I have read that Kubota is the way to go, but I don't know where to start. We have some escavation to do on a lot with a slight slope. We are in New River, AZ. We may look at new since the Kubota holds it's value so well. The land is rocky and there are several mesquite trees. We mainly want to carve out the section for the 1800 sq ft home, but I don't want to pay over $10,000 to have it done.
escavation with slight slope project
- Thread starter chavira
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daTeacha
Veteran Member
So what you need to do is balance your excavation costs against the cost of acquiring and learning to operate a backhoe of some kind that has enough power and reach to do the job.
Unless you have some experience running the things or space and time to learn, you might want to rethink this a little. I had quite a bit of work done here in Ohio and the jobs did not add up to $10k. It was under $9K to relocate about 1000 feet of driveway (including the stone base and topcoat), dig out and level off the stumps left when about 15 large trees blew down in a storm two springs ago, remove dirt to prep a site on one side of the barn for a 14 x 32 foot addition, install a 50 yard shooting range in the woods complete with elevated shooting platform, dig out a corner of the foundation to allow me to put a door in the basement wall, build a stone block wall about 60 feet long and 4 feet high, backfill behind the wall with driveway material, and finally level the material from the basement job to give me a fairly flat spot in the back yard for volleyball or something similar.
A new backhoe alone with no tractor or power unit for it, will set you back between $4 and $14K depending on size. Add in a suitable tractor and you have a pretty good investment going on.
Obviously, things will cost differently in the arid west than here in the wet snow belt, but I'd check the numbers on both several times in several places before I jumped either way.
Unless you have some experience running the things or space and time to learn, you might want to rethink this a little. I had quite a bit of work done here in Ohio and the jobs did not add up to $10k. It was under $9K to relocate about 1000 feet of driveway (including the stone base and topcoat), dig out and level off the stumps left when about 15 large trees blew down in a storm two springs ago, remove dirt to prep a site on one side of the barn for a 14 x 32 foot addition, install a 50 yard shooting range in the woods complete with elevated shooting platform, dig out a corner of the foundation to allow me to put a door in the basement wall, build a stone block wall about 60 feet long and 4 feet high, backfill behind the wall with driveway material, and finally level the material from the basement job to give me a fairly flat spot in the back yard for volleyball or something similar.
A new backhoe alone with no tractor or power unit for it, will set you back between $4 and $14K depending on size. Add in a suitable tractor and you have a pretty good investment going on.
Obviously, things will cost differently in the arid west than here in the wet snow belt, but I'd check the numbers on both several times in several places before I jumped either way.
inveresk
Platinum Member
Unless you will have ongoing use for a tractor after the building works are done, buying one is unlikely to be the most cost effective means of preparing your lot. I bought my tractor principally for the ongoing maintenance on our 11 acres. By buying a couple of extra implements, I can undertake the construction and logging works we need done myself which saves the considerable cost of subcontracting. If I didn't have 11 acres, though, I'd have used separate trades contractors.
If you complete your profile, tell us more about your property and project, TBN'rs will likely be able to advise you better.
If you complete your profile, tell us more about your property and project, TBN'rs will likely be able to advise you better.
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