dave1949
Super Star Member
Will do Dave. My dozer guy charges $85 an hour with a 4 hour minimum. Got tons of Rose Rocks here that, when extracted and sold, could help me defer some of the expenses.
Had to look that up.
Timberlake Rose Rock Museum, Noble, Oklahoma
The Rose Rock
Within the Garber sandstone,
A barite crystal grew,
The Oklahoma sand
Gave it a reddish hue.
Seawater bathed it; and,
As a flower grows,
God formed its shape
Into a lovely rose.
Nancy Ann Stine
© 1977
$85/hour, 4 hour minimum for dozer work sounds fairly standard compared to here. It is amazing what a good operator can get done in a day with the right equipment.
To tackle 37 acres, I would try to have a dozer smooth it enough to pull a bush hog over it. You will probably have some rocks to pick, or windrows of rocks, but a dozer can flatten things out pretty well. If you keep it bush hogged, you can work on it one or two acres at a time as the budget allows.
Beyond that, you have to decide if making the whole 40 acres tillable is going to be worth it in the long run. That wouldn't pay around here if it's really rocky/stony, but I have no idea about your area.
Do you know if the rocky soil is just a layer, or does it stay rocky deep into the ground?