Adding a parking area. Practical with tractor?

[Conservation]

I usually do it myself, but that isn't a real bad price either. Probably 2/3rd of that price is rock maybe?
I almost always make the mistake of not removing enough earth to leave room for ample rock. I don't figure it out til I am nearly done, and then it really is too late unless you want to start over. You can always add more rock, and it just makes it better. It just costs money.

 

[Freds]

That's what I figured, Conservation. Most of that price is material, so the price for his labor and equipment isn't really that bad. Kinda like the pond guys who have to weigh digging it themselves with their tractor, which we've seen done, or just hiring an excavator or dozer to come in and be done with it. Once I saw the breakdown it pretty much made my decision for me. I get enough "seat time" doing other things (lol).

 

[Charlesaf3]

strikes me as a pretty fair price for rock - that'd buy one truckload out here. No labor.

 

[TUG HILL ADDICT]

Just to update.
I got a price of $1,335 from a local contractor. Real local, he lives on the next street up (lol). His quote listed 66 ton of bank gravel for the base and 10 ton of 2b to top it off. Plus he would taper back into my yard area with the existing topsoil. He said weather permitting, one long day to do the job. Pricey, but if I break it down that's 3-1/2 tri-ax loads. A couple years ago I was paying 280 per load for 1b stone. So if I purchased the fill, which I've been leaning towards, I guess about 400 isn't too bad to have someone come in who does this kind of work and be done with it. And he would tamp it, also, so there would be my rental for a tamper if I'm justifying cost that way. The big benefit would be not having my parking area torn up for more than a day, which my customers will appreciate. The downside is I'm not doing the work myself, but I can live with that to have things done in a day by a professional. I imagine I'll still need the rototiller and rake to work the taper into something that can be seeded. It might even benefit me to till it up before he pushes the sod.

So that's where I'm at with that.

What about geotextile cloth (aka soil seperater) between the fill and the stone?

 

[Freds]

He didn't mention it, Tug. And I didn't use any when I expanded my parking area 8 years ago (level ground that time and I had a dozer prep the area). Everything kind of embedded and made for one solid driving surface and no ankle twisters for the ladies.

 

[radman1]

I agree, that price in my area, wouldn't even cover the cost of material. If he is guessing a long day, then I would let him do it all. That price seems very reasonable. I am getting bids on cementing my drive way. I plan to scrap off the existing rock, haul it to the back of my property with my dump trailer and let them remove the remaining dirt.