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Land Preparation
Cutter: Removing the topsoil with your compact sounds like a tempting project. However, I guess the job becomes sort of 'make-work' for the tractor if a contractor is coming in with fill and gravel. In a way, that's too bad. I did similar work for a construction trailer pad with a 6' box and loader last summer. The pad is about one-third the size of your site, and of course the requirements for a trailer aren't very fussy. It took about a day remove the sod and improve the existing grade. Most of another day to build up and compact the gravel, and probably another day for the trailer anchors. It was a good project.
However, using the tractor for finish grading and a road sounds like a good compromise. Boxes aren't very expensive, but I'd get one as heavy as possible. In addition, I said in another discussion that a hydraulic top-link greatly adds to a box's usefulness. I think I'd wait to see what happens to your grass road. We were quite surprised that our grass survived tracked hi-hoes and dump trucks (my Ford 1710 too) at our camp for half the summer. I guess we'll now see if the grass survives regular 1/2 ton traffic. If I did build a road at our camp, I'd remove the topsoil and start spreading and compaction gravel at the rate of a load per 70' or so. I'd let the gravel compact through use for awhile and then add more gravel and crown the road from time to time until a good surface is achieved. Gravel around here is from glacier deposits and is a mixture of sand and small rock. It compacts well, and the surface sand washes out leaving a fairly durable layer of small rock. The roadbed will end up somewhat above grade-level. You do have to figure out if surface drainage goes with, or across the road. Provision for drainage that goes across a road has to be made, or no amount of gravel will ever make an adequate surface. Most people around here don't use crushed rock for roads. It doesn't compact or freeze very well. Of course, this approach to simple road building isn't going to work very well for a road that crosses wet ground, is subject to erosion or carries heavy trucks.
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I recommend that you do not put in the drains prior to building construction, unless you clear it with your building contractor. It is just one more thing to trip over, or run into, during construction.
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Dave, that's very good advice. There should be a prime contractor on any sizable job, and the contractor should have the plan and clear all work. Property owners who plan to do some of the work should think of themselves as sub-contractors who only work to order and spec. Incredible screw-ups are common when that sort of coordination breaks down. Unfortunately, screw-ups aren’t exactly uncommon even with a prime contractor on site.
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The site has to be to grade before the construction begins. The sub contractor is my friend and I have worked with him on other projects involving sewar and drainage. The site prep for the barn is new territory for me, although all the builder is asking for is a level surface. Getting from the sloped field to a level base with proper compaction is my goal, and the more I can save by doing it myself, the more $$ I can add to the barn. The ideas that have been presented are thought provoking to say the least. I think I will a)Have the sub contractor remove and pile the sod and topsoil b)Have his dozer spread and compact the material until the area is level c)Finish fill and grade after construction with my compact, and buy the box scraper as Tom suggested, only if the grass road gives way. I plan on letting this pad sit for a month before construction and hope it rains a couple of times so when the cement is poured, it is not still settling. Also, I asked for fiberglass reinforced cement as opposed to re-rod. I can get my hands on a trencher to go back and install the drains, it just would have saved work to lay them in before the fill. I spoke with the Morton salesman one last time to see if they made a mistake on my bid. They ended up almost double the price of the Mennonite Builders. No mistake.
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Cutter, I would strongly suggest that you rent some type of compacting machine to settle your pad before the concrete pour. The dozer should be able to compact the deeper layers, but even that top layer after you finish grade will probably continue to settle after a month. A 5 hp plate compactor will effectively compress up to about 6" of material and will take 3-6 hours to do a 45x70 area real well. A day's rental of one of these units is $40-70 in my area, depending where you go. That's well worth it to save big cracks and heaves in your floor, plus you don't have to wait a month to continue your work. I've had very good luck with the fiber-reinforced concrete in the house/garage we recently built.
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I imagine the sub-contractor know his stuff, so I'm not necessarily talking about this particular project. However, it is good to pay close attention to compacting and drainage, especially in my area. The frost goes down 3' or more most years (well-feeds are put in at 5'). Inadequate compacting or drainage can do astounding damage in a short time. We ended up not buying a property with a house and restaurant/garage because frost-heave had virtually destroyed the restaurant over a few years during which it was unheated. The frost cracked a corner of the house foundation over one winter it unheated. The code approved building techniques in an area have to assume a worst case soil condition. A bad year around here (heavy rains followed by a sharp freeze) and every unheated structure is at risk. Even something minor like a blocked eavestrough can turn into a problem. Of course, it good not to get too obsessive about these things--a few frost cracks can be ignored. However, it's a real good think to know if the soil/drainage conditions are marginal for a particular building technique. Spending some extra money on site preparation can end up being cheap insurance. Extra fill to raise a building site and weepers around the perimeter can improve drainage. Of course, the problem with weepers is where they weep to. When weepers are needed, the soil is already saturated along with any gravel sump. It has nowhere to drain unless it's pumped somewhere downhill. Some of the best money we ever spent was for a building tech who does field work for a PEng company. Most of these ideas and a few others come from him. Ironically, the most durable unheated structures here use the oldest technique. Logs are lain on the ground and a log house is build on top of the logs. Works, it's just that the floor is more uneven some winters than others. It's ironic because, because that's a technique that can't be used here anymore.
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I have axcess to a tamper. The frost situation has me a bit concerned. My building will be on the crest of a hill and the fill is for the area that tapers downhill. Would it be wise to lay tile under the fill to drain moisture from the gravel? The landscape has a gradual slope of probably two feet in sixty where the building is going, except the first ten feet or so, which is relatively flat.
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I would not worry about draining the gravel. As long as the slope drains away from the building on all sides you shouldn't have any problems. One thing you might want to consider is a geotextile between your earth/fill and the gravel to prevent mixing. Of course, this will depend on your local conditions.
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Slab on grade is designed to float and to tolerate moderate frost heaving. Drainage is a key to ensuring that the frost heave stays moderate. Filling, tiling and other techniques can help marginal sites that have drainage problems, but they ordinarily aren't necessary. A site on top of a hill probably doesn't have a problem, but an experienced contractor in the area should know what works and what doesn't for your particular site and structure design. I think it’s important to keep in mind that site preparation and structure design are parts of an overall plan. Experienced contractors generally have an overall view, but people like me don’t, so I always ask somebody who knows about these things. Left to my own devices, I could as easily put up a 100% code approved structure that, in fact, could be a really dumb design.
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Morton owners out there shouldn't feel dumb because you
heard you paid twice as much as you should have!
I would suggest having the dozer out at the same time
your fill is being delivered and have a loaded dump
truck run back and forth over your pad at 1 foot
intervals of fill to compact. Bulldozers dont have enough
ground pressure to do this. Also take measures to
ensure your postholes are backfilled and packed well.
After a good rain, mine sank about 3 inches with packing.
I wouldnt want that air gap under a concrete slab.
I didnt see "rat walls" mentioned in the thread, if you
have had a rodent problem in the past I would suggest them.
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12-12-2016, 18:11 
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