It's incredible how dense some of the development is in NJ. I can't say for sure how many acres of some really nice ground I've peeled up between southern NJ and up with a D8K, scrapers. Weeks or months on end push loading scrapers, 627's and TS-24's, stockpiling massive top soil piles, from sandy black topsoils to, more loamy types, and you would know from being there all these years.
One job in Howell NJ, I took some dark black rich top soil home and grew tomatoes in buckets. The soil was from the end of a large field near an old farmstead, where it narrowed to a small patch, probably a garden, it was really deep and it was close to the road. I got stuck 2x with the D8 on that site, one place was in that deep top soil patch that the buckets of soil came from. Will never forget that, good tomatoes grew that summer and I actually got the D8 out without any help! One big heavy tractor that does not like soft ground, the other time it took 2 excavators to get it out, I somehow hit a wet area by surprise on undisturbed ground, in the middle of a 100+ acre field with some deep top soils, like close to 2 feet. I do have some photos of that site, it could have been made into a landing strip it was so flat and wide open. Sod farm was adjacent to it, this was a good size dairy, stickers in the milk house parlor, had years up to '85 or so, there was even old tractor and engine rebuilding parts left around, was sad knowing the entire place was to be demolished. Tile silo and all. When it got wet there, every scraper was stuck, it was the worst mess I have ever worked in, 2 foot ruts everywhere till the frost set in. Then that was a problem, ripping it with the D8, made huge chunks that got wedged in the scrapers bowl or jammed up against the top rear guard on the bowl, sometimes requiring an excavator to get it out, bent the heck out of the steel too. The farmers land had its revenge for sure !
There was thick layer of clay under the top soil, a couple of feet, weird color too, then the sand was below that. We dug massive borrow pits to use the sand for roads, as there was nothing else suitable on site. I've never seen such rich black top soils like NJ has in places I've worked. Most of these sites were like the ones in your photos, high end custom houses, expansive subdivisions or some commercial retailer like Costco, H-D etc.. I've seen forests taken down with buncher/fellers, turned into chips, then we come in with the excavators, D8 w/root rakes on, then back to the regular blade and scrapers again. Before you know it, the landscape is completely changed. Kind of crossed a grain, like you, having been around agriculture since day one, hated seeing all that land being torn up, really nice ground, minus the red clay areas ! LOL !
We started one job in Flanders NJ, all fields of standing corn ready to combine and pumpkins. Piles of pumpkins, corn trash, top soil and what a pain it was to keep all the D8's and scrapers radiators clear of plant trash. I'd a thought the farmer would have taken the last crop, must have had a good payday instead.
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