Fill for grading, sand or topsoil?

[EddieF]

I've been steel raking area i had cleared for mangos, grapefruit & orange and will get sod so it's wheelchair friendly.
I'll run a string level tomorrow to see approx depth of fill i'll need.  Guessing anywhere from half a foot to 1.5.
Local place has sand, topsoil & topsoil with a couple organic fertilizers mixed in.  Didn't ask yet what he calls organic ferts. 
Prices are all good, sold by the scoop which is 1 yard.
Final grade will be a foot or more above the low between properties.
He suggested thin top layer of the fert soil.
What ya'll suggest for 1' or more?  I'm thinking topsoil.  Thanks in advance.

[pineislander]

My suggestion would be to plant the trees on mounds of whatever you want to bring in. Unless there is an unlimited budget just make mounds or a long wide beds for the trees. Mounds or bed would be about 12-18 inches high, and the sides would slope less than 45 degrees so somewhere around an 8 foot diameter or a six ft. wide at the base linear bed.. Much of what I've seen for "topsoil" has been very poor quality. I've been planting on very poor sand but using good quality fertilizer, compost and mulch had good success. The thin layer is what counts to start building topsoil.
I personally hate mowing grass and hope to one day sell my mower and bushhog then maintain 4 acres using groundcovers. Do some calculations to figure the yards needed. This calculator should help.
http://www.topsoilcalculator.net/

[EddieF]

Pine, 4 acres sounds like grass fed cattle time heh.  Thanks for calc link, hopefully measure tomorrow.
Standard lots here are 1/4 acre, but house, patio & pool take up alot of it & i have landscaper friend.
Area i'm working on is less then 1/4 of 1/4 acre.  Fill here is good price i'll say.
Topsoil (has some sand, not northern black stuff) is $27 per yard.  Fert soil is $47.  Don't know sand $, never bought it or the fert soil.
I get fert for bananas at big supplier, 50lb bags of good stuff $21.  Haven't bought mango fert there yet cause i have 1 tree & 50lbs is minimum.

[spaugh]

I would try and put in soil with lots of gravel and sand then do a few inches of organic matter on top.  A foot of top soil sounds like it will turn to much and mud.

[EddieF]

I'm still steel raking highs, roots & small stumps a pita, put a string level across with height that's a foot or more below my finished grade (pool, grass) and used the calculator link.  10 yards should do it.  $270 of topsoil plus getting it here, spread & compacted some.  Definitely needs compacting, too soft.  120mph wind would rip roots of new trees right out.  Let the roots struggle as they grow.  They will.

[pineislander]

I'm not sure where Eddie is but this company seems to be doing a good job converting yard waste into compost near Port St. Lucie. The product line includes topsoil, mulch and compost or screened millipede castings (millipoo) which is mulch which has been consumed and pooped out. I have seen good results using a similar product from millipedes and mulch that aged for a few years on my place. Once in place, the material contains eggs of the milipedes and the population explodes then they stay and continue to consume whatever organic matter you supply to them. I leave the prunings under trees and found masses of millipedes work to create soil.

here is a video of his operation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz32rW2e49M