Demolition, clearing and grading

[Landclearer]

Hey Buckfever, after hearing what you and Oxbow have to do, we do have it easy. The funny part is parking lots are heavier than a residential street.

Oxbow, so you put down 15 inches of rock an paving. That is double what we do and hardly ever use geogrid.

 

[CM1995]

Wow you guys have it nice with the paving. Around here it's 4" of 25mm then 1.5" 19mm then a 1.5" of wear ( usually 9 mm).

Buckfever is that just a 7" buildup total?

Oxbow that's one hell of a street buildup. At 15" that road is going to last. Do you have bad soils as the reason for the spec?

 

[Oxbow]

Buckfever is that just a 7" buildup total?

Oxbow that's one hell of a street buildup. At 15" that road is going to last. Do you have bad soils as the reason for the spec?

No, we have generally good soils, and in the valley bottoms there is river rock under everything. We do encounter pretty severe frost though, and our aggregate is pretty cheap relative to other areas of the country as we have plenty of it. Our base is also pit run, not crushed.

Some of our gravel folks here produce a 2" minus, no naturals rejected and all fines included, that is much nicer to work with and you don't have the problem of hiding the 6' plus rock on the edge of a driveway and at the end of a fill.

Without enough base we encounter problems in the spring when the frost comes out of the surface, but the water cannot sink into the ground yet. Usually only about a week or two long period, but I have seen garbage trucks sink through the asphalt and get stuck, pushing mud up through the base to the surface.

 

[CM1995]

No, we have generally good soils, and in the valley bottoms there is river rock under everything. We do encounter pretty severe frost though, and our aggregate is pretty cheap relative to other areas of the country as we have plenty of it. Our base is also pit run, not crushed.

Some of our gravel folks here produce a 2" minus, no naturals rejected and all fines included, that is much nicer to work with and you don't have the problem of hiding the 6' plus rock on the edge of a driveway and at the end of a fill.

I would've thought you had good soils, had to ask. The pit run not being crushed affords the extra depth without the extra expense?

Here we are looking at $10 a ton at the cheapest for 3/4 crush or DGB plus tax and freight.

 

[Oxbow]

I would've thought you had good soils, had to ask. The pit run not being crushed affords the extra depth without the extra expense?

Here we are looking at $10 a ton at the cheapest for 3/4 crush or DGB plus tax and freight.

I would say that the price and short haul distances are the reason, as you suggested.

Our pit run can be as low as $3/ton, with 3/4" minus crushed around $7/ ton. Our conversion on this is usually about 1.4 tons per cubic yard.

I should add that our cities and counties now require storm water retention ponds for new commercial developments. It is often viable to remove topsoil from the low corner of the property (usually no more than two feet), excavate the river rock (pit run) for building pads and road base, and then shape in the excavation for the retention pond.

 

[Landclearer]

We pay $15 to $18 a ton plus trucking so that job in the pics above, the crushed concrete is right at $30 a ton delivered.

 

[Oxbow]

That adds up quickly. A fellow doesn't want to mess up on the quantity calculations, or forget to add in shrinkage for compaction. Even at our rates I had a somewhat painful education on neat line quantities vs. actual years ago.

 

[CM1995]

I would say that the price and short haul distances are the reason, as you suggested.

Our pit run can be as low as $3/ton, with 3/4" minus crushed around $7/ ton. Our conversion on this is usually about 1.4 tons per cubic yard.

I should add that our cities and counties now require storm water retention ponds for new commercial developments. It is often viable to remove topsoil from the low corner of the property (usually no more than two feet), excavate the river rock (pit run) for building pads and road base, and then shape in the excavation for the retention pond.

Oxbow I use 1.33 tons per CY for our limestone. Must be nice to have such good material to work with, here I usually have to deal with nasty clay soils that are hard as a brick when dry and similar to playdoh when wet.

We pay $15 to $18 a ton plus trucking so that job in the pics above, the crushed concrete is right at $30 a ton delivered.

I knew your rock costs were high LC in your area, that's what I would've expected if not more.

 

[Landclearer]

Oxbow I use 1.33 tons per CY for our limestone. Must be nice to have such good material to work with, here I usually have to deal with nasty clay soils that are hard as a brick when dry and similar to playdoh when wet.



I knew your rock costs were high LC in your area, that's what I would've expected if not more.

If we use limestone base, the trucks can only get 3 loads a day from the quarry and most of the time the stuff is saturated so you are buying water.

 

[Oxbow]

If we use limestone base, the trucks can only get 3 loads a day from the quarry and most of the time the stuff is saturated so you are buying water.

Sometimes I don't mind paying for a little water if it means I can get by without a water truck, but it has to go down pretty quickly for that to work. We are usually not more than five miles to the closest gravel pit.

 

[Landclearer]

Sometimes I don't mind paying for a little water if it means I can get by without a water truck, but it has to go down pretty quickly for that to work. We are usually not more than five miles to the closest gravel pit.

A little water is ok, we have had it so wet that it had water laying on top of the loads when it came in, not good. We are at least 80 miles one wy to the limestone quarry and 150 miles to the granite quarry. They do ship granite in by train but it is about 40 or 45 miles to there.

 

[tylermckee]

Wow, we have it nice having a rock quarry about 10 minutes away, about $10-11/ ton for most crushed products. Have to bring a breaker to 70% of our jobs though so I guess we don't get off that easy. And most of our soils are clay and extremely hard glacial till.

 

[Fastdirt]

Here are a couple of the pool dig. Moving the KX 080 in and the dig itself. I just do the digging, they supply the trimmers.

View attachment 133178

View attachment 133179

View attachment 133180

View attachment 133181

View attachment 133182

Some great shots. Looks like some gratifying work there. The rig is looking good and ready to dig. Nice dig. Lots of kickers on those forms but understandably of course in the sandy stuff. I guess the bright side of driving in all those stakes is they go in easy I assume.

A Kubota rep pulled up on us this week trying to get the word out of their new location under construction down the road. He said Kubota is coming out with a 22k lb. or 23k lb. excavator soon. Sounds good.

 

[Landclearer]

Some great shots. Looks like some gratifying work there. The rig is looking good and ready to dig. Nice dig. Lots of kickers on those forms but understandably of course in the sandy stuff. I guess the bright side of driving in all those stakes is they go in easy I assume.

A Kubota rep pulled up on us this week trying to get the word out of their new location under construction down the road. He said Kubota is coming out with a 22k lb. or 23k lb. excavator soon. Sounds good.

Thanks Fastdirt. I am sure the dig was a lot easier than yours, it was good sandy fill other than a layer of asphalt near the bottom. I know it is a lot better trimming sand than clay. As for the kickers, yes there are plenty but fortunately for me, we just dig with the machine. The pool company has another sub that is a great guy do all the commercial pool forming, trimming and steel.

That is interesting about the Kubota. I wonder if it is a beefed uped KX-080. I think it weighs 20600 pounds. I might call our dealer and ask him if he has any info

 

[Landclearer]

Back in the mudhole this week. We got all the logs hauled out and I just about finished stumping it.

As you can see, not the best ground.









Had the stop the lowboy in the median to raise the deck so we could get over the sidewalk which has a good size hump in it.



Will finish clearing tomorrow and get to grinding.

 

[CM1995]

How big is that site LC and what's going to be built?

 

[Landclearer]

How big is that site LC and what's going to be built?

A little over 2 acres. They are going to enlarge the storage buildings next door. They are doing three in town and I have to move to the next one this week.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

.....
Had the stop the lowboy in the median to raise the deck so we could get over the sidewalk which has a good size hump in it.

View attachment 133485

Well LC, that is a nice feature on a hydraulic trailer. I can't do that with my mechanical neck, so I have to be ready for anything.

I can unload over the rear though, but probably wouldn't with something like your grinder.

That is a great looking combo. Does the grinder pretty much have you at max weight on the lowboy?

I look forward to your weekly updates. You have some interesing projects.

 

[Landclearer]

Hey Jerry,

Thanks, I am glad you enjoy the weekly updates. I just like to talk to other guys about how they do stuff in different areas and conditions.

The drop deck trailer is just about a must for us. It would be nice to have a dove tail for certain thins but definitely not the grinder the trailer is a 50 ton and the grinder is around 87000. With the truck, trailer and grinder it grosses around 130k.

 

[Fastdirt]

That is one nasty site there but good job getting all the tree limbs picked out of that mess. It looks well cleared now. Guess the fun begins dealing with that soil if it's getting built on.

That grinder sure is heavy at 87000! Still love that Pete and the Eager Beaver too. I am surprised y'all didn't get a tri axle with those weights but then again I see it does end dump duty a lot too and that might be the reason?

I know you might have posted this before but I am fascinated by your trucks and trucks in general really. Isn't that Pete a 2014 since y'all just got it? engine and trans? Also what year, engine, and trans on the KW dump? It is a W900 and not a W900L right?