I have to grade my yard. We had the weeping tile replaced last summer and the area around the house has settled about 6-12" below grade and needs to be backfilled.

The rest of the yard where my lawn used to be is covered with a layer of clay and much that was dug up when we had the work done. It's packed down pretty good too from the snow we had in winter and the spring thaw.

I'd like to scrape this material off, and use it to fill the low spots around the house.

The problem is it's a small yard and we don't have a lot of room to move around any kind of equipment.

I was wondering if it would be possible to use a sod cutter, to loosen the soil an inch or two at a time. Enough to push it towards the house with a rake, or shovel it into a wheelbarrow.

 

I don't know how well that would work. If the yard isn't established, you might get better results tilling either that area, or the whole thing then seed and roll it to smooth it out. If it is all clay, then add about 1" of sand on top of the yard and till that in, it'll really help things grow.

 

That's a good idea. Actually there was a lawn before we had the work done, and when I dug up the foundation for my shed the soil was good. My neighbor took all of it for his place.

I would just prefer to use the clay to backfill around the foundation because it will compact well. But I could probably do the job with a rototiller as well, and then use it to dig deep for a nice lawn.

 

never have