Dirt Moving BX25 How Much Dirt can you move and labor rates?

[RomeK2]

I forgot to add one more thing- DO you realize due to the sheer number of trip you will need to make, If you are driving over a lawn to do this, you wil also need to factor in the sod repair costs.

No sod. just concrete, gravel and sand. Please see picture at top of thread. Thanks.

 

[RomeK2]

My guess is that 1 cubic yard of your dirt will be half a ton or less. Even a yard of crushed gravel is less than a ton a yard, maybe around 1.5 tons a yard, or so. As long as you know the volume you need, the place you buy the dirt from can give you a pretty good idea of the weight, if you need to know that. Since your BX25 can easily lift a full bucket of dirt, I think the more important figure to you is the volume so you know how many trips it will require to move the entire amount you have delivered.

I just read an alternative factor:1cuyds = 2tons. If so, then 139 cuyd=278 tons=23 truck load. I think that is way off.

I like yours TractorFactor: 1 cuyd=1/2 ton, if so, the 139 cu yds=70 tons=6 truck loads. This is doable.

I might have to lower the elevations on my plan a bit to lessen the dirt needed.

Would that mean bx fel 1/5 yard x 139 = 695 trips?

or

bx 5 buckets per ton x 12 tons per truck= 60 x 6 trucks= 360 trips?

I am lost now.

 

[dodge man]

If that is your volume, I think you are looking at 700 plus trips. Goggle "how much does 1 cubic yard of dirt weigh". I got 1.5 tons.

Another thing to look at is cost of the dirt. That much would be around $3500 in my area, maybe a little bit more. If you figure you can make a round trip in your BX in 2 minutes at 700 trips, you are looking at 24 hours of machine time.

 

[RomeK2]

I found a place that sells yards to yards.
The bottom line is 12-13 yards per truck @ 139 cu yards needed = 10-11 truck loads.

Yes, that is the volume. 700 trips, I wonder how long that would take?

 

[DelSc]

Around here, the trucks deliver soil and charge based on volume. The gravel pit charges based on weight. Either way, a full dump truck is supposed to hold 16 cubic yards. So if you here, and needed 139 cu yards of soil, you would just order 8 full truckloads and one partial load.

When I had my BX, I found a toothbar really sped up things when moving dirt. It allowed me to take heaping bucket loads that were much greater than I could take with just the bucket.

 

[RomeK2]

10 trucks= $900 plus tax not bad. Definitely have to go w/ the $360 fel bxpander. Any use the $60 added edge?

 

[RomeK2]

Bxpanded bucket or tooth. I wonder which is best? Or can I have both on? Anyone know?

 

[radioman]

romek- that good to hear you have some ssort of idea. I wasn't sure if you had any idea. As for the trailer idea, for example for me for what I did before- I have a small 4 by 8 trailer with 2" ball hitch. Since I made a 3 point hitch simalar to ez mover, the trailer has jack down enough so I can backup,line up ball and lift and go. I don't bother locking down the coupler. There is so much weight in the front from material it just stays there. I drive to the location and lower hitch and turn my BX around and go in with bucket and lift tongue with the bucket and dump stuff out of the trailer. I have sucessfully moved wood, compost, grass clippings and brush in that manner. One thing to say- if you put sand, stones, you might have an issue with lifting with a small tractor. you probably will end up scraping the materail off the trailer to point where its light enough to lift trailer to dump rest of contents.

saftey talk here- you may want to move the trailer wiring back a few feet to prevent cutting it. also my small trailer has the lights already set on the side about a foot away from the end so nothing got broken.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've moved over a 150 yds of dirt/gravel with my BX... very repetitive.

A struck bucket works out to about a 1/4 yd and a heaped bucket is closer to a 1/3 yd.

That said, it can be very hard, depending on conditions to get a perfect scoop and when I would get a heaped bucket, I would basically have no lift... it was only possible by attacking the mount just right.

Narrow spaces are problematic because they require extra caution and reduce speed.

If you are willing to give it a try... I would either give an hourly rate with a minimum or a day rate... lots of the operators here work by the hour...

The BX can do the job... given time.

I find the tooth bar makes it easier to get larger loads.

 

[rjkobbeman]

For that much dirt I would rent a skid steer to do the moving. They will fit anywhere the BX will, maneuver better and move dirt much faster.

MarkV

I agree with this. I think around here, I can rent a skid steer for $300 per day (8 hours).