Refilling a pond with soil to eventually build a coop on top.

[bridgetchicken]

Does anybody know how much one bag of ground soil from Home Depot weighs? I need to add soil to this large hole in the ground that used to be a pond. I have a Honda accord and I need to know how many bags of soil I can put in the trunk before the car breaks.

When this is completed I will build a chicken coop in the same location.

 

[DobieLover]

You want to fill an old pond site with bagged garden soil? Why not have someone deliver a load of soil to you? It would be much more practical.

 

[Captain13]

How large is the hole? it will be expensive to fill with the bagged soil. You need a buddy with a pickup. Find a place that sells sand and topsoil in bulk. Buy it that way. Then you can compact it for a good base.

But to partially answer your question, you need to know how much soil you need.

Garden soil weighs .75 cu/ft will weigh around 40–60 lbs it’s damp. Also Garden soil will be hard to compress (pack).

To see how much you will need, multiply the hole length X width X depth to get the number of cu/ft of soil you will need.

If the hole is a sphere, go to this link to calculate the volume. Be sure and set units to yards And divide the answer from the calculator by 2 since the hole will be half a sphere.
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-solids/sphere.php

Your car will carry 800 lbs of cargo. I wouldn’t put that much in it, but you can and it shouldn’t hurt it.

 

[Krugerrand]

Many landscaping companies will deliver and dump truckloads of dirt which should cost less than the bags.

 

[fuzzi]

Depending on how large the hole is, you could probably put some organic fill such as branches and stumps in the bottom. It would reduce the amount of dirt you'd need to use.

 

[3KillerBs]

Depending on how large the hole is, you could probably put some organic fill such as branches and stumps in the bottom. It would reduce the amount of dirt you'd need to use.

This is dubious.

We have some areas with tree trunks, etc. under the grading (done by the previous owner), and I now have lawnmower-swallowing holes that I'm actually afraid to step into.

The hillside, which we had professionally graded, is cracking and slipping as the organic stuff underneath decays.

 

[Captain13]

3KillerBs is right. I’ve owned my place for 30 years and still have low spots from construction debris from when my home was built. How do I know? I dug it up with my tractor trying to see if it was a sink hole and found rotten wood, bricks and other stuff.

 

[mowin]

Does anybody know how much one bag of ground soil from Home Depot weighs? I need to add soil to this large hole in the ground that used to be a pond. I have a Honda accord and I need to know how many bags of soil I can put in the trunk before the car breaks.

When this is completed I will build a chicken coop in the same location.

View attachment 3474897

Don't use garden soil. It holds moisture. You will have a quagmire of slop when it rains.
Gravel is what is needed to make a base that will drain properly.
How big/deep is this "pond"? Realistically, a pond is make to hold water. When filling in a pond, excavating a trench on the downhill side to let the ground water out once filled is common practice.

 

[Kiki]

Does anybody know how much one bag of ground soil from Home Depot weighs? I need to add soil to this large hole in the ground that used to be a pond. I have a Honda accord and I need to know how many bags of soil I can put in the trunk before the car breaks.

When this is completed I will build a chicken coop in the same location.

View attachment 3474897

Miracle-Gro Garden Soil All Purpose: 1 cu. ft., For In-Ground Use, Feeds for 3 Months, Amends Vegetable, Flower and Plant Beds https://a.co/d/ixWEwXP