I was thinking the same thing, I charge $500 just for transportation on excavator jobs and $750 if they cannot sit for a few days on site after completion.
Clearing 1/2 Acre...You Want How Much???
- Thread starter Kyle241
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I was thinking the same thing, I charge $500 just for transportation on excavator jobs and $750 if they cannot sit for a few days on site after completion.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
well times are hard here, and most of them arnt working
Carl_NH
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Kyle,
Since it seems you dont want to or cant burn stumps (in many places you cant anymore as they burn for days) there are several possible avenues.
Have a tree co with a 2-3 man crew and in one day they should be able to cut and chip the 60-70 trees you have. Around here its $1500 a day for a crew of three with a chipper. Have them leave the 10' 4-5" stuff for firewood and chip the rest.
Then rent a stump grinder and take out the stumps - I would estimate a medium sized one rents for about $250 a weekend - probably you can do 6-7 stumps an hour in the 6" range.
Second option is get a logger with a track skid steer with tree shears and a bunching head - it grabs the trunk and shears off (up to about 10-12"), then goes on to the next one grabbing 2-3-4 before laying them down nice and neat for the chipper operation., The same guy probably has a chipper so have him chip what you dont want. He/she would fell your 60-70 trees in 4-5 hours or less and lay them down.
Then either rent or have someone grind the stumps and spread the chips with your tractor. Around here operators with a small to medium chipper are $350/500 a day and can probably grind 8-12 5" trees per hour (this includes operator and gas, etc) depending on the chipper.
The dozer or excavator will remove a lot of dirt and roots, and make more of a mess plus disturb the existing tree roots so they will take some time to recover.
Now if you go the excavator route you will need to regrade, remove the roots and rocks, and probably more important rip up roots of the existing trees then dispose the stumps. For stumps - around here its $350-400 a 20 yard load, and $800 a 100 yard load (I paid $1700 for 200 yds of stump disposal last year). I would estimate you have about 30-40 yds of stumps.
Cost and time considered, I would have someone take down the trees chip the tops, leave the bottoms for firewood, then grind the stumps. I would say its $15-2000 to remove and chip the trees leaving you the firewood then $500 to grind the stumps and its all nearly done.
The least damage you do to the surrouding soil structure the better for the remaining trees - I have seen that first hand here with our 15-30" oaks and maples - they are struggling this year after ripping out the 30-36" pine tree butts around them - but they will survive and thrive with more sun.
My 2 C
Carl
Since it seems you dont want to or cant burn stumps (in many places you cant anymore as they burn for days) there are several possible avenues.
Have a tree co with a 2-3 man crew and in one day they should be able to cut and chip the 60-70 trees you have. Around here its $1500 a day for a crew of three with a chipper. Have them leave the 10' 4-5" stuff for firewood and chip the rest.
Then rent a stump grinder and take out the stumps - I would estimate a medium sized one rents for about $250 a weekend - probably you can do 6-7 stumps an hour in the 6" range.
Second option is get a logger with a track skid steer with tree shears and a bunching head - it grabs the trunk and shears off (up to about 10-12"), then goes on to the next one grabbing 2-3-4 before laying them down nice and neat for the chipper operation., The same guy probably has a chipper so have him chip what you dont want. He/she would fell your 60-70 trees in 4-5 hours or less and lay them down.
Then either rent or have someone grind the stumps and spread the chips with your tractor. Around here operators with a small to medium chipper are $350/500 a day and can probably grind 8-12 5" trees per hour (this includes operator and gas, etc) depending on the chipper.
The dozer or excavator will remove a lot of dirt and roots, and make more of a mess plus disturb the existing tree roots so they will take some time to recover.
Now if you go the excavator route you will need to regrade, remove the roots and rocks, and probably more important rip up roots of the existing trees then dispose the stumps. For stumps - around here its $350-400 a 20 yard load, and $800 a 100 yard load (I paid $1700 for 200 yds of stump disposal last year). I would estimate you have about 30-40 yds of stumps.
Cost and time considered, I would have someone take down the trees chip the tops, leave the bottoms for firewood, then grind the stumps. I would say its $15-2000 to remove and chip the trees leaving you the firewood then $500 to grind the stumps and its all nearly done.
The least damage you do to the surrouding soil structure the better for the remaining trees - I have seen that first hand here with our 15-30" oaks and maples - they are struggling this year after ripping out the 30-36" pine tree butts around them - but they will survive and thrive with more sun.
My 2 C
Carl
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
yeiks..... i had the excavator dig me a deep hole after he pulled my trees, and i buried the roots. i tried to burn them before, and wasnt successful. buried = beautiful site.
Carl_NH
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GRS,
Burying is the last resort - I have seen sink holes go on for years 5 yards at a time every year as they sink and consume more dirt.
We did bury 8-10 3' around stumps in a low area (because I didnt want to pay for another 100 yd truckload) and covered with 3' of clay/loam soil.
If you have the land (and hollows etc) IMO bury away but the OP indicates a 1/2 acre area.
Burying is the last resort - I have seen sink holes go on for years 5 yards at a time every year as they sink and consume more dirt.
We did bury 8-10 3' around stumps in a low area (because I didnt want to pay for another 100 yd truckload) and covered with 3' of clay/loam soil.
If you have the land (and hollows etc) IMO bury away but the OP indicates a 1/2 acre area.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
i guess it all depends on what your grounds like. Ive buries roots for 14 years here, and i havnt had a single sink hole. We have decomposed granite here, so it compacts very well. After i dig a hole and bury the roots, i put ALL of the original dirt back in the hole and leave a little mound. After a few years it flattens itself out. I think the OP said hes treeing 1/2 acre, not that he only has 1/2 acre.
It doesn't matter how long he has been in business. I stated that you should not get too attached to him, as he will be out of business soon.
Do the math, make a positive financial story out of this job. You are either related or you are leaving something out of the story. The up-front cost of the excavator, truck, trailer, and the operating cost of depreciation, repairs, PM, diesel fuel, etc are not that different from region to region. Labor cost for driver/operator may differ somewhat, but the fixed and variable costs listed above do not vary appreciably.
The net result of this, as folks who have already opined in this thread will attest to, is that charging $230 for a day's site work with an excavator is completely unsustainable.
Wrooster
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
i never said a days work, it was for 1-1/2 hours work. The days work job he charged about 600.00 for. He has been in business for a long time, i think he knows whats he doing. he is not related to me at all. I dont know what to tell you, but i just paid the bill. What can i say. He knocked and stacked my trees in no time flat. Amazing machine
Last weekend got a komatsu 135. Had it 3 days $1100 for the whole time though only 21 hrs on machine tore about about 75 stumps and knocked over two 3 foot diameter trees and 4 or five smaller ones and dug out my pond. I wish it had a blade to push dirt but I'm doing the clean up with my 2710. Fast quick and lots of good power
scoutcub
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I would take a hard look at renting the 161.
Does it have a front blade, or thumb? Either of these will help you a lot. You can essentially put the bucket at the mid-level of the tree and push the trees over.....so stump and all are also out. Re-fill the holes, after you push the trees clear. Stack or place them so you can buck em up. Dig a hole to bury the stumps, and as already stated, put all the dirt back over the top, so it has a mound that will settle flat.
The only problem is moving the stumps to the hole......you can dig a nice deep hole with the ex, but can you move the stumps at your convenience with your tractor is the question. Otherwise you're burning a lot of time cutting stumps while you have the ex.
The blade on the ex can be used to level the areas. The thumb can be used to move the logs/stumps around.
A dozer can also push trees over and move them where you want them, unless you're in a heavily wooded area. Not as good as digging holes though.
I've done both...and they both work!
Does it have a front blade, or thumb? Either of these will help you a lot. You can essentially put the bucket at the mid-level of the tree and push the trees over.....so stump and all are also out. Re-fill the holes, after you push the trees clear. Stack or place them so you can buck em up. Dig a hole to bury the stumps, and as already stated, put all the dirt back over the top, so it has a mound that will settle flat.
The only problem is moving the stumps to the hole......you can dig a nice deep hole with the ex, but can you move the stumps at your convenience with your tractor is the question. Otherwise you're burning a lot of time cutting stumps while you have the ex.
The blade on the ex can be used to level the areas. The thumb can be used to move the logs/stumps around.
A dozer can also push trees over and move them where you want them, unless you're in a heavily wooded area. Not as good as digging holes though.
I've done both...and they both work!
