(#6080) Working with dirt today

      Last Saturday I was able to acquire 15 dump truck loads of dirt being removed from the bank on the creek behind my house. Good dirt, a bit sandy but mostly just dirt. Now of course over the many decades some debris and old roots were included but I have a system, albeit a slow labor intense method that will filter each shovel full of dirt. I got the early preparation for filtering the dirt done yesterday so that all I do today is get out to the first big pile and start shoveling through my filter grate and into the wheelbarrow. My backyard is expansive so the approximately 120 cubic yards dropped off in a spread out design will accept it.
     For the most part leveling the ground is my main objective but raising the elevation a bit is also part of the plan. Most of my topsoil had been washed away from previous creek floods. So trying to restore some elevation will in effect help me to level everything back to being flat. When I first saw the excavators in the creek on Saturday I decided to go around to their access point and ask for the dirt. My yard has a big gate on one side where the dump trucks could easily enough enter and maneuver around the yard for dropping their loads. The foreman was accommodating since his trucks would only be gone for a moment just going around the corner.
     So I have 120 cubic yards of free dirt to move around in my backyard for the next foreseeable future. I will do most all of it by hand as it will be a good project for me to exercise. Since I need to clean the piles of small boulders, and other debris the idea of using a small tractor although initially sensical is not not so much since my filtering method is now in play. For most of my life in work and play I have been physical so this is just a continuance of that. I am now in my 70's and must be careful of my actions. I have a plan that will take many months and even more than a year but it is steady and doable. Today is going to be eventful because once I start I won't finish until it is done.