Clearing driveway and building site

[dirtmonkey]

This is also going to sound harsh but many times people have asked me the same basic questions. As a contractor , I get tired of people wasting my time always trying to " save money " by asking me how to due some thing that I do to make a living. I E put food on my table. Now why would I want to talk myself out of a job. Now , once the said home owner has gone and done his thing ( screw crap up , you know any one can do what we do ) he calls me again. Now I know he has no more money because he wasted it on rentals but wants me to come in and clean up his mess. Why ? He's broke and it'll take twice the work and money. What's the incentive ?
OP , I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm picking on you but, you are basically asking us how to take food out of another mans mouth.
That said , there is a lot of experience and help here. Lots to learn. Just understand what you are asking us to do. Good luck , best wishes.

Rant over.

 

[SmoothOperator9]

I tend to agree with other members about hiring someone to do the job . I'm trying to get a better feel for the job looking at the picture . Just guessing property acreage around 5 acres and new driveway 700 to 800 feet long ? Looking at the curves in the drive leads me to think the ground is a little hilly . We would send a dozer to a job like that to clear the trees , build the road , and level off what's needed for the home site . Should be pretty strait forward for an operator on a D6 size dozer . Good luck with the new property .

That's exactly what I said to use earlier. Couldn't agree more it will be the best and fastest equipment for the job if you hire a good dozer operator.

 

[bmckenzie]

If $$ is a make or break on the project, why not do it a little at a time ?, A lot of work got done before they invented a dozer and excavator. A 4x4 pickup, chainsaw, and shovel will take you a long ways just not as fast.

 

[joispoi]

I've done jobs that would have been done faster, easier and for less money if the homeowner hadn't "started" them before I got there.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but you've already said that you don't care about cleanup. I can only read this as you're not concerned about making a mess.

If you have no experience, it's unlikely that you'll save any money.

Education costs money, no matter how you acquire it.

 

[buckfever]

If I was in your shoes here is what I would do.

1. Go to you local hardware store and buy some marking tape ( plastic tape that comes in assorted bright colors). Next go to your property and layout the driveway and pad for the home by tying the tape onto trees that will be on the outside of the drive and house pad. Next spend some time looking around and making sure that this is what you want your drive to look and how you want the house to sit.

2. Breakout the chainsaw and weedeater and cut down all trees and brush that fall within the boundaries of the house pad and drive.

3. Go to your local rental place and rent a small towbehind wood chipper ( one of those 20hp gas jobs will work best) and spend a weekend cutting and chipping everything you can. Anything to big to go in the chipper gets tossed to the side.

4. Now go to your equipment rental place and get a mini-ex ( JD 50 or cat303) with a thumb and dig out the stumps and stack them outside the construction line to be delt with later.

5. Return the mini and rent the biggest CTL they have. Strip the topsoil and stack it NEATLY. Do not just push it into a nasty pile with holes to collect water and turn everything into a sloppy mess. Then cut the pad and drive to grade.

Don't try and rent a excavator to knock down trees unless you have expierence doing so or want to find out how much those glass windows in the front cost.

 

[nhillin]

What size is your lot? I've done alot of clearing with a CTL with a tough grapple and a CAT E70B (15K machine). I've done 5 acres of mature pines and 10 years worth of underbrush in 4 months while working a full time 40hr a week job. Bought the CTL and borrowed the excavator. (Ex's are very dangerous for tree removal in my inexperienced opinion)

 

[caterpillarmech]

I know that some of these comments seem harsh but they are the voice of experience. I work on a lot of rental machines and see home owners get themselves in trouble all the time. "oh this looks easy on t.v." is not the way to get the job done. You have to pay for damages no matter what. Equipment protection only kicks in if you reach 50% of the machine cost in damages. FTV Fire Theft , and vandalism only. If you destroy it, you are still on the hook. Operating/ home building are not tasks you can just jump into. I just had a customer that thought if he had a service call everyday then it was a free day. He was doing the same job you are. 90% of the calls were him tearing the machine up since he did no know what he was doing. He got a heck of a bill at the end. I say hire it out, get it done and behind you. You can always do other things with your time once its finished.

 

[CM1995]

Some people must have some really generous friends to borrow equipment. There is no way I would let someone without any experience operating borrow my 13 year old 334 mini-ex much less my 321DL prime mover.:cool2

 

[nhillin]

You've gotta have friends that trust you'll fix any and every problem it may have. Including a good pressure washing job. And most important, friends with equipment that aren't making a living with their equipment. I guess it different out in the boonies where all ya got to do is do a favor to get a favor.

 

[CM1995]

You've gotta have friends that trust you'll fix any and every problem it may have. Including a good pressure washing job. And most important, friends with equipment that aren't making a living with their equipment. I guess it different out in the boonies where all ya got to do is do a favor to get a favor.

That is a different situation nhillin, it's like borrowing a lawnmower from your neighbor as long as he's not in the lawn care business.

I let friends in the business borrow my equipment to fill in when they need it from time to time (as they have done the same for me) or load their truck with my machine in a pit if they need a couple of loads and don't want to move theirs. However, like you said I trust them and the most important thing is they have the money to fix whatever they break.

 

[Dickjr.]

I don't let anyone borrow my equipment they can rent it for 5$ more on the hour then I get to run it myself.