2 Acre lot clearing - residential

[tnttreeman]

Equipment overkill. Reread the section on the size of the bushes and trees. I'd thoroughly agree with the equipment if we were talking sizable trees, not something 8-12" diameter. My skid steer with forks or grapple bucket is almost overkill on stuff that small!!

 

[Newfie]

Justin, for $25k, I'd take the trip out there and even invite you along. =)

Gee don't call me ya big dink! For 25K I'd drag my equipment out there and cut you in for a grand.



FWIW, you don't grind stumps on a building site. At least not in my neck of the country. The excavating contractor digging the cellar hole is usually responsible for the site prep once the the trees and vegetation are gone and chipped.

 

[Ryan Willock]

You are WAY, WAY over your head!!!

 

[petrentz]

ryan, thanks for being honest....but i am sure Trump did not start building buildings in just one day, right? I know i am not him, but if you dont think "big" you will be a small fish for a long time. until now i have never done something like that....


anyway,

well, here is a little (not much) update....i called 4 people and they all wanted to see it. I have given them the address and they will call me with a quote. It will start snowing soon, so that's not going to be good....

I was a little concerned with them stealing the job from me since it has happened in the past with another tree company, but i think the guys i talked to are pretty cool about it.

tnttreeman, i have to get a quote to see about how much we are talking, ok? i will let you know. the place is flat as a mirror.... i went there today with one of the guys (could not do the job, but recommended someone), so i looked at it all over again.....There are about 10 tall trees (30-50 feet, 8-14" diameter), and a few shorter trees.....same diameter probably...everything else is brush (1-3" diameter).....it's thick and can not go thru easily...

I agree....i can't charge him too much or i will lose the job all together, but i need to know how much it would be first. i am willing to do all the leg work for him. he can just sit back and watch. that's why i am getting a few quotes to see what i will be working with.

I have no idea if he will get another quote from someone else....he seemed not to know what kind of company can do the job. can you blame him? I did not know either....until i talked to you, guys.

anyway, i will probably get a few quotes between today and friday...that will give me an idea.

Those guys were really good over the phone. the one i met was also awesome....they had a straight blade exchavator and a large (huge) back hoe....but even they could not do the job. they do more construction work, not clearing.

i dont want to over charge...cause i might not get the job at all....i will see where the quotes come.

i forgot to mention....man, what a rush doing something like that...gets my adrenaline going and i just love being in this kind of environment.....i hated coming back to my office cube.

i love doing a job where i can look around and see the fruits of my work...i am so jealous that you guys do that on daily basis.....

if the costs living are not as sky high and they are, i'd give up my day job in a second. thanks a lot.

i will try to get a few pics the next time i go there....as always, hats off and saying thanks to professionals like you.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Buying the equipment is the CHEAP part!!! I have a skidder, dozer (man are they costly!) two loaders and farm tractors, log truck, trailers and a sawmill. The up keep and insurance KILLS you! If something brakes then you have to be able to cover the cost, its not like your car where a new tranny will run $2,000 installed; here we're talking a rebuild for around $10,000 for a SMALL dozer!

 

[Ryan Willock]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention... Yes everyone has to learn sometime but clearly you have NO experience with equipment let alone heavy equipment so you are just BEGGING for trouble trying this by yourself!!! Get a job with someone in the equipment business and LEARN before you try it yourself! If you don't know what you are doing you can get in trouble VERY fast with equipment. I'm not trying to discourage you but mearly to warn you of what you are getting into. I can speak from experience because I have been around heavy equipment my whole life. My uncle owns a large paving company and I used to work for him during the summers and when I wasn't in school. My cousin owns a good size escavating company, my family has had and does have large equipment on our farm. Land clearing is a lot more complicated than it looks so make your choice carefully and be prepared and WILLING to accept the responsiblity for any mistakes you make if you decide to try it.

 

[DDM]

Equipment overkill. Reread the section on the size of the bushes and trees. I'd thoroughly agree with the equipment if we were talking sizable trees, not something 8-12" diameter. My skid steer with forks or grapple bucket is almost overkill on stuff that small!!

Like I Said

I Dont know have to see it. Have no clue what dumping fees are how many loads are there. I'd probably push over what i could with my S250 with tracks
move it out with the grapple,cut off the root balls and run it thru the chipper.Cut down what was too large and grind out the remaining stumps.Around here we could burn it all on site.

 

[Stumper]

Pretrentz. Newfie made a good point earlier-Typically lot clearing doesn't include stump removal because preparatory to construction peopl are coming in with equipment for grading and they can do stumps at that time. This is neither here nor there-if the owner wants you to bid stump removal bid it-BUT there is a clue for you in Newfie's post. You may need to split the work into categories for your subs. Lots of tree companies are capable of clearing but not stump removal or grading. Let people bid what they are willing/able to do.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Justin, lot clearing varies by area; around here and in the triangle of NC lot clearing includes getting the stumps out. You need to find out about YOUR area BEFORE giving a quote or you may just lose your arse.

 

[clearance]

Up here land clearing means it all goes, none of this grinding stumps stuff, it all gets ripped out. The ground should look like a rototilled field after-bare dirt.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Yup

 

[rb_in_va]

ryan, thanks for being honest....but i am sure Trump did not start building buildings in just one day, right? I know i am not him, but if you dont think "big" you will be a small fish for a long time. until now i have never done something like that....

FWIW, Trump didn't start building buildings. He bought existing buildings, and sometimes he renovated them. He gained a great deal of experience in this area from his father. From a very early age Donald would accompany his dad when looking at and evaluating properties to buy. I don't think it was until some time later that he actually built a property from the ground up. petrentz, I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, just pointing out fact. Your resume is admirable to say the least, and that barn restoration looks very nice. Later, Roger.

 

[jmchristopher]

I'm still mystified about why the bush hog idea didn't get more affirmation. It sounds like most folks are desperate to generate landfill. A day with a bobcat / bush hog attachment would reduce the work load by at least 80%, and leave nothing but a thin layer of chips to get churned into the mud. The trees that remained sounded simple. I can hardly wait to hear how the story ends!

 

[Ryan Willock]

JM, I don't think you mean a bush hog (as in rotory cutter) those only handle up to 3'' and thats PUSHING it! I think what you mean is a bio mass reducer, basicaly an over grown flail mower. That probably would work IF he could find one for rent large enough to handle what he's talking about. I've never seen one for rent in this area but I can't comment on other areas.

 

[petrentz]

i am not trying to bump the story up, but i will let you guys know as soon as i get some more information.

you have been great as far as warning me and educating me at the same time. i would never, ever get offended by any of your comments, so dont worry about that.

I was looking at the Hertz equipment rental website at their equipment. from what it looks to me, they have some large excavators that might be able to do the job. but many of you are right.....i should just hire the people that work with these machines day in and day out. i'd be stupid to try to learn how to back up a $250G's dozer on my own. I can do it, but that's not the point.....

i should do what i constantly preach...."do what you do best and hire someone for what you dont know how to do".

Roger, i agree on trump's history. i never read his story, so i believe you.

talk to you soon, guys.

 

[DDM]

Yup they wont rent you a Large dozer or Excavator without GL Anyway. Or atleast around here they wont.

 

[petrentz]

here are a few pictures of the lot that i am talking about.

i got a quote from a land clearing contractor for $5000 for everything except root raking. for the root raking, it would be double, so $10K.

 

[eyeinstine]

hell, that aint tree's! thems big weeds!

Really, that is a simple one.. You have many options there.. A very heavy duty brush hog behind a good tractor would take care of alot of it.. A chainsaw and alot of back breaking work would take care of all of it.. If it was me, and i was a one man show.. I would hire a friend, get two good small light weight saws, and cut everything you can down as low as you can. rent a chipper for the weekend and chip it all up, and then hire or rent a skid steer with a toothed bucket, or a rock rake bucket, and clean up the surface roots and small stumps...

Ron

 

[tnttreeman]

Simple, simple, simple lot clear. Nothing to it. Eyeinstine just told you how the job should be done, just didn't tell you what to bid

 

[Ryan Willock]

Chain saw??? Why on earth would you want to spend that kind of time bent over??? A large brush cutter (aka, clearing saw) would be the ideal thing to use if you are determined to do it by hand. You would only need a chain saw for the stuff over 5''. A large tracked bobcat would push all of that up in a couple of hours.