Used Tire Retaining Wall

[Alicehunter2000]

I am seriously considering building a used tire retaining wall for the area of my property that is currently very steep. As some of you might have seen from some of my previous posts, I have a problem area in my yard that needs to be addressed.....here is a description of the area.

The area is approx. 150 ft. long (along an abandoned canal that is now a freshwater pond). The area is approx. 25 ft. from the top of the slope down to the waters edge. I have 4 ft. chain length fence that is approx 4 ft. from the waters edge at the bottom ( and up the sides to the top of the slope.) From the top to the bottom is approx. 10 ft. high.

I plan on stacking the tires 4-5 foot high with a staggered placement and back into the hillside. I would use the available sandy soil to fill each course. I want to do this project with as little money as possible. I would be able to plant jasmine or another evergreen groundcover/vine to hide the front of the tires from my across the canal neighbor. (his yard looks like crap anyways) In addition, I plan on planting the area heavy in palms, tropical looking dicots, tropical looking bulb plants (elephant ear/ canna etc.).

Has anyone here ever done this? I've researched it on the web and it looks like it would work very well....and very cheap. I have potential easy access to hundreds of used tires.

[BS Man about Palms]

Too bad you aren't close to me...I could bring over some of my old used Race tires..

[Breadfruit Bill]

David, Something like an earthship's construction? I agree, looks like a great idea... Had the idea of doing a bit of that kind of construction myself. Take lots of pics! Cheap? definately... Losta hard work? for certain. Go for it!

[aussiearoids]

Excellent idea , and a great way to recycle . Saw this method used on the rebuilding of a new raised highway section of the Bruce .

[Kathryn]

Sounds like a great idea as long as you have some "tire cover". Perhaps some ferns, mondo grass or such to camouflage the tires.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

David,

That is an incredible amount of physical work for one person. If you are doing it for erosion control or stability, there are other ways. If it is just to steep to descend that is a different story. You have to make sure the plants you use will cover the tires adequately as it is not real pretty close up. Also it is difficult getting uniformly sized tires. Years ago at the nursey where I worked, we tried growing trees in old tires. It worked, kind of. The trees grew very well but were almost impossible to extract from the tires with a good root ball. Then when we later wanted to get rid of the tires it cost a fortune in disposal fees.

[Kris]

Dear David

I was told that tyres do have some sulphur content and other toxins in them.for california its okay.but hot wet region of florida,these chemicals could reach the ground water and if left unattended it could breed mosquitos.And if by chance you want to clean them out of your property then you have to once again spend to get that scrap out.

But i like randy's method of stone or even cement blocks for retaining wall.And yes its a bit expensive.But will looks great.

Just my suggestion..hope some member gives some more new ideas...

love,

kris

[Moose]

Excellent idea , and a great way to recycle . Saw this method used on the rebuilding of a new raised highway section of the Bruce .

I must digress. In my opinion I feel it will be ugly on your embankment and detract from your garden. I saw all the hard work you did there on your thread. It would be OK if you are going for a Nascar motif in your garden. Just my opinion.

Possible solution: old railroad ties creating steps. You can pin with rebar and your future plantings will root and help stabilze the slope and stepped embankment. Just a suggestion to contemplate.

What does the wife think of the used tire idea?

[Breadfruit Bill]

The only thing I don't like about giant pieces of wood is that you can't get a smooth curve or adjustment to terrain when using such a rigid material.

David, how about a photo of the site?

[DoomsDave]

Tires? Be careful.

There may be better ways to restrain your slope.

[Alicehunter2000]

Thanks for the reply's everybody.....alot to think about. Since I do plan on putting the house up for sale in a couple of years, tires might not be such a great idea. I have yet to see a tire wall on the internet that looked good. In theory it sounds good, but all the reasons you mentioned it might not be the best.....notwithstanding the price. I'll try and get some more pictures of the area.

My next best idea is to just use pole barn poles, cut to 8ft., then sunk into the ground 4ft. with a bag of concrete. That would leave 4ft. exposed to screw in treated 2x12's and just build a wall. The price is a drawback. I am trying to get away with not putting in "dead man" tiebacks as I have extremely fast draining sand and sinking the posts that deep might not require it.... ....anybody else think this will work?

I worry about creosote? from railroad ties.....I plan on putting a few hundred channel catfish in the pond and worry that they will bio-acumulate the toxin from the ties.

[MattyB]

Seems to have worked on my property for many many years. It ain't pretty though. I'm in the process of bringing in fill dirt, covering up as much as possible, and planting ground cover over it.

[Alicehunter2000]

Matt, interesting to see your yard from the bottom looking up. Usually you take from the top-down. Wow, things look so dry in your area, bet you can't wait for some of those palms to give you some canopy. The road ended up coming out pretty good, it will look great, meandering through your palm collection. You have a pretty difficult situation to work with, not only the steep slope, but the lack of rain as well. My hat's off to you, my slope is just a little berm....compaired to your mountainside.

[MattyB]

It's an old pic from last year so I'll post some new ones in a couple of weeks. It is an interesting picture angle. It's actually taken from the opposite ridge looking over the canyon/gully/lavaka. I've got two slopes and a canyon to try and plant out and you're right, it's not easy with how dry it is. The far ridge that I'm standing on while taking this pic is planted with Brahea armata and Phoenix spp. so hopefully I can stop watering them someday.

[_Keith]

That shot showed a great perspective of your property. Looking good.