Driveway price

[jbos333]

Hi everyone,

Just got a price on a new driveway- some minor tree clearing involved- but no hauling of stumps or anything, it's all just going to be pushed to the side.

Anyhow, 475 feet of 12' wide roadway with fabric and 8" of screened bank run, compacted - $5375.00 - that's around 300 ton of bank run.

Or, same with 12" of compacted screened bank run- $6300.00

Does this sound like a decent price? I guess I'm kind of in sticker shock right now.....

He says about 1/2 of the 5375 price is the dozer work, rest is his cost on materials.

 

[Carl_NH]

The way I see this is materials are about $10 a ton given the $1000 difference and 1/3 more material in the 12" base.

Thats a decent price for materials - I paid $14 a ton for a small quantity (50 tons) 3 years ago and the cost of fuel and everything else has gone up.

TO decide between the 8 and 12" depth is more a site decision - if you have good drainage already a decent sub soil structure 8" should be good, if not 12".

I take that you have saplings and small trees so no 20-30" stumps and trees to cut? Does this include cutting the trees or do you plan to just push whole trees into a pile and burn?

Personally I would clear and chip the trees so to deal with only stumps - makes a smaller and more manageable pile.

Overall $5300 is a fair price - probably 2 maybe 3 days I would say depending on the distance and number of trucks hauling the gravel.

 

[jbos333]

Carl NH, thanks for the info....

As for the trees, I dont think there are any over, say 10". Mostly poplar/aspen. That price included all tree work, I was not going to cut anything. I told him he could make 2-3 piles of slash wherever as well as 2-3 piles of topsoil.

He did say he wasn't making a penny on the gravel. It was the same price I could buy it for. I have a pit about 3 miles away.

Still, I hadn't expected a cost quite that high.....makes me want to just cut trees myself and just try driving on what's there! It seems pretty well drained at all times of year. Now I know I can't expect to get concrete trucks, etc. in there without a proper road, but that might sway my decision on whether this will be a more primitive post frame cabin or a full stick framed place on a poured basement.

 

[dave1949]

It sounds within reason to me. $2700 in dozer and stone hauling work for 475' could be fair if you figure $1000/day for the dozer and $700 for the hauling.

I don't think you will get rid of the tree piles without burning them once a dozer piles them up with roots attached. On the other hand, if you don't mind looking at them, they make decent wildlife cover. They will be yard 'ornaments' for a long time.

Dave.

 

[Jay4200]

Still, I hadn't expected a cost quite that high.....makes me want to just cut trees myself and just try driving on what's there! It seems pretty well drained at all times of year. Now I know I can't expect to get concrete trucks, etc. in there without a proper road, but that might sway my decision on whether this will be a more primitive post frame cabin or a full stick framed place on a poured basement.

You're not being totally realistic. Ever hear the term "cheap as dirt"? The guy that came up with that never bought dirt.

Your 8" cover job is 3800 cu ft, or 140 yards, or about 185 tons (not 300 - the 12" job is ~275 tons). It should cost ~$2000 for material for the thinner job - if you don't want to pay the 3 grand for dozer work, I recommend going out and finding a little old dozer for similar money and do it yourself. Now THAT sounds like fun. That same job with a TLB will take a half season and probably kill the tractor - trust me, I know.

I re-did my drive this past summer. It's about 1000' of drive plus ~5000 sq ft of parking area. I used 20 tri-axle loads of nit-pack gravel (crushed stone with stone dust - no dirt), or 480 tons. I seem to remember paying a little less than $300 per 24 ton load, so I paid close to $6000 for the material. My project involved grading out what was there, then covering everything with ~6" of new material. I did it myself with many (150-ish) tractor hours, but got a rough quote for that job from a driveway contractor at $15,000 + materials. Your job is 1/3 the area that mine is, but cutting a new drive for all of $3000 + materials is cheap-cheap-cheap. Your material cost is cheaper than mine was too.

JayC

 

[jbos333]

Thanks for the voice of reason, guys. I may have to just suck it up, pay and get it over with.

 

[atgreene]

I just did an estimate for a customer that entailed stumping 900' of road, installing 60' of 15" culvert (two pipes @ 30' ea), screening some gravel on-site to use as the primary base, haul in 60 yards of 3" crushed gravel for a soft area and surface a steep hill with 60 yards of 3/4 crushed. All stumps disposed of on-site. Total was about $13k.

He said he had gotten bids from 10k to 60k, guess I was too high, he hasn't called back.:thumbsup:

 

[randy41]

Still, I hadn't expected a cost quite that high.....makes me want to just cut trees myself and just try driving on what's there! It seems pretty well drained at all times of year. Now I know I can't expect to get concrete trucks, etc. in there without a proper road, but that might sway my decision on whether this will be a more primitive post frame cabin or a full stick framed place on a poured basement.

i would do this first and see if its livable. and if not there may be places on your driveway that need work and others that don't.

 

[Rustyiron]

Not sure about you're local prices but it seems everyone here says go for it and they only talk about dozer time, hauling, and material. jbos333 also mentioned that it included fabric and compaction! Go for it.

 

[MarkV]

Not sure about you're local prices but it seems everyone here says go for it and they only talk about dozer time, hauling, and material. jbos333 also mentioned that it included fabric and compaction! Go for it.

Exactly what I was thinking Rusty. With fabric, not cheap, and compaction that sounds like a deal to me. I could not have the same done here for that price.

MarkV

 

[Will_C]

I put a 300' x 12" drive (8" of material and fabric) in last year...190 tons of material and fabric cost me $2200. The trucking was done by a local company that had idle trucks that day-so I got a great rate on the gravel. My brother is an excavating contractor, so I did not have to pay him for the dozer work, and I raked it myself. No compaction.

I am sure that my brother would have charged $1500 for the work he did-this was in field, so no tree removal-just boxing out the road, grading the gravel and final grading with a landscape rake. Based on this, I'd say your price is ok, if you decide to hire the work.

Will

 

[saltbranch]

On the dozer , we rented a 550 for 1150.00 (including tax)for a week. Might be worth looking at rentals. We got alot done in a weeks time, rough cut roads, cleared about 2.5 miles of heavily brushed fence lines and put in a small pond.

 

[BoFuller]

On the dozer , we rented a 550 for 1150.00 (including tax)for a week. Might be worth looking at rentals. We got alot done in a weeks time, rough cut roads, cleared about 2.5 miles of heavily brushed fence lines and put in a small pond.

Depends on how much time you have and how much you enjoy doing it. I'm going to rent a new CAT D5 for a week for 1800 and that includes 400 for delivery and pickup (I'm in the middle of nowhere). I'll do some more work on my drive (about 1500 feet) and level out a pad for the log cabin. I used my L3400 and back scraper for the lower part of the drive where it was loose dirt, but higher up on the property it is nothing but rocks.
If I can't find enough dirt under the rocks to make my pad, I'll truck it from the lower corner of the ranch in my dump truck. Even if I don't get it done, it's worth it to play with the dozer for a week. :thumbsup: I would spend more than that if I went golfiing for a week.

 

[CurlyDave]

... Now I know I can't expect to get concrete trucks, etc. in there without a proper road, but that might sway my decision on whether this will be a more primitive post frame cabin or a full stick framed place on a poured basement.

Out here in OR we can easily get concrete trucks in over dirt toward the end of the summer.

You probably have more rain in the summer than we do, but if you waited for a dry spell you might be able to do it.

OTOH, I would vote for the road. Sooner or later you are going to put one in, and if you do it at the start everything will be easier.

The only thing I question is whether bank run is the right material. We usually use crushed road base which makes a better road.

 

[crazyal]

What are your plans? Is this going to be a season cabin or a place you'll live at year round? I can't see NY being that much different but once the frost thaws you'll find that dirt driveway will most likely turn into a mud pit and become impassible. If you have insurance on what ever you build the company may want a decent road installed. Is it hilly of flat? Bank run works fine on the flat roads but it acts like marbles on hills so you'll want crushed stone of some sort.

I did the buy a dozer route to build a road and clear a lot to build a house. You're going to want to spend some money on one or be prepared to do work to keep an older one going. You'll get most of your money back if you sell it but it'll take you a little time to get use to operating it. It's doable but it'll take time vs. paying someone to show up and in a few days it's done.

 

[jbos333]

Thanks everyone for offering your opinion.

It will be a seasonal place for now, it's only a 40 minute drive from my current home, and I would love to make it full time right away, but it doesn't seem practical employment-wise. Of course that also means paying extra taxes on something I'm not using all the time.....

The driveway will be mostly flat to a slight grade, nothing real steep. The only reason I was even considering driving on what's there is I have a tractor/golf cart path that is passable in even the wettest weather that part of this drive will follow. I figure if I can get in with a 4x4 truck, that's good enough for me.

What sucks is, about 1000 ft. away at the other end of the place, is a driveway and pole barn with 200a electric service I put in about 3 yrs. ago....but I like this location better for privacy reasons. So I have to start from scratch or compromise and build on what I've got already....

 

[LD1]

I also vote to go the drive/road route, wether you decide to hire this guy or not.

But I will offer up my :2cents:

First and foremost, get more estimates. I would NEVER hire a job done with only one estimate. Get 2 or 3 form local/reputable companies in your area and that will tell you which ones are reasonable and which ones arent.

Second, I'd leave as many trees as you can. I cut/burn/sell a lot of firewood. But I always hate to see a tree go for no reason. So leave as many as you can. Only take the ones that are directly in the way of the road.

Final thought, as others have mentioned, look into renting. If you have a day or two off, it can save you a lot of money. Plus it is a great learning experience gettting to operate a peice of equipment that most of us cant afford.

But either way, you are still looking at 2k-3k JUST for materials. And personally, I'd skip the compaction. After you run over it a bunch with a dozer and have truck drivers trucking in and tailgating material, it should be pleanty compacted for a driveway back to a cabin IMO

 

[dave1949]

Thanks everyone for offering your opinion.


What sucks is, about 1000 ft. away at the other end of the place, is a driveway and pole barn with 200a electric service I put in about 3 yrs. ago....but I like this location better for privacy reasons. So I have to start from scratch or compromise and build on what I've got already....

Think about when it does become a full time residence, it won't be handy to have so much distance between house and barn, and you will probably want to connect them with a driveway or lane. If that's the case, maybe it's a choice to build that driveway now rather than another road entrance. You would only be adding about 500' total driveway length.

My tractor garage is 50' behind my house and every winter I wish it was connected to the house like the old New England-style house, ell, barn setup.

 

[jbos333]

Dave1949, that is a great point. But, in this situation, I should have said 1000 ft. as the crow flies! The topography and/or a 5 acre pond between the two sites would make that connecting drive probably 1800' or so. I wish I could go that route, though. Because if it was a straight shot from the barn to the new site, it would only be like 600'....but I would have to build a heck of a bridge, or construct a dyke that could be driven on. Believe me, I have thought about it....

 

[dave1949]

Dave1949, that is a great point. But, in this situation, I should have said 1000 ft. as the crow flies! The topography and/or a 5 acre pond between the two sites would make that connecting drive probably 1800' or so. I wish I could go that route, though. Because if it was a straight shot from the barn to the new site, it would only be like 600'....but I would have to build a heck of a bridge, or construct a dyke that could be driven on. Believe me, I have thought about it....

I guess that would be the 'scenic' route I was just throwing ideas out not knowing much about the layout. I think you have a more than fair quote for the 475' driveway.
Dave.