# Clearing driveway and building site



## earthenstead (Feb 7, 2014)

Among the first things I need to do with my new property are clear a driveway and building site. The options that I am aware of are to either hire someone with the heavy equipment, or to rent the equipment and do it myself.

There is no marketable timber on the property. There are far too few trees on the property of desirable diameter. So no, I cannot get someone to clear trees and pay me.

At the start, I was supposed to be able to borrow some equipment, but that fell through. My aim is to save as much money on this as possible. I am looking to start an interactive dialog with this thread to consider my options.

Does anyone here have any experience operating heavy equipment?


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2014)

I would suggest that if you don't have any experience running the necessary equipment that you would be better off hiring it done .


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

For $75 to $125 per hour you can usually hire a guy with a bulldozer that will get more stuff done in a day than you could in a week.


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## Clod Kicker (May 7, 2012)

Sometimes that includes travel time, so shop locally.


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

Hire it done........much cheaper.....you tear up something you pay for repairs....


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

Clod Kicker said:


> Sometimes that includes travel time, so shop locally.


Delivery for rental machines up here is expensive. Usually at least $50-$250. Add in fuel and any broken glass etc and it gets very expensive. A front window on a medium sized excavator can run $750 plus installation at $85+ an hour.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

RonM said:


> Hire it done........much cheaper.....you tear up something you pay for repairs....


 Agreed. Plus and decent excavation outfit should have the lasers etc to set proper grade. 

Another thing to think about. If you have proper gravels on site, you may be able to mine your own land instead of hauling road base etc in.


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## chuckhole (Mar 2, 2006)

I am a computer geek by trade so I do not operate heavy equipment for a living. But I do own a John Deere 310G backhoe and have good neighbor access to a John Deere 550G dozer and a dump truck.
Even with my neighbor teaching me, it took a while to learn how to operate all of this equipment to where it is second nature to me.
Unless you see yourself using this type of equipment for a while as I do, pay someone to do this for you.
For every 10 hours of operation, I use:
Backhoe (14,000 lb transport weight) - 10 gallons of diesel, 1 tube of grease
Dozer (18,000 lb transport weight) - 18 gallons of diesel, 1/4 tube of grease
Dump Truck - 6 gallons of gas, no grease
Tandem dually gooseneck trailer not included


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

My Sister needed a Lot cleared, My Mother/Step Father were helping her out with the Money, till she got her MH set-up on her Lot--then she was going to take out a loan and re-pay them. I got a Neighbor(he is in the business) figure a price(years ago) it was $1200 to bring in a Track-hoe and dozer(one days work), Fix it just like she wanted. Step Father said No--He would save her hundreds(he was trying to help her), He had a Track-hoe delivered, hired a guy that was Not great at running but could run it. Step father running a chainsaw---After 2 days, they had a Mess, had almost $900 in the rental and paying the Guy, Step father and Mother had 2 days tied up in this--with the lot no where near finished, and nice size holes dug and left---a TOTAL Mess. 

They ask me to contact the Neighbor to finish it. The Neighbor came up----he just shook his head----and Said they have made a BIG mess, extra work for him, because they had sawed some of the tree's off so he had to dig up stumps instead of using the tree to push them over and pop them out the ground. $1400 is the best price he can do it for now to get it straighten out. Took him almost 2 days, but he did not charge her anymore than agreed on. 

Some Things are best to let The Pro's do and just watch!!!


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

I rent the dozers an excavation equipment unless its finish work. A good operator will definately save you money on any finish work. 65 to 75 per hour is standard. Be clear with them on expectations.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Unless you know how and/or have the equipment yourself, it is cheaper in the long run to hire an experienced operator. Second, just because you think it is expensive, do not cut corners. Overbuild the road, good deep ditches to handle all the water in a heavy rainstorm, culverts if needed, etc. Same for building pads, plenty of height so you have a good slope away from buildings. Do it good the first time, much more expensive to come back to fix right....James


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## Hoopjohn (Mar 8, 2013)

Here is what I did on my heavily wooded property.

There already was a partial road in. Sandy soil. Good drainage. My big issue was removing lots of mature trees.
I clear cut a big area, suitable for the house, garage & lawn. Made firewood out of all the big trees. Tops of trees were manually placed in big piles, where they would be later burned. 

When it came time for an excavator, all they had to do was remove stumps (which were buried on my property) and level off the ground. 

I thought about renting equipment, but opted to hire the work out, as I realized an excavation professional likely could get more accomplished in a day......what would take me a week to do.

I'm convinced that removing all the trees myself lowered the costs of excavation.......and would suggest anyone wishing to hold costs in check to do the same.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Hoopjohn said:


> Here is what I did on my heavily wooded property.
> 
> There already was a partial road in. Sandy soil. Good drainage. My big issue was removing lots of mature trees.
> I clear cut a big area, suitable for the house, garage & lawn. Made firewood out of all the big trees. Tops of trees were manually placed in big piles, where they would be later burned.
> ...


Trees are much easier to push over than dig stumps it the trees are large for sure . :bash:


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

But on the other hand, if you have a lot of trees, it is easier to take one at a time, cut it up, pile the brush and have it all out of the way, than to deal with it all mish mash. A big track hoe can deal with a big stump quick and easy, bury them in the hole it dug and be gone quickly, saving a lot of time and money....James


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## Earthling (Mar 6, 2014)

Then there is this approach:
You don't say how much acreage you have. If it is a couple of acres or more, you will save money buy biting the bullet and buying that tractor now. You don't know how many uses it has and how much it can save you until you own one. I waited too long. 

If don't have that much land then I agree with the others.


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## vpapai (Nov 18, 2010)

I was just faced with the same dilemma. We had a poor 1100' driveway that was rutted and was the lowest point in the land, so we had to raise it and improve the drainage. 4 days of dozer work where he pealed back the top soil and graded the sides so that water would have a place to flow. He also cleared two diverter drainage routes along the drive to allow water to flow off into the fields. Then his buddy came and dropped 37 truckloads of clay to build up the drive, plus 4 loads of gravel as a top coat. All told, the driveway set me back 6k. However, it was done properly, and in 4 days. 

The lesson is that we also have 8 acres of overgrown pastures where pine trees and scrub oak have overtaken. At first I borrowed my friend's 51hp tractor and 6' light weight bush hog to clear the land. After a flat tire (ran over a deer antler!!!!) broken flashing lights, and missing pins, my very good friend was vastly relieved when I told him I had ordered my own tractor. I got a good medium duty bush hog and went after the heavier brush. I was using my brand new tractor as a bull dozer and put a 3" limb through the radiator. In another incident, I ripped off the steel protection box over the hydraulic hoses. I then decided to pay the dozer man I had used for the driveway, and he cleared those acres in 5 days. I wish I would have put the repair costs on my tractor to paying the dozer man for work that I could have done in several months, and at some unknown cost in equipment, in the first place. 

Some things are better to let the professionals do for you, as it will happen faster and better than what you could most likely do.


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