Demolition, clearing and grading

[JNB]

Great photos as always! Its good to see someone getting some work done. With the expansive soil we have locally and the rain we've had for the last month or so, just getting a one day job completed has been a chore.

 

[Landclearer]

Great photos as always! Its good to see someone getting some work done. With the expansive soil we have locally and the rain we've had for the last month or so, just getting a one day job completed has been a chore.

Thanks JNB. We are also on a every three or four day rain cycle. As long as we are right on the coast in the sand, we are ok. The clearing job will now be a swamp because it is in poor clay. If they want to get right back on, they will be doing a lot of mucking.

 

[Fastdirt]

Cool looking road job. Seriously what's up with all this rain all over this forum... and it's not even "April showers bring May flowers yet". Good stuff you are sharing with us!

 

[steelers1993]

Hey LC, I'm new to the site. I've read through this entire forum and I must say, you do amazing work :notworthy. Thanks for sharing! I just had a question about towing your 315 behind the little Pete. How does it handle? Do you have any hills it has to climb? I'm looking to start a demolition company when I graduate college this December. I want to get a single axle dump and tow a 314 on a 25 ton tandem axle trailer. I'm in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, so no need to go highway speeds. I'm just wondering if it would be adequate for stop/go city traffic and moderately steep but short hills? I've done a lot of research about it and everyone says you'd be pushing it with a single axle. Any input? I know a 314 is a few ton lighter than your 315, but it's fairly close. I know a tandem would be better but straight out of college getting established I'm really gonna have to keep costs down at the beginning . What do you think?

 

[390eric]

Not to hijack but steelers1993. I live in the northern pittsburgh area. I have spent time hauling a 315 from the strip district to mercer county and back numerous times. I wouldn't do it with anything smaller than a tandem. It's not the getting it to go part it's the whoa. We have a lot of curvy hilly roads. That's a lot of weight on a single axle. Have a friend with a single axle r model and he won't haul above a 312 and he said that's pushing it. Don't think you can get the right weights on the axles to be legal anyway. That's my 2 cents from a guy in your area

 

[Landclearer]

Hey LC, I'm new to the site. I've read through this entire forum and I must say, you do amazing work :notworthy. Thanks for sharing! I just had a question about towing your 315 behind the little Pete. How does it handle? Do you have any hills it has to climb? I'm looking to start a demolition company when I graduate college this December. I want to get a single axle dump and tow a 314 on a 25 ton tandem axle trailer. I'm in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, so no need to go highway speeds. I'm just wondering if it would be adequate for stop/go city traffic and moderately steep but short hills? I've done a lot of research about it and everyone says you'd be pushing it with a single axle. Any input? I know a 314 is a few ton lighter than your 315, but it's fairly close. I know a tandem would be better but straight out of college getting established I'm really gonna have to keep costs down at the beginning . What do you think?

Thanks Steelers, welcome to the forum. As for the 315, we only do short moves and don't have any hills. Like 390eric said the problem is not getting started. You would be better with the setup you are talking about since the 314 is a little lighter and a 25 ton trailer would be a tri axle so you have an extra axle and an extra set of brakes. If we do a longer move we don't even think about the tag and use the lowboy. Don't get me wrong you could do it but I would be way more comfortable with a tandem.

 

[steelers1993]

Not to hijack but steelers1993. I live in the northern pittsburgh area. I have spent time hauling a 315 from the strip district to mercer county and back numerous times. I wouldn't do it with anything smaller than a tandem. It's not the getting it to go part it's the whoa. We have a lot of curvy hilly roads. That's a lot of weight on a single axle. Have a friend with a single axle r model and he won't haul above a 312 and he said that's pushing it. Don't think you can get the right weights on the axles to be legal anyway. That's my 2 cents from a guy in your area

Hey 390eric, thanks for the advice man. It wouldn't be long distances, only about 30 miles max one way. I was worried about the braking power, that's what others warned about from what I've read so far. With the hilly streets in Pittsburgh, I figured it would be a challenge. I was hoping I could get away with it for such a short distance though with air brakes and an exhaust brake haha.

LC, I was thinking about getting a 25 ton ProLine trailer (here's a link http://newtrailer.us/dual-tandem-trailer/). I know it sounds stupid, but I'd rather tow a new/more expensive trailer with an older/cheaper truck rather than tow an older, cheaper trailer with a newer/more expensive truck. Especially with the weight and the expensive machine that will be on it (at least that is how I justify it). Definitely don't want to buy an underpowered truck and be getting pushed down a hill by the trailer though, just want to figure out what would be the best most cost-effective combination for my needs. That's why I'm doing all the research and as many opinions of people with experience as I can now!

 

[tkoden]

Why not go with a 10 wheeler? You can haul your own materials and transport the excavator too. We haul a 35k lb excavator behind ours all through the narrow coastal mountains with no issues.

 

[steelers1993]

Why not go with a 10 wheeler? You can haul your own materials and transport the excavator too. We haul a 35k lb excavator behind ours all through the narrow coastal mountains with no issues.

How much horse power is your tandem? What engine/transmission?

 

[monster76]

Steelers that trailer you posted is the standard 20 ton tag sems like they just rated at 50k to make the sale. Most true 25 ton trailers are configured ike this
http://www.eagerbeavertrailers.com/products/easyloaders/25xpt/

 

[steelers1993]

Steelers that trailer you posted is the standard 20 ton tag sems like they just rated at 50k to make the sale. Most true 25 ton trailers are configured ike this
http://www.eagerbeavertrailers.com/products/easyloaders/25xpt/

Hmm ok so the 20XPT from Eager Beaver is the same as a 25 ton from ProLine. Only difference appears that the ProLine is 50k gvwr, take out the 10k for the trailer and you're left with 20 ton payload. Compared to Eager Beaver's which is advertised as 20 ton (48k unloaded) but after you take out the 8k for the trailer you're still left with 20 ton payload. So ProLine is advertising an extra 5 ton but that's the weight of the trailer not payload...kind of false advertising a bit isn't it? Here I thought I'd found a gem lol

 

[monster76]

Pretty much thats why landclearer mentioned triple axle

 

[tkoden]

How much horse power is your tandem? What engine/transmission?

My dad has had a about 4 different trucks over the years. I am not 100% sure on the specs but I believe they have been between 350 and 425 hp mostly with 13 speed transmissions with spliters.

 

[Landclearer]

Hmm ok so the 20XPT from Eager Beaver is the same as a 25 ton from ProLine. Only difference appears that the ProLine is 50k gvwr, take out the 10k for the trailer and you're left with 20 ton payload. Compared to Eager Beaver's which is advertised as 20 ton (48k unloaded) but after you take out the 8k for the trailer you're still left with 20 ton payload. So ProLine is advertising an extra 5 ton but that's the weight of the trailer not payload...kind of false advertising a bit isn't it? Here I thought I'd found a gem lol

I don't know if it is false advertising but you might want to call it creative. They are trying to make you think the gvw is the load capacity. I am not sure their advertised price includes FET. I cannot argue with you on having a good trailer. Whatever you buy, make sure the truck has a good hitch. As for trucks, a tandem or triaxle would be the best but I do not know your budget so it is hard to say on a truck. You mentioned horse power and transmissions but you also need to be aware of rear end ratios.

 

[CM1995]

Hmm ok so the 20XPT from Eager Beaver is the same as a 25 ton from ProLine. Only difference appears that the ProLine is 50k gvwr, take out the 10k for the trailer and you're left with 20 ton payload. Compared to Eager Beaver's which is advertised as 20 ton (48k unloaded) but after you take out the 8k for the trailer you're still left with 20 ton payload. So ProLine is advertising an extra 5 ton but that's the weight of the trailer not payload...kind of false advertising a bit isn't it? Here I thought I'd found a gem lol

Unfortunately it's pretty common among trailer manufacture's. You have to read the details on how they rate their trailers.:beatsme

 

[steelers1993]

I don't know if it is false advertising but you might want to call it creative. They are trying to make you think the gvw is the load capacity. I am not sure their advertised price includes FET. I cannot argue with you on having a good trailer. Whatever you buy, make sure the truck has a good hitch. As for trucks, a tandem or triaxle would be the best but I do not know your budget so it is hard to say on a truck. You mentioned horse power and transmissions but you also need to be aware of rear end ratios.

Not really sure of a budget yet honestly. Still have a lot I need to figure out. Ultimately try to keep it as low as possible and buy newer better stuff as I can. I'll throw out the single axle idea and turn my attention towards a tandem or tri axle. This is probably a dumb question but, have any of you considered using a skid loader mounted mulcher to grind up wood from residential demos? If they can take down 12" thick trees I don't see why they couldn't handle any dimensional wood, right? Just came across some videos on youtube of them being used for clearing and the thought popped into my mind :idea. I imagine it would greatly reduce on the # of cans/dump trucks needed to haul out. Just curious to hear what yinz think :beatsme.

 

[monster76]

My only question is the added cost and tme worth saving te money on hauling for a residential demo.

 

[Landclearer]

Not really sure of a budget yet honestly. Still have a lot I need to figure out. Ultimately try to keep it as low as possible and buy newer better stuff as I can. I'll throw out the single axle idea and turn my attention towards a tandem or tri axle. This is probably a dumb question but, have any of you considered using a skid loader mounted mulcher to grind up wood from residential demos? If they can take down 12" thick trees I don't see why they couldn't handle any dimensional wood, right? Just came across some videos on youtube of them being used for clearing and the thought popped into my mind :idea. I imagine it would greatly reduce on the # of cans/dump trucks needed to haul out. Just curious to hear what yinz think :beatsme.

Personally I would not try it. We have a mulcher for our skid steer but there is a lot more in a house than just wood. Steel and concrete are hard on teeth and I would not even want to know how much wire would get wrapped around the drum. Like Monster76 said, I don't think the extra work, were and tear would be justified in hauling savings. You also have to think about the cleanup then. We try to always keep the debris inside the footprint or on the slab. With a mulcher I would imagine you would get a good bit spread out over a good sized area.

 

[CM1995]

I agree with Monster and LC on the mulched for residential demo. Also I would think the mulcher would have a tendency to launch a stray 2x4 or piece of metal flying through the air from time to time.

 

[steelers1993]

I agree with Monster and LC on the mulched for residential demo. Also I would think the mulcher would have a tendency to launch a stray 2x4 or piece of metal flying through the air from time to time.

This would be my fear, that it would send a 2x4 flying. I was just wondering if it could handle just the straight wood, maybe even some plastic once you separated out any steel/concrete. They are really expensive but if you could munch up a pile of debris pretty quickly I imagine the cost of purchase would be worth it in the long run with time savings and cost of trucking. Like I said, I was just curious if anyone has tried it. Thanks for the input guys!