EXTREME DIY: Land Clearing Question - Buy or rent a dozer or to pay a contractor?

www.freerepublic.com ^ | 27 Aug 2010 | TSgt

[bjc]

Yup, I can see how a 400 yard driveway might need that many c3 yards of gravel - assuming 1’ base. But the gravel cost should be easily calculated. How many bids did you get? Are you a newbie in the area? I had a septic system put in last year. Highest bid was 50% higher than actual - 20K versus 13K. (Eastern Massachusetts is very expensive for this kind of work.) Lowest bid came from a long time local who also happened to be a selectman!! I had no problems passing all the inspections plus no problems with the system. When you spend that kind of money it should buy you an honest friend as well!!

[Joe Boucher]

YOu have used reasonably heavy equipment previously so this will be fun.
Rent one as with the rental goes the maintenance as long as you don’t try moving the empire state building all at one time.
If you have the time you will feel lots more proud than if you let some pro do so.
It will take a few days to learn but I suggest finding some pro and watch for a day or so. That way fave ya time and effort.
Have fun.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Make sure you build a deep ditch on the uphill side of your road. Line the ditch with large stone to keep the water in the ditch and to slow it down a bit.
Consider putting in a 24 inch culverts to collect the water running down the hill. Walk the property during a good rain to see where the water is running now and make sure your modifications don't send the water to your building site.
Your hillside road looks much like ours here in the Missouri Ozarks. I hired a pro to trim the grade and deepen the ditch so the water wouldn't jump. Three years ago, I had APAC pave the road with asphalt. If you don't control the water, you will lose all the effort you put into your access.

[IronJack]

You should forget about pushing the trees over and gouging out big chunks of Mother Earth so you can build your capitalist McMansion. You should talk to the trees and maybe convince them to let you live among them in perfect harmony, at one with the land instead of its Master.

Sorry ... I was having an Al Gore moment ...

Personally, I’m a fan of slash-and-burn. And there’s no such thing as “too big” a bulldozer.

[6ppc]

I like the idea of doing it yourself, but something to keep in mind is any regulations that may apply to clearing land.

I don't know if this applies to all land in Alabama, but our shooting range has to get a permit to clear more than one acre of land in any given year. Kentucky may also have regulations so you need to check. There are also federal regulations on interfering with water flow...we almost got in a LOT of trouble with the Corps of Engineers because we diverted several intermittent flow streams (i.e. runoff), and it cost us over $30,000 to come back and install pipe to restore the water flow.

Government has reached the point where you don't have unrestricted use of your land any longer, no matter how far out in the sticks you are.

[dangerdoc]

tractorbynet.com

A vast store of knowledge about machinery, projects and people sharing practical information about this and similar questions.

Go to forums, look at projects.

[Orange1998]

I would go with A but first negotiate the price. Gravel is very expensive when you need a lot of it. You will be surprised how quickly it adds up. Go to the gravel supply give them the dimensions and they will tell you how much you need.

If you decide to DYI I would HIGHLY suggest you purchase a Dewalt Level.

Don't think about renting a laser level. Done that and lost. You will use the laser level often because the eyes lie.

[TSgt]

Thanks!

Our neighbors across the road and down the road just had major excavation accomplished, no permits or regulations.

[TSgt]

Thanks!

There are two relatively new neighbors on our road. One of them did as you said and installed the proper drainage. The other’s excavator did slash and burn without drainage and they are already suffering the effects of erosion.

I’m already marking where water would normally run across the driveway for culverts and will be sure do have a deep ditch for drainage.

[Ratman83]

Buy the dozer and do it yourself. After the house is built you can then use the dozer to build your own private gun range.

[chrisser]

you can then use the dozer to build your own private gun range.

I like the way you think!

[Sequoyah101]

As small as this stuff is about a 7 ton track hoe with a blade would be what I would use first. If you go with a dozer you are going to get nothing but a bunch of run over and skinned up sprigs, big holes, dirt in the trees you deck and so forth. You have to get down in the dirt to get these small sprigs and you’ll move a lot of dirt. If you had a brush rake it would not be as bad but you’ll still have to get down in the dirt to get the things out.

If you can’t push it over with a 7 ton trackhoe you probably want to keep it anyway. Make sure it has a thumb and you can deck the stuff you cut then push it into bigger piles.

I have a dozer, trackhoe, loader with 4in1 bucket, a loader backhoe, scraper and tractors. Unless I’m just hogging dirt and leveling stuff the trackhoe is my weapon of choice. You can be selective and with a dozer you need one big enough to hit several trees at a time, otherwise you find yourself just noodling out with the end bit. Think about it, would you rather push sideways with a dozer and peel trees out into what you have cleared, push trees into standing trees or reach in, pull them down, pick them up and stack them behind you?

If you want a pond you can dig it then rent a dozer to do the final grades around the place.

I have 80 acres to clean-up someday. For that I’ll probably invest in a good used 12 ton trackhoe with a thumb, lay the stuff down and deck it with the dozer then brush hog the sprigs followed by disk and turned over chain harrow.

Even with a 4 ton trackhoe I can usually leave a clean half acre an hour behind me in 6” pines and Yaupon.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Looks like what you have may take a while. If it were me, I would buy a good used D-6 for around 10-15K and then work the land slowly and in steps, over several years. Do the main things first of course.

Renting will cost much more than buying in the long run. Not only that, after you are finished, you can sell the dozer to someone else for very near what you paid for it. That way, you are only our for the materials you haul in.

Be very careful about buying now though. You may pay too much if the economy goes south and construction prices hit the bottom. I usually wait till it is a buyers market and it hits the rock bottom before I buy.

You can also accept a 30 year old model D-6 that may need some minor work, like building up the skid rails, dozer blade, (A good place to learn how to weld) etc, and save even more. Just a few repairs and it will last you for years of work ahead. I say this because I am the definition of DIY dudes. I build, do electrical, plumbing, weld, operate heavy equip., and what ever I have to in order to gain value or equity as fast as possible. It has helped me build up a comfortable retirement over the years.

Good luck in what you choose, and hope some of what I have pointed out will help you make a choice. The main thing is, have no fear. It is amazing what we are capable of if we try.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

With a coal mining background, I can tell you grade and drainage are important.
When we bought our ten acres here at Lake of the Ozarks, there was a poor gravel and mudstone road that was impassable in bad weather. It was too steep and tipped the wrong way to make a ditch work.
I hired a local guy with road building knowledge and he did the whole thing, except for the asphalt. He did the work in about three days with a little dozer and backhoe/hammer.

[ErnBatavia]

Put one of these up and make some calls to bureacrats....it may end up costing you nothing.

[Ratman83]

46 ac. will could have a good range, I am so envious.

[Grammy]

We had several acres of dead standing wood to clear. Those kind of trees are called “widow makers” because they tend to snap off up high and fall on whoever is cutting them. We needed a dozer with a cage for protection.

Mr G is very handy and does really well with large equipment. Our friend stored his dozer here for several months and we could use it any time we wanted. All the work Mr G did was nothing, compared to what our friend accomplished in a few hours. The finesse he had with the machine was unbelievable.

Additionally, having someone who understands the layout of the road will help in future road repair, with regards to run off and erosion. Our neighbor did his own, and now the hill he cut it out of is collapsing. Really a pain, and causing us problems with *our* land falling onto *his* drive. It is not our fault, but he is making our land less valuable and killing our trees.

So, the *real* question is.... do you want it done, efficiently, and done right, or do you want to play with man toys?

[TSgt]

Something like this?

1990 CAT D3C
http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=7331931

1988 CAT D4H LGP
http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=7324888

[TSgt]

I appreciate the response however how does one learn if they never try? All heavy equipment operators had to start somewhere.

Sorry, I don’t back down that easily from a challenge...

[TSgt]

We are talking Kentucky here.

No range necessary, just setup a few cans and blast away!