Ripping Out Sod

[motionclone]

Im putting in a driveway up to camp and part of the deal is i need to remove 4" of grass field 12' wide by about 125' long plus an area for a turnaround.

I spent about 3 hours last weekend using just the bucket at a precise angle of attack to get under and scrape off the 4" layer but its hit or miss. My old equipment and lack of ability to see the cutting edge has me going too deep or too shallow and skipping over the top. This method got me about 50' but i want to do it faster.

I should have marked it out then mowed it real low to kill the 12' strip but i didnt.

I know the right tool is probably a rototiller attachment but i dont have one.

I do have a backhoe attachment and a back blade that i havent tried.

Was thinking I could just drop the back blade and go and it would rip it up to precise depth then scrape the loose sod.
OR use the backhoe to dig the 4" depth everywhere then use the bucket to scrape up the sod.

What you guys think?

 

[D2Cat]

Can you get a spring tooth harrow from a neighbor?

 

[motionclone]

Can you get a spring tooth harrow from a neighbor?

I probably could but i hate borrowing stuff. I always end up breaking something that was about to break anyway.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I probably could but i hate borrowing stuff. I always end up breaking something that was about to break anyway.

Based on what you have I’d use the backhoe and scrape off the grass and try to maintain approx 4”, the back blade will be great to level out the area once the grass is gone. I have a Kubota track loader that would just eat that task, sorry I’m not close.

Good luck with your task

 

[Palmettokat]

I am with you hard for me to do level dirt removal from what you are working with. If you have anything think to rip it with first think would help. If you are determined to do with your current implements and all you have are listed I think the back hoe is best option to tear it up dependable. The rear blade might be good option depending on the blade, your experience with it and how strong the roots are. If you rotate the blade to a sharp angle it will help and maybe lower the leading edge also, at least to get it started. Have never used one for such but your pallet forks might be an option to run rips level through the area and then remove with the blade.

 

[motionclone]

Actually now that you mentioned it pallet forks may at least bust up the edges nice and clean then loosen the middle part with the backhoe.

 

[motionclone]

Update on this. I used my forks to first break up the sod or at least a percentage of it and that made it a little easier to dig out with the bucket and the backhoe in the rooty spots. Got it all roughed in today.
I have 160 yards of 4" minus gravel coming soon to be tailgated off into a 12" thick base. That should be a job leveling all that out.

busted up with the forks:

And all done roughed in. I used the back blade to do the final grading.

 

[UpNorthMI]

That looked like a lot of work, do you plan to put down a geotextile woven stabilizing fabric before the stone?
why 12” thick base of stone but you only removed 4” of dirt. I’m looking for input for my camp driveway project, I was planning to dig 4” and add approximately 6” of stone/ gravel, creating a small crown in the road with the extra material.

160 cubic yards of gravel / stone seems too much for a drive way of 12’ width x length of 125’ and thickness of 12”, maybe it’s late but it seems out by a factor of 3.
I don’t want to question your math and maybe I’m wrong. Is the length of your drive 125 yards or feet?

 

[BigG]

+ 1 on to much stone. 125 x 1 x 12 = 1500/27 = 56 cu yds. With out the turn around. I think you divided by 9 square feet instead of 27 cubic feet. That should save some money!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

You really should (need to) remove the topsoil as well as the sod but the big booboo is dumping 12" of material at one time. You need to lay down 4" then TAMP, then another 4" 'lift' then TAMP then a final 4".
Ideally get the dumptruck operator to dump while going in, turn around then drive out. He'll tamp it down for 'free', well at least where he drives. Anything over 4" can't be properly compacted even with a vibrating roller. rough math ( 125*12*.333 /27 = 18 cuyds) so a tandem load should spread 4" of material over the whole driveway.

 

[motionclone]

The entire driveway through the woods and the field is 275 or so feet plus that turn around.

This is in the mountains and the frost goes deep, need a thick base to spread out the load when the ground under is soft.

The 12" base was recommended by the guy dropping the stone and hes 80 years old been in business since the 60s and done most of the driveways near me. The soil is sandy so drains well and I stripped almost all the top soil in the woods and field.

He said we could go right over the grass but i didnt want driveway sticking up out of the field by 12"

When I first talked to him about the driveway he asked if I wanted to be able to get in during the spring and i said yeah. If i wanted to wait until after mud season every year, a 6" base would have been fine.

I had metioned geo fabric but he said this land is high and dry enough to not need it although stones would eventually press into the sand, since its a camp driveway that would take many years and by then just re top it.

 

[motionclone]

Heres a better pic showing the entire length of the driveway through woods and field but this was taken before i cut all the way across field. Its 275'

We spent a few hours per week on the weekend last summer cutting, clearing and burning the slash from the woods part of driveway.