measured the entire rut in the lawn, and boy was I WAY
OFF!!!!!!! The rut is about 40 feet long, not 30 feet long. It is 3 feet
wide, not 2 feet wide. And it is roughly about 4 inches deep, not 1-2
feet deep. The depth varies in differnt spots. In one spot it was about
3 inches deeper than the rest of the lawn. In another spot it was 3 and
1/2 inches deeper. In another spot it was 4 inches deeper than the rest
How does one confuse a few inch depth with a few feet???
Me, I'd till it up, including about a 10 ft strip on either side, rake it flat, and call it good, after verifying what's in trench... because it sounds very
much like a utility trench.
I see no point in tilling that trench... all that will accomplish is
to fluff the soil giving a false impression of how much fill is
needed, then when it all settles there'll still be a trench albiet a
bit shallower... the top soil delivered will be fluffy enough, be sure
to mound it a couple inches higher than the surrounding level as it
will settle and compact.
You've got about 15 cu yards if you want to fill it. Most bags of topsoil are
in the vicinity of 0.75 cu ft, so you'd need about 535 bags. Is the dump truck option sounding any better?
Fifteen cu yds is a huge truckful... it's rare a top soil seller will
have a truck that size, typically a 10 cu yd dump truck is as large as
they go, typically they use 5 cu yd dump trucks... larger excavating
companys may have 20 cu yd dump trucks.
I think your math is way off.
Assuming 1' deep: 40' X 3' = 120 cu ft... divided by 27 cuft = 4.4 cu
yds. Assuming a 6" depth you'd need 2.2 cu yds of soil to generously
fill that trench. Still way too much soil to fill with bags... this
is definitely a bulk delivery project. I'd order 3-4 cu yds just to
be sure and to allow for settling and over spreading... top soil is
delivered fluffy, not compacted... and a home owner can always find
use for extra topsoil... it's cheaper to order more than to need
another small delivery. And typically bulk delivery gives a discount
for more cu yds because it's the same trip... running the truck and
the time is more valuable than the soil.
This is a 20 cu yd dump truck, monsterous:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2qjvl1e.jpg
Repairing my creek with rip rap due to erosion from hurricane
flooding:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2nuhph1.jpg
Was an expensive project but well worth doing, was 2007, and has held
well through several floods:
http://i50.tinypic.com/15rjyiv.jpg
Plants grew back and can barely see any rock (2010):
http://i47.tinypic.com/28i243b.jpg
Creek is in there (2011):
http://i50.tinypic.com/2s6r1w0.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/ksv2d.jpg
Still the creek overflows its banks during heavy down pours but the
rip rap holds well:
http://i48.tinypic.com/wk5n4h.jpg
I've had lots of excavating projects that required loads of topsoil,
bank run, shale, gravel, etc.