Erosoin Problems

[hvy 1ton]

My neighbor called yesterday, wants me to help with her erosion problem. Well since all her dirt is running into my pond i'm happy to oblige, plus she pays costs and i get a few cheese cakes out of the deal.
Pic of her "field" and the gully that has developed over the last year or so.

The ditch along the road filled up with dirt including the pipe under the road.

The inlet to my pond that now needs some work too.

All the water comes around the far side of the barn and down this. I can't remember if the down spout on the far side of the barn has a buried drain or not, but if it doesn't thats definitely the first thing on my list. She wasn't home today so i didn't want to go walking around without telling her first. Plus, her horses are a little unstable at best. Any way i have a couple ideas on how to deal with this, but would like some opinions/options from the pros before i get to far along.

for reference i have
JD 450- not that i plan to use it
J6400 with loader/box blade
JD 260
I would like to rent a mini and leave the SSL out at the farm so they can keep buliding fence out there before hay season starts all over again.

On edit of course i spell Erosion wrong in the title XD

 

[stumpjumper83]

You want to slow the water down, I think. I'd run the down spouts into a stock tank, that way the horses get a drink, and you dont get a 4" hose flodding the ditch, eroding it away.

Then I'd cut the ditch out a little, maybe a foot to a foot and a half deep and 3 feet wide in the center of the ditch and backfill it with 3's or 4's, I might put some in wire cage boxes spaced out every 20 yards or so, i'd make the cages the same size as the ditch I dug, and as wide as my loader bucket or a little better. The name for them escapes me.

My overall goal would be to make a stone french drain for th length of the gully, that would slow the water down, catching the soil and leaving it in her pasture.

 

[td25c]

You could spend alot of time and money trying to fix the erosion in the ditch.The real problem is the lot is "over grazed".Your nieghbor has to many animals on the lot at a given time ,not letting the grass recover.Grass is what holds dirt the best,Try to talk your nieghbor in to "rotational grazing" in difforent lot's letting the grass recover.

 

[willie59]

You could spend alot of time and money trying to fix the erosion in the ditch.The real problem is the lot is "over grazed".Your nieghbor has to many animals on the lot at a given time ,not letting the grass recover.Grass is what holds dirt the best,Try to talk your nieghbor in to "rotational grazing" in difforent lot's letting the grass recover.

By golly, I think your right! I know we're looking at a picture, but that sure does look like a "dirt" lot. Man has a lot of different techniques for holding dirt in place, but God came up with the best method long before we came along...grass. :notworthy

 

[td25c]

By golly, I think your right! I know we're looking at a picture, but that sure does look like a "dirt" lot. Man has a lot of different techniques for holding dirt in place, but God came up with the best method long before we came along...grass. :notworthy

Grass works good for holding dirt.They might build a small "dry dam" to fix the ditch,but the lot needs good grass to end the problem.

 

[hvy 1ton]

You could spend alot of time and money trying to fix the erosion in the ditch.The real problem is the lot is "over grazed".Your nieghbor has to many animals on the lot at a given time ,not letting the grass recover.Grass is what holds dirt the best,Try to talk your nieghbor in to "rotational grazing" in difforent lot's letting the grass recover.

By golly, I think your right! I know we're looking at a picture, but that sure does look like a "dirt" lot.

I'm fully aware of the real problem, and have tried to solve it directly. ATCO it is exactly as bad as the pic, which is why i call it a "field". She doesn't have enough space to rotate her horses, and won't rent a field from me so...

And i kinda like having fish in my pond(its stocked) and the amount of dirt thats gone in the water can't be good. The water used to be really clear, visibility was 3'+. Plus its an excuse to play in the dirt and run an ex for the first time in a while.

My plan was to cut the ditch wider with a flat bottom. I might try to realign the ditch if i can figure a better path. Then line the ditch with 4" rock, is there any kind of geotech that would work well in this application, under the rock?. Swampdog i know what your talking about with the "rock boxes" i used them a few times working for my friend. I'm not sure how my neighbor would feel about them in her "field".

 

[joispoi]

If the primary source of run off is that barn roof, I would run the down spouts into an infiltrator setup. It's far more effective than a dry well.

 

[AtlasRob]

Then line the ditch with 4" rock, is there any kind of geotech that would work well in this application, under the rock?. Swampdog i know what your talking about with the "rock boxes" i used them a few times working for my friend. I'm not sure how my neighbor would feel about them in her "field".

I'm thinking you mean Gabion baskets or Reno mats.

How about covering the rock baskets in Terram or similar and topsoil over the top for the grass to grow again.

I agree that you need to get control of the building run off, either containment tank or pipes, or both to control overflow.

 

[stumpjumper83]

Gabion baskets... thats the name of those buggers, Thanks atlas. Hvy, what size is the barn thats part of the cause?

 

[bill onthehill]

In a lot of Pa. municipalities you are required to dig a leach pit sized to handle the square footage of the roof. Line it with geo cloth and fill with clean stone to 2 ft. from top then run perf. pipe with cleanout standpipes every 20 ft. Finish stoning,cover with cloth then topsoil. I always thought it was funny you could use an existing septic or cesspool but you needed a big pit for rainwater.

 

[willie59]

ATCO it is exactly as bad as the pic, which is why i call it a "field".

I'm confused, how am I "exactly as bad as the pic..."???

 

[hvy 1ton]

ATCO, i'm sorry if wasn't clear. I was refering to your post where you said it looks like a dirt lot. I was trying to say it looks just as bad in real life.

 

[willie59]

ATCO, i'm sorry if wasn't clear. I was refering to your post where you said it looks like a dirt lot. I was trying to say it looks just as bad in real life.

Whew, what a relief! But it's still kinda' funny, I mean, I learnt a long time ago God didn't put me in this world to win a beauty contest...but I was thinkin'...Dang! :lmao

 

[olderndirt]

hvy1ton:

Man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.....

A good solution is coco-mat and silt fences. I believe they are both relatively cheap and easy to install as well are quite effective.

 

[hvy 1ton]

I went and looked around this morning, I was right about the barn runoff on the other side. It all just runs right around the barn and down into the ditch. :Banghead
With that info, my new and improved plan is to run drainage pipe from the downspouts to the other ditch.

When my friend built a new barn we rented a walk behind trencher and put in perf. pipe with the cloth cover. I'm definitely never renting another walk behind, which is a story for a different day.ointhead My plan is to rent a trencher for my 260, I called Cat Rental in town and they have one free this week. So my question is how would you setup the drainage? I have 3 spouts from half an indoor riding arena and around a 100yds to go. What kind of pipe should i use, and could i run it down to 1 4" pipe or would that be too much water? If i use perf. pipe what kind of bedding should i use? We used clean 1/2" gravel at my friend's house, but only b/c he had it and didn't want to get anything else.

Any other suggestions or advice is appreciated, I want to do this right the first time.:wink2

 

[bill onthehill]

I would use solid pipe till you get to where you are putting in the gravel. 1/2 or 3/4 is a good stone size. As to pipe size a 4" will only handle 2 spouts off a big roof like that. you will be surprised how much water comes out and the pressure it will have during a heavy rain. A few cross slots across the trench and filled with stone will help to let the water infiltrate unless the ground is heavy clay. You might want to think about a small sediment pond with a perforated standpipe to trap and disperse the water at a controlled rate during heavy storms.