Building a road down to the river

[gersus]

We own 17 acres of riverfront property. Most of it is up high but there is a nice bottom area. The entire property is wooded and currently there isn't a road down to the river. The neighbor has a 953 Cat, he quoted me 2k to clear trees and build the road. I was looking at it today and maybe I can do it with my little tractor. There's about a 80' elevation drop over about a couple hundred yards probably. Most of it isn't bad but the final descent is 26 degrees. It follows a ridge down so it isn't off camber at all which helps. It is possible to avoid the big trees so I wouldn't necessarily need a dozer. The steep section worries me a bit. At the bottom of the steep part there's a small flat area then a small drop off (seen on one of the pics by the picnic table top) I think sloping that area would be pretty easy, its just river sediment. I've attached some photos with a line indicating the path. Pics don't show elevation well and it looks like it would be partly off camber but it isn't. The ridge turns. I would like yall's opinions, if I should go ahead and use the dozer or if my tractor would be up to the job. Its a LS XG3025 with fluid in the tires. It's already cleared up to the 26 degree steep part. Thanks!

 

[EddieWalker]

$2,000 to do all the work and you said no? WHY?

 

[/pine]

More than doable IMO... how do you plan on managing storm water runoff ?

 

[Thomas]

If you have the time give it a whirl.
My question will there be stump removal also any large rocks ledge?

 

[Gary Fowler]

If you have no trees larger than those -2" saplings, then the clearing should be no problem. What is under those leaves (rocks maybe/Most likely in Missouri) might be a problem requiring a dozer. If you have a box blade for your tractor, 200 yards of road should be easy enough to grade in as long as you don't have to cut into slopes. Ditches might be a problem in rocky soil if they are needed. If as you say there is no slope to fool with, then I think you could do it yourself.

If your neighbor doesn't have to load and unload the dozer and you really only have 200 yards of road, then $2000 seems a bit high if all he is doing is cutting a trail, crowning the road and maybe putting in a ditch on one side. I could get a D6 dozer here for $85 an hour and that doesn't sound like it would take more than 2-3 hours to build a dirt trail. NOW if he is putting rock on it also, then the $2000 isn't a bad price at all.

 

[gersus]

The 2k is just building the trail, no ditch, no gravel.
Biggest trees would be about 3” and not many of those at all.
Yeah plenty of rock in missouri. This area has rock out croppings here and there but this particular slope seems good. Never know till ya get in there.
No other stumps to remove.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think I would give it a try before going with the dozer. Even if you hit a rock ledge, you may be able to just use it in your road bed. You should be able to pull those trees up by the roots with your tractor and a chain hooked at the drawbar. Just make sure your chain is long enough so that the tree wont smack you in the back when it comes over.

Around here, I can take out trees that size with my FEL by just pushing them over. IF you have hooks on your FEL, then you can also try pushing and lifting to pull them out by the roots. Just go slow and easy if using the FEL and make a V harness (chain hooks at each cylinder) so that you are lifting from the center. A 20 foot chain is long enough to make the V and leave a tail long enough to attach to the saplings. When using the FEL, Drive forward rather than backing up to avoid pulling down a tall tree onto the tractor.

 

[Buxus]

If the neighbor is going to knock over stumps and push them out of the way I'd let him do it even if he asked $3k.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Pictures of hills can be deceiving, but from the looks i would use the tractor.

 

[rbtjr]

I would be concerned with erosion if the trail or road goes straight down hill, especially in the area with the 26 degree grade. That's a serious grade. One thought would be for you to do what you can with your tractor, where erosion is not an issue, and get your neighbor with the 953 Cat to finish up, hopefully for less than the $2,000. If possible, I would consider angling the road down the steep part from side to side to decrease the slope, with some good drainage swells put in periodically. In my limited experience, that kind of work would be by far best done with the Cat loader.

In our area we would be paying at least $100 an hour or more, probably more, for a Cat 953, plus delivery and set-up costs. But, for only 200 yards of road clearing, assuming something like a 12' road not counting ditches and no large trees to deal with, I wouldn't expect more than a day's work with the 953.