Leveling a yard off

think carefully before you do that...a lot of those drainage plans are intentional, particularly in subdivisions...

does water drain across your yard from another property?...you have to be sure you don't do anything that would flood your or someone else's house if you have a freak rain...

google French Drain

LINK

Rent a trencher or hire some manuel laborers.

I could use some help here too. Gf is about to move into a house with a low spot in the back yard from where the pervious owners removed a large oak tree. I'd like to bring it up and level it off. What type of fill should I use? Should I dig/till it up first?

Same problem here. If there are simply some low spots in the yard that collect water and require filling, what is best material for filling? River Silt or sand? or something else?

I do have a few spots in the front that I was going to level but they are small enough I can do those with a wheelbarrow. I am just going to use topsoil for that but again we are not talking a large area.

Now my backyard is a different story.

Cant help you there man. I was talking about smaller areas. Sorry

LINK You should use Mason sand or coarse sand as fill to topdress turf grass. Deeper holes will require native top soil and can be topped off with sand. Any wood from stump grinding needs to be removed and replaced with soil. River sand/silt usually has a lot of weed seeds so you should avoid using it.