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I am wanting to build a small pole barn garage myself. The area is near
my blacktop turn around. I want to extend this turnaround with gravel.
My idea is to "box in" a 24 x 24 area with stakes and 2x6's. To put the
gravel in this for the pole barn floor. Then start building as I have
time and money. (I will not have a 2x6 in the front so I can put gravel
from my turnaround to the pole barn and use it for parking.

I worked the ground with a tiller last year and scraped with a tractor
bucket. It is more level than it was but not perfect.

Any idea on how I can get this good and level before I start without
buying expensive tools or spending a lot of money? (We just had a baby

Build the pole barn first. Get it square and plumb, and make the collar
beams level. True the collar with a water level (below).

Then box in the bottom of the barn with pressure treated (ground contact)
batter boards -- say, 2x8's, if they're wide enough to make up any uneveness
on the ground. Just adjust the box to level all-round, ditching where
necessary to keep the top at or below your desired finished level.

Back-fill around the outsides of the batter boards, then fill the box with
gravel (or pre-fill with some compacted earth to a slightly higher "level"
mark than the original grade, then finish up with 4" to 6" of gravel) and
plate compact the whole mass.

Leveling can be done with a simple water level. In its basic incarnation,
it's just a transparent plastic hose with a large bottle of water at one
end, and you at the other. The volume of water in the bottle should be
twenty or more times the total volume of the hose, if you want the level to
be both accurate and easy to use. Make sure there are NO bubbles in the
line; they'll disrupt the accuracy.

Don't worry about heaving the affair up a ladder to use it. Just set the
bottle on the ground at a convenient "home" location right up against your
"first" pole, and use the bottle's water level as the basis mark for
everything else. Mark that water level on the "first" pole. Run the hose
around to all the poles, and mark a reference line on each pole at the water
level in the hose. (let it stablilize a few moments at each point -- the
water forms a slow pendulum in the hose)

Then you're done with the level. Just drive a nail at each reference mark,
and measure up or down from those marks with a tape to establish other
higher or lower level points.

Yeah... you can do it.

LLoyd