Rammed earth tyre wall

Frugalista

Apologies if this is in the wrong place - would the board guides please move it if they think I would get a better response elsewhere - Thank you .

Right, some background. We live right out in the back of beyond and have recently purchased approx ¼ acre of land adjoining our cottage :j.

As we live on a slight hill we would need to level off this land to extend our garden and find some way of preventing it crumbling into the adjacent field. We were thinking of a rammed earth tyre wall as it would be something we could do a bit at a time and would be relatively cheap.

However, we are not sure if we would be physically strong enough to wield a sledgehammer to "ram" each tyre a la earthship .

Does anyone have any experience of building these walls and, if so, do you think "stomping" the earth in would be sufficient?

We are looking to build a wall approx 90 metres long and up to 6-8 tyres high in places :eek:. Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance .

Canucklehead

Hi,

Did you get the inspiration from Grand Designs?

One episode had a house in France (I think) where the owner built a wall as you describe.
They invited a load of friends and other volunteers to help fill the tyres and tread it down and, yes, hammer it down. The more compacted the better.
You might get it on Channel 4 website.

GSR

Frugalista

Yes, I saw that episode - brilliant!:D

That's the type of thing we want but thought that as it wasn't actually part of a house - just a retaining wall - that maybe we wouldn't have to sledgehammer it. Wishful thinking, perhaps?

Canucklehead

Hi,

I thought it formed the back wall of the house, which was partly 'underground' so retaining as well?
Anyway, not as cheap as a sledgehammer but maybe more comfortable to use, would this be any use.
Whatever method you use to fill the holes in the middle you will have to fill the actual tyre by hand (you know, the bit where the air would be if it were on a car) Very labour intensive I know but that's the price you pay I suppose!
Do you intend to live within this tyre wall?

I think I would be more of a straw bale kind of guy, like the woodsman house.

I guess you already know of the Green Building Forum?

All the best with it.

GSR

Hintza

Buy some sand instead of earth? Obviously not as cheap but easier to work with.

Frugalista

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi,

I thought it formed the back wall of the house, which was partly 'underground' so retaining as well?
Anyway, not as cheap as a sledgehammer but maybe more comfortable to use, would this be any use. That certainly looks to be something we could use.
Whatever method you use to fill the holes in the middle you will have to fill the actual tyre by hand (you know, the bit where the air would be if it were on a car) Very labour intensive I know but that's the price you pay I suppose! Yes we realise that which is why we thought we could do it a bit at a time (evenings & weekends).
Do you intend to live within this tyre wall? No, it will form a retaining wall to prevent the ground (once levelled) from falling down the hill into the field. We are planning to extend our existing garden and also provide a place to park the cars.

I think I would be more of a straw bale kind of guy, like the woodsman house.

I guess you already know of the Green Building Forum? I didn't so thanks for the link.

All the best with it.

GSR

Thank you for your replies and the links - much appreciated .

Frugalista

Hintza wrote: »

Buy some sand instead of earth? Obviously not as cheap but easier to work with.

We are hoping to do this for minimum cost. We can get the tyres for free and use the existing soil to fill them :money:. In fact, we have yet to work out the cost of getting the excess earth removed (we are talking multiple lorry loads here) .

The cost of buying in sand would be astronomical :eek: for a project of this size.

WillowCat

OP - you've given me a great idea on how to build up some land on a slope where I want to build a cabin.

Any ideas on where I can source the tyres? Is it a case of going to a tyre dealer and asking for some old ones? I'm a bit shy when it comes to blagging...:o

27col

The earth rammer will probably be the best way forward. I am sure that I have seen rammers in Wickes that do do not cost as much as £25. In the past I have made my own rammers using a broom handle, a square of thick plywood and a couple of house bricks. (The sort that have 3 largish holes through them)

Frugalista

WillowCat wrote: »

OP - you've given me a great idea on how to build up some land on a slope where I want to build a cabin.

Any ideas on where I can source the tyres? Is it a case of going to a tyre dealer and asking for some old ones? I'm a bit shy when it comes to blagging...:o

The guy we get our tyres from says we can have as many as we want as they have to pay to dispose of them. I believe that if you buy a new tyre they charge you around £5 to dispose of your old one :eek:.

One of the local farmers told me that he actually got paid £250 to take in a lorry load of them - win,win :j!!

asbokid

could you hire a mini-digger to do the earth moving, and do the ramming with a hydraulic whacker plate?

I got a mate who did substantial groundworking with a mini-digger (before they sectioned him).