Dirt Moving hillside prep work for house pad/ dozer, front-end loader, or excavator?

[splinterfinger]

Am going to have to rent ONE piece of equipment (from a considerable distance) for prep work on a hillside house pad. Lots of rock/few smal boulders. Dispaced dirt only needs to be pushed down the hill, not hauled off. Need pros/cons (advice) as to the best SINGLE piece of equipment, as transportation cost of more than one piece would be prohibitive (unless no other choice). HELP!

 

[johnrex62]

My vote would be for the excavator. It would be the most stable on a hillside and likely the most versatile tool at digging out boulders without having to relevel the rest of the pad site.

If you were talking about moving large amounts of dirt or trees, then the dozer might make a stronger argument. I would only count on the FEL to move lots of loose material. It would be the least efficient tool for digging.

 

[VA MTN MAN]

track loader if you can rent one. The excavator will dig fine but you will spend forever hauling or pushing it down the hill. The dozer will push it fine but you cant cut corners in a basement if that is part of your excavation and if it is any distance down the hill the track loader willl carry it faster. The track loader is a do all whear the excavator or dozer need each other.

 

[jenkinsph]

track loader if you can rent one. The excavator will dig fine but you will spend forever hauling or pushing it down the hill. The dozer will push it fine but you cant cut corners in a basement if that is part of your excavation and if it is any distance down the hill the track loader willl carry it faster. The track loader is a do all whear the excavator or dozer need each other.

Agree, a track loader with rear rippers would do this about as well as anything.

Splinterfinger, if this is going to be a cut and fill operation you need to be able to pack the loose dirt you move down the hill. I pack with a vibratory roller every three inches to build up a fully compacted surface to build on.

 

[splinterfinger]

Thanks for the info----any additional will be appreciated. Will do some more research into the equipment rental situation. Just might be able to use excavator to do all the digging, and then use track loader to smooth out fill. Not too concerned about compaction as house pad will be on undisturbed grade and excess dirt/rock will just be pushed down the hill to settle by Father Time.

 

[crowbar032]

I own a 953 Catapiller track loader. I have not used/ran a dozer or excavator, so salt well before digesting. I'm assuming that the rock and bolders would fit in the bucket of a track loader. I'm also assuming that you'd be comfortable having a tractor on the hillside. If you wouldn't be comfortable on the hill with a tractor, I would not attempt any other piece of equipment on it either. The pads on a track loader are not as aggressive as a dozer, so they will slide in wet/frozen ground and the absolute last thing you want to do is turn over. From what you describe a track loader (not a skid steer type) would work well as long as you don't need the fill dead level. Track loaders don't level very well as the bucket doesn't angle like a dozer blade. You'll end up leaving some humps when you try to level the piles.

 

[BlacknTan]

A guy that can run an excavator can do amazing things with it. For popping rocks, and the rest of what you describe, the excavator would definitely get my vote.

 

[swick1]

Excavator would be the most flexible but moving on a hill is a heck of a way to learn! Consider hiring it out if you can't use a dozer.

I assume you are trucking it out?

 

[crazyal]

Not that I want to talk you out of doing your own work but I have to ask, have you operated any of these pieces of equipment before? Depending on how much of a slope your building on could be tricky. If you could find one my best advice would be a dozer with a rear backhoe.

 

[Rhinorider]

I would go with the excavator with a back fill blade. A Kobelco 115 or 135 would fit the bill nicely.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Are you thinking that you are going to dig footers after the sight is level? If so then an excavator will do but a backhoe might do better. It can dig the dirt and rock loose and move it with the FIL. Just a thought, hope it goes well, let us know.

 

[Pete Judd]

I have found over the years that even though I can run all of the stuff that you want to rent, it is cheaper to have someone come in with their eqipt. and do it faster. They run it everyday, and know how to get it done quick. I have friends that will lend me a shovel for a weekend if I pay the trucking cost (300 Bucks) and fuel, But it still takes me an hour to relearn all the controls to start making it work. And I can not make it work as well as someone the does it all day every day.

 

[splinterfinger]

Thanks for the input(s). Yes, I know that it would be best to let someone with all the equipment and experience do the work. I've already obtained a bid from a highly touted excavator---------but, he is essentially the ONLY excavator in the area (very remote), and it just seems plausible that I could come out ahead renting from the nearest place (at least 150 miles away), spend a few days getting the hang of it, keeping the equip. for a month---fuel and all, and come out way ahead. It's hard to get a good deal when there's no competition. To date, a heavy duty backhoe seems to be the best way to go----but still open to suggestions.

 

[jenkinsph]

Are you thinking that you are going to dig footers after the sight is level? If so then an excavator will do but a backhoe might do better. It can dig the dirt and rock loose and move it with the FIL. Just a thought, hope it goes well, let us know.

I have found that a backhoe does pretty well with the footers.

About the FIL, yours must be alot more agreeable and hardworking than most I have encountered.:laughing: