how much to clear this house site? …… gross area of 16,000 s/.f. , level, 30 tree’s 6″-12″ dia to remove, stumps, etc grub entire area of under brush, haul away all debris, cost for clearing only, not for permits or erosion control. Rural / suburban area. Thanks in advance.
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Very dependant on location and access. Reasonable case scenario here, I'd be looking for $1200, including tipping fees at the landfill. Considerably less if it was next door. Ground prep, if any, extra.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
$1,200.00 seems right to me. I paid that much in 2000 for 1 acre to be cleared. They make their money by selling off the remaining timber.
Well, around here there's only one guy that can log and it's gonna be more than 1200. Can you call excavators near you and get some quotes?
Well, around here there's only one guy that can log
30 6-12" trees? That's brush removal.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
You $1200.00 guys can have it.
The least expensive price I got so far was three times that...plus the logs. Probably because hunting season is coming up.
I'm currently working on a mountain driveway. Price to beat was $35k. I figured 40-60 hrs and $5k for stone. 80% through, 22 hrs so far. Client is tickled. I'm well paid. The $35k was gouging, something over $500/hr. It happens. I get very good referrals. Looked at a nice excavator yesterday. Thinking....
Sight unseen, your job sounded like 2 days. Not long ones. Didn't figure your logs had any value, other than I know how to dispose of them free.
You can always do it yourself, you know. Should be able to rent a large enough tractor for $1k. You might have fun.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
The tree trunks are worth something. pine. Log buyer is paying $310 per 1000 BF for #1 logs, pine only. #1 log is not less than 16' long, straight, not less than 10"round., the 1000 BF, is relying on the skill of the saw operator, plus the staighness of the log. # 2's and #3 grades allow for shorter, and more crooked trunks, and smaller diameter.(and less $). From what I've been told, nobody is buying anything shorter than 10 feet, and 6" round, except for pulp wood. I figure I got anywhere from at least $600- 1300, maybe even 1500 in logs. Minus the hauling fee (gas). The $310 was last weeks price.(commodity)
I'm sure you can "dispose" of them for free. <G>
Edited 9/29/2005 7:34 pm ET by sawzall
Here the size you describe is as Tom says, just over being brush, firewood at the best. Bet that $310 MBF is Scribner's rule, you need to see how it is measured, if you are measuring by how big you think the 'logs' are, the buyer will likely be 1/2 of what you think.
Why not turn the small stuff into firewood, anything over 8-10 inches peels and use the logs in your construction if they are that straight.
As to :"You can always do it yourself, you know. Should be able to rent a large enough tractor for $1k. You might have fun". you will. You can even consider buying a 5 ton or so backhoe or dozer and re-selling when done and have it available for your entire project.
You have a little over 1/3 acre, you have not indicated if you are going for a spec house or your own house on that parcel. You can dig your basement or footings or even septic system at the same time with a rented (or your own) tractor.
Word of warning, in any type of trees NEVER get on a tractor that does not have FOPS (falling object protedtion)
What's this scribners rule? To get a count I thought it would be as simple as measuring the trunk width, getting it's diameter. Then drawing an imaginary Square inside the circle, and counting the width, and # of 1" boards that can be sawed out of it.
I'm sure you can "dispose" of them for free. <G>
That wasn't a joke. You're dreaming about value. Now I understand why you're getting such high bids. With your attitude, I would too.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I thought I'd share with VaTom what I found out from a few phone call for tree trunks and he thinks I got some attitude? I thought I might help him out. I'll keep my mouth shut next time. There's at least on other poster in this thread who said there was wood to be recycled.
What the logs may be worth is no concern of yours... unless you have the means to get them to the destination in the proper condition. It's like the dirt business... You have to pay to get rid of it, and you have to pay to get it too. So, the excavator charges one guy to haul it away and sells it to someone on the other end.
As far as your asking what it would cost to clear a lot... that's too much of a location dependent question. Around here, they give trees like that away to the pulp guy. He takes it without charging. Ya gotta figure that the pulp guy always drives the oldest, most raggidy truck you have ever seen so you know he isn't making any $ to speak of.
I'm thinking I could get the site cleared for <$1500, but that's here, and I'd be there with my chainsaw helping - -
gotta say that the job you describe is a bit of a PITA - haul in the hoe for a couple hours of work, gotta deal with the brush, either cut to fit another truck or have a chipper or tub grinder - it's more work moving the equipment around than anything else - site may be level, but how's access and how much room is availible for staging the trucks/equipment?
your 'trees' (minimum comercial diameter is 16" around here) are not a asset (remember when you are figuring, the diameter is measured at the small end, and since you figured boards, did you allow for kerf? -) they are too small and not a load for a truck and that's another truck and did I mention staging? - anyway, the excavator will use the trunk for leverage to get the stump out of the ground, likely compromising the 'log' -
you could probably have a hoe come in and grub out the trees, you saw off the root ball which the excavator hauls off and then you cut the rest into firewood and burn the brush on site - that'd save ya some money -
Sawzall - I rented a Cat 963 track loader (40,000 lbs) for $625/day plus fuel, and cleared a 1,500 ft tree row of trees similar to yours, some larger in a day. It was easy to learn to operate and you could clear your 1/3 acre, and have a burn pile or a "free trees" sign by early afternoon. Heat/AC in the cab, and you could dig your basement while your at it.
I second Brians idea. For my house I rented a track loader for a month and it cost $2,400. That got my lot cleared, basement dug out, site graded and was a heck of a lot of fun. I live in an area where burning is legal and the 3 wood piles I generated we tourched the following winter when they had dried down a bit.
I just paid $2750.00 to clear a quarter acre lot, No trees at all, just small palmettos. The other guy wanted $6000.00.