Possible dozer work

[Someday isle]

I posted on my soil test results thread from a while back but thought this deserved its own thread too.
I put out some lime today and doing some more tomorrow. I also had a guy come out and give me an estimate on expanding some food plot trails. If you've seen my other posts you know I have about an acre of food plot trails that we put in last year. This year I marked two 1/4 acre areas where I'd like to clear out the trail into a more traditional food plot size and shape. They're only 1/4 acre each but maybe kind of a mini destination along the trails. One is about 35 yards x 35 yards across and the other is about 20 yards x 70 yards.

Then I have an area that could be 1/2 acre or so near an old dry creek bed where a timber harvest was done several years ago, before I owned the property. That area was billed as a lake site but it's really not that. That would give me about an acre of food plots with about an acre of food plot trails too.

I'd been talking to another dozer guy since July and he said he'd give me a days work for $1000 but he'd have to squeeze me in when he could. Truthfully I got tired of waiting on him. I called another guy Wednesday and he was out there today. His price was $1400 for a day if he can get his dozer back to my place. He knows a local guy where he can maybe get his truck and trailer in close enough that he can get the dozer back to my place. He said he'd let me know in a couple weeks. We'll see. I've got enough work to give him a full day so it's worth it I think.

As a bonus I got to walk around a lot again today. It's only 36 acres but I'm still getting to know my new property. There are a couple deeper holes in both of my wet weather creek that still have quite a bit of water in them. There's three decent spots that always seem to hold water. Maybe with a little work I can turn those into consistent water sources. I'll monitor them all spring and summer and see what happens. Last summer was so wet it was hard to tell if they would hold water in a normal year.

 

[Bill]

I would talk to the dozer operator about those water holes. A guy that knows what he's doing will have your plots done before lunch if the stumps are not huge. Get him to check out the questionable pond too, if you're paying for a days worth anyway you might as well use it. $1400 sounds high for my area but it's hard to get guys to show up for a small job.

I've been lucky in that regard. My neighbor has a dozer and an excavator.

 

[Bill]

Don't forget pics.

 

[swat1018]

I had a guy clear about 5 acres of fallow field in NE MO. It had been a farm field 15 years earlier. There was brush and locust and pin oaks. Trees were 15'-20' high. He was there 12 hours, he usually charges $120/hr. He told me when he started it wouldn't be over $1200, and that's what he charged me.

 

[Someday isle]

Bill - I'll definitely do some before and after pics if I can get the work done.

 

[ruskbuckss]

I posted on my soil test results thread from a while back but thought this deserved its own thread too.
I put out some lime today and doing some more tomorrow. I also had a guy come out and give me an estimate on expanding some food plot trails. If you've seen my other posts you know I have about an acre of food plot trails that we put in last year. This year I marked two 1/4 acre areas where I'd like to clear out the trail into a more traditional food plot size and shape. They're only 1/4 acre each but maybe kind of a mini destination along the trails. One is about 35 yards x 35 yards across and the other is about 20 yards x 70 yards.

Then I have an area that could be 1/2 acre or so near an old dry creek bed where a timber harvest was done several years ago, before I owned the property. That area was billed as a lake site but it's really not that. That would give me about an acre of food plots with about an acre of food plot trails too.

I'd been talking to another dozer guy since July and he said he'd give me a days work for $1000 but he'd have to squeeze me in when he could. Truthfully I got tired of waiting on him. I called another guy Wednesday and he was out there today. His price was $1400 for a day if he can get his dozer back to my place. He knows a local guy where he can maybe get his truck and trailer in close enough that he can get the dozer back to my place. He said he'd let me know in a couple weeks. We'll see. I've got enough work to give him a full day so it's worth it I think.

As a bonus I got to walk around a lot again today. It's only 36 acres but I'm still getting to know my new property. There are a couple deeper holes in both of my wet weather creek that still have quite a bit of water in them. There's three decent spots that always seem to hold water. Maybe with a little work I can turn those into consistent water sources. I'll monitor them all spring and summer and see what happens. Last summer was so wet it was hard to tell if they would hold water in a normal year.

Hey Someday, I operate a dozer for a living. I'm not sure if you were just asking if that is a fair price. It really depends on the size of the dozer and how far he has to haul the dozer from. I have seen prices from $85 -180hr. There are some guys out there that own a dozer and are some real hacks. I would try to hire someone that actually does it for a living not someone who has one in there back forty on there farm. A lot of times the good operators/owners have nice newer equipment. If they pull in with a junk machine from the 1960s, I would be worried. As far as your your water sources go it depends on what kind of soil you have. Going into wet area can be tuff, if its muck you have to find a solid bottom and first push all the slop out first before you can start digging. A lot of times a excavator will work better for ponds and waterholes. If its dry a dozer will work.

 

[Someday isle]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't really questioning the fee as much as just sharing the estimate. While it's maybe just a little high for the area I also know it depends a lot who you're hiring too. I could rent a big skid steer and do half the work myself for half the price - and make twice the mess of things. This is a professional operator and while my place is easy to access with a car, truck or four wheeler it's not so easy to access with a dozer. I'm okay with his rate.

The water holes are a different story. Here in my part of Missouri we had a very wet summer last year so there seemed to be water everywhere. I really just need to monitor these deeper pools to see if they hold water in a normal year. It's been pretty dry this winter and we've been described as "pre-drought". I didn't know there's was such a thing.

I've only owned the property for nine months so I'm still prioritizing - Access, food sources, cover and water.

The fact is having it done right the first time is worth paying a fair rate for.

 

[ruskbuckss]

Totally agree, good luck with your project. Just one other tip I always suggest to land owners when digging pond is to make sure the water gets out the way it always has gone. I've seen this go bad a few times and water ends up in places it should never be. It should be easy for you in a creek bed. A overflow pipe a foot or so below the top of a pond is always a good idea. This prevent erosion,flooding over the banks, and assures the water floes out where it belongs.

 

[Weezy]

Good luck with your project

You might want to tell operator not to do any unnecessary grading and not push off the top soil on your plots. It might look rough but you can use a drag harrow or a roll of chain link to smooth it out.

 

[Eggman]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I look forward to seeing some pictures.

 

[Someday isle]

If the weather cooperates it looks like my dozer work will get done on Friday. We do have the potential of some rain on Friday but hopefully it holds off until evening.

The plan is to clear two 1/4 acre plots connected to a couple of my food plot trails and then widen the one trail by clearing out some trees in the middle of the path. If there's time left in the day he'll then clear as much debris from a spot adjacent to a dry creek bed where some logging had been done about four or five years ago. It's just a mess down there and too much debris for deer to even travel through or bed in. That would hopefully create another 1/4 to 1/2 acre plot area.

If the weather holds I'll keep you all posted and try to take some before and after pics. The flowering crabs in my neighborhood are all blooming so I figure while he's working I'll walk the woods and see if I have any wild crab apple trees. There's two right on one of my property lines - one on my side of the fence and one on the other side. I'm hoping there's a couple in the woods somewhere.

 

[Bigshooter19]

I run a d5 dozer some time and a excavator the other time I don't run dozer. I can clear 2 times the land with my excavator if the tree are good size. If it is just scrub brush dozer will do just fine but make sure it's a good size dozer. There some older dozer that couldn't push the mud off your boots. For watering hole dozers is something I wouldn't use at all. But a good operator can make up for lack of equipment. Is it something you want to hold water all year long?

 

[Someday isle]

A water hole isn't on this particular to do list. In my previous posts maybe I didn't make that really clear. I have some deep pools in a couple of wet weather creeks. I'm really just monitoring them this year to see if they hold water all year long. Last year they did but it was an unusually wet summer. If I were to do anything to enhance them it wouldn't be this time around. Right now I'm just clearing land. I have very few large trees so I'm confident he won't have a lot of trouble.

I'm pretty excited about getting the work done but Im also realistic and have tempered expectations. I know I'll have some work to do when it's all done but that'll be half the fun.

 

[Bill]

You might be surprised. With no big stumps and a good operator it may be a pretty clean looking plot when it's done.

 

[Someday isle]

Well I'll have to wait a little while longer. Storms today so my guy cancelled. Since I'm a one day gig I'll have to wait until he has another open day. Maybe sometime in the next couple weeks.