We had an unusable slope - hard to walk on, and hard to plant on. We decided to build a retaining wall to create a flat area for planting, and for access to our fruit trees. We chose railroad ties because that matched the existing retaining walls.
Railroad ties are cheap, and fairly long lasting. On the downside, they weigh about 250 pounds each, are not uniform in size, and are soaked with creosote and dirt.
Here are a few photos of the project. We were too busy and dirty to take more photos. The wall took us three days to build.
Marking a straight line for the wall:
Setting the first tie on hard packed ground (a taller wall would require a gravel base for drainage).
We should have tipped the tie back just a little - a back-sloped wall is stronger.
Moving a tie out of a tight spot. The orange thing is a roller.
Once the tie is in the clear, we set it on the hand truck sideways and it's easy to move.
Four down, 20 to go.
Using a beam saw to make a miter cut. A chainsaw is faster,
but a beam saw makes a cleaner, more accurate cut.
The resulting miter cut (before closing the gap).
Note the shiny metal spike - it's an 18 inch length of 1/2" rebar.
(We used 24" pieces to anchor the bottom row of ties into the ground.)
We used an 18" ship's auger to drill holes.
Ian (right) and his friend Jim helped us pound the spikes - it's hard work!
(Colin helped too, but I didn't get a picture.)
Almost done!
Lifting the last heavy one onto the top row.
To lift the ties, we used heavy straps, one under each end,
so we could lift without bending down. To get the ties up
onto the top tier, we first lifted them onto cinder blocks
with the straps, then lifted them by hand the rest of the way.
Corner detail:
Done! Except for backfilling... Got dirt?
