Digging a Swale With a Box Blade and Improving Drainage to the Pond

Digging a Swale With a Box Blade and Improving Drainage to the Pond
I dug this swale with a John Deere 2038R compact tractor, a Frontier box blade, and a Frontier Tiller. This is part of my plan to improve the drainage on our farm
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Brock
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[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for watching and check out our other John Deere 2038R compact tractor videos at kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWrGlHaofremnbs And subscribe to our channel at kzbin.info Buy me a coffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/rockhillfarm Thanks for watching

[@aaronburford5701]

Really amazing to see this being done. I didn't think it took all that planning and strategy to dig a swale for drainage! Love to see this process from beginning to end!

[@dustysnow2502]

I really appreciate your videos. Honest and helpful. Nice how you asked for advice in this video then mentioned "no rule against being polite" so others can learn. Thank you.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Absolutely. I love learning new things but some people can be a little bit rude in the comments. Thanks for watching. we’re digging a pond today so I think those will be some interesting videos

[@MarkBourne1958]

Hi Brock. What you are building here is a ditch/diversion drain. A swale is on contour and the material taken out of the swale line is mounded onto the downhill side and usually planted with trees/food forest etc. Water then fills the swale, levels, goes nowhere and then percolates into the downside hillside over time hydrating the land further down the slope. Ditches and diversion drains takes water away from problem areas... Cheers. M

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for sharing

[@RJ-ox8on]

just let the man dig his ditch

[@aaronburford5701]

This is so fascinating to watch and listen to the strategy to create! Love it!

[@andrewanderson1436]

Heck yeah man lots of progress. Looks great.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thank you sir

[@ww3ok]

Good information showing several implements. Thanks.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for watching

[@mudmansteve2]

Hey great video! My wife hates to hear me mention the word swale lol. But swales are wonderful additions to our otherwise flat land to help direct the rain water off of our property. I used the exact same method. 2 passes wide with my tiller and then scrape the loose dirt and pile it out of the way. You did a good job in less than ideal conditions. When it drys out a bit, a few more passes will clean it up nicely. Beautiful property!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

The swales have definitely helped Thanks for sharing your experience

[@aaronburford5701]

Love the box blade!

[@DarrenCharron]

It's amazing you can get a done with the tractor and the right tools I am learning a ton and taking notes for when the snow melt s up here in central Canada. I have a long list of things to get done this season.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I tell people, if you’ve had a bad day go out and move some dirt with a tractor. Always makes me feel better anyway

[@KUBBI7488]

I use single Harrow to start and finished with bad blade and rake ! Worked great for me !

[@leroymcquay7570]

Great video, I need to learn these things. You are a big help. Thank you

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks. I’m not a long-term expert but I’ve been learning everything I can last year and a half and try to show people as I learn more I really appreciate you watching the videos

[@HeritageFarmsTexas]

Good job. I need to do the same thing in our pecan orchard. Appreciate the video.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for watching

[@ramchillarege1658]

Very nice. thank you..

[@ronsneath8857]

Nice job Brock! I have a box scraper and it is one of my favourite attachments. I don’t have top & tilt kit but adjust the angle of tilt with the adjustable lift arm. It works very well but is a little slower to adjust and only adjusts one way so you have to grade in opposite directions for each side of the ditch. I have not found this to be a great inconvenience. Enjoy your channel very much

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for sharing. And thanks for watching

[@rodshepard3967]

Heck...there is nothing wrong with that. Thats great work. As you stated, a good rain will smooth it out and it will look perfect. I'd definitely be happy with it. 👍

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks I am happy with how it turned out

[@andyl2221]

I did the same thing only when it rained I had a couple of puddles. I hope I can just fill them in with dirt and get the water to flow on down the ditch

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Yeah, it will probably require some maintenance overtime but you can only touch it up when it’s dry. Thanks for watching

[@rodneyscrivner2504]

Looks Great Brock, A good hard rain should smooth it out pretty good and fill in any discrepancies.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I was happy with it Thanks for watching

[@khtractors]

Great job! This is a job where a 3 point angle blade excels I still hope you will get one eventually. That one spot did seem very soft. I hope this helps your drainage!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I definitely want to get a good rear blade, just haven’t got around to it This is pretty much a steep as I want it because they will drive the hay tractors across it when they cut

[@khtractors]

@@RockhillfarmYT looked perfect to me!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks

[@nickb.237]

Man I kept thinking about that little boy walking around that old roof or whatever that is on the ground and getting tore up by a cotton mouth or some type of snake, be careful little dude!

[@Earthmover511]

Were you happy with drainage after this??

[@johncoward4539]

Hey man first tinering next could take a v plow it been easy for then rent you an back hole to finish the job

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for watching

[@HillsideAcres]

How do you like the Bosch transit level? We are putting the drains from our new 70x192 building to our pond, at that time i may try to divert the pasture run off away from the pond to help clear it up a little. Have a good one Brock!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I have used it quite a bit. It works well

[@tomas5650]

Should be renamed "Digging a swale with a box blade, tiller, loader and dump trailer"

[@watkinstreefarm6880]

The dirt is so nice & moist. Jealous!! There is no way you could this project around here. The top 4-5 inches is hard as concrete. We need rain!!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Yeah, the purpose of the project is that this area holds too much water. Doing it in dry ground would probably cause you to need a different set of implements Thanks for watching

[@greenwoodsbushhogging6704]

Tiller and a box is all I've ever used, well all I got actually. I adjust the lower 3pt arm to a fairly good pitch and make a few passes both ways with the tiller. Then pull all the dirt out and repeat as needed. You can take some of the pitch out to grade it back more on the tops. You can feather the swell back so much, you can't even see it unless you know it's there. It's time consuming having to swap implements over and over again, but it'll get the job done. You can also do it with just a box as well. Just set the pitch of the arms real sharp and drop those rippers and make a hard cut V at first. Then just drop the tires in the V and grade back the sides as needed. There's really is tons of ways to cut a swell with what you have as long as you're creative with what you have.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for sharing I’m happy with how this one turned out

[@greenwoodsbushhogging6704]

@@RockhillfarmYT Yes sir, it looked real good. Especially seeing you started with a mud hole. I just figured I'd share with the viewers a few ideas. Maybe it'll help them look at all their implements differently at how to use them. P.S. a single turn plow makes a awesome trencher for shallow trenches like gutter drains and such.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I do appreciate the feedback and advice

[@anthonyg6924]

Go back over it with the box angled. I'll bet there's a significant difference and more aligned with how your end result should look.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I’m sure I could cut it deeper that way. I went back out there this morning and it’s pretty steep. Probably as steep as I want it Thanks for watching

[@maryriser7836]

I would have liked seeing the complete process in fast motion from drone

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I thought about that too. I’ll try to do some of those more in the future

[@tylergreen6858]

Question: Do you prefer to use a tiller without a PTO or without one? (That I've noticed) I noticed yours doesn't spin by a drive.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I don’t understand the question My tiller runs off of the PTO

[@tylergreen6858]

@@RockhillfarmYT I must have not noticed the shaft from the tractor to the implement. At my work we have an old Ford tiller with a yellow shaft that spins the tiller teeth

[@cratxn1]

I noted that you were not taking your depth readings with an absolutely vertical stick??

[@RockhillfarmYT]

When you place the stick it will start beeping immediately if the ground is level. If it doesn’t beep you either lift it or lean it until it does beep Then you start leaning it sideways until it does beep. You can estimate from how far you have to lean the stick how high that spot is. Then you can remove dirt until you don’t have to lean the stick at all to get it to beep It’s easier if your base unit is on a high spot because then you are seeing how far you have to lift the stick off the ground for it to beep and that seems to be easier for me to estimate You have to lean it quite a ways to accommodate an inch of depth being off which is why these sticks don’t even have a vertical level on them If there something I’m missing let me know. Thanks for watching and for commenting

[@sammosher1812]

Good basic concepts. Instead of hauling all the dirt away just keep pulling it back, from low to higher ground and then spread it out evenly. That'd save you a lot of time with digging, dumping in the trailer, and then going to empty the trailer.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Thanks for sharing

[@NYTROeast]

Maybe it's me but I never have any luck leveling roadways or driveways that have a bunch of low spots. Doesn't matter if I have a scraper, box, plain, or even my landscape rack no matter what on the back it follows the tractor and the tractor tires follow the ground and go up and down. So I always have the highs and lows now if I have new material or tilt-up hard pack and use the landscape rake on my loader with the 3pt adapter I have no issues and can do it quickly

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Yeah, that is a struggle. I am always trying new techniques to deal with that. I have used the rake on the front for raking up sticks and debris but haven’t tried it for leveling

[@NYTROeast]

@@RockhillfarmYT I find it to work really good as long as you have a good level spot to start from. I set the curling angle that I want and then pick the rake back up so it's just off or just touching the ground and then drive forward

[@jeffmayeux1692]

Brock, do you plan to tile that area or just let grass grow there? By the way, that drone footage shows the vast improvement of the land without the fences.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Just let grass grow Although I am going to run some actual drain lines to the pond in addition to this I’m definitely glad to have the fence gone Thanks for your support

[@medjoolmaker]

thats a lot of work, you seed that or let it grow in naturally? weeds?

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I cut it through a hayfield that was just cut and baled So the idea would be to grow hay there. I’ve got to tear up another area next to it so I’ll seed it all together

[@medjoolmaker]

​@@RockhillfarmYT 👍

[@thom71]

Brock, What are you doing with a Bosch transit? You aren't a DeWalt guy afterall. :) :)

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Right. The Dewalt transits were sold out when I was trying to get one. This is the exact model that the guys used when they poured my concrete floor in the shop As always, Thanks for watching

[@JAllyFarms]

now all you have to do is put in some concrete