Grading yard?

 There must be some decaying trees and brush at several points in my
yard.   This has resulted in gullies that feel terribly unsafe on my
tractor/mower.  So, I want to fill them in to level the lawn that will
be planted over the fill.

Should I use sand or 1" gravel to fill the low spots?  How much top
soil should I put on top of that to grow the grass in?  Will the new
top soil wash into the fill requiring  more soil?  If I figure out how
much fill is needed in cubic feet, how does that relate to tons of
stone/sand?  Some one told me fill is sold by the ton rather than by
the yard.

 Stubby wrote:

  do you know the history of the property
well enough that it is truly buried
trees/brush?

  until you know what is under there it
makes no sense to put fill over it.  you
may have to keep doing it again and again.

  get the shovel out and do some digging
and find out what you have down there.

  if your area is prone to sink holes,
underground caverns or streams, has
abandoned coal mines, etc. proceed with
caution or hire a professional.


  songbird

 
Thanks for the response, songbird.

This property was woods and farm until the whole housing development
was built in 1970.  There are something like 1500 similar homes in the
area.   Neighbors have told me there was indeed a lot of trees and
rocks that were simply burried to get rid of them.   That practice is
now against the local building code.

I'm not going to dig down to see what's there unless I can borrow a
power excavator to do it with.   And, if an application of gravel
lasts another 25 years, that's OK with me.  Further, it is unlikely
that I will be around in 25 years to worry about it.

 
You can use anything reasonable that is available and cheap.
  Gravel, sand, base material or earth removed from another
site prior to building, etc.



4" when settled down should be sufficient




It won't wash in, but it will compact down.  How much
to allow for depends on how deep it will be and the
exact material.  I'd try to partially compact it a bit
when putting everything down, starting with the fill.




 > If I figure out how

Whoever is supplying the material will be able to tell
you the approx conversion.