# Land clearing



## DevinK (Jul 12, 2010)

Okay need some help. I'm gearing up for a job that entails land clearing, something that I have done but don't really specialize in, i've cleared our farm, but haven't done a commercial job. 
I have a kobelco 160 excavator, and access to bulldozer. The job is in Harris County outside of Houston's city limit. It is a 5.5 acre tract heavily wooded area but the job its self is only about 5 acres, It has about 50 big pines ( not really enough to call in a logger....) and has alot of smaller trees. Also the area is on 59 frontage rd, intersecting with a small rd. The other two sides have large drainage ditches, that im not messing with, they are cleared and have grass for 15ft from the edge of the woods to the channels. There are a few large trees that are about 15ft away from the power lines on the frontage rd. 
Sorry that i don't have pics up.... I know that it would be helpful, sorry. (hopefully i described it well)
Okay here is the deal, he wants to have the lot cleared so that he can start building on it and put up a new car dealership. There is No driveways, but i think i can get my machinery unloaded on the small rd next to it.
So no stumps, nothing left behind totally cleared and rough leveled.

questions:
Permits....SW3p... silt fences ( im not building anything, just clearing) what do i need?
what should I charge/bid ( Please break it down like i'm a kindergardener)
The guy is pretty flexible and I can do it different ways, So any suggestions?

sorry for such a long post but trying to be specific.


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## ShoerFast (Jul 12, 2010)

Welcome to the site Devin, 

Tons of help is on the way. 

Not my usual line of work, but have been awarded bids that paid well, and some that did not. 

The difference between the two has a lot to do with what you are expected to do, and what your getting paid to do. Make sure 'everything' is real clear and in writing, period. 

I would not conciser any of the trees of value right now, even if you use them yourself. 

Ask a lot of questions, I do not know a general contractor that will not offer any information he can to help someone out. 

Make the bid as skinny as you can, but make sure you make it clear that if you need to change equipment or have other expenses that no one could have seen coming, that your not nailed to the wall on a price. 

Your going to have a good idea what your cost are, how long it's going to take, expect a few minor changes to your idea, keep everybody happy, and have fun. 

No one ever gets the bid al right, all the time, look at what could be the worst thing the job could throw at you (like a week of rain, anything) , the most you could lose, hand out a $number, and see what happens. 


Even if you don't get the bid, keep in contact, you can still learn from the job.


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## mckeetree (Jul 12, 2010)

DevinK said:


> what should I charge/bid ( Please break it down like i'm a kindergardener)




Sounds like you are in kindergarten. Leave it alone.


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## DevinK (Jul 12, 2010)

mckeetree said:


> Sounds like you are in kindergarten. Leave it alone.



Hey :censored:! i did not get on here to be downsized or talked badly to! If you do not have anything to say, that is constructive, maybe you should keep your lude comments to yourself. I mean you must be in the industry and learned how to bid somehow. Everybody starts somewhere!

I appreciate others that are trying to help me, with this bidding process.


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## mckeetree (Jul 12, 2010)

DevinK said:


> Hey :censored:! i did not get on here to be downsized or talked badly to! If you do not have anything to say, that is constructive, maybe you should keep your lude comments to yourself. I mean you must be in the industry and learned how to bid somehow. Everybody starts somewhere!
> 
> I appreciate others that are trying to help me, with this bidding process.



You need to work for somebody else long enough to learn how to bid before you think you are on your own (which you apparently aren't).


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## Frank Boyer (Jul 13, 2010)

Get the plans and find out what the bid spec's are. Are you going to grub and compact? Are you doing grading? Is it surveyed? How much cut and fill? What does the Geo Report say? Do you know how to read grade stakes?
How much will it cost to dump the logs/slash/stumps--trucking, dump fees, labor, etc???
Do you have a contractors license, bond, insurance, workman's comp???

You may want to work for a grading/excavating contractor for a couple of years before you bid that size job.


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## DevinK (Jul 13, 2010)

The land is surveyed, I will not be held liable for blue topping the soil, just to smooth it back out after the job is done. I dont need a geo report, because im not going to stabilize the soil, or building a structure in that case. That will be another fase of his construction. 
I'm both insured and bonded, and all of my unemployment, workmans comp, so on and so on (legal issues) are done. so no worries there. 
I will have a truck to transport my track-hoe so that saves some, and I also have a dump truck to use. 
The demo work that I do now, I usually just use 40yrd containers, but yes i still need to check how much they will charge me to drop it off at a mulching plant and the milage it takes.
Im not totally new to everything I did engineering and inspection for a long time, but i do not specialize in this, that's why im asking questions.


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## Frank Boyer (Jul 13, 2010)

A Geo report will tell you what the soil is like. A good thing to know.


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## polariso (Jul 13, 2010)

mckeetree said:


> You need to work for somebody else long enough to learn how to bid before you think you are on your own (which you apparently aren't).


 I heard this a few times when I was starting out.. Usually from people who worked for someone else getting blow pay for a really long time.
Some people just have the right attitude and will suceed no matter how many jer..uhhmm nay sayers there are.


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## tomtrees58 (Jul 13, 2010)

mckeetree said:


> You need to work for somebody else long enough to learn how to bid before you think you are on your own (which you apparently aren't).


:agree2: or you bid it out and just gc the job


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## Vinnie85 (Jul 20, 2010)

hi i am new here but i charge $1200 a day for one piece of equipment and one operator and a faller and that's come in cut down remove stumps with root rake and final clean up that dose not include hall away that's just to pile it for burning i give a bid on the hole job but thats what it boils down to per day so figure what its going to cost per day for you to be there and how much time its going to take and thats your $ and always give yourself some breathing room Murphy's law what will go wrong will my last job was a 4 acre trac the po wanted to keep a bunch of trees but when we got there the had only a dozen trees marked so we went from 50 big trees and saplings to 300 trees and saplings so i had to rewrite est. and spend an hour talking to the po that is was now going to cost more ect and they always ask but why:bang: get that straightened out then the skid blows a tire a 5pm with a tree laying across the drive way then we blow a line on the dozer and it has to be the one that is almost imposable to get to then is pours every afternoon just after lunch so 2 days shot so what should be a 4 to five day job becomes 7 but you cant expect the po to have to pay for that but just make sure you get in in writing before you show up and i always go out and inspect the job site the day before i start and put a down payment on the job. its not cheap to transport equip.another thing i do is make them put the last four of there social next to there signature so when it comes time to pay they cant say i didn't sign that not all people are aholes but some are so always cover you own back side o and you will want it to be surveyed if you go on anybody else's property you have to fix what you did. just an after thought


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## Treeshaveneeds (Jul 31, 2010)

Shoerfast says it best. 
How much do you want/need the job, how much can you afford to lose? Estimate all your costs, add about 20-30% in for unknowns, there are always unknowns, and ask if you can afford to lose what it may cost to get the job done. Allow for overruns, and make sure the client is ok with them. If the client wants it cheap, unless you really need the work, let it go. You don't have to work with someone else to learn how to bid -- a lot of people don't share that knowledge anyways, not even the price -- just use lots of common sense, have a detailed contract that both sign, and try for as much as the client will accept, and then try to do the job as efficiently as you can. IT would be almost impossible to help with the bidding process without seeing the property; and getting a "friend" to help out can be dubious. Good Luck with the proposal!


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