Buying vs. Hiring

[USAFpj]

I was thinking of using them in the large creek that runs through the property. Erosion control and fish cover as well. Will check into the 'fencing' option, too.

 

[tjkadar]

With the size of those trees, I think you'll be able to push most of them over and have the stump come out with the tree. Don't think it'll be much of a problem. I would take a look at the regs regarding creeks. Off hand, I don't know what they are, but when we were clearing land, we had to stay a certain footage away from our creeks. Not saying don't do it, but be informed when/if you do.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Whatever you do, do not leave portions of a stump or roots in your roadway as they will become potholes when the roots rot. The other clearing can be just push over/cutoff etc but not for your road. Some pines have a deep taproot while others push over easily. Good luck in your endeavor. I also prefer to do the work myself when given the time.

 

[newbury]

Thought I'd give an update on our land clearing job: I've been overseas for a bit, but will have (45)days off real soon. My GC gave a quick estimate for the following: $3,800 for clearing/grading driveway, no gravel, to home site (about 300yds). And $2,450 for clearing trees/brush from the (1) acre home site. The trees are about 25 Virginia Pine and Yellow Poplar, most of which are less than 12in diameter. My Uncle's JD350 crawler with clamshell loader has been offered for just the cost of fuel, and sits about 2min away from my property. I've attached a pic of the property, and I think I'm going to do it! I plan on reaching high, knocking them down, cutting off the stumps, then using the clamshell, piling the logs and stumps separately. I figure worst case, my GC charges the same amount just to fix my mistakes:laughing:
View attachment 419800
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Sounds like a plan!

We need progress pictures and maybe a video please.

 

[Beltman60]

the trees don't look very big to me
I would give it a try and remove what you can and then get some estimates on doing the rest if you have problems
would save you some cash and I always enjoy some seat time on power equipment :cool2:

 

[EddieWalker]

Sounds like a pretty good price from your contractor. Especially if he cleans up all the debris and leaves you with a graded driveway and level building pad.

I think that after a couple of hours on the JD, you will realize it was a good price too.

Eddie

 

[USAFpj]

What Eddie said...

:laughing::laughing:

Eddie, at the very least, I gotta get the 11 and 9 year old boys on the crawler and rip up some roots! Yeah, my GC has been a good and honest dude. Any guy that's as busy as him in a housing climate like this has to be good, I reckon.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Hello! The wife and I plan on building a home on our 140 acre parcel in Upstate SC by this time next year. My question is this- Is it wiser to hire professionals to clear a heavily wooded (2) acre home site, dig the septic, and clear the old log road to the site, or buy a $20K backhoe and, along with my Uncle's Dozer, do this work myself? Time is not the issue right now, but I could use that $20K towards the down payment on the mortgage or for the other expenses that come with a new home.

Am I really saving money by attempting this work myself with a tool I know I'll need to maintain the land, or just wait until the home is up, then look for toys? Thanks, TBN.

What do you plan to do with your free time if you hire it out?

 

[USAFpj]

Eric, there's a laundry list of things that will need to be completed either way- both fun and work. I'm content with the estimate, but using the crawler would be educational as well. So to answer your question, the time will be spent with the kids either way...

 

[NC419N]

It has been my experience that to get a job done to suit me I had to do it. There in nothing worse than paying someone to do grading work only to find it done the way they wanted it done and not the way you want it.
If you are in no real rush do it yourself with the kids it is something they will treasure the rest of their lives. You will gain valuable experience and will have the equipment to use for many other projects that will come up over your live time and theirs. Me my father and father in law cleared planted and projected on our home place for years. They are both gone on but I wouldn't take a million dollars for the time that we spent together.

 

[bumperm]

It has been my experience that to get a job done to suit me I had to do it. There in nothing worse than paying someone to do grading work only to find it done the way they wanted it done and not the way you want it.
If you are in no real rush do it yourself with the kids it is something they will treasure the rest of their lives. You will gain valuable experience and will have the equipment to use for many other projects that will come up over your live time and theirs. Me my father and father in law cleared planted and projected on our home place for years. They are both gone on but I wouldn't take a million dollars for the time that we spent together.

Amen!

Never pass up an excuse to buy tools. It's a guy thing. And, there's a mathematical formula to help you decide whether to purchase or not:

Want X Need = Buy

To further explain this formula, please note that just a little Need with a whole lot of Want equals Buy!

Conversely, a whole lot of Need with just a little Want still equals Buy.

This formula is useful when discussing purchase decisions with the wife, however, in a healthy marriage, all tools are "off budget" when it comes to your Toy Account.

 

[jenkinsph]

Amen!

Never pass up an excuse to buy tools. It's a guy thing. And, there's a mathematical formula to help you decide whether to purchase or not:

Want X Need = Buy

To further explain this formula, please note that just a little Need with a whole lot of Want equals Buy!

Conversely, a whole lot of Need with just a little Want still equals Buy.

This formula is useful when discussing purchase decisions with the wife, however, in a healthy marriage, all tools are "off budget" when it comes to your Toy Account.

I used that formula for the last 25 years or so. I know I over bought all kinds of tools I thought it was the right thing to do. You can become a prisoner of your tools and look back one day and recognize that money in the bank is easier to take care of.

 

[bumperm]

I used that formula for the last 25 years or so. I know I over bought all kinds of tools I thought it was the right thing to do. You can become a prisoner of your tools and look back one day and recognize that money in the bank is easier to take care of.

Blasphemy! :shocked:

My name is Bumper and I'm a toolaholic . . . I need help!

 

[bumperm]

Sometimes I'll make a tool for a specific purpose, then years later happen upon it, pick it up and wonder, "Now what the **** is this for?". My lingering goal is to have my kids go through my stuff piece by piece and that be the oft repeated lament.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
If you are in no real rush do it yourself with the kids it is something they will treasure the rest of their lives. You will gain valuable experience and will have the equipment to use for many other projects that will come up over your live time and theirs. Me my father and father in law cleared planted and projected on our home place for years. They are both gone on but I wouldn't take a million dollars for the time that we spent together.

My Father and Grandfather built a duplex on what they thought was 20 acres of farmland in northern Vermont (Essex Center, turned out to be 30 acres when surveyed years later). I was in 6th grade when we started cutting thorn trees in the winter and piling them up. I soon learned to live like a pincushion. It took about a year and a half before we moved in, with virtually all the work done by the three Georges. Grandfather, George Sr., Dad, George Jr., and me.
In my summer the first year I learned to carry 4 concrete block at once and mix concrete.

My Grandfather was a master carpenter and my Dad was a tool and die maker at IBM. Grandfather worked full time on the house, Dad nights and weekends. With the "finishing off" of the house, later building a garage and barn, plus maintaining the woodlot they kept me busy enough to NOT get in trouble until college.

Like NC41 wrote it was priceless. Plus it gave me a strong enough founding in all aspects of house building that I'm pretty confident doing anything and can spot when a contractor is cutting corners or doing poor work.

From my Grandfather I learned the major electrical test - ALFSAF - or Always Look For Smoke And Fire. And that there is only a limited amount of smoke packaged in electrical components and once it's gone they need replacing.

My Father taught me a job worth doing is worth doing when you can do it well. Sometimes it's better not to start a non-critical project until you've fully completed the 3 P's:
Ponder a lot and do some sketches
Piddle around - looking to see what's on hand you can use and repurpose
Putter - start putting things together so you can finish the project with a purpose.