So I'm new to this forum and somewhat new to the heavy machinery world I just purchased a 5 acre lot that i intend to build a house on. The entire lot is overgrown with saw palmettos most of which are about waist height. I want to clear about 3 acres of them then dig around a 1/2-1/3 acre pond ~ 12' deep and use the fill dirt for a pad for the house to be above grade. On the surface it seems like a great and easy plan because we got the lot at a reasnable price. I quotes on just clearing the land and was blown away, 10k to clear 3 acres and then another 10-15k to dig the pond. Not that I don't have the cash but I don't want to drop that kind of money and have nothing but a bare field with a hole and hill on it. OK so plan B is buy a piece of equipment and do it myself then sell the machine when I'm done or keep it. So my question is if you could only have one piece of equiptment to do the jobs i described what would it be? My budget is around 20k and it would be nice if the machine was practical for me to keep around afterwards.
Welcome to the Forums Sandypossum!:drinkup I'm going to start out stating that the prices you were given are realistic of what this type of work costs, if not cheap. A contractor has many costs to cover above and beyond the piece of iron, the labor to run it, maintenance to keep it running and the fuel to put in it. Taxes, insurance and administrative overhead are a substantial percentage that has to be covered. However that's not the question you asked so I'll ask a few questions about your land in order to give better advice on which piece of equipment. How can you dispose of the clearing debris - burning, burying onsite, grinding or hauling it off site to a landfill/recycling yard? What is your soil type - sand, clay, gumbo? What is the ground water level? That could effect the pond dig going 12' deep. What are the erosion control requirements in your area? What is the permitting process for land disturbance and pond building? What is your time line to get the project completed? What is your operating experience? Which piece of equipment do you know how to operate? Once this phase of the project is completed, what do you the need the piece of iron to perform afterwards? A 1/2 acre pond 12' deep is roughly 8,800 CY without swell and allowing for bank slope. Regardless of the actual amount of yardage, it's a lot of material to move with one machine, shy of a D8. It's a lot to think about but these questions are important in deciding which piece of iron for the job.
I admire your wanting to save money, but, looking at the numbers you have given, spending $20k to do $25k worth of work only works well if #1 you don't ever put fuel in the machine and #2 you never break down, ever. That project is going to be a lot of hours of machine time, especially for a novice! You could rent a track loader for a few days and see if its a project you really want to tackle.... although IMO you will probably be money ahead in the long run having it hired done. YMMV
You have to watch the soil disturbed Sq. ft. In Virginia they require a certified land certificate for the erosion control. I would advise you to ck. with the county office to see if you need permit or requirements. Sam.
10K to clear 3 acres sounds high to me. I got an estimate around $2500 to clear 4 acres. Sometimes it's good to get estimates from a few different operators.
clearing saw palmettos on 3 acres for 10k,,, WOW.
I'm not familiar with saw palmettos, is that high or low?
Im sure the prices i was quoted are fair but they don't come with the warm and fuzzy of doing it myself. Furthermore funding for a piece of equipment is coming from my recently retired father who A. has nothing to do with all of his time and B. has some experience operating heavy equipment. Whereas if i hire it out i foot the bill. CM1995 - The county will allow me bury the debris on site but I'm not sure that i want to go that route. I would prefer to pile it up and burn. - The soil down here is really just sand, I'm unsure how much it changes as you go deeper. I cousin of mine just dug a 25' pond aprox. 3 miles from my lot and it was sand the whole way down. - The water table here is very high in the summer rainy months within 1 foot of the surface, in the winter dry months i estimate within 3 foot based on the ponds in the area - also to note this is going to be a groundwater fed pond so no damns or dykes but the edges will need to be built up a little bit -To my current knowledge there are no erosion control codes in my area, but i havn't looked into to much permitting when it comes to the pond construction. i figured step one is get the land cleared so i can at least see/envision what I'm working with and the final product. -Dont know the pond codes, yet. Land clearing I'm good to go but i have to give gopher tortoise burrows a 15' buffer..... -My timeline is variable i would love to be digging the pond by this winter to take advantage of the low water table. -Ive ran a mid size backhoe a for a few projects at work but never cleared land with it. I've been on a mini excavator a few times but by no means am i proficient. my saving grace is a cousin who has ran heavy machinery for 35+ years clearing land, digging ponds, and general rural development. He lives less than a mile from my lot and is willing to show me how to run things and fix my mistakes but doesn't have the time to run my to be machine for the whole project. -Beyond the clearing/pond phase I'm going to have to dig a hole for septic tank and leach field which down here isn't much since the ground is so permeable. and beyond that, general farm work if my dad doesn't want to recoupe his investment to badly I have accepted the fact that up until the day I move into the house i have a million billion things that i have to think and figure out and overcome become I'm not turning back. But i know my own limitations
I've got 3 quotes, all within 600$ on the final bill.
In my part of the country palmettos get maybe 4 feet high and real easy to cut with a 50 hp tractor and 6 foot bush hog. Unless Sandy has some on steroids, sounds like day or less with a tractor.
A bit of topic, but how can you install a septic system in an area with water table 1 foot down? In my yard you dig down six feet and the dirt is bone dry and if you try to go deeper you will need explosives or a D10 with a ripper to get through the limestone. Not sure what is under the limestone but quarry 1/2 mile away is down a hundred feet or more and still good limestone! Oh and the pit is dry right to the bottom.
1' water table may be a bit of an exaggeration but in the rainy season there is standing water everywhere, regardless you have to put the septic tank on the mound that the house is going to be built on so it above grade. The exact height that everything has be above grade I'm not sure of at this point. Step one at this point is get a machine to clear the land and have some use when digging the pond. I'm thinking a JD 450 dozer it should be useful for both projects but may need to bring something else In For pond digging Is a 450 enough machine for this kind of work? I know bigger is almost always better but I would rather pay more money for a smaller higher quality machine then Get a larger POS.
In south Louisiana sometimes the ground water level is above grade with enough rain. Thanks to our neiber we upgraded to current approved septic system 2 years ago. New system uses aerator piped into the tank and an overflow tank which supposed to be sealed from ground water. Overflow tank which has discharge pump with float valve, has top extension however high you want above grade. From overflow tank there are two options currently, pipe clear water to nearby ditch or use yard sprinklers. Had to go back and repair installers bumm job by resealing under ground piping, ground water was overloading system. Have dug a pond nearby during a drought and went down 12 feet before hitting water.
Did you consider using a tractor to shred palmettos and chop later? Would be a lot cheaper than 10k.
You'll probably have to do percolation tests regarding a septic system. If the water table is too high, you may have trouble getting approval. Often with machinery, the smaller machines command higher prices than bigger machines but it depends on the machine. The pond, you want a decent size track hoe especially if it might be soft once you dig down a few feet.