Using a canister vacuum to move a large load of dirt.

Since you've provided the info, I will share some more experience/calculations with you. Disclaimer: I am not a professional bobcat driver or a civil engineer, but I have done a couple of insanely ambitious semi-solo construction projects which have yet to self-destruct. I attribute this to doing the research and believing in the numbers.

Since Uncle Al hasn't volunteered to pay for or help lay the block for your wall, consider that you might not need one at all. (100 feet stacked 4*8=32" high works out to 4*100*12/16 or 300 blocks at minimum

40lb each, not to mention mortar and concrete. Then there's the issue of frost heaving.)

If the final height above the existing grade is only two feet, you only have to make sure that the edge of your fill is stable until the grass takes hold---probably fine if you drop the final 2 feet in 4 feet and compact it well. The people who sell you the fill can tell you this stuff. I assume you are using sandy loam, not pure clay, and the existing soil drains reasonably well.

On the physics of Bobcats:

The suspension system is designed with the idea that the bucket will have stuff in it. Without the stuff , there is a fundamental frequency of oscillation which can easily be achieved by an inexperienced operator. Have you seen the films of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge? Point being, since your mother-in-law already has a low opinion of your manhood, wear a hardhat, so that when your head gets whipped into the cage, you will only be slightly stunned and can retain control.

Also, take the time to set up reference points for depth. You will think that you can see what you are doing, but you will be wrong.

Good luck from a fellow crazed and fearless homeowner.

-tg

Nat-

"Can anyone tell me why this is a dumb idea?"

yes, BTDT......

seriously, in concept, it is a good idea but your proposed implementation is sorely lacking in hp.

Vacuum excavators exist but they are quite costly & large ones hold about 160 cu ft, so you'd have to

Your job is bobcat work........

have you estimated he number of wheel barrows it would take to move this much dirt?

you're talking about ~200,000 lbs, ~600+ wheel barrows, even at 10 an hour that's 60 hours & you cannot do 10 per hour.

back to vac idea, I have a a situation where I need to repeatedly move & replace 277 cu ft. of dirt. It was suggested to use a "large shop vacuum". My colleague & I looked at each other & thought "this has go to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard"

But the person who suggested it wouldn't believe us.

So................instead of arguing the point we just did an experiment

bottomline, with a fairly large shop vac & sucking up damp sand (about a 7' lift), the best we could do was about 1 gallon of sand transported per minute.

to move the 277 cu ft (~2000 gallons) would take about 35 hours of continuous vac time (not including time to empty)

to put your job in perspective, you're looking at moving ~8+ concrete trucks worth of soil with a wheel barrow?

About 30 years ago, a friend & I were hired to unload two trucks (14 yds total). We used wheel barrows & (thankfully) the dump site was downhill of the street. We ran our asses at full speed for about an hour & we were dead for the rest of the day.

How much dirt can a man shovel & move in a day by hand? My guess is about 10 tons

get a bobcat w/ operator; cheaper than back surgery

cheers Bob

"you move 16 tons, and what do you get...... another day older and deeper in debt."

"Michael" wrote: "> "you move 16 tons, and what do you get...... another day older and deeper "> debt."

Except that song was talking about working in Washington DC, shovelling bullshit!

Because I care,

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You should think like Tom Sawyer... Make this project a contest...."guess how many scoops in this pile and win

100 dollars"...charge 2 bucks a chance....sell 200 tickets....that gives you 100 for the prize...50 dollars to pay laborers to shovel /count /move pile and 50 dollars for your trouble..makes sense to me