Should I rent or buy?

[Wildcat95]

Here’s my situation.
I’ve bought 10 acres connecting to my parents property, they have 36 acres. There is another 10 acres next to my property that I want to buy in the future. I’ve been clearing trees for the past year, as all the acreage that I bought is wooded. The property is mainly a steep hill with a flat spot on top, about 1-2 acres of flat ground (well it’s flat enough for around my parts) I need to be able to bust out the stumps that are left(I kept them 2-3 foot high so I could push on them). Im currently working on my old backhoe, it’s a mf40. It should run just need to rebuild the injection pump, hopefully the backhoe works even if it leaks some. I’m thinking I’m still gonna need some piece of heavy equipment for cutting in a driveway(about 200yds) and for a house pad/leveling the backyard area some. Also, I have a lot of acreage that could use some dozer work so here is my thinking. I’ve been looking at old used dozers, they ain’t mint but they will get the job done and then hopefully I can sell it(on not I don’t really care). I can rent one for a month, I’m sure it will cost me 4-5k plus fuel. Or have someone do it (I really don’t know how many hours it would take them to do the minimum needed) I’m sure it would cost around 5k or so.

I’m curious on what you would do, and any recommendations. I’m mechanically inclined and don’t mind workin on broken stuff. So buy an old dozer doesn’t sound half bad, but honestly if I can just pay someone to do it all that ain’t half bad either.

My other question: Is a dozer best for this job or a mini excavator?

 

[CM1995]

Welcome to the Forums WD95! Glad to have you.

A 200 yard driveway cut in steep ground sounds like a lot of work to create an operational driveway that will not be a maintenance headache throughout the years possibly costing much more than initial install. What's your budget for the driveway?

 

[Wildcat95]

Let me elaborate, about half of it is flat or a low incline, there’s really only one part of it that is steep and I plan on cutting it down some in that spot. Half of the driveway will be cut into the side of the hill on what looks like an old logging trail (snaking driveway not a clear run). I’m not really concerned on the maintenance or cost of gravel, as I’ve lived at the the top of a steep hill for 20+ years and know the challenges it may bring.

So my question is: Can my backhoe tackle this (I’m assuming not) and if not what’s the best option/ most cost effective way to cut in this driveway and bust out the stumps on top of the hill for my house pad.

 

[Mcrafty1]

For someone to give an somewhat accurate quote here with what info you've provided is... imho, impossible. The best thing you could do is get a contractor(s) local to the area to actually come to the property, walk it with you and see the work, material and equipment/time involved for the finished product you're looking to achieve. otherwise there are too many chances for somebody to get hurt.... financially speaking. There are many unseen variables on work of this magnitude to give a price fair both parties without physically seeing the land.

 

[Old Doug]

I have thought about the same deal before . I had a chance to buy a D7 that i had been around and know what it was like but i didnt. It all depends on how lucky you are . If your lucky and buy something thats not going to breakdown buying a dozer would be the way to go.

 

[crane operator]

In my area a well used dozer will be $20-30k. And a coin flip of a chance of it needing $10k of work done to it in the next 2-3 years of use. You haven't said if you are retired or still work a day to day job. Or what the overall financial picture is.

So if the 20-30 purchase price doesn't sting, and you've got the 10k (to fix it if you need to), and the time to fix it- its not a bad hobby.

If you have a full time job and a house to build and more pressing financial matters, probably not a great investment of capital, that you could use elsewhere.

Just realize that good operator will perform the same work, in a quarter (or less) of the time that it will take you. So if time is a issue at all, it is generally better to just pay to have it done.

If you don't know what you are doing, a rental gets expensive in a hurry.

I wouldn't want to cut a road in with a mini or a old backhoe.

 

[bam1968]

How big are your stumps? In my neck of the woods I wouldn't want anything smaller than a D6 size machine to efficiently do any clearing. I can't even come close to renting that size machine for $4-5K a month here. If you can rent a D6 size machine for $4-5K for a month I would prob jump all over that. Now if your trees are alot smaller than what I am picturing then you could get by with a smaller machine. A few years ago I rented a D4 LGP from my local Cat dealer for a month and I think it was @$8K IIRC. If your schedule only allows you to run a machine in the evenings after work and on the weekends then you will prob want to find an older machine to purchase because a rented machine needs to be run all day every possible day to financially work out. YMMV

 

[LCA078]

I agree with Mcrafty1 that you need an experienced local contractor, even a couple is better, to give you a reasonable quote so you know your true baseline costs. Almost, not always, but almost always it's cheaper to hire an expert when you factor in everything of time, maintenance, repairs, rework, etc. to get a job done that requires skill. In my neck of the woods, the contractors have relationships with most of the gravel pits, heavy equipment haulers, repair shops, etc. to help keep their costs way under what you could find as a one-off independent customer. But, if you have free time, don't have a hard schedule, and have the heavy tools and shop space to enjoy working on old iron, etc., then yes, buy some old iron and enjoy working your own land. I bought my own equipment and in between the fits of frustration, disappointment, and cussing from fixing my iron, I also have a lot of relaxing time turning diesel into smokey noise. I probably ain't saving money but I'm enjoying the hobby.

 

[CM1995]

How big are your stumps? In my neck of the woods I wouldn't want anything smaller than a D6 size machine to efficiently do any clearing. I can't even come close to renting that size machine for $4-5K a month here. If you can rent a D6 size machine for $4-5K for a month I would prob jump all over that. Now if your trees are alot smaller than what I am picturing then you could get by with a smaller machine. A few years ago I rented a D4 LGP from my local Cat dealer for a month and I think it was @$8K IIRC. If your schedule only allows you to run a machine in the evenings after work and on the weekends then you will prob want to find an older machine to purchase because a rented machine needs to be run all day every possible day to financially work out. YMMV

Yep a D4 rents for $8600 plus fees here.

Should I rent or buy?

Here’s my situation. I’ve bought 10 acres connecting to my parents property, they have 36 acres. There is another 10 acres next to my property that I want to buy in the future. I’ve been clearing trees for the past year, as all the acreage that I bought is wooded. The property is mainly a steep...

www.heavyequipmentforums.com

Heck a D3 is $6K wth fees a month. The monthly payment is 1/2 that on our 3. One more year and that joker is paid off.

 

[Joe H]

2things, send your MF40 pump to thepumpguy and it'll be done right.

Second, any excuse to buy a machine is a good excuse.

Joe H

 

[Mcrafty1]

2things, send your MF40 pump to thepumpguy and it'll be done right.

Second, any excuse to buy a machine is a good excuse.

Joe H

I thought he was talking used bulldozers here

 

[CM1995]

I thought he was talking used bulldozers here

First paragraph of OP's first post. Working on his old backhoe but asking about a dozer.

 

[KSSS]

I think by getting some bids is the first step and see how much money the project is projected to cost. During the walk through, I would ask what equipment they plan to use. Your then able to make a financial decision. That said, for some guys it's really not fully dependent on what the numbers say. Some just want to justify owning a piece of equipment. Seems like there is a lot of factors that drive these decisions.

 

[Mcrafty1]

First paragraph of OP's first post. Working on his old backhoe but asking about a dozer.

Hahaha, yeah I know.....I was bring a bit sarcastic...in a joking way. Can you forgive me this time? I can think of just as many reason to not buy a used dozer as I can to buy one.

 

[LCA078]

I forgot to mention earlier in my earlier post that I did try to rent a mid-sized hoe (320'ish size) from the local Cat rental place when I first started clearing our land. Before I could rent, I had to show proof of insurance ($1M+ or such), take some Cat Operator Class to be "certified", and was also limited to 40 hours of meter time per week of rental. Put all that headache on top of the weekly rental price and I decided to buy my own machine. Just didn't work out financially or time wise for my situation because I'm a land owner working my land on my spare time....not a contractor making a living Mon-Fri 9-5.

PS- Yes, I know most contractors work just a little bit harder than M-F and 9-5....but not according to the Cat rental place.