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shpigford

Moving 9 tons of dirt...by shovel?

shpigford
14 years ago

So I'm putting in a paver patio that is ~500 sq/ft. I'm planning on doing 4 inches of roadbase and so 4 inches of roadbase for ~500 sq/ft adds up to ~9 tons of needed roadbase.

The way my yard is situated, there's really no way for the truck to bring all of that dirt and dump it right beside the patio. The best I could do is have it dumped 40-50 feet away.

So, am I completely out of my mind (and body) to think that I might could move and lay 9 tons of dirt with just a wheelbarrow and shovel? I honestly am having a hard time imagining how much dirt that really is so I'm wondering if it's an impossible feat.

Obviously the other option is to rent a skid steer for a few days but I risk seriously tearing up my yard (though that might be worth it for the saved energy/muscle/time).

Thoughts? What would you do?

Comments (14)

  • laag
    14 years ago

    It sounds scarier than it is. One wheelbarrow at a time. Unless you are not in good shape and unaccostomed to hard labor, it is not that tough and won't take you all that long. I used to do it all of the time and I'm not a big guy.

  • isabella__MA
    14 years ago

    Just do the math and see if it's feasible for you.

    A ton of dirt is about 1.5 cubic yards, so 9 tons is about 6 cubic yards or do the math with respect to the volume of rock needed. An average wheel barrow is about 3-5 cubic feet, so to move a cubic yard (27 cubic feet), it will take 6-9 full wheelbarrow loads. 6 cubic yards will then take about 36 to 54 wheel barrow loads. Your pile will go down slowly one load at a time. If a round trip (load, go the distance, and place load) takes 15 minutes then it will take 6-12 hours to move the material.

    If you start out slow and wear gloves, it will get easier to move manually. Don't go full bore moving the material, if your not used to such labor. It's great aerobic exercise!

  • rhodium
    14 years ago

    Wasn't there a Tennesse Ernie Williams song about moving 16 tons of coal and being deeper in debt?

    So it would appear that a pro can move 16 tons in a day... as mentioned by all before, stay within your limits.

    This is doable especially if you have friends and a case of beer...

  • guardenman
    14 years ago

    You can move it all in a couple of weekends. One if you are in good shape. But let me put in my two cents worth on the gravel. Make sure you buy gravel dust to set those paver's in. Gravel dust will save a lot of work when you are trying to line things up. Oh and stay away from teh beer when you are working in the hot sun.

  • shpigford
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    @guardenman: What's the difference with using gravel dust and adding 1-1.5 inches of sand?

  • catkim
    14 years ago

    A friend of mine is terracing a slope, and amending and mulching as he goes. It's a huge project and he bought some kind of motorized wheelbarrow that is compact but carries a heavy load. It may be more than you need for this project, but I thought I'd mention it.

    Similar to product in link (I have no connection to this product whatsoever):

    Here is a link that might be useful: motorized cart

  • davidandkasie
    14 years ago

    moving it with the wheelbarrow is the easy part. the back breakign part is loading the WB, then unloading and spreading it. use a GOOD long handle shovel so you don't have to bend over too much.

    when we moved from the house we used to rent i had a truck load of dirt delivered to fix the yard where i always parked. they brought 16 YARDS worth of dirt, and i needed maybe 2 yards to fix it! teh rest we loaded up a truck load at a time and took to family. after the 3rd truck load i quit helping and told folks you want the free dirt, you load it yourself!

  • MongoCT
    14 years ago

    It can be done. Isabella did a great job turning the unknown pie into a known quantity.

    My wife and I moved 34 yards (just under 50 tons) of stonedust by wheelbarrow over the course of two days. Two 20-ton deliveries the same day, then a 10-ton delivery the next day.

    About 2/3rds of it went to two patios (a two-tiered set-up) that were right next to where the piles were dumped. The farthest we had to move it was to the far side of the patio about 60' away. Not too bad.

    The next day we moved the other third a little over 200', there was some up and down elevation to that move. That was exhausting.

    We had two 6cuft wheelbarrows. She just shoveled, I shoveled, transported and dumped.

    Like the others have written, just get going and lose your mind for a bit. Before you know it you'll be there.

    Make sure the pressure in your tire is good. A flat tire offers more resistance.

    {{gwi:36728}}
    My wife digging into the first pile.

    {{gwi:36730}}
    Partial progress

    {{gwi:36731}}
    Compacting complete


    {{gwi:36732}}
    My helpers.

  • bktaztig
    6 years ago

    I see all of your comments are around 2009... better late than never! I was looking for an easy solutiuon, but reading your comments, I don't think there is one! My driveway washed out a couple weeks ago between melting snow and heavy rain for two days. Finally got someone to bring in a dump truck of crush run in the middle of winter. Nice of him to get his truck out and do this but he missed the driveway by about 5 feet, so now the stone has sunk into my lawn. On the nicer days I go out with my shovel, rake and wheelbarrel and rake stone out of my lawn and move it to the driveway he missed. Did I mention my driveway is 300 feet long - Thank God he only dropped stone on 100 feet! And you can imagine when he missed the driveway and dropped the stone, he left huge double tire ruts in my lawn (that's another story) - anyway, today I did about 12 feet (by about 1 foot deep) where it was closest to the original driveway - not bad for a "young" 70 year old female! It's going to get harder because now it gets wider, about 5 ft, so if I get 2 or 3 feet of length moved daily I will be lucky. There is something to be said about NOT being a home owner - or maybe staying away from incompetent contractors would be the best lesson to learn!

  • Shane Grayer
    3 years ago

    Me and my Father manually moved 10 yards not to long ago so I think that is around 8 tonnes it is not as much as you may think, Just take your time it's a project enjoy it and watch the progress then feel proud once all finished then move on to your next DIY.

  • Sherri Elinson
    3 years ago

    It’s odd to me that comments here talk about how much volume a wheelbarrow holds as a way of figuring how many loads it will take to move a ton of earth. My wheelbarrow can hold about twice the amount of earth that I can actually manage on my own. I can only handle 75 to 100 pounds at a time. That tells me that a ton of earth would take me a minimum of 20 trips in a wheelbarrow. So, 9 tons=180 trips. And that’s if I’m at full strength the entire time. at 15 minutes per trip that‘s going to take me 45 hours.

  • Leasa Brown
    3 years ago

    Done that. Sturdy clothes, sun screen, hat, gloves. Water cooler. I have a wheelbarrow with 4 wheels that you can pump up with a bike tire pump. Highly recommend for uneven ground. And ignore the looks the neighbors give you.

  • Julien Reekmans
    2 years ago

    Well depending on what type of shape you are in it can be done by shovel and a wheel barrel. I am 43 years old ( in shape ) and today a 26 year old and I moved 15 tons of dirt/sod/rocks in 6 hours including theb7 minutes trip to the waste field . So , yes it can be done .