My Backyard Experiments

[Boggy Man]

However, that was solved by using the spoil from the pit to raise the surrunding ground.

That sounds like the easiest solution. Just use dirt/fill to build up the surrounding ground to make the hole deeper. Best to have the dirt damp enough to stick together, so it won't collapse into the hole as you build it up.

[Mynock]

If you want to raise the pit up instead of lower it, you can buy interlocking bricks that are designed for retaining walls too, would give your pit a strong structure and nice finish.

[Theo]

Interesting conversion and suggestions. I don't think the rock is granite, most of it's that white/orange stuff that practically splinters when you hit it. Otherwise I don't think I would've gotten as far as I did.

I liked Fred's idea of rising the surrounding ground and had actually though of it, and I kind of did that with the low side. But to raise the other side, I'd probably have to bring in more dirt or blocks, which I do have a small pile of dirt (or probably mostly rocks). Only thing is, it was nice to have a big flat spot to crawl out on, and if I use blocks, I'll have to crawl over them to get out. We'll see, I still have 4-5 months before it's warm enough to think about it.

[SunbeamZero]

This is why I personally prefer to have my own backyard. Having a house with one in Texas is a lot of money for a traditional house with a mortgage payment.

[Mynock]

This is why I personally prefer to have my own backyard. Having a house with one in Texas is a lot of money for a traditional house with a mortgage payment.

What drives me nuts is I have big backyard, but it parallels a moderately busy road on one side and has nosy neighbors on the other. Plenty of room to construct the mud pit of my dreams but a privacy fence would be cost prohibitive and even if it wasn't really ruin the aesthetic of the neighborhood. I got the ways the means and the land but not enough privacy.

[Duncan Edwards]

... I got the ways the means and the land but not enough privacy.

The scarcest commodity of all. Start planting trees all around. In 20-30 years, you'll be ready.

[Theo]

... I got the ways the means and the land but not enough privacy.

The scarcest commodity of all. Start planting trees all around. In 20-30 years, you'll be ready.

I got the land and the privacy, my problem is too many trees in my back forest.. err I mean, yard. Unless I want to dig an unsightly hole in front of my house, I'd need to take out some trees to make a bigger pit out back.

[Fred588]

I have several customers who have found what is probably the best solution, except for the issue of frequent use. They rent Studio 588. They all some just once per year though.

[DezzBear]

Ok, instead of making a new thread I’m going to post on this one.
I’ve managed to dig myself a pretty good size pit. I saw somewhere that it’s best to dig a cone with a small area for the deepest section, so my pit is 6 feet wide and about 6 feet deep. I’m 6.2 and I don’t plan on actually filling it all the way. Unlike Theo, I didn’t have to worry about any rocks or hard debris in my pit, it was just rough filtering out all the topsoil with roots and whatnot. All of the soil I dug out of the pit was heavy, red clay, and I assumed that I could just fill it back and add water to have the perfect clay pit.

Perfect plan, or so I thought.

I filled back in a small section about 3 feet deep and mixed it until it was a good consistency. And I really made sure there was extra water. I took into accounts the pit drying out and so when I filled it, I basically sprayed water on the pile of dirt outside the pit so the only thing filling the pit was muddy water runoff. I thought it would be really runny mud at the bottom, but it still turned out really heavy, and it had a ton of water on top of it. So I waited about one day for it to dry out a little, and then it was way too thick.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to fill my pit with? It looks like the material I’m working with is red clay, but I guess it has a ton of sand in it so it’s way heavy. I dug this pit behind my fence in the forest. I still have neighbors and it is not 100% private, so I have to be kind of discreet about when I work on it. But I still have enough privacy that no one could really see it unless they were being nosy.
I appreciate any suggestions, thanks guys

[Fred588]

Ok, instead of making a new thread I’m going to post on this one.
I’ve managed to dig myself a pretty good size pit. I saw somewhere that it’s best to dig a cone with a small area for the deepest section, so my pit is 6 feet wide and about 6 feet deep. I’m 6.2 and I don’t plan on actually filling it all the way. Unlike Theo, I didn’t have to worry about any rocks or hard debris in my pit, it was just rough filtering out all the topsoil with roots and whatnot. All of the soil I dug out of the pit was heavy, red clay, and I assumed that I could just fill it back and add water to have the perfect clay pit.

Perfect plan, or so I thought.

I filled back in a small section about 3 feet deep and mixed it until it was a good consistency. And I really made sure there was extra water. I took into accounts the pit drying out and so when I filled it, I basically sprayed water on the pile of dirt outside the pit so the only thing filling the pit was muddy water runoff. I thought it would be really runny mud at the bottom, but it still turned out really heavy, and it had a ton of water on top of it. So I waited about one day for it to dry out a little, and then it was way too thick.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to fill my pit with? It looks like the material I’m working with is red clay, but I guess it has a ton of sand in it so it’s way heavy. I dug this pit behind my fence in the forest. I still have neighbors and it is not 100% private, so I have to be kind of discreet about when I work on it. But I still have enough privacy that no one could really see it unless they were being nosy.
I appreciate any suggestions, thanks guys

If the original mterial is actually 50 percent sand, that sand will probably sink to the bottom when its all saturated. The result will be to turn you six-foot pit into a three foot pit. Remember that the term "clay" only refers to the particle size, not the kind of minerals.