I want to cut a trail through my woods -about 800 feet-and clear about 3/4 of an acre. It's all weed trees mostly 3 to 8 inches with a few large Osage Orange (Hedge Apple) trees and spiny locust trees. This excavator wants to bring in his large track hoe and a loader. I questioned whether such a large piece of equiptment was necessary but he assures me it will make the job go faster. I hope it goes fast because he's quoting me $100 per hour for the hoe and $75 per hour for the loader. Does this sound reasonable?
Clearing Trees
- Thread starter BXmark
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RobS
Super Member
Mark, like anything else it depends on how long you want to spend. I cleared a driveway swath through an old fencerow on our property. Took out about 20 trees, only half of which were 6-8 inch. The three inchers pull out pretty easily but the bigger ones took me quite a bit of time. For such a small area, I still spent the better part of two weekends cutting and digging the stumps (with my FEL).
You've got quite a bit to clear, I'd recommend the heavy equipment. You'll still get ample tractor time moving brush piles and logs /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
You've got quite a bit to clear, I'd recommend the heavy equipment. You'll still get ample tractor time moving brush piles and logs /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Buck
Platinum Member
My neighbor cut a snowmobile paths through my woods in an afternoon. He used a dozer. Why does he need a back hoe for such small trees?
I'd bring in a dozer. Or do it myself.
I'd bring in a dozer. Or do it myself.
Anonymous Poster
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I pay $50/hour for a medium-sized dozer, or a Ford 545 TLB, with operator. Did the excavator tell you how long he thinks it will take?
I cut a winding trail through my woods, barely 8 feet wide, with a brush hog and chainsaw. I cut the 4 or 5 largest stumps down to about an inch tall. For my purposes it just doesn't matter.
The last time I cleared a multi-acre field I brush hogged the small stuff, then cut the remaining trees at breast height. I dug out all the small stumps with my tractor, then had the rest pushed out with a dozer when I had some other work done. But I wasn't in a hurry and only wanted to plant grass, not crops.
I cut a winding trail through my woods, barely 8 feet wide, with a brush hog and chainsaw. I cut the 4 or 5 largest stumps down to about an inch tall. For my purposes it just doesn't matter.
The last time I cleared a multi-acre field I brush hogged the small stuff, then cut the remaining trees at breast height. I dug out all the small stumps with my tractor, then had the rest pushed out with a dozer when I had some other work done. But I wasn't in a hurry and only wanted to plant grass, not crops.
TerryinMD
Veteran Member
BXmark,
He's probably not too far off the mark with his rates.
It is probably very true about using the larger piece of equipment. The job should go a lot quicker with a larger piece of equipment.
I have used several contractors in my area and they all have been good. The last time I had a large number of trees removed, the contractor used a big ol' D8. I had about a half an acre of various sized trees and a bunch of brush coving another 1/4 or so acres. The work was done in about three hours. He had 4 large hackberry trees which had root balls about 6-7 feet in diameter. Too me a year to clean up the mess. But, that was my choice - pre-tractor days.
Hope this helps.
Terry
He's probably not too far off the mark with his rates.
It is probably very true about using the larger piece of equipment. The job should go a lot quicker with a larger piece of equipment.
I have used several contractors in my area and they all have been good. The last time I had a large number of trees removed, the contractor used a big ol' D8. I had about a half an acre of various sized trees and a bunch of brush coving another 1/4 or so acres. The work was done in about three hours. He had 4 large hackberry trees which had root balls about 6-7 feet in diameter. Too me a year to clean up the mess. But, that was my choice - pre-tractor days.
Hope this helps.
Terry
A 450 JD and up or its equivalent would do the job easily. The larger the dozer the more per hour it will cost,but the larger the dozer the quicker and easier it will do the work.3" to 8"trees would not be a problem for a dozer,they can take a live tree down easier than they can push a stump out. Have him shove the brush and trees into a ravine.
I had a JD 650 work for me this summer,$60.00 and hour plus a 1 hour moving fee,56 hours total on the clock.
I had a JD 650 work for me this summer,$60.00 and hour plus a 1 hour moving fee,56 hours total on the clock.
MarkV
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Mark, the excavator’s rates sound about right for my area. (I would expect a fair size tracked loader at $75 per/hr.) I just don’t understand the choice of equipment. A track loader and track hoe are great for moving dirt from point A to point B but it doesn’t sound like that is what you are doing. Unless you expect him to load and haul off the trees, it sounds like a dozer job. I agree with Hillbilly, a D6 size machine should be able to do that work without any trouble.
Maybe the excavator is seeing something we don’t know about. Can you give us a better idea of what your land is like?
MarkV
Maybe the excavator is seeing something we don’t know about. Can you give us a better idea of what your land is like?
MarkV
dummy
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Did he come recommended from a friend or neighbor? Ask if his price is on the meter time or on the job time. Does he charge a hauling fee also? Can be huge difference in bottom line. Quite a few in this area are using tracked hoes (w/ thumbs) for all clearing work. Much quicker and easier to stack the burn pile.
The equiptment operator told me the track hoe works best to yank out the trees roots and all and leave the area less disturbed. He says he pushes the tree over, then hooks the bucket around the stump and lifts up. On very large stumps he rakes the dirt off the stump with the bucket teeth so as to not leave such a large hole. The operator tells me that with a bulldozer you have to come in at such an angle that you end up digging out a swath 3 to 4 times as big.
TerryinMD
Veteran Member
BXmark,
Sounds like a guy who has experience. If he's said that he would clean the dirt off of the root balls, I'd use him. May cost a little time, but it will save you a lot of work later on.
About a dozer, when the contractor removed the large hackberry trees on my property, my wife got scared watching him. She said that the dozer was on its tippy-toes to get the tree out of the ground and it left some sizable craters.
Terry
Sounds like a guy who has experience. If he's said that he would clean the dirt off of the root balls, I'd use him. May cost a little time, but it will save you a lot of work later on.
About a dozer, when the contractor removed the large hackberry trees on my property, my wife got scared watching him. She said that the dozer was on its tippy-toes to get the tree out of the ground and it left some sizable craters.
Terry
