I have just been approached by a small improvement district that I do a lot of contract work for. They have asked me for a bid to clean out a pond. I have cleaned a few in the past for farmers. This pond is small only about one half acre and 8 feet deep. I have lost my tale in the past bidding this as well. I would be doing it with a 690 d excavator and a tandem axle dump. The dirt must be moved about one half mile through the subdivision to where we will stock pile it. Any ideas how to bid this fairly?
Yair . . . wrc . Man that pond must be pretty dry. Most of the goop I have taken out of ponds would run out of a dumper. . . there would be no such thing as a "stockpile" you'd really need to bund it. Cheers.
The way I have stock piled in the past is to build a 3 sided berm by digging a hole in dry material creating a ramp and dumping into that area. My truck will hold water in the gate it seals good. As for the dry part not so much. There is about 7 or 8 feet of water right now. I will have to contend with and there is no way to cur the dam and drain. It's up hill every way.
Sounds like $15,000.00 to me min.
did they not give you a volume of mud from there bathymetric survey? Be very careful , cleaning these ponds out can entail a lot more then most guys think.
No they did not provid any numbers as to how much mud to remove. That is why I am nervous to bid. I have bid farm ponds in the past and made money on some and lost my *** on others. I have contracted many by the hour. That is the way I prefer to. Like I said I would be using a 690 track hoe and a tandem axle dump. The improvement district has an old single axle that the maintenance man will be driving to help with the hauling. However they want a hard bid and I dunno where to start.I don't even have any idea how silted in this pond is. They don't either and I just want to be fair and still make a profit.
Assume there is 6' of muck in the bottom of the pond, figure your estimate and double it. Then walk away when they say your number is too high.
I agree that you need to cover your butt on this one, CM1995 has given some good advice. There is no use in buying a job. You're in the business to make money...and stay in business.
I'll bid any type of work , building a new pond etc, but cleaning one like others said get a figure and double it. Best thing for both parties is for them to trust you on an hourly rate and you be fair , you will make money and they won't possibly pay you a large margin if , IF , it goes better than you think. One thing I've done and it sounds stupid , get a long rod a boat and ride around the pond to see how much mud is in it. Could be 3' or 8' but at least you will know.
You got a close number there JBGASH, then add on for pumping the water off, digging the dump hole, fixing the haul road and you should be close.
I don't understand how they can solicit bids without clear parameters around the amount of material to be removed... are they being required to clean it out by some type of enforcement agency or do they just want it cleaned out? Do they have an as built of the pond that you have to build it back to? I have cleaned out several ponds, and always done pretty well, but I am always able to quantify the work, even if it requires floating around in a jon boat taking grade shots. 1/2 acre 1 foot deep is 800 cy, so if there's 5 feet of sediment you would be moving 4000 cy, if you went at 5.00/cy you're at 20,000.00 plus haul road and stabilization when you're finished.
grandpa, still sounds like 15K to me.... He states it is a 1/2 acre and 8' deep, and it is going to have mud in it and water for sure after all it is a pond.
I am greatful for all the replies. I was not thinking any thing bear the prices stated. I am sure glad I asked now. You guys might have saved my tale on this one. There is no specs or government agency mandates to having it cleaned. They called fish and game because the pond is "dead". It is fill of floating fish for no apparent reason and they say to make it "live" again to clean the sediment out. No one myself or them have any idea how much muck is in the pond bottom. Also I have no idea how much I will be able to reach from the shore. They are only wanting what can be reached from dry ground mucked out. This is a new one to me as on the farm ponds I have done in the past I have simply piled the muck around the edges till it has time to dry down.. I am afraid hauling such a distance will eat the clock pretty fast. Not to mention this place is all hills. Only about 500 feet of flat hauling in the half mile trip. Any one have any advice on how yo talk them into a hard bid per yard? Meaning clean out what I can then measure the spoils pile to figer yardage and multiply by a price pet Yoder?
Price per yard. Sorry on my phone and auto correct spelling is kicking my butt.
Having spent thirty years cleaning out ponds when a senario like this presents itself I run like hell. The owners don't know what they want and whatever you do won't please them. First thing I do is look at the back of the dam. Have seen more than a few that the mud was as deep as the dam is tall. Bid by the hour is the only safe way to do these things. If they really want a bid use what has been proposed. Figure it high and double it with a rider for unforseen obsticles.
Can you price it by the yard? I agree with the stated advice, if there's no definition to the job, double your price. Otherwise, tell them you'll bid it by the yard (and still put a decent price on it).
pond work I would also do it by the yard, the thought of digging a pond with no specs and not knowing the silt/mud depth is a bad deal. I would start by getting it pumped down, move you hoe to the spoil dike to be built, have the rental broom and a small rubber tired loader at the pond site to be cleaned (this is just to take care of the road incase of spills and a tailgate coming open while going to the dump site). I would bring in a 60' long reach to muck out the pond as much as possible into the dump without moving it two or three times ( the reason for the long reach, your deere machine has only around 30' reach from the center of the swing bearing, when you set up your reach will be around 20' at grade level) bringing in the long reach to start with will pay off to get the yards to make money. At 3' depth on a half acre pond it's around 2500 yards give or take and you are hauling off site with two areas that have to be stabilized, seed, straw and erosion control measures put back in place. !3 yards in the dump truck at around 200 trips, and to get 10 loads plus the smaller truck would be hard by yourself, that's three weeks on site. I would go for $11.00 dollars a yard plus the long reach rental and delivery and add $2000.00 for grass seed and erosion control material. Even bringing in a second dump truck by the hour to shorten the time on site would help and the more material that comes out above the 2500 yards is gravy since you are on site already if you put a clause in your agreement. The shape of the pond also makes cleaning with a standard hoe hard with out going in it. If you dig around it and then they want the center out because the way it looks it will be a job that the long reach and matts can do. I would be in at $35,000.00 to take 3' of silt and mud, then $8.00 per yard after while on site. Good luck with you bidding.