Dozer work -- How much will it cost me?

[yeehaw]

understood different regions will vary -- but on clear cut land --- stumps mostly less than 3-4" tall and (most) a foot wide -- some of course wider -- what should i expect to pay to try and convert to pasture land (overnight of course ) looking for a ballpark figure before i call a couple of guys to give an estimate
thanks

wasnt sure were to post -- other section didnt look like it had much activity...

 

[ToadHill]

The stumps would be easier to remove if they were up 3 to 4 feet not inches. With them that low you may have to dig them out and that will add to the cost.

 

[gatractorman]

A mulching outfit would likely be much cheaper and faster than a dozer outfit. Plus you wont have to dispose of the stumps. Look for someone with a mulching attachment on a piece of equipment such as a skid steer, excavator, or tracked loader.

 

[20 20]

big excavator

 

[atgreene]

You're much better off with an excavator with a thumb than a dozer. Dozers end up mixing in much of the top soil with the stumps. Either way, cutting the stumps short is the best bet for removal, but short of grinding them all I'd pull them with an excavator, shake the dirt free, stack them and burn them.

I do it all the time, much cleaner and less waste of soil.

 

[yeehaw]

so i guess that goes back to my original question -- maybe with an excavator (what i would call a trackhoe)--i would figure most operators would like to charge by the hour (so how much is a ball park to expect)...but i would rather pay by the acre---so any idea on a high cost/per/acre on described above (typical pine stumps...not a tree left)...

 

[20 20]

Yeehaw we could all give quesstimates on your costs, but that will do you NO GOOD. The guy that does the job for you will be the end decision. It's also hard to make a proper $ estimate without seeing the actual job.

 

[yeehaw]

thats what it seems like---thanks for the responses-- heres hoping for $200/acre-- ha more like $5-600 would be fine with me...

 

[yellowdogsvc]

too many people want the cheapest solution. You only have to do it once..if you hire someone who does it right. Whether it's uprooting or grinding, you need to find a contractor that you can do business with. The cheapest guy may not have insurance or decent equipment. What may take the more expensive guy a day and a half could take a week with EL Cheapo who may be running worn out, leaky equipment.
Look for a long-term relationship. A friend. An astute businessman and/or owner operator will be competitive with pricing but will likely be a few dollars more. In the scheme of things, it's worth paying a little more for the guy who can fix it all and won't camp out on your property while his beaten down old machine rusts.

Ask around your area for a good company who has insurance. You don't want farmer Ted coming over with his old cable dozer and tearing up your pastures and or damaging something only to find out ole' Ted has no insurance.
There is no barrier to entry in this line of work so the consumer really has to be careful. What may seem like a good deal can set you up for a nightmare of pain. Sure, uprooting stumps isn't brain surgery but a lot of finesse along the way will ensure less cost later to fix the ruts, stump holes, and mess the cheap guy left.

 

[20 20]

thats what it seems like---thanks for the responses-- heres hoping for $200/acre-- ha more like $5-600 would be fine with me...

Have you looked into rentals, you can rent something the size of a 312 cat{ex} that would work quite well? They are not all that hard to run, plus you'll have a blast doing it yourself. Just a suggestion, poppong roots isn't like digging a pond or foundation.

 

[The Dougster]

For all the good it will do you, here are some numbers ...

Last year I hired a guy with a really big dozer to dig/construct a stock tank.. he charges $150/hour and it cost me $5,550...
Recently I hired a fellow with a much smaller dozer (JD 550) to grub mesquite trees.. he's charging me $72/hour... He is doing a great job of clearing the dirt from the root balls and pushing the trees into piles...

Like someone else said, get a few of them out there to give you and estimate...

 

[20 20]

The Dougster makes a point. I have a friend that had a ____load of dirt that needed to be pushed over a bank. As luck would have it he hired a {close friend } for 100+ an hr. His friend left and within 20-30 min a local contracter showed up with his dump truck and dozer. He asked what happened to the dirt, then told him......he was going to push it over for FREE. He wanted to dump 2 or 3 small loads of roots and figured he'd make a deal and push all this guys dirt for letting him dump there. Just goes to show sometimes shopping around makes a HUGE difference. My friend told the contractor to go ahead a dump he didn't mind. The contractor still felt he should do something so he helped him with a couple of loads of material for his drive, delivery and spread it.

 

[tractorjackleg]

You want a good sized excavator out there. Pines have a tap root and without the whole tree intact they will need to be dug out. Even a big dozer would struggle with bigger stumps. Most guys are probably going to want to charge by the hour. Without seeing it there is almost no way to guess what kind of price you are looking at.

 

[herd]

Have you looked into rentals, you can rent something the size of a 312 cat{ex} that would work quite well? They are not all that hard to run, plus you'll have a blast doing it yourself. Just a suggestion, poppong roots isn't like digging a pond or foundation.

What would something like that rent for? I have the same problem and actually am thinking about buying a ''track hoe" to clear my five acres, then sell it (the track hoe). I have only one "ballpark quote, " and that is at a minimum of $5000. I have lots of pine stumps, 12-18'' so the ole "tap root'' plays heavy on the cost.

 

[Topstrap]

If you're going to do it yourself and in not a big hurry digging around tree and pushing it over before cutting is a LOT faster but also have to be more careful. Having a hoe with a thumb makes it easy to grab the tree and then cut limbs off and cut into managable size logs for future firewood.

I don't know of any reliable excavator that will price a job over the phone without seeing the site first.

Topstrap

 

[MarkV]

I think it is going to cost a lot more than you expect. It takes a real big dozer to pop out 12 -18" pine stumps cut low to the ground. An excavator would be my choice and you need a pretty good size one to be efficient.

It has been about five years, but here I was quoted $2500 per acre to remove trees and stumps. That was with the contractor getting the tree value also. At the $200 per acre you were hoping for a large dozer would have to be able to clear more than a acre per hour. I don't think that will happen.

MarkV

 

[20 20]

What would something like that rent for? I have the same problem and actually am thinking about buying a ''track hoe" to clear my five acres, then sell it (the track hoe). I have only one "ballpark quote, " and that is at a minimum of $5000. I have lots of pine stumps, 12-18'' so the ole "tap root'' plays heavy on the cost.

The 312 size{30,000lb+} would be about as small as you'd want to go. ALLTHOUGHT smaller excavators could do the job, it would just take longer. I use a machine now that is under 4k lbs, just takes time, plus I'm only doing a couple a year. When I rented {few yrs ago} It cost me around $3,000{for a month} plus an extra $600 for PU and delivery.

Mini excavators in the 8-12K lb range are going somewhat cheap right now. That's if you don't mind spending a little more time doing the job. I'd allmost bet though if you bought one you probably would NOT let it go.

 

[herd]

The 312 size{30,000lb+} would be about as small as you'd want to go. ALLTHOUGHT smaller excavators could do the job, it would just take longer. I use a machine now that is under 4k lbs, just takes time, plus I'm only doing a couple a year. When I rented {few yrs ago} It cost me around $3,000{for a month} plus an extra $600 for PU and delivery.

Mini excavators in the 8-12K lb range are going somewhat cheap right now. That's if you don't mind spending a little more time doing the job. I'd allmost bet though if you bought one you probably would NOT let it go.

tkx 20/20, actually I was thinking in the range of a 12000# mini-ex and you are entirely right, I probably wouldn't want to let go of it afterwards. My thought tho is to buy the mini-ex, clear the 5 acres, dig a pond (about 2 acres), then sell it and buy a backhoe.

Trackhoe hourly rates around here are $110-115 per hour and a $2000-$2500 minimum. I figure it would take about $5000 to clear the 5 acres, which also includes a huge windrow of limbs, etc from the clear cut.

 

[20 20]

Herd can I ask a stupid question, Why would you sell an excavator and buy a BH, usually it's the other way around?

I've owned and run BH's and they are great machines, but compared to a excavator they don't hold an once{JMO}. The mini excavator with a blade is a supper handy machine. I've seen them with tow packages {for hauling a wood trailer etc.} and countless other attachments. I was thinking the other day, if I were forced to get rid of all but one of my machines which would it be???????????............I'd keep the mini ex hands down. The thing is so handy to have around,I'm not sure how I even got out of bed before

 

[herd]

Herd can I ask a stupid question, Why would you sell an excavator and buy a BH, usually it's the other way around?

I've owned and run BH's and they are great machines, but compared to a excavator they don't hold an once{JMO}. The mini excavator with a blade is a supper handy machine. I've seen them with tow packages {for hauling a wood trailer etc.} and countless other attachments. I was thinking the other day, if I were forced to get rid of all but one of my machines which would it be???????????............I'd keep the mini ex hands down. The thing is so handy to have around,I'm not sure how I even got out of bed before

Not a stupid question at all 2020; in fact, my approach may be stupid after reading your insight from your personal exp. What I was thinking is the the BH is more mobile and possibly lest maintainance plus I'd have the use of a loader on a BH. Guess I could add one to my tractor and keep the mini-ex and be ahead of the game.

Tks again for the insight. Who makes a good mini-ex in the 12000# range. Of course, I would buy used.