Excavation curiosity

[HiTechTed]

I wanted to throw out an excavation question for those of you who are skilled in the art of excavation.

My attached picture (made hastily with Paint, sorry) shows kind of what I am wondering about. It's a cross-section of an area of land that has a 5 to 6 foot drop off. The area in gray would be removed, leaving the area in white.

The only piece of equipment available is a Bobcat mini excavator that will dig about 8 feet deep.

Given that piece of equipment, how would you tackle the job? My thought was to start at the red dot and dig down maybe a foot or 2, moving back (to the left) and repeat. I have no idea if this is the best way to do it.

With this scenario, how would YOU go about doing this job?

 

[beenthere]

Looks like a plan. But factor in where you want the spoils to end up as you dig. Might alter your plan.

 

[magicheater]

How wide is the area to be excavated? This will determine the volume and then you will be able to decide if the machine you have is economical. If the area to be excavated has a 5-6' drop off, where does this occur? AND as been there says, where are you gonna put the dirt!

 

[tony Cecil]

Just assuming it is twenty feet wide, I would start at the other end, as It would be difficult to return to the deep end if something changed....This is where a skilled operator would come in handy Tony

 

[GE222]

Depending on the operator and soil conditions, a Bobcat mini excavator, I am guessing maybe a 325, should be capable of negotiating the incline if the slope doesn't come out quite right the first time.

 

[captaincrab55]

How wide is the area to be excavated? This will determine the volume and then you will be able to decide if the machine you have is economical. If the area to be excavated has a 5-6' drop off, where does this occur? AND as been there says, where are you gonna put the dirt!

Great advice fom magicheater & been there..... Call a contractor for a free estimate and pick his brain some... Till you tell us how wide and where you going to place the spoil, one can only guess...

 

[HiTechTed]

The reason I mentioned the Bobcat machine is because I can use it for free (I pay for fuel). As for the spoil, I will probably have to pile it within reach and then move it out as I go along. I will guess that the area in question is roughly 200 feet long...I might be over-estimating that. The way the drop off is, I can't work it very well from the other side so I would need to work from the top.

Thanks for the replies so far!

 

[Redneck in training]

200 ft long. That is about 15000 cuft. That is about 3 to 4 days of work for big bulldozer depending how far you need to move the spoils. It will be quite big job for the mini-excavator. If you count 30 seconds per bucket it will take you more than 100 hours just digging.

 

[captaincrab55]

The reason I mentioned the Bobcat machine is because I can use it for free (I pay for fuel). As for the spoil, I will probably have to pile it within reach and then move it out as I go along. I will guess that the area in question is roughly 200 feet long...I might be over-estimating that. The way the drop off is, I can't work it very well from the other side so I would need to work from the top.

Thanks for the replies so far!

Ted, Do the Math, you have way to many Cubic Yards of spoil to handle using that machine... That spoil will be handled way to many time with that mini ex... Reminds me of a friend that wanted to use my wood shop to make a standard/stocked mouldind to save a few $$.. He was retired and his son was building a house.. He was going to rip the wood down from larger pieces of wood, then planned on using my moulding cutters to mill it.. All this to save $$, because he was retired.. He had it all figured out as to how many $$ he could save his son.. I then asked how he was going to transport the finished product 2 hours away.. He figured he could use my truck with the ladder rack... I put my foot down there on that project knowing what it was going to cost me... He didn't plan on buying or getting any cutters sharpened, nor did he plan on buying gas or paying for the shop electric.. At the time I has a business going good and he figured I could write off all of that.. The wood shop was my hobby shop @ home.. He borrowed the truck many times before and never bought gas.. He didn't talk to me for a few years... Long story short, does the person lending that machine know how many hours it will take.. Don't forget that the machine will need an oil change, greased daily, and who pays for repairs if it breaks down... Check out what a new track costs for that machine ??? If you get hung up on something sharp and the track gets trashed, somebody will be out BIG $$...

 

[HiTechTed]

Actually, the person lending the machine is related to me and doesn't care how long I use it. I can do the oil change, and pay if something breaks...it's not like I'm taking advantage of anybody, it's all good as far as the machine goes. I let the guy hunt on my land and I have told him up front that I will take care of the maintenance, etc.

As far as moving the dirt, that IS a PITA. I really need a dump truck or trailer so I'm not "handling" the dirt 2 or 3 times, and I might acquire one or the other of those sometime soon if my luck holds out. I didn't plan on doing it all at once and it's not a critical job (plus I'm not charging myself $90 an hour for my own time). I would like the experience with the machine. It can't hurt to learn something, and since it's not a foundation or a septic system I'm digging (which I definitely would NOT do myself), I don't have to be dead-perfect.

Please break the project into 20 foot or 40 foot chunks and then tell me how you would go about it. I could do a little every so often, in between other things around here, and eventually finish it up. I can also find a home for every bit of the dirt so that's not an issue, either. My only real "issue" is not knowing what technique to use to get the best results given what I have on hand to do the job with.

Thanks!